Earlier today, Square Enix took the wraps off Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy, an upcoming mobile game launching in 2026. It’s the first new entry in the Dissidia series since Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, another mobile title featuring turn-based battles rather than the fighting games the franchise is known for. Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia was a game we actually enjoyed as a group, and I logged in and played each day from its launch until it shut down on February 29, 2024. The last time we had an actual Dissidia team-based brawler was with Dissidia Final Fantasy NT in 2018 on PlayStation 4, before it headed to PC in 2019. That game started life as an arcade title exclusive to Japan in 2015.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series, the Dissidia franchise began on the PlayStation Portable in 2008 in Japan before heading to other markets in 2009. It was Square Enix’s way of bringing together iconic characters from across various Final Fantasy games and having them fight it out in an arena-based brawler. It appealed to Final Fantasy fans worldwide and was largely considered a success. Its sequel, Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy (or Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy), launched in 2011 and, to this day, is a fan favorite.
What has always made Dissidia so appealing to Final Fantasy fans is the idea of seeing interactions between characters from across different titles. From Cloud meeting Lightning to Cecil having a conversation with Y’shtola, Dissidia reaches a much broader audience. As of March 2025, the Final Fantasy series has sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and while not everyone loves every entry, there’s a good chance that, out of those 200 million units, everyone has enjoyed at least one of the games.
If the recent Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy release is any indication, it’s clear that Final Fantasy, as a series, has plenty of fans. Launching a (good) game that incorporates characters from every entry has the potential to attract millions of players, even if some just want to see their favorites in an entirely new world. It also helps breathe new life into characters we haven’t seen in decades, like Kefka. When Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia took a different approach as a turn-based RPG, albeit a gacha game, I held out hope that Square Enix finally recognized the value of the franchise. Ultimately, though, it was shut down like many other Square Enix mobile titles, likely because DFFFOO was very generous to free-to-play players.
Coincidentally, earlier in the day before Square Enix teased a new Dissidia franchise, I was talking with fellow contributors about how weird it is to me that Square Enix doesn’t chase trends with the Dissidia name. Sure, there are dozens of Genshin Impact clones launching left and right these days, but could you imagine one that features characters from every mainline Final Fantasy title? You already have dozens of iconic characters to tap into, along with their respective worlds to explore, and weapons everyone recognizes. I might be in the minority, but I honestly feel like a Genshin Impact clone with a Dissidia twist would be the one highly successful mobile game Square Enix continues to seek.
The foundation is already there with Dissidia having always focused on three characters per team. Wuthering Waves has managed to pull it off with excellent combat and large new regions to explore with each major update. I could picture it now: Lightning descending onto Midgar and having to raid a Shinra Mako reactor alongside Cloud and Bartz. A couple of months later, players would be able to take Y’shtola on a stroll through Balamb Garden, teaming up with Clive to take on Ifrit. The amount of possible content is nearly endless with all the worlds Square Enix has painstakingly built over the years.
Sure, it’s likely Square Enix wants to avoid chasing trends, and creating a Genshin Impact clone isn’t exactly cheap. But the company is already outsourcing its mobile games to other developers, with Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy coming from NHN PlayArt. Given the success of Genshin Impact and all the clones out there, so much so that HoYoverse is cannibalizing its own customer base, a Dissidia version would likely join the ranks of games generating billions. All the same monetization tactics used in those titles would work, including costumes (already in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy), weapons, and characters. Fans would pull for their favorites and be thoroughly entertained equipping Warrior of Light with the Buster Sword. If Square Enix wants to continue trying to compete in the mobile space, it really should be leveraging the Dissidia franchise to chase trends.
Then there’s the idea of creating a Teamfight Tactics clone. You could take the exact same gameplay and overlay it with Final Fantasy heroes and villains, each with their own archetypes. Granted, Teamfight Tactics and auto battlers aren’t as popular as they once were, but they still generate millions for Riot Games. It’d be hard to argue, even with the success of Arcane, that the League of Legends franchise is more universally recognized than Final Fantasy.
Obviously, this is just my opinion, but if Square Enix hasn’t entirely given up on the mobile market, why not chase trends? I can’t even keep up with all the Genshin Impact-likes that are currently in development and scheduled to launch in 2026, but if something like Ananta can exist, why couldn’t a Dissidia Final Fantasy version? Square Enix could even give it an extra extra weird name.
