As far as JRPGs go, theXenosagatrilogy 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 helpedXenosagadeveloper Monolith Soft evolve, with the studio going on to develop the much more popular and critically acclaimedXenoblade Chroniclesseries. Yet some fans still look back onXenosagawith stars in their eyes, wondering whetherXenosagamight 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,Xenosagaremasters were apparently in pre-production at one point. AXenosagafan messaged Harada about thepossibility of aXenosaga HD Collectionon Twitter. Harada responded, saying “This actually progressed to the remaster’s plan.” From there, however, Harada only has bad news.
RELATED:Xenoblade Developer Wants to Create M-Rated Game for Switch
Harada’s tweet continues, stating that theXenosagaremastered ultimately “failed in a profitable market analysis.” In other words, Bandai Namco’s analysis determined that aXenosagaremaster 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 enoughXenosagafans anymore to justify bringing the series back.
Harada puts the nails in the coffin for aXenosagaHD 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 aXenosagaremaster. Unless Monolith Soft decides at some point in the future torevisit theXenosagafranchisewith Bandai Namco, the trilogy will remain locked to the PlayStation 2.
WhileXenosaga’s rejection for anHD remasterwill be disappointing to fans, it’s also unlikely to be surprising. TheXenosagatrilogy was released between 2002 and 2006, after all. And even whenXenosagawas new, it wasn’t a notably successful game.Xenosaga 2especially wasn’t received particularly well. Compare that toXenoblade Chroniclesand its sequel, published by Nintendo, and it’s understandable why every party involved withXenosagahas already moved on.
MORE:The 10 Best Video Game Remakes And Remasters
