Sequels
At the Square Enix First Production Department Conference held on January 18, 2011, Square Enix announced that they were developing a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, entitled Final Fantasy XIII-2, which they intended to build on the game's story and characters while taking on board the criticism and other feedback about the original. It was released on December 15, 2011 in Japan, January 31, 2012 in North America and February 3, 2012 in Europe, for both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase returned to their respective roles as director and producer. The game begins two years after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, and features Serah and newcomer Noel as the main protagonists. XIII-2 is the fifth sequel game in the Final Fantasy series, after Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy X-2 and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Square Enix also announced on September 1, 2012 that a second sequel entitled Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was in production and to be released in 2013. This will conclude Lightning's story. Toriyama stated in the Ultimania Omega companion book prior to the sequel's announcement that he hoped to write a story "where Lightning ends up happy", though at the time Square Enix had no plans to make a sequel.
Read more about this topic: Final Fantasy XIII