A recent interview with Monolith Soft suggests more Xenoblade Chronicles games will happen – but is that really going to be the case?
Up to this point, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has been largely viewed as the end of a trilogy. Director Tetsuya Takahashi had previously stated that the game was to combine the worlds of the first two games for a brand new story. Which seems like a fantastic way to cap off the trilogy.
However, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 producer Genki Yokota has made it seem like that won't be the case. In an Ask the Developer interview on Nintendo's website, Yokota responded to the question of whether the Xenoblade Chronicles series will continue, saying: "Yes, it will still go on! I want to keep it going as long as possible!"
In the same interview, Yokota also confirmed that Xenoblade Chronicles 3's story DLC will likely be as large as the previous game's expansion – Torna: The Golden Country. If that checks out, then Xenoblade Chronicles 3's DLC will likely take between 20 - 30 hours to complete.
If Yokota is to be believed, then Xenoblade Chronicles is here to stay. But I don't think that means Xenoblade Chronicles 4 is set in stone...
More Xenoblade Chronicles to come?
At face value, Yokota's comments could read like Xenoblade Chronicles 4 will eventually happen. But is that really going to happen?
I don't doubt that Monolith Soft will continue to make excellent games. But they may not necessarily bear the Xenoblade Chronicles name. That's because the Xeno series in its entirety has been around for decades. It started with Xenogears on PS1, and continued with the Xenosaga trilogy on PS2.
I expect that more Xeno games will come in future. But not necessarily with that 'blade' suffix. I think it's more likely we get a new set of games that's part of the overarching Xeno franchise.
That, or we get some Xenoblade spin-offs. A Xenoblade Warriors game would be top of my list in that case. In recent years, Omega Force has proved its prowess with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes. So I think the developer is well-positioned to bring its signature hack 'n' slash combat to the Xenoblade universe.
Ultimately, I think Monolith Soft's next game will launch on whatever the successor to the Nintendo Switch will be. The developer's talent for awe-inspiring scale is begging to be unleashed on more powerful hardware. What better time, then, to begin a brand new series under the Xeno banner?
Only time will tell, of course. Perhaps Xenoblade Chronicles 4 will eventually exist. But given that the recently released third game seems to wrap up the series' story quite succinctly, I'd honestly be surprised if it was that over something entirely new.
