The Square Enix Games With The Longest Development Times

Key Takeaways

• Square Enix develops games with lengthy development cycles, such as
  Forspoken
  and
  Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
• Final Fantasy
  entries like
  FF12
  and
  FF16
  have seen development times spanning 5-6 years, showcasing the studio’s commitment to quality.
• Games like
  FF15
  and
  Kingdom Hearts 3
  faced challenges like rebranding and collaboration delays, but overcame hurdles for successful releases.

Square Enix has been around since 2003, when two separate gaming juggernauts, Square and Enix, merged. Since then, the company has published and developed some of the biggest and most celebrated games of the last two decades. Mostly associated with blockbuster JRPG franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Square Enix has a reputation for making massive, high-quality games.

However, making good games, especially the best turn-based RPGs, takes time, particularly these days. Square Enix may have developed some of modern gaming’s most beloved games, but fans often have to wait a long time to play them. The games on this list were all developed (not just published) by Square Enix and all experienced lengthy development times. Square Enix hasn’t always been upfront with how long their games take to make, or when some of them truly started development, so some of the times listed here are estimates.

Only games made after or during the merger and founding of Square Enix are listed.

8 Forspoken

Development Time: 4-5 Years (2018-2023)

Technically, Forspoken was developed by Luminous Productions, but since that company is a subsidiary of Square Enix and comprised of Square Enix developers who worked on Final Fantasy 15, we’re counting it. Work began on the game around 2018 and its release was originally set for May 24, 2022, then moved back to October 11, 2022. It finally hit shelves on January 24, 2023.

Two delays and a bloated development time are rarely good signs, but Forspoken turned out ok. Some might even go as far as to say it’s one of Square Enix’s best M-Rated games, despite the fact it was a bit of a flop sales-wise. Forspoken is a gorgeous game, but many critics and players found its open world and gameplay lacking. This actually explains its delays. The game was envisioned as a showcase for the graphical powers of the then-newly-released PlayStation 5, especially its ray tracing and procedural generation tech. Unfortunately, the delays meant Forspoken missed that window, and by the time it was released, people weren’t so impressed by the flashy graphics.

7 Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Development Time: 5 Years (2015-2020)

Square Enix says Final Fantasy 7 Remake was in the works for five years. That might sound like a long time, but considering how long fans had been begging for an FF7 remake, it actually wasn’t so bad. Square Enix spent their time well, turning one of the PS1’s most timeless RPGs into something new and exciting while respecting its legacy.

The company could have settled for a new HD coat of paint and a handful of modernizations and plenty of fans would have been grateful enough. Instead, the developers decided to get all experimental. The game’s combat was completely reimagined from the ground up and made real-time, the story was massively reworked, and Unreal Engine 4 was used to make everything eye-wateringly pretty. Perhaps most controversially, the original game was chopped up into three pieces, and fans were promised episodic releases with lengthy waits in between. In an age of half-hearted HD remasters and wonky “remakes”, the ambitious nature of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and its sequels should be admired, even if not all fans are happy with the changes made. The sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, took around three years to make, while the currently untitled third installment is still a ways off.

6 Final Fantasy 12

Development Time: 5 Years (2000-2006)

In a world where we’re still waiting for Grand Theft Auto 6 to release, it’s hard to believe Final Fantasy 12 once held the record for the longest development time. These days, five years isn’t all that long, but back in 2006, it was a real cause for concern. From development woes to an ambitious scope, there was good cause for such a lengthy development cycle.

For a start, Final Fantasy 12 had some of the best graphics of its era and showed what the PS2 was capable of. This was especially impressive considering the game also incorporated open-world elements, changing seasons, and a real-time battle system, all firsts for the franchise. Behind the scenes, it wasn’t all smooth sailing either. The original director, Yasumi Matsuno, left halfway through, which led to a fair amount of disruption. This was made worse by the fact that the newly formed/forming Square Enix corporate leadership kept interfering, demanding changes be made to make the game more attractive globally. Impressively, despite these issues and the technical challenges the game’s new mechanics introduced, Final Fantasy 12 is remembered as one of the best entries in the series.

5 Dragon Quest 11

Development Time: 5-6 Years (2013-2018)

Dragon Quest isn’t a franchise that reinvents itself as often as Final Fantasy, which can make explaining its long development times difficult. Besides the occasional evolution, like the late introduction of 3D models, the franchise has remained shockingly familiar since the first game was released back in 1986. Perhaps part of Dragon Quest 11’s lengthy development time can be put down to the fact it was one of Square Enix’s first Unreal Engine 4 games, something that would have come with a learning curve for the developers.

More likely, though, it was due to the studio’s commitment to quality. The game is easily one of the best mainline Dragon Quest games and long-time series veterans like Yugi Horii and Koichi Sugiyama dedicated themselves to making sure the game was worth the wait. The world map and its many locations were stunning, the game’s story is brilliant, and the turn-based battles are old-school but with modern twists. Sometimes good games just take a long time to make, no drama needed.

