Japanese veteran Nihon Falcom Corporation – also known simply as 'Falcom' – has stated its intention to start developing Nintendo Switch software in-house, rather than farming it out to external companies.
The news was part of Falcom's latest financial results briefing, which also revealed that the company has big plans to mark the 35th birthday of its popular Ys series.
Falcom's titles on Switch have traditionally been ports and remasters of existing games, developed by Clouded Leopard Entertainment and Nippon Ichi Software. The first game to be developed in-house will be The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails, a port of the 2012 PSP spin-off that is expected to hit Switch in 2023.
On top of that, it was revealed that a new entry in the Trails series – which has sold six million copies worldwide – will be coming in 2022.
Falcom also said that it will be pushing forward with multiplatform development, bringing games to consoles, PC, and smartphones. It expects the audience for this to extend outside of its native Japan into North America, Europe, and Asia. It was also stated that the company will leverage its existing IPs to 'challenge' itself by producing new instalments in its franchises.
Falcom was founded in 1981 and initially focused on RPGs for Japanese personal computers like the PC-8801 and Sharp X1. As well as its Ys and Trails series, Falcom is also responsible for series such as Dragon Slayer and Brandish.
Previous Falcom games for Switch include Ys Origin, Ys VIII and Trails of Cold Steel III.
[source falcom.co.jp, via nintendoenthusiast.com]
Comments 31
Those out-house developers sure gave them a crappy impression, huh?
Excellent news - sounds like they're prioritising the Switch some more. Still holding out a glimmer of hope for Tokyo Xanadu 2. Perhaps I'm just deluded.
Nihon Falcon still sees a significant majority (60-80%) of their sales from Japan + Asia, where PS5 software struggles to sell. They are moving toward where the market is heading, which is to Nintendo.
I hope they bring the older Ys games to Switch!
I find it so annoying that only the final two Cold Steel games are on Switch in English.
It looks like a fun series but I've heard you really want to start from the first one for plot reasons.
It’s not the production of Falcom games holding things back on Switch, but the localisation. Be good if they bought the rights off Xseed for ToCS I and II.
Hopefully that means that whatever comes out next won't be a technical dumpster fire like YS IX was. The game would be 10/10 for me if it worked properly.
@Kanbei Would love that, Ys Books 1 & 2 in particular as the soundtrack is amazing.
I adore this developer!! They aren't as "edgy" as a lot of Atlus games and for my mind they have an anime style that is similar in spirit to what anime was like in the 90's. It's never obtrusive and I just love it all.
This is very good news
Glad Falcom finally buckled. If they're moving development in-house, it probably means these Switch ports have sold better than expected, given their former loyalty to Sony.
From this article I now have more hope that these games will come to Xbox! It’s a long shot but with Microsoft’s push for more Japanese games it’s not impossible.
Ys VIII is a really good game and if I had more time I would get into the Trails series (especially since I purchased all of them). Falcom is pretty awesome.
As a fan of Falcom games.....I can't wait!! <3
@Kanbei Me too. The older Ys games are a ton of fun, and would probably run really, really well on the Switch.
Falcom has a vast back-catalog of games to mine. Too bad they rarely bother porting older stuff unless it's a full-on remake.
Ys V remake next please
I wish they released a collection of I-VII. Even if they have to do it in 2 parts. But VIII is too expensive on Switch due to the small number of copies and IX turned out to be a bad port apparently, so I guess the Switch won't be the system I'll play the series in.
I guess the sales on Switch are getting too big to ignore now.
Also ports to Xbox would seem to be a no brainer, there is money to be had with game pass deals. More people playing is better for everyone.
@Moroboshi876 If you have any love for the series then the problems with YS IX are easy enough to over look!
I played it for like 50 hours over 3 weeks it was terrific
@Moroboshi876 Honestly if you're a fan of the series I wouldn't skip IX. Yes the Switch port drops FPS quite a lot and overall the game is pretty buggy but it's also probably the best game in the series in every other aspect in my opinion.
Awesome! I've been playing the Trails games on PC and have been having a good time. Hope the ports for the Switch continue to improve. Ys VIII ran just enough on Switch to appreciate a 10/10 game without the graphics being a distraction but definitely could be better.
@SigmaNoire Then let's hope they do release those collections to catch up!
Porting some of the older Ys and Trails games for Switch would be nice.
That's pretty huge. This comes, what, 2 years after they stated they're going to focus exclusively on Playstation because that's what they know? How things change in 2 years.
Unfortunately the terribleness of Ys9 on Switch is probably not the NIS's fault and is Falcom itself, considering the game can get janky even on PS5....
Really enjoying the Trails of Cold Steel games. Would definitely recommend them to people who enjoy JRPGs. And I’d strongly recommend against jumping in at no. 3, you’d miss so much of the plot and character development from 1 and 2 (which are both awesome games).
My main hope is the localisation process speeds up. The Falcom games are great, Ys games included. It’s frustrating that Japan are now 2 games ahead of us in the Legend of Heroes series!
the Trails series has only sold six million copies so far? That's kinda low.
Still waiting for TOCS 1-2 on the switch
Nice! They can start bringing Trails of Cold Steel 1 and 2 to the West XD, please, and then the Trails of the Sky saga and other Ys games.
Thank you Falcom!
Very good news. I'd love more decent ports of the Ys series - I LOVED Ys VIII - and I do have some interest in ToCS...though I'd like the first two games to hit the system since it's a plot-heavy series.
Also, what exactly is this Legend Of Nayuta spinoff? I might be interested if it's a standalone title.
With the decline of Trails sales with the last game I’m not surprised
They finally buckled, guess they didn’t know their audience as well as they thought.
That top image has me wishing Trails in the Sky would get ported to modern consoles. As well as Ys: Oath in Felghana, Ys 1+2 Chronicles, Ys Seven, Ys 6: The Ark of Napishtim, (the good PC version, not the PS2 version with the nails on chalkboard voice acting) etc. etc. etc. Or I can be patient and wait for my Steam Deck. But I'll gladly buy all those games again. Maybe again and again.
Man, Falcom and Rockstar were two companies that really didn't want to play nice in the sandbox with Nintendo.
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