Amidst all of the claims of "it's still in development" and "we're ready to make an announcement soon" the thought still lingered in the back of gamers' minds that Final Fantasy Versus XIII might be a lot worse off then Square Enix was willing to let on. The troubled development of the project dates back to its announcement alongside Final Fantasy XIII, a title that has since not only released but supported a sequel, and in all honesty has not improved much since then — and now comes a rumor that puts the nail in Final Fantasy Versus XIII's coffin.

According to the source, Square Enix has quietly cancelled Final Fantasy Versus XIII and has no plans of announcing the cancellation to the public. Rather than have to face the music, they apparently will take most or all of the work done on Versus and roll it into some future project, most likely Final Fantasy XV.

At this point it was probably best for Squre Enix to cut their losses and try to get some traction on another project. Yes, the concept of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, a world very independent of the one featured in the 13 and its sequel, was intriguing, but the prolonged development gave us the impression the game's initial announcement was a little premature.

This, of course, opens Square Enix up to future Final Fantasy projects, one of which may or may not be a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2. We all know that 13-2 ended with quite the frustrating cliffhanger, but the impression given by Square was that DLC would conclude that story nicely. Unfortunately that isn't the case, and therefore an imminent announcement of Final Fantasy XIII-3 seems very likely.

To add a little more fuel to the fire, it appears that Square Enix has a Final Fantasy 13 related announcement slated for their 25th Anniversary festivities, which is meant to celebrate the illustrious lifespan of the popular RPG franchise. It's entirely possible that the announcement is in relation to more DLC for 13-2 but our money is on Square Enix milking the current engine and assets for as long as they can.

Are you disappointed to learn that Final Fantasy Versus XIII is cancelled? Is there anyone out there who would prefer a 13-3 to a fully-fledged Final Fantasy 15?

Source: Game Informer