One of the biggest releases of early 2022 is the Nintendo Switch exclusive tactical RPG Triangle Strategy. It’s the latest project from producer Tomoya Asano and his Team Asano development team. But Triangle Strategy will apparently be just the first of many projects from Asano and his team, if an announcement from the Square Enix producer is to be believed. It’s somewhat difficult to believe, but following Triangle Strategy, Team Asano could announce and launch multiple additional games in 2022.
The announcement comes via the official Bravely Default Twitter account and is written in Japanese. A loose translation has Asano first wishing his followers a happy New Year, before he confirms that he’s back in the studio working. Following that, he says that, “in addition to Triangle, we are planning to announce and release multiple titles this year.” He then asks his followers to look forward to it and to pay attention, noting that all of Team Asano will “continue to do their best.”
It’s certainly true that Team Asano has been particularly active over the past several years. Since Bravely Default: Flying Fairy was released in 2012, Tomoyo Asano has released four other games. Bravely Default: End Layer in 2015, Octopath Traveler in 2018, Bravely Default 2 in 2021, and now Triangle Strategy in 2022 are all produced by Asano. But while five games in ten years is an incredible pace, it’s still a game every two years and not multiple games in a single year.
The lingering question is what kind of games Team Asano will be announcing in 2022. About the only likely possibility is an Octopath Traveler sequel, which was teased in 2021 for the game’s third-year anniversary. It’s also possible that there’s another Bravely Default game in the works, but that’s a quick turnaround after Bravely Default 2‘s release in 2021. Anything else would be a complete mystery.
As exciting as a possible sequel to Octopath Traveler or Bravely Default might be, it doesn’t necessarily make sense, as one has to wonder where Team Asano would pull in those kinds of development resources. That’s why it’d make more sense for the new games to rather be new products instead. Repackages or bundles of older Team Asano games, DLC releases, or even definitive editions that potentially have new content. Or, alternatively, a mobile game spin-off that’s smaller in scale and scope.
All fans of Team Asano can do is wait and see. If Team Asano only releases Triangle Strategy in 2022, that will likely be more than enough. Any extra game announcements and releases will likely just be icing on the cake.
Triangle Strategy releases March 4 on Switch.
