A report on the website of Japanese daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) today confirmed the development of a still untitled next-generation MMORPG at Square Enix. Aimed at succeeding the company's popular flagship MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, the game is scheduled to be released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PCs running Microsoft's upcoming operation system Windows Vista. Additional information was not provided.

Final Fantasy XI producer Hiromichi Tanaka, whose team will be responsible for the development of the next-generation MMORPG, first mentioned the title in an interview earlier this year. The producer back then however only mentioned PlayStation 3 and PC as the game's target platforms.

During Square Enix's annual results conference in May president Youichi Wada acknowledged his company's problem with producing another hit MMORPG after Final Fantasy XI. Apparently, Front Mission Online, the Japanese version of EverQuest II, and Fantasy Earth: Ring of Dominion did not all live up to the company's expectations. Since Wada also mentioned that fans and investors should not expect the release of new blockbuster MMORPG during the current fiscal year, it is safe to say that the next-generation MMORPG will only be available after April 2007.

• Nikkei Net