"Chrono Break" (クロノ・ブレイク, Kurono Bureiku) is the name of a trademark registered by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) on December 5, 2001 that was later abandoned.^[1]

Registration

The registration followed a press report of talks about a new Chrono series game. Within this report, Hironobu Sakaguchi mentioned that the team of Chrono Cross, especially Masato Kato, was interested in developing a new game in the series, and that script and story ideas were currently being considered. The project had not been greenlighted.^[2] Kato had previously mentioned in the Ultimania guide for Chrono Cross that he wanted to create a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger to wrap up certain story elements and plot threads, and that the pitfalls of a direct sequel prompted them to do Chrono Cross instead.^[3] While Squaresoft did not publish any official news, this registration led many in the video game community to believe that a sequel to the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross was in full development. However, Masato Kato and others who worked on Chrono Cross—such as Yasuyuki Honne—meanwhile departed to work for Monolith Soft, and Squaresoft published no news concerning a sequel. On 2003-11-13, the trademark was dropped in the United States.

Official response

Fan inquiry over a new title was subsequently large enough to warrant an entry in Square Enix's FAQ page, in which the company noted that no new game was in development, though this did not mean the series was dead.^[4] In 2006, the entry was revised to include sequel inquiries for any series. A similar trademark was registered in 2001 by Square Enix in Japan as Chrono Brake, which is still registered.^[5] In an interview at E³ 2003, the development team responsible for making Chrono Cross stated that they would love to develop a new Chrono game—but that they won't be able to make one for a long time as they must keep supporting their unique project, the MMORPG Final Fantasy XI.^[6] Hironobu Sakaguchi (one of Chrono Trigger's creators) pitched the idea of an MMORPG to Squaresoft while working on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. As Richard Honeywood explained,

Final Fantasy XI is pretty much it for a while. We still have a lot of possible expansion packs we could do, and plenty of support to give. As far as Chrono is concerned, that's huge; but we can't do two or three things at the same time, and it's tough to do FFXI and another Chrono game at the same time or too close together. We'd love to do one though, but yeah, not yet. (2003-05-14)^[6]

Takashi Tokita, who directed Chrono Trigger, mentioned a "Chrono Trigger 2" in a 2003 interview which has not been translated to English.^[7] Trigger developer Yuuji Horii expressed no interest in returning to the Chrono franchise in 2005.^[8] In February 2007, Square Enix producer Hiromichi Tanaka took part in several interviews while promoting games in Europe. Tanaka reiterated that no new game was in development, but that a return was certainly not out of the question.^[9][10]

...it's very difficult to be able to reunite the original team, to be able to make a sequel to the Chrono series...because if we don't try to reunite these people but take other people instead, we will find ourselves at that point with a game which will feel different, since there would be different persons in charge, and we would possibly lose the Chrono spirit.^[11]

— Hiromichi Tanaka

In January 2008, composer Yasunori Mitsuda remarked that "there are a lot of politics involved" in creating a new game, and stressed that Masato Kato should be involved should a new entry in the series materialize.^[12]

Signs of life

Hopes for a sequel have been recently raised as Masato Kato has returned to Square Enix to work on games of the World of Mana project.^[13] In an interview at a PLAY! concert in May 2006, Yasunori Mitsuda stated an interest in composing for a new game in the series.^[14] These hopes are padded by the good working relationship between Kato and Mitsuda, as the two collaborated to release Kirite, an album complemented by a storybook. In September 2005, Kato and Mitsuda again teamed up to do a game called Deep Labyrinth for the Nintendo DS.^[15] Mitsuda also announced in 2005 that a new Chrono Cross arranged album was in the works; as of May 2006, it was tentatively "out within the year", and as of January 2008 it still has not been released.^[14] These factors, combined with Square Enix's recent polls that list Chrono Trigger as an option for game porting to handheld systems, suggest that interest in the Chrono series has not completely dwindled at the company and that a new iteration may eventually be made. Fans continue to write letters and e-mails to both Square Enix USA and Japan headquarters requesting Chrono Break.^[16]

References

External links

• US Patent and Trademark Office Entry for Chrono Break
• Sample English & Japanese letters requesting a new game