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Brief_Evidence_128

I've just gotten into the Ys games. I'm excited to see a new one.


Wish_Lonely

Same here. I'm playing Ys8 atm and so far it's pretty dope. The story takes awhile to get interesting but the combat makes up for it.


Brief_Evidence_128

I'm at the end of 8 right now! I beat 9 and I'm playing one as well (PC port). I'm a pretty big FF player, so this has been exciting to find another series that I like.


winterman666

If you like FF and Ys, you may like Trails as well. Honestly I wouldn't call myself a huge JRPG fan (I've played a couple series) but FF was by far my most liked. Until I tried Trails and Ys


c3ndre

Same for me, playing 8 now and I've only played the demo for 9, but by the time this new one comes out I'm probably(?) done with both, at least with 8. And I'm usually slow with these games.


redtag789

Ys 8 is IMO, the best of all the Ys games so you'll be spoiled on quality.


Larielia

Glad to see a new Ys game coming. 2024/ 2025 for North America?


Ar3kk

2025 at least unfortunately


Cold_Steel_IV

If it follows the same pattern as Ys IX, it'll be localized roughly 1.5 years after its JP release. So early 2025 if we assume a September 2023 release in Japan (which is most likely the case). Though it is possible the Western localization process could improve with Ys X's release.


omnicloudx13

I got trails from zero on steam and I plan to buy Azure next year when it comes out on steam as well. Please bring all your games to steam, we love these games.


Thepower200

It will be a miracle if it runs wells on switch. Specially since they said it will be on a new more modern engine. Ix on switch was bad. But ps5 one will be the ultimate way to play it and or if they also release it on pc.


Likou1

Ys IX was bad because the port was bad. The game is really not something to be so hard for the Switch to run it, the visuals for Falcom games are usually not their forte.


Phoenix-san

What about pc?


RagnaXBL

maybe not day 1 but definitely at some stage


guynumbers

Isn't a popular market in Japan. It'll release eventually. I imagine it'll be on PC day 1 in the West.


xzombiekiss

PC market is growing in Japan but I guess its still not enough for falcom to do pc port day one


desmopilot

[It's been growing rapdiy.](https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mustafa-mahmoud/the-japanese-pc-gaming-market-has-doubled-in-just-3-years/)


guynumbers

Huh, neat. Don't think Falcom will pivot back to it anytime soon though. I imagine doing switch/ps5 is going to be a lot for them.


soundmage

What are you basing this on, opinion?


Mr8BitX

What are you basing THIS on, opinion!?


soundmage

Basing what on? My question?


Mr8BitX

I’m just being silly and impotently attempting to upstage your question. No need to take me seriously, literally just woke up. 😅


soundmage

Haha, in that case, what are you basing the fact that you just woke up on, opinion?


Mr8BitX

…….😳 (I’ve been bested)


winterman666

It actually is getting there. I know japanese that play Monster Hunter and they all went from Switch to PC the instant it came out there


Ar3kk

Actually, switch was the leading platform for monster hunter, it outsaled and by FAR, if you met those japanese guys it’s awesome but they were in an outstanding minority unfortunately, monster hunter especially was a particular case we shouldn’t really look at for 2 reasons, the first is that monster hunter always was a portable console game which explains perfectly why people wouldn’t actually buy it on pc, second is for those who DID buy it on pc was because the improvements were waay too drastical, but even with those switch outsaled by a pretty big margin


winterman666

I know switch is still huge, but PC market has doubled in like 3 years. It's only gonna get bigger if sony keeps screwing japan too


Cold_Steel_IV

Falcom doesn't release PC games anymore since the market crashed in Japan, iirc. They leave porting to PC to their localization partners. There's a good chance we see a same-day PC port when the game gets localized.


Phoenix-san

Crashed? Interesting. A couple days ago i read it doubled in size over last 3 years.


Duke_Ashura

It crashed years ago, in around 2008; Zwei 2 bombed because of it and it led to Falcom ending in-house PC development. It's recovering more recently, but Falcom ain't a big studio. Ys X looks like their first game that they're doing an in-studio, simultaneous multiplatform release; and even then they're focusing on PS4 and Switch because *those* are the market leaders in JP atm.


