Theory on why Square-Enix will not make another Chrono game

[XisZ]

Well, hello there ChronoCompendium.

First off- I would like to say that this is my first post, and im liking the site alot.
Next, I would like to state that I will be using this forum often enough to fill the boredom in my life


Let's begin the topic though.



Look at the Chrono Trigger release history.

Chrono Trigger
Japan - March 11, 1995
North America - August 22, 1995

Radical Dreamers
Japan - June 1, 1996

Final Fantasy Chronicles
Japan - November 2, 1999
North America - June 29, 2001

Chrono Cross
Japan -  November 18, 1999
North America -  August 15, 2000


So the Chrono timeline exist from March 11th 1995, to June 29th 2001.
Or in time format 6 Years - 3 Months - 18 Days.

Now, that seems pretty much like a great run for an RPG series.


So let us take a look at sales.

Chrono Trigger - 2,350,000 In Japan, 300,000 In America
Radical Dreamers - ??? (Unkown, Could not find any resources)
Final Fantasy Chronicles - 1,400,000 Copies Sold (U.S. & Japan...added together)
Chrono Cross - approx. 1,500,000 Copies sold (U.S. & Japan...added together)


Now compare this...

Final Fantasy XII has been out in Japan for 1 year now, and has hit 2,500,000 Sales
Final Fantasy XII has been out in U.S.A. for 2 Weeks now, and has hit 1,500,000 Sales

That comes to a total of 4,000,000 copies sold!


Lets add together ALL total sales EVER for ALL Chrono Games

2,650,000
1,400,000
1,500,000
==========
5,550,000


So in a matter of 1 year in one country, and 2 weeks in another- FFXII managed to almost destroy the entire sales of the entire Chrono series.




So, could this be enough reason alone to get Chrono canceled?

[Glennleo]

300,000 In America

Wow. That number surprised me. If more people were exposed to Chrono Trigger in the states I would think another Chrono game would be a huge success. Too bad there aren't enough die hard fans to push for a new game. Although Cross did much better with 1,500,000, so who's to say really.

[ZeaLitY]

This is why Square makes Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. They can always bring in independent developers to do a Chrono game under their license. They don't personally do a lot of the smaller projects themselves, but they still profit from them. 1.5 million is a respectable number for sales, so if they could hire Monolith Soft or at least find the resources, it'd be a decent investment.

[Lord J Esq]

So, could this be enough reason alone to get Chrono canceled?

No, not alone. It is a fallacy to expect all units of a set to perform according to the best unit in the set. If all games were approved or canceled by being compared to their sales with respect to Final Fantasy, the entire video game market would consist of merely a couple dozen games.

Companies might wish that all their games did so well, but they are reasonable enough to understand that this will not be the case.

[XisZ]

They can always bring in independent developers to do a Chrono game under their license.

True, they can.

But now think of this...


Will the game be any good at all if not made by the actual Chrono Dream Team?



In my honest opinion, I would say that is like having a sandwich without the bread.

You have the meat & cheese you wanted....but it's just not satisfactory.
erm...

In better terms, you get your story closed (or opened to a newer and bigger one)...but it dosn't feel right

[ZeaLitY]

None of the Chrono Trigger Dream Team worked on Chrono Cross. If no one else from the other games were able to work on Chrono Break, the only people we'd absolutely need are Masato Kato and Yasunori Mitsuda. Kato is with Square Enix again and Mitsuda is freelance, so he could be signed on at will.

[Matt72]

I think the video game industry has grown since CT came out and people would probaly be more attracted to the new graphics of today.

[Shinrin]

I remember that Chrono Trigger used to cost alot of money on the SNES, like 80 bucks, so yeah... not alot of people are gonna pay that much for a game, unless you tried the game already.

[gpXZ]

Lol, you cant compare a game of last generation like FFXII with a game from 1995

The player market is alot bigger

I am sure 2,6mi was a good number for that times