In an interview, Marvelous staff member Shiro Maekawa states that possible remakes of the first two entries in the Rune Factory series may be possible. Not only that, but he also gave a few details about what to expect for the next mainline entry in the series. Rune Factory has seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years, with Rune Factory 4 Special, an enhanced port of the fourth game, being released on Nintendo Switch and other platforms afterward. This was followed up with a completely brand-new entry in the series, that being Rune Factory 5, which released earlier this year too.
With the successful performances of both these titles, Marvelous announced that Rune Factory 3 would be coming to Switch next year, under the same Special subtitle moniker during a Nintendo Direct. Not only that, Marvelous confirmed a brand-new entry in the Rune Factory series was in development at the same time. Marvelous staff member Maekawa was recently interviewed about the upcoming release, where he answered a number of questions about the future of the franchise.
When Maekawa was asked why Rune Factory 3 was chosen to be the next game to be remade, he stated he felt that it was the game that perfected the series formula. Not only that, but it was also the title that fans had heavily requested to be ported to modern systems. He noted there would be a number of quality-of-life improvements, such as an increased number of save files. He also stated there were no solid plans yet for remaking the first two DS games, but the team might consider them depending on the sales of Rune Factory 3 Special.
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In regards to the next entry, he states that it won't be a numbered mainline title, meaning it won't be Rune Factory 6. Maekawa notes however that this new game would be similar to other Rune Factory games like Rune Factory Frontier and Tides of Destiny. He stated that it would have been a daunting task to tackle a sixth numbered entry, so instead, the team would like to experiment and innovate before doing so.
At this time, Rune Factory 3 Special joins a number of farming simulator games that will be released throughout 2023 on the Switch. While Japan currently has a set release date, the Western release window hasn't been determined other than 2023. Hopefully, fans won't have to wait too long to get an expected date in the West.
Rune Factory 3 Special releases on Switch in Japan on March 2, 2023. The release date for the English version has not yet been announced.
Source: 4Gamer (via NoisyPixel)