Chatter seemingly springing up in the German online gaming community claims RPG behemoth Square Enix is set to announce that it will sell off two franchises to third-parties - Kingdom Hearts and Mana - news so bizarre it might actually be true.
Website Wunderlampe made the original claims that were then backed up by long-standing outlet GameFront. The original story offered no detail at all and simply stated that two franchises would be sold off in the coming months.
However, Gamefront moots that Kingdom Hearts might be going to Disney's in-house studio Fall Line (which of course makes sense given the game is based around Disney characters and other select IP).
The other franchise claimed to be on the block is Square's Mana, a beloved action RPG from the SNES era that has suffered some lacklustre reworks in recent years on Nintendo portables. Mana's potential buyer was not mentioned.
The speculation has created a gossipgasm amongst SE's intensely dedicated fanbase, which finds itself mulling the possibility of the entire Square Enix catalogue being snipped and sold off. Many have named the Chrono series as a potential quick win, with others looking to more obscure properties including the fantastic Parasite Eve...
SPOnG spoke with a Square Enix rep in the UK this morning who simply told us, "We're not sure how these reports surfaced and we don't comment on rumour or speculation."
We'll monitor the situation closely and keep you updated with any developments.
Website Wunderlampe made the original claims that were then backed up by long-standing outlet GameFront. The original story offered no detail at all and simply stated that two franchises would be sold off in the coming months.
However, Gamefront moots that Kingdom Hearts might be going to Disney's in-house studio Fall Line (which of course makes sense given the game is based around Disney characters and other select IP).
The other franchise claimed to be on the block is Square's Mana, a beloved action RPG from the SNES era that has suffered some lacklustre reworks in recent years on Nintendo portables. Mana's potential buyer was not mentioned.
The speculation has created a gossipgasm amongst SE's intensely dedicated fanbase, which finds itself mulling the possibility of the entire Square Enix catalogue being snipped and sold off. Many have named the Chrono series as a potential quick win, with others looking to more obscure properties including the fantastic Parasite Eve...
SPOnG spoke with a Square Enix rep in the UK this morning who simply told us, "We're not sure how these reports surfaced and we don't comment on rumour or speculation."
We'll monitor the situation closely and keep you updated with any developments.
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Comments
Joji 16 Jan 2007 10:19
1/1
I don't like this idea at all, if its true. Kingdom Hearts in the hands of Disney alone, would have any kind of decent thing we like in an rpg thrown out, and done the fluffy wuffy Disney way.
Selling off stuff like Chrono and Mana is also bad news if true. Don't do it Square..!
Selling off stuff like Chrono and Mana is also bad news if true. Don't do it Square..!