If Bandai Namco announced a new Tales game tomorrow, it wouldn't come as a huge surprise. The series' most recent instalment, Tales of Arise, released in 2021, and almost immediately became the fastest selling Tales title ever. It had topped 3 million sales by February of this year, and so we'd be more shocked if there wasn't a new Tales game in the works.
Still, Bandai Namco appears to have dropped a hint that it has plans for the Tales franchise's 30th anniversary, which takes place next year. During the company's latest shareholders meeting, a representative was asked whether the publisher has any new Tales titles in development, ahead of the aforementioned anniversary.
As per @gasu_y, the representative gave a fairly interesting answer, complete with a suggestive expression: "There are some things I can't tell you here, but please look forward to future official announcements." As noted, companies usually reply to such queries by simply waving them off with a dismissive statement, so this response definitely raises an eyebrow.
But again, a new Tales game being in development is hardly unexpected — it's just a case of when it'll be revealed. It's entirely possible that we'll have an entire year to wait before we hear anything official — with the 30th anniversary's Tales of Festival set for July 2025 — but it's worth mentioning that Bandai Namco has a big showcase planned for Anime Expo next month. Maybe, just maybe...