As far as JRPGs go, the Xenosaga trilogy hasn't aged as gracefully as some other major franchises, but that hasn't stopped it from developing a dedicated cult following. That following's support helped Xenosaga developer Monolith Soft evolve, with the studio going on to develop the much more popular and critically acclaimed Xenoblade Chronicles series. Yet some fans still look back on Xenosaga with stars in their eyes, wondering whether Xenosaga might ever get the HD remaster treatment other classic JRPGs have.
The truth is that Bandai Namco is way ahead of the fans. According to Katsuhiro Harada, one of Bandai Namco's top game directors and producers, Xenosaga remasters were apparently in pre-production at one point. A Xenosaga fan messaged Harada about the possibility of a Xenosaga HD Collection on Twitter. Harada responded, saying "This actually progressed to the remaster's plan." From there, however, Harada only has bad news.
Harada's tweet continues, stating that the Xenosaga remastered ultimately "failed in a profitable market analysis." In other words, Bandai Namco's analysis determined that a Xenosaga remaster wouldn't be profitable. Or, at least, it wouldn't be profitable enough compared to other efforts at the company. As such, the project was presumably canceled before it even got into full production. There just aren't enough Xenosaga fans anymore to justify bringing the series back.
Harada puts the nails in the coffin for a Xenosaga HD remaster with his final comments on the matter. "Sorry guys, This plan will be difficult to resurface," is how Harada ends the tweet. That means that the profitability analysis was bad enough that Bandai Namco isn't likely to reconsider the possibility of a Xenosaga remaster. Unless Monolith Soft decides at some point in the future to revisit the Xenosaga franchise with Bandai Namco, the trilogy will remain locked to the PlayStation 2.
While Xenosaga's rejection for an HD remaster will be disappointing to fans, it's also unlikely to be surprising. The Xenosaga trilogy was released between 2002 and 2006, after all. And even when Xenosaga was new, it wasn't a notably successful game. Xenosaga 2 especially wasn't received particularly well. Compare that to Xenoblade Chronicles and its sequel, published by Nintendo, and it's understandable why every party involved with Xenosaga has already moved on.
The Xenosaga trilogy is available on PS2.