Square Enix files 'Forspoken,' 'A Hero's Bonds' trademarks

Update: In an Impress Watch interview released November 25th, Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida confirmed “Forspoken” was not the name of the new expansion.

Square Enix recently filed a new trademark for a ‘Forspoken’ title, sending off a wave of speculation that it may pertain to Final Fantasy XIV‘s next expansion. What makes this particularly notable is that each of the game’s previous expansions have had their titles trademarked in advance of their announcement. The company also trademarked ‘A Hero’s Bonds,’ which doesn’t follow the naming conventions… if you were to leave out ‘A Realm Reborn’ perhaps. What’s more: it may pertain to another game — Final Fantasy XVI or the tentatively titled “Project Athia” springs to mind, though that may be a long way off yet.

Either way, as the Shadowbringers scenario came to a close in Patch 5.3, many of the game’s faithful are looking ahead to the fourth expansion, that, should the cadence of previous launches persist, will release next summer. Typically this announcement would come at the game’s Fan Festival — but due to the COVID-19 pandemic shuttering all three events — it’s not easy to pin down when the reveal will come. However, in the last Letter from the Producer Live broadcast, the team did share that a that a special broadcast in February 2021 will share “new information” regarding Final Fantasy XIV, which may be an opportune time.

Before the new expansion, the game will release two more major patches — the first of which “Futures Rewritten” will release in early December. This update will shift the focus to the story ahead and will likely set up the events leading into the next expansion.

In more immediate news, the next interstitial patch will go live Tuesday, October 13th, and include the Bozja Citadel, Resistance Weapon quests, and new housing wards and subdivisions.

Final Fantasy XIV is now available on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Mac.


About the Author

Tony Garsow Tony joined Nova Crystallis in 2015, and has spent more than a decade writing in the Final Fantasy community. He also contributes to the Nova Crystallis Twitch and YouTube channels, where you can watch select gameplay highlights, previews, and streams.

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