It may seem odd to think that Square Enix could be short of studios designated solely for RPG-making, but according to a report by Inside Games, that’s exactly what’s happening. The publisher/developer is looking to recruit members for a studio that will focus on console RPGs exclusively, the details of which can be found here.
The report claims that Square is currently gathering “the best people” in order to assemble a core team that will lead development on new RPG titles for consoles. While this may sound drastic, it’s not a terrible idea; Lightning Returns, though a step in the right direction, was hardly a full return to form. Well, aside from its amazing cheeseball humor. That was totally my thing.
Currently, Square Enix is looking for directors, planners, programmers and lead programmers, marketing directors, and designers of all kinds, including everything from technical artists to GUI and menu designers. The message on the recruitment page is as follows.
We went through all kinds of adventures back when we were children. Now that we’re adults, what kind of new stories can we come up with?
The listing also notes that the projects of this core team will be completely new RPGs, as opposed to something already seen before. Whether this actually means new IP or just something “new” in terms of presentation and gameplay isn’t entirely clear, but it sounds pretty darn ambitious either way.
The deadline to apply is September 30th, 2014, which means Square Enix is wasting no time getting the ball rolling. Frankly I have no idea what to expect given the limited info available, but at the very least we know there’s going to be a lot of talent congregating behind whatever this new project ends up being. In theory, that can only be a good thing.