A new anniversary illustration and director comments revive hope for Kingdom Hearts 4, with fans expecting substantial info around the series' 25th anniversary next year, though no concrete details have been shared.
Tetsuya Nomura posted new Kingdom Hearts artwork to mark the series' 24th anniversary, depicting Xehanort; he notes Square Enix is hard at work toward the 25th anniversary next year and thanks fans for their support.
Square Enix has officially locked the title for Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 after Paris Games Week, with Nomura choosing the name; the exact title hasn’t been revealed in this piece. Development is progressing smoothly and the game is planned as a multi-platform title (not PS5-exclusive). It will include an enhanced Queen's Blood card game and a snowboarding minigame, and fan speculation about a name like “Reunion” is noted but avoided to prevent overlap with Life Is Strange: Reunion.
GameSpot reports that Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3’s subtitle has been decided by creative director Tetsuya Nomura after narrowing to two options at Paris Games Week, with Naoki Hamaguchi confirming the title is now locked for the trilogy’s concluding installment.
Nomura anticipates potential policy shifts by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and verbal interventions from the Ministry of Finance to curb JPY depreciation, leading to a bearish outlook on USD/JPY. Despite a bullish trend for USD/JPY, bolstered by strong US economic data, Nomura expects limited upside due to anticipated Fed rate cuts and a slowdown in Japanese retail investors' foreign equity purchases. The combination of these factors suggests a risk-reward balance skewed towards short positions in USD/JPY.
Investment bank B. Riley is reportedly under SEC investigation for its dealings with Brian Kahn, who is allegedly involved in a DOJ criminal case, while Nomura, a major Japanese financial group, is entangled in the probe due to its involvement in a lending syndicate for B. Riley. B. Riley has recently made significant investments in the bitcoin mining space, and Kahn, CEO of Franchise Group Inc., has been a longstanding client of the bank. The SEC probe is in its early stages, and Nomura, which backs several crypto-related entities, is not the primary focus of the investigation.
A senior banker at Nomura has been barred from leaving mainland China, raising concerns about the potential impact on the bank's operations in the country. The travel ban comes amid increased scrutiny of foreign financial institutions in China and highlights the challenges faced by international banks operating in the country.