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Layton 7