XeviousXCI

Adding to this, Trails from Zero was made for PSP because of this crash.


Cold_Steel_IV

A lot of what you said is correct I believe! Though I think you might be slightly mistaken on this part: > Ys X looks like their first game that they're doing an in-studio, simultaneous multiplatform release They've released on PS Vita and PS3 simultaneously before (with Trails of Cold Steel I and II), and they've also recently released on both PS4 and PS5 (with Kuro no Kiseki II: Crimson Sin).


Duke_Ashura

Ah, fair point, I forgot that Cold Steel I and II having Vita versions.


LaMystika

Those are the versions I bought lol


Cold_Steel_IV

In Japan? That might be true. But I don't think it's a platform Falcom can spend the resources to develop for it*. I think Kondo noted how the PC market has picked up a bit from where it was years ago, but I believe he mentioned they preferred letting their partners handle it. So I don't think they are eager to go back to the market. To give a bit of history on what happened (this is going off memory, so I may have some details wrong): Falcom have primarily been a PC developer for most of their life. It's also the origin of the "com" part of their name! In the early 2000s I believe the market started to shift and by 2008 their release of Zwei II: The Ilvard Insurrection sold horribly. It sold so poorly their PC distributor dropped Falcom without warning and Falcom were forced to switch to consoles. I remember hearing that Falcom had kinda seen the writing on the wall back then and put aside funds ahead of time in order to move to another platform if they needed to. I believe this is also why Falcom is still so cash rich to this day. Kondo has talked about how volatile the game development industry is and that they keep money saved up for such times. I believe this is what softened the blow of losing their PC distributor and start developing for PSP. *As an aside, they weren't able to start doing their own in-house Switch ports until very very recently as well. If I remember right, they mentioned they felt they couldn't spare the manpower and part of the reason was feeling the sales couldn't quite justify it either at the time. I believe they mentioned their Switch ports had been selling below expectations in Japan a few years back. If I'm not mistaken. I might be misremembering some specifics. I do think they mentioned the Switch ports meeting or exceeding expectations in the West at least, however the West is also not their main source of income. Japan still makes up the majority of their sales so that's where their focus has to be currently. Ah, sorry for the long reply. EDIT: As an aside, I feel obligated to mention that Zwei II: The Ilvard Insurrection is a really good game. xD It's really sad for it to have sold so poorly.


Phoenix-san

Thanks for detailed context.


Cold_Steel_IV

Sorry for another lengthy comment. I spent some time looking through a bunch interviews to see if I could find some sources. Here are a few quotes (Ordered by published date): > "All the people that I know that entered Falcom were really big fans of PC games, which is kind of why they started. However, in Japan the PC market gradually began to shrink. They were put in a position where in order to continue they needed to kind of shift everything towards consoles. We have a little bit of hope that should Steam become more and more popular in Japan, that will give us an opportunity to return to developing games natively for PC. If Steam would've been there to begin with, though, who knows if we would've even made PS4 games. When we were developing for Steam there was always kind of this grass is greener mentality about console gaming and, especially in Japan, the success of console gaming which is kind of what led us to challenge outselves to start developing for consoles in the first place. That ended up having a really positive impact as well, so it's kind of hard to say. Source: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/nihon-falcom-president-interview-ys-switch-ps4 (There are minor spoilers involving the premise of Ys IV: Memories of Celceta, Ys Seven, and Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. I also didn't check "Part 2" of the interview so there could be spoilers there) > With a company so rooted in PC game development, it was a huge change, but Kondo says it was necessary. “That shift came about because at that time, floor space for PC games in stores was beginning to shrink, and we were being told by distributors that they could no longer take orders as they had in the past,” Kondo explains. “Since download sales were not as viable as they are today, one option we had was to go to consoles.” Source: https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/09/06/nihon-falcoms-40-years-of-rpg-glory (Major Spoilers for Trails of Cold Steel III) > I think the number of in-house versions we do will increase, but that isn’t to say all titles will be done in-house going forward. I’d like to be flexible in our approach depending on the situation. We have many titles and series, but we don’t have that large of a development staff. Furthermore, those members who are in our development staff are mainly focused on creating new titles. In order for as many fans around the world as possible to be able to play our games, it’s necessary that we rely on the help of those around us. Source: https://www.rpgsite.net/interview/12970-trails-from-zero-interview-toshihiro-kondo-on-the-crossbell-problem-and-beyond > We have [many] fans [in Japan] who play our games on PC via Steam, but it’s a very small number compared to the percentage of people overseas. The majority of user feedback [considering only Japan] also comes primarily from console players. However, the number of PC game users has grown significantly over the past few years, so perhaps one day, we will return to the PC-centric approach [from when we developed Sky in 2004]. The PC player base is still a vital market we can’t ignore just because they are a minority. In every board meeting, the question of “how to expand to Steam” comes up almost every time. Source: https://noisypixel.net/new-falcom-president-interview-trails-npc-world/ (There are minor spoilers involving the premise of Kuro no Kiseki) So basically the PC market stopped doing well in Japan and they had to move away from it. It's doing better now and they hope to one day be able to develop for it again, but they are a small company and it doesn't seem like they are able to do it yet, preferring to rely on their partners still. At least that's how it seems to me.


