Six years ago at E3, Square Enix announced one of the titles that would be a part of their planned compendium for the Final Fantasy XIII franchise, entitled, Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The game was to be a part of their Fabula Nova Crystallis collection, an epic saga of titles spanning multiple gameplay styles and consoles, all within the same universe. So far, Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 have been two of the three games released as a part of the saga. Final Fantasy Type-0 was originally known as Final Fantasy XIII Agito; though the title is not uniform with the other games, it still shares the same mythology.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been popular among fan circles ever since its initial unveiling. The title has been shown sporadically at various events, and officials at Square Enix have periodically released statements acknowledging the lack of a consistent stream of information regarding the game’s development, but have commented that the game is still on track to be released sooner rather than later.

Kotaku recently claimed in one of their reports that the title was recently cancelled within the last few weeks, a move that allegedly severely demoralized all of the staff at Square Enix. Square Enix apparently elected to thus forego any public announcement of the title’s cancellation, out of fear that such an announcement would hurt stock sales. It is alleged that they hoped that the title would simply disappear in time, and become vaporware.

RPGsite now claims that their sources within Square Enix have assured them that the game is still alive and being developed, with an appearance scheduled for the Tokyo Game Show. It seems that an appearance at TGS will make one rumor, and break the other; finally putting the speculation to rest. Unless a public statement is made by Square Enix, we must continue to indulge ourselves in more rumors and speculation, amidst rumors and speculation.

The Tokyo Game Show will be held from September 20th to the 23rd, 2012.