Square Enix’s recent livestream celebrating the 30th anniversary of theManaseries contained news about the series' future. The producer of theManaseries announced that its next major entry is in development.
The different games in theManaseries are of varying quality, but the basic elements of the core games boil down to action-RPGs with captivating stories and visuals. The long-running series saw its first outing on the Game Boy as a spinoff ofFinal Fantasy, but was completely separated into its own set of stories and has been supported as a standalone franchise for three decades.
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Square Enix recently hosted alivestream commemorating theManaseries' 30th anniversary, and toward the end announced a new entry is in the works. The stream is in Japanese, but RPG Site translated the announcement for English-speaking audiences. While series producer Masaru Oyamada confirms a new game is in development, he cautions viewers to, “Please wait a little longer for the announcement.” Oyamada says as much as the team would like to “make a cool video announcement with a bang,” it is too early to show the game to the general public.
Square Enix also announced that thehigh-sellingTrials of Manawill be released on mobile devices. The effort to make the game available on more platforms should be appreciated by fans, and another completely originalManamobile RPG was also announced,Echoes of Mana, which will be free-to-play and feature characters from across the series.
WithLegend of Mana’s recent releaseon Nintendo Switch and theSecret of Manaremake before it, Square is evidently shifting some of its focus to theManaseries, even if recent releases' quality have been somewhat inconsistent. The shift is likely due to the commercial success ofTrials of Mana. Little information is available concerning the nextManagame, but Oyamada’s statement suggests it will be a new mainline entry in the series, and it may be a while before the game releases.
Square Enix is taking on many large development and publishing projects at once, withFinal Fantasy VII Remake Part 2still in the works andplans to makeOutridersinto a major IPfollowing its successful release earlier this year. All of these concurrent projects and more show that there will be no shortage of games from the popular developer.
A newManagame is currently in development.
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