Earlier this week, Rune Factory developer Neverland announced that it would be ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy. A producer at Rune Factory publisher Marvelous AQL, Yoshifumi Hashimoto, offered a statement on the future of the series.
Hashimoto's comment appears on a post on the Marvelous AQL website, which was translated by Siliconera:
Hello, Hashimoto here.
How are you guys enjoying Rune Factory 4?
I’d like to take this occasion to make a comment about the future.
As of now, it’ll still remain a secret as to what kind of title we’ll be releasing next, but I can say that the staff members are still doing great.
I will leave it at that for now, and I thank you for your continued support.
Producer, Yoshifumi Hashimoto
Rune Factory is a still a franchise owned by Marvelous AQL, so we could see more entries in the future – just not from Neverland. Head here for our review of Rune Factory 4.
[Source: Neverland, via Siliconera]
Our Take
Hashimoto's statment is vague, but the assumption is that even if the developer is experiencing problems, the Rune Factory franchise probably still has a future. The series has never been a massive success in North America, but it has a very dedicated fanbase, and I would be surprised if a Rune Factory 5 didn't surface at some point in the future.