Square Enix CEO Explains How Each Final Fantasy Is “Essentially A New IP”

While Final Fantasy has provided its fair share of new adventures over the years, there's also a sense of familiarity with the play tactics, along with Square Enix's style of release. But, while speaking with MCV, Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda made it clear that, when each game comes out, the publisher tries to go for an innovative approach.

"For Final Fantasy, it's a little bit different, they have numbers on them, but they're essentially all new IPs in their own way. Everything about them is different each time," he explained.

But obviously the business isn't just about Final Fantasy, as other big names are making a dent in the gaming world, including Left Alive and this year's sleeper hit NieR: Automata. He said, "It's something that we have to keep doing really, we have to keep making new games. With development teams being so much bigger than they used to be, it's not easy to create massive IPs at that level, but it's something that we have to keep trying to do otherwise things get staid."

He also noted the ongoing trend – and controversy – with microtransactions in video games, but had an interesting note regarding it. "The way that console games are made, the volume of content, and how much effort goes into them, there's something in that which doesn't fit in the mind with microtransactions," he said.

You can check out the full interview here. And to see the freshest Final Fantasy adventures, you can pick up Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age for PlayStation 4, and Final Fantasy XV for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.