Forspoken sequel hopes fade as Square Enix folds Luminous Productions

According to Polygon, three years after its release Square Enix folded Luminous Productions back into the main company, effectively killing any chance of a Forspoken sequel.

The game’s pre-release gameplay trailer in August 2022, five months before launch, sparked a wave of memes around the line “I’m talking to a cuff!” that overshadowed other elements such as its parkour, magic system and surprising plot twists. Forspoken follows Frey, who finds a talking bracelet near Manhattan’s Holland Tunnel and is transported to a blighted fantasy realm where the cuff grants her powers.

Critics and sales undercut the title: Square Enix called Forspoken’s sales “lackluster” in an earnings call, and the game sits at a 64 on Metacritic. The title showcased an innovative four-color magic system — red, blue, green and purple — that combined combat and traversal with short cooldowns and dozens of moves, but pacing issues (the final magic color only arrives around the halfway point) limited early access to its toolkit. With the studio folded into the parent company, Forspoken never received the sequel that might have refined those ideas — a result the piece says we’ll never see.

Key Topics

Culture, Square Enix, Luminous Productions, Forspoken, Frey, Holland Tunnel