Development on next-gen RPG Final Fantasy XV is coming along well, series producer Yoshinori Kitase has suggested, telling VideoGamer.com that the game is "quite far into development" and has been given a "very high priority" status by Square Enix. "We can't give too much information but certainly looking at Final Fantasy XV, it's not as if it's in competition with Kingdom Hearts 3 for resources or anything like that," Kitase said when asked for an update on the two games earlier this week. "It's quite far into development now and it is being given a very high priority within the company itself, but that doesn't mean Kingdom Hearts isn't."

Both games were formally announced at E3 last year, with Final Fantasy XV having originally been revealed as Final Fantasy Versus XIII way back in 2006. But despite the name change the story doesn't appear to have seen too many alterations, with the game still "underpinned" by the same Fabulla Nova Crystallis mythology as the Final Fantasy XIII series. "Right from the start when we first it announced it as Versus XIII, the game itself was backed up by the same Crystal legend: the Fabulla Nova Crystallis mythology that underpins the whole of the XIII series," adds Kitase. "So even though it's not necessarily the same universe or the same game, they're all linked and underpinned by the backdrop of that legend. Now it's moved on - obviously the title's been changed to Final Fantasy XV - but that hasn't actually changed. The story and the world is still going to be linked and backed up by that. So yes, there is the link between XIII and XV, and they both share that mythology as a backdrop and a starting point."