There was a huge outcry when Mistwalker revealed their next big game, Terra Battle, was coming to smartphones. However, as Hironobu Sakaguchi explains, it should not be seen as Mistwalker going turncoat on consoles.
In fact, as Sakaguchi points out, they used to work with hardware companies (AKA, Xbox and Nintendo) on bigger projects, but it has simply become harder for them to do this. Implicit in this statement is that Mistwalker has had difficulty getting contract from either company, or Sony or any others, and in the meantime the staff, which comprises of much of what used to be Final Fantasy’s core team, are looking for other opportunities.
With this in mind, Sakaguchi sought to give his staff a project fitting the studio’s smaller size. Their first attempt at this was Party Wave, Mistwalker’s and Sakaguchi’s first mobile game.
Unfortunately, Party Wave was a dud, and so for many reasons, it took them a long time to try again. With Terra Battle, Sakaguchi and Mistwalker is hoping to find the success they need to raise the money to make a new console game again, and in the meantime, possibly bring this game to consoles.
