GRIN's 'unreleased masterpiece' was a Final Fantasy game codenamed 'Fortress'

by David Hinkle { Aug 20th 2009 at 10:59AM }

GRIN closed its doors last week, causing a flood of ex-staffers to put their work online in the hopes of scoring a job. Tomislav Spajic is one of those former employees and has confirmed on his LinkedIn profile that GRIN's "unreleased masterpiece" was actually a Final Fantasy game for Square Enix. Yeah, we can hardly believe it, too.

In fact, Spajic's personal site has a whole bunch of concept art and one of the games listed (called "Fortress") is likely the Final Fantasy game for Square Enix. We've seen it on other ex-GRINners' LinkedIn pages, like Erik Lindqvist's here, where Lindqvist flat-out says, "During 2009 I've been working on the preproduction for an unannounced, and now canceled project with the production name 'Fortress' for Square Enix."

[Via superannuation]

Tags: Erik-Lindqvist, final-fantasy, fortress, grin, rpg, square-enix, Tomislav-Spajic

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tom @ Aug 20th 2009 11:03AM

Masterpiece...or masterpiece of sh!t like Bionic Commando

The Baron @ Aug 20th 2009 11:21AM

YOUR WIFE IS YOUR A-

ah, forget it

Captain Craphead @ Aug 20th 2009 11:03AM

Bad Economy suxx0rz b0xx0rz. Dot.

Jimbotron @ Aug 20th 2009 11:11AM

I'll assume you didn't graduate high school yet, writing like that.

Captain Craphead @ Aug 20th 2009 11:12AM

There is something called a "joke" you know?

Hyams @ Aug 20th 2009 11:25AM

I'll assume you actually meant:

"I'll assume you *haven't* graduate high school yet, writing like that."

Muphry's law - suck on it.

Vcize @ Aug 20th 2009 11:31AM

I'll assume you actually meant...

"I'll assume you haven't *graduated* high school yet, writing like that."

shamowfski @ Aug 20th 2009 11:34AM

And I'll assume you actually meant:

"I'll assume you *haven't* *graduated* *from* high school yet, writing like that."

Jack_Jackington @ Aug 20th 2009 11:36AM

I'll assume I'm breaking the chain

Hyams @ Aug 20th 2009 11:36AM

Oh god, so much fail. =(

Kdiggy @ Aug 20th 2009 11:39AM

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Captain Craphead @ Aug 20th 2009 11:45AM

Hitler on these corrections:

NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN!

AerialAngel @ Aug 20th 2009 3:34PM

@Kdiggy - holy crap lol

copa @ Aug 20th 2009 11:04AM

My sympathies to the developers who lost their jobs, but this does not reflect well on Square Enix.

Squeenix continues to dilute the Final Fantasy brand by outsourcing development to teams like Grin, which is not exactly a AAA development house.

Zerokku @ Aug 20th 2009 11:24AM

I think the logic is that several developers such as squeenix and capcom have realized that the japanese mainstream has lost touch with what the western gamers want, so to try and appeal to them they go to a western studio.

Could they have chosen someone better than grin? Sure (Maybe... Eidos? >.>) but the logic of the situation is understandable.

Anyways. I hope the new studio formed from GRIN members, or another competent studio picks this up. Looks great, and more Ivalice is always good.

Hyamzy @ Aug 20th 2009 11:06AM

Why were they even working on a FF? Haven't Square got enough of their own planned?

Hyams @ Aug 20th 2009 11:26AM

lol.

We finally both comment on the same blog entry.

Hyamzy @ Aug 20th 2009 11:30AM

Edit: No need for that kind of language.

MaliceMajorE15 @ Aug 20th 2009 11:30AM

maybe a final fantasy game that caters exclusivly towards western gamers. with a name like fortress i wouldnt be suprised

amart @ Aug 20th 2009 11:12AM

honestly? I just want 13 already! Why does Square insist on showing off their games like 5 years before they're released.. ya we all THINK we want to see it.. but in reality all anyone wants is to play it!
14 looks great too...

ArchiGamer 2.0 [Planeteer I Power of Irony and Sex] @ Aug 20th 2009 11:17AM

So, a Final Fantasy game in 4hrs?

Ahh, no thank you.

Shteevie @ Aug 20th 2009 12:44PM

You didn't play FFIV: The After Years, did you?

It was awesome; it was a Final Fantasy; it was about 4 hours long.

ArchiGamer 2.0 [Planeteer I Power of Irony and Sex] @ Aug 20th 2009 1:16PM

More of a jab at Wanted, not FF, really.

deanb @ Aug 20th 2009 11:27AM

Kotaku were giving off the impression this was a sequel to FF12( which I kinda doubt a main series game would be outsourced) but have Square ever even outsourced games.
Just it doesn't make sense. Why would SE outsource a FF game, and to grin? especially as they have Eidos if they really wanted a western made FF game.
I guess unless SE come out and confirm or deny this we will never know if it was a FF game or just a RPG like game that was to be published by them.