Square Enix has a lot going on for itself right now, thanks to the likes of Final Fantasy 16 and the recently revealed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but even among these installations in Square Enix's dominant RPG series, Forspoken feels special. Frey Holland's story is unlike anything Final Fantasy has offered before, thanks to its direct connections to the real world and her lonely role as the sole hero, and its magical combat promise a unique gameplay experience too. Unfortunately, Forspoken has languished in development somewhat due to a series of delays holding it back from a reliable release date.
Delays are nothing new in the game industry; on the contrary, it seems like every developer of note has had to delay something recently. To name only a few huge examples, Nintendo moved the Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel out of 2022, and Bethesda's Starfield will also keep fans waiting until 2023. Still, Forspoken's case feels different, since it's the first entry in an entirely new IP for the young studio Luminous Productions. In order to make up for the hardships Forspoken has faced, Square Enix needs to come out of the gates swinging to promote the game when it hopefully releases next January.
Forspoken Has Had a Tough Journey
Fans of Forspoken thought that they'd be playing the game by now. Luminous and Square Enix originally planned to release it in May 2022, but it was delayed into October. Unfortunately, well before October came around, Luminous and Square Enix announced another Forspoken delay, pushing the game back into 2023. Luminous has suggested that this second delay was for the sake of polish, but it may also have had something to do with the major RPGs and action-adventure games still planning to release this year. God of War: Ragnarok may be a very different game from Forspoken, for instance, but its name power alone would make it a massive competitor for Luminous' game.
Between multiple delays and major competition, it seems like Forspoken just can't catch a break. It would be great if the game could release in a lull between games in its genre, but considering how popular RPGs are right now, the new IP is simply going to have to do its best to fight for a place in the market. Luckily, it has the backing to do that. Luminous Productions may be a new studio, but it's a Square Enix subsidiary, meaning Forspoken has the backing of one of the game industry's biggest names.
Forspoken Deserves a Big Launch
Square Enix should put as many resources as it can spare into the release of Forspoken. Its upcoming Final Fantasy games won't release until much later in 2023, so it has room to tout Frey Holland's story in January. Square Enix needs to claim as much advertising space for Forspoken in the holiday season and January as it can; Forspoken may not be releasing in the holiday season, but it would still be a great time to encourage fans to pre-order the game, if that's on the table.
Aside from broadly advertising the game, the months leading up to Forspoken's launch would be a great time to unveil a few more valuable details about the game. Luminous Productions could spotlight previously unseen characters, offer new insight into combat, reveal locations that Frey can visit, and so on. It'll have to be careful not to spoil all the story details of Forspoken, of course, but a little transparency can go a long way for a new IP trying to make a name for itself. Selling the world of Forspoken tactfully but aggressively before its launch could make up for the difficulty the game has faced lately and help it get to the explosive launch that it needs in order to become a central part of the Square Enix library.
Forspoken releases January 24, 2023 for PC and PS5.