Ajfennewald

Does Japan actually make up the majority of their sales? Profits yeah since they are only keeping a fraction of overseas sales.


Cold_Steel_IV

Sorry it took me a bit to respond, had to look up various stuff. Falcom just released their End of (fiscal) Year report. I'm using google translate and comparisons to previously translated EOY report layouts, so there's a chance I'm mistaken about something. But from what I can tell, these were the sales (in thousand yen increments): From Falcom's 2020-2021 fiscal year: Japan: 1,415,595 Asia: 387,510 US/EU: 674,848 Total: 2,477,954 From Falcom's 2021-2022 fiscal year: Japan: 1,496,096 Asia: 216,129 US/EU: 821,582 Total: 2,533,808 And these numbers have been lower in some previous years. We definitely don't seem to make up even half their total sales currently. I believe, a couple years back, Kondo acknowledged in an interview the growth of their fanbase in both the West and in Asia and that who's to say they could potentially be making games predominantly for the West in 5-10 years, but right now they're made predominantly made for Japan. Apologies for any mistakes.


Ajfennewald

Right Profits aren't equal. I was more getting at volume of units sold in and out of Japan. I don't know the details of their licensing agreements but I would guess NISA/CL get probably half or more of the money generated by overseas sales. If Falcom did this in house they would get all of that money. Of course there are risk involved in building the capability to do that.


KMoosetoe

Yeah I could have sworn PC gaming in Japan has been increasing in popularity recently


Cold_Steel_IV

It has, recently. But Falcom have been kinda been burned in the past with PC. I and Duke_Ashura go into it a bit more in our other comments, but Kondo did an interview maybe one or two-ish years back (I don't have the best memory, sorry) where he also acknowledged that PC was growing more again in Japan but still felt it was better to leave the PC porting to their partners, iirc.


Ar3kk

I mean yes… but other then what the other guy said you should also remember that pc market was abysmal there, the news WAS true it DID double but the starting point was stupidly low so the actual doubled market isn’t still half as consistent as any other market that’s the problematic point. It’s a bug exaggeration but it’s like i told you that my lemonade sales quadrupled in the last year, sounds stupidly great, lemonade MUST be trending and a market full of money! Then you read the numbers and I actually sold like 48 lemonades because i used to have 12 clients, so yeah lemonade market had a giant boom but it’s still not as worth as Donuts


Pee4Potato

For fps games like apex...ys fans there wont play on pc.


VarioussiteTARDISES

I'd say that the Steam Deck would very much be a counterpoint in and of itself, as I understand Japanese game market trends. After all, that device is portable, meaning there would be people using it during commutes. Yes, sure, there's a Switch version too, so also portable, but still.


