The latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (which reached my mailbox today) tells us Square Enix‘s next-generation MMO will be revealed at E3 2009.
“Sctuttlebutt around the industry suggests that Square enix will finally unveil the follow-up to their almost 7-year-old masively multiplayer online RPG, Final Fantasy XI, at this June’s E3 convention in Los Angeles.”
The upcoming MMO will not replace Final Fantasy XI, as it is meant to coexist with the already released MMO.
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XI producer Hiromichi Tanaka says that “the next-generation MMO that we’re working on is going to be different than Final Fantasy XI. And even though we have the same staff working on the project, we’re not going to make something that’ll be exactly like FFXI.”
We think it’s Rapture (concept image above), which was revealed in 2006 by the same producer and announced to target thte Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC at GDC 2008. It makes the most sense, that is, unless they’re working on two MMOs, which is probably out of the question.
[RX For Square Enix’s Next MMO] EGM