In an interview with Nikkeibp.co.jp, Yoichi Wada, CEO of Square-Enix has said that "Dragon Quest IX, and the FFXIII are going to be released in the same fiscal year if possible." Dragon Quest IX was delayed from 2007 to 2008 last August by Square-Enix to make improvements to the game so if what he says is true, it is possible that Final Fantasy XIII could see a release in 2008 or early 2009. He doesn't specify which region the release date is concerning but it's most likely Japan. Let's see them pull that off.

Yoichi Wada, even though he may be the head of Square-Enix does have a history for either making mistakes or making false promises in his interviews so don't take this by any means as confirmed.

UPDATE: The above was a mistaken machine translation. Yoichi Wada was actually responding to a question about the likelihood of Dragon Quest IX and FFXIII coming out in the same fiscal year and the effects it would have on Square-Enix stocks and such. Here is a full translation of this portion of the interview:

Interviewer: What are the possibilities that Dragon Quest IX and FFXIII will be released in the same fiscal year? If that happened, then the sales from the fiscal year compared to before and after would be greater, and stock prices, etc., would be affected, too, wouldn't they?


Yoichi Wada: Certainly, if these two titles are released at the same time, one would expect sales to go up, but I'm not sure that that would affect stock prices, because the business is a continuous one. It would be a strange thing if stock prices were moved depending on whether large titles were released on the 31st of March or the 1st of April, wouldn't it?

I think that it is necessary to have a construction where the sales and profits do not fluctuate greatly from year to year. This is because inevitably, there is fluctuation within the home entertainment section of the game industry. In addition to home entertainment games, amusement and publication business is being strengthened, and those will serve as a support, as we are aiming for a solid business structure. As for Taito, within two years, the ordinary profit is projected to be ten billion yen.

Nikkei Yoichi Wada Interview Page 5

Source: FF&KH Blog