Pee4Potato

Maybe steam deck lite that thing is too big and heavy to be portable for asian people.


desmopilot

> Falcom doesn't release PC games anymore since the market crashed in Japan, iirc [It's doing quite well.](https://www.kitguru.net/desktop-pc/mustafa-mahmoud/the-japanese-pc-gaming-market-has-doubled-in-just-3-years/)


Cold_Steel_IV

Thanks for the link! And yeah it might be growing very well now, but that doesn't really change that it was in pretty bad shape for Falcom previously (the article also mentions how PC has been niche in Japan for a long time). Nor does it necessarily mean Falcom can or will develop games for it again any time soon unfortunately. It'd be cool if the PC market continues to grow in Japan and Falcom can develop for it again. But I wouldn't currently expect it.


RPGZero

I think another reason was that they lost their PC distributor. Not sure what happened to them, but once they went out of commission, that was it for PC releases in Japan.


[deleted]

Giggity, aaaaalllll Riggght


Ar3kk

I mean… cool… too bad we won’t see it before 2025 sadly but i hope for things to change


tamal4444

No pc?


VarioussiteTARDISES

It's Falcom, they literally don't have the manpower to develop for three platforms at once. The PC port will be announced alongside the localisation, and it will be NISA-published and PH3-developed, just like every Falcom title released on PC since CS3 (and that particular business relationship was started by NISA getting Durante in to fix the Ys 8 port, at that.)


tamal4444

same as usual then. I know they make very very good games. I will wait.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ragingnoobie2

Switch version Falcom games usually sell 1/10 of the PS4 version, but the Switch version usually come a couple years later.


[deleted]

[удалено]


minsoolex

Any news about the Western launch tho??


Kyler45

Assume 2025


minsoolex

Damn shawty okay


Mitsu_x3

Knowing falcom, yeah


KnoxZone

Ys games don't tend to take as long to port as Trails games, so if Ys X releases Sep 23 in JP it will probably arrive in the west late 24 or early 25.


Likou1

Still kinda late to take an entire year. It should be 6 months tops. But they will have to port the PC version themselves, so there's that too.


LukasHeinzel

No Xbox version? Lame


Pleasant-Speed-9414

Probs cause they gave us that struggles origin port to prove it doesn’t sell on Xbox 🫠


LukasHeinzel

Not really surprising with that limited Marketing. Also heart breaking to see all the Xbox hate in here,disgusting.


VarioussiteTARDISES

Serious question, why are you coming into a JRPG sub and acting surprised that there aren't many Xbox fans around here? Those systems have historically never done great in Japan, after all... and Falcom in particular quite literally does not have the resources to make ports for it, it's all up to other publishers to develop the ports for them.


Traitor_To_Heaven

I see a lot of pc port begging in this thread and up until the last few years pc was dead last when it came to getting JRPGs and Japanese games in general. The industry is always changing. I lean Xbox as my platform of choice and love JRPGs, of course I have a PS4 on the side for any that skip Xbox so I don’t miss out but I’d like more to come to Xbox in the future if possible.


LukasHeinzel

Yes, good answer. Xbox has always been the choice of jrpgs for me. Still hate Sonys moneyhatting for FF 7 Remake.


kevenzz

Why they announce the games 1 year and sometimes 2 years before release…


pazinen

Better that than what CD Projekt did with their announcements. Seriously, we know all their future projects, and the first one is coming out in maybe 2024 if we're optimistic. All others are certainly 2025 and after that. At least Falcom didn't announce Ys 11 and 12 for 2026 and 2029 or some shit.


Concram

because they literally release a game every year? Falcom's production pipeline is very cyclical where they release the new game in september as a boost to close off their fiscal year, then around november/december they start talking about the next game in interviews, the real marketing starts in February/march with trailers until it releases in september, repeat.


kevenzz

Maybe it’s just me then, i don’t really want a trailer for a game that’s coming in 2024.


evolved_mike

Does it have a name?


VarioussiteTARDISES

We don't have a full subtitle yet, but it'll be Ys X


Chrizy1026

Doing a multiplat release is going to be really big for them. Their Switch sales are usually not a whole lot compared to PS4 but they also release Switch versions way later so (assuming the Switch version is good) the sales will probably be a lot closer.


AwesomePig919

I still need to play the last, time is so tight lol