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Square Enix boss: It takes three releases for a series to take off

You can't judge the potential of a franchise based on just its first game, argues Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda: there's a "law of third titles."

Christian Nutt, Contributor

July 22, 2015

1 Min Read
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"Looking retrospectively at the gaming industry, many games take off or get their big break at their third title. ...you need at least three games before you can tell whether an IP is going to be really successful or not."

- Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda

In a new interview with Famitsu (translated in part by Kotaku) Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda says that the potential of a game franchise doesn't truly become apparent until its third release.

He calls it the "law of third titles."

This came up in reference to the company's new RPG franchise Project Setsuna, which is the first title from its new studio, Tokyo RPG Factory. The game was announced last month at E3.

The president rethought his stance on developing traditional RPGs after the Western success of Bravely Default for the 3DS, he said last year.

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