4 Final Fantasy 16

Development Time: Approximately 6 Years (2016-2023)

Development on Final Fantasy 16 most likely started soon after Final Fantasy 15 was released in 2016 and the game didn’t come out until 2023. That’s a long wait for fans of one of the JRPG franchises with the most games. Even worse, thanks to exclusivity deals with Sony, PC players had to wait until 2024 to get their hands on the game.

The reason for this long development is likely down to when it began. Final Fantasy 15 may have been released in 2016, but Square Enix kept supporting the game with DLC and updates for a good time after, suggesting Final Fantasy 16’s development didn’t jump straight into high gear. Development also began between console generations, meaning the developers had to keep up with evolving industry standards and new technology. Final Fantasy 16 is a graphically ambitious game and the team spent ages balancing its visuals while maintaining performance on the PS5. The game’s combat also took another, even bigger step away from Final Fantasy’s traditional combat to fully embrace top-end action RPG combat. Thankfully, the game didn’t disappoint. It was well-received by fans and critics upon release, justifying its lengthy development.

3 Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn

Development Time: Approximately 6 Years (2004-2010 and 2010-2013)

This one’s a little complicated. Work on the original version of Final Fantasy 14 began in late 2004, with the game being announced in 2009 and released in 2010. Despite taking almost six years to develop, the game was a massive critical and commercial failure. Traditionally, if an MMORPG or live-service game is a failure on this scale, it’s quickly shuttered, but Square Enix made the bold decision to rebuild the game from the ground up while supporting the current player base.

A new game engine was brought in that promised better performance and prettier visuals, while the server infrastructure was rebuilt to make the game more stable and responsive. The team also looked at other popular MMORPGs and redesigned the UI to make it more player-friendly, and also reworked the combat system, story, and quest structure. While all this was going on, the team continued to support the existing version of the game and even released content for it. When Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn launched in August 2013, fans were initially skeptical but quickly changed their minds. The relaunch was a massive success, and Final Fantasy 14 has gone from an abject failure to being one of the most popular and well-supported MMORPGs around.

2 Kingdom Hearts 3

Development Time: Approximately 6 Years (2013-2019)

Some people like to claim that Kingdom Hearts 3 took a whopping 13 years to make, but that’s not really accurate. While it’s true there’s a 13-year gap between Kingdom Hearts 3 and its predecessor, according to Square Enix, work on KH3 only began in 2013. Even then, that six-year span also includes the release of Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, so it’s safe to say the developers had plenty on their plate.

By all accounts, the development of KH3 wasn’t easy. Square Enix had a lot of big projects underway during this time and, apparently, the KH3 team was often short-staffed. This was a problem because they had big ambitions about what the game should be. Delays were also caused by the collaboration with Disney. Working with both Disney and Pixar meant a painful approval process, with both companies being sensitive to any changes being made to the stories and characters of their established properties. If that wasn’t bad enough, part way through the process, development switched from a proprietary engine to Unreal Engine 4, causing more headaches. Despite all these hurdles, the game’s dev team nailed it and Kingdom Hearts 3 was a big hit, well-received for its brilliant graphics, gameplay additions like Attraction Flow attacks, and its epic continuation of the franchise story.

1 Final Fantasy 15

Development Time: 10 Years (2006-2016)

The story behind Final Fantasy 15’s famously lengthy development is a long and messy one. The game was originally announced as Final Fantasy Versus 13 way back in 2006 as a spin-off of Final Fantasy 13, a game that didn’t come out until 2009. The original plan was to milk Final Fantasy 13 for all it was worth, and despite being the black sheep of the Final Fantasy family, it received two full sequels, but the Versus spin-off was canceled. In 2012, Square Enix took the game and rebranded it as the next mainline entry in the series. For the developers, that meant taking what they’d been working on for 6 years back to the drawing board. While some scenes and characters were repurposed, much of the content had to be scrapped and the story largely rewritten. At the same time, the original director, Tetsuya Nomura, was replaced, causing more confusion.

This reimagining of the title led to its release date being pushed back. Originally, it was due to be released on PS3 using the Crystal Tools Engine, but that was shifted to a PS4 and Xbox One release on the custom Luminous Engine. This handed the team even more work, a team that was already being stretched thin across several other Square Enix titles. Amazingly, they managed to drag Final Fantasy 15 out of development hell and into the light. Despite all the reworkings, the game was hugely ambitious, bringing a true open-world structure and innovative live-action combat to a mainline, numbered Final Fantasy entry for the first time. The game has what is considered one of the best combat systems in RPGs and went on to be a huge commercial success. Development hell has put an end to many promising games, but Final Fantasy 15 came out unscathed.