7M Copies Later, Octopath Traveler 3 Still Unannounced

Seven million copies sold. An entire visual style popularised across Square Enix's catalogue. Three years since the last mainline release. And still, Team Asano has nothing to announce about Octopath Traveler 3.

In an interview with Dengeki Online marking the series' eighth anniversary, translated by Automaton, producer Tomoya Asano acknowledged the weight of fan expectations while offering almost nothing concrete in return. He confirmed the team is aware of how badly players want a third game, saying "we feel [fans' expectations], I just wanted to convey that." But when it came to details, he had none to share. The closest thing to a tease was a line that could mean everything or nothing: "Keep looking forward to what comes next."

Asano did explain the team's reasoning for staying quiet. According to him, the bar has risen since the original Octopath Traveler launched in 2018. HD-2D has gone from a novelty to a proven style powering Dragon Quest remakes and the upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance, and Team Asano feels it cannot afford to coast on what worked before. "If we're going to do it, we're going to push the limits," Asano said, adding that the team refuses to "release something half-baked."

I respect the sentiment, but I'm starting to wonder what's actually holding things back.

Team Asano's Crowded Calendar

The studio hasn't been idle. Last year brought Octopath Traveler 0, a console adaptation of the mobile spin-off that added town-building and expanded combat. Team Asano also worked on The Adventures of Elliot, another HD-2D title, and is currently contributing to Final Fantasy Resonance, which is due out later this year. On top of that, Square Enix announced last month that Octopath Traveler 1 & 2 will get Switch 2 releases this October, and new content for Octopath Traveler 0 is still in the pipeline.

That's a lot of plates spinning for a single team, and it goes a long way toward explaining why a full sequel hasn't materialised. Team Asano isn't a massive studio. Splitting focus across ports, DLC, and support work on other projects doesn't leave much room for the kind of ambitious ground-up sequel Asano is describing.

What frustrates me is the gap between the series' commercial success and the pace of its development. Seven million copies for the first game alone is a massive number for a turn-based JRPG that launched as a Switch exclusive. Octopath Traveler 2, which arrived in February 2023 across PS4, PS5, Switch, and PC, earned a Top Critic Average of 85 on OpenCritic with 95% of critics recommending it. By any measure, this is a franchise that has earned its place in Square Enix's lineup. The demand is there. The critical reception is there. The sales are there. So what's the holdup?

My best guess is that Square Enix has Team Asano stretched across too many projects at once. Final Fantasy Resonance is clearly a priority for the publisher, and it makes business sense to have the studio that pioneered HD-2D involved in that game's development. But every month spent polishing someone else's project is a month not spent on the sequel fans are actually asking for.

Asano's comments read like a producer who wants to make Octopath Traveler 3 but doesn't yet have the bandwidth or the greenlight to go all-in. The "push the limits" framing suggests genuine ambition rather than corporate stalling, and I'd much rather wait for something that moves the series forward than get a safe retread. Octopath Traveler 2 already proved the formula could evolve with its interconnected storylines and refined combat. A third game that just does that again, slightly prettier, wouldn't cut it.

Square Enix has Octopath Traveler 1 & 2 hitting Switch 2 in October, which should introduce the series to a fresh audience. If Team Asano is going to reveal a third game, that install base bump would be a smart moment to do it.