The Trails franchise of Japanese roleplaying games is one of the most popular series in the genre over the past 20 years. Trails is also unique in that its still being actively developed, unlike many JRPG franchises from 20 years ago. The Trails of Cold Steel saga concluded in 2018, though the western localization was shipped just last month. It seems that developer Nihon Falcom isn't going to be content to end things there, as the company has now confirmed that it plans to release a new Trails game in 2021.
As reported by 4Gamer, Nihon Falcon announced on Thursday its fiscal year results. As part of its report, the company acknowledged several new projects in development as part of the studio's 40th anniversary. These announcements included confirmation that a brand new game in the Trails franchise is not only in development, but planned for release in 2021. It will have been three years since the last game in the Trails franchise has been released.
Nihon Falcon did not provide a name for the new Trails game, so fans of the studio's JRPGs can look forward to that. It should also be noted that the game will almost certainly be limited to just a Japanese release at launch. Localization for Nihon Falcon games can take years, so as exciting as a new Trails game in 2021 might be it's likely not going to be until potentially 2023 or later before western audiences get their localization.
In addition to the new Trails game, Nihon Falcon acknowledged that it was working on porting its games to other platform in the upcoming fiscal year for regions including North America. Trails of Cold Steel 4 is currently only available on PS4, with plans to come to PC and Switch next year.
The next Trails game is planned for release in 2021.
Source: 4Gamer (via Siliconera)