A JRPG series that's been running for 21 years is going back to remakes because "the player base was shrinking," Trails producer says, and devs "needed a breather"

Screenshot from Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, showing a smiling female protagonist holding a sword in a lush green forest environment.

The JRPG developers behind the long-running Trails series are so focused on remakes right now because the player base has shrunk over the years.

The Trails series has been kicking for over two decades at this point. That's an achievement by any metric, but the fact that it's also part of the interconnected The Legend of Heroes series, which debuted in the 1980s, makes its longevity all the more impressive. Now, however, Trails developers are leaning hard into remakes to try to bring back players who fell off the bandwagon over the past 21 years.

After releasing the remade Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter this year and recently announcing Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter due for next year, developer Nihon Falcom's president, Toshihiro Kondo, was asked by shareholders why the company decided to return to two 20-ish-year-old games before finishing the series' already ongoing storyline.

"It's become clear that the player base is dwindling," Kondo said, per Automaton's translations. "Our player base was shrinking, and the development team needed a breather." Kondo partly attributes the trailing sales to the fact that the games' initial Japan releases used to be PlayStation exclusives, and Sony's since lost tons of market share in the country to Nintendo (these new remakes are on PlayStation, Switch, Switch 2, and PC as a result).

So, before going full steam ahead toward Trails' potential conclusion, Nihon Falcom decided to remake Trails in the Sky in the hopes that lapsed fans would return and new fans would jump aboard in time for that promised finale.

For now, check out our best JRPGs ranking if you're itching for some turn-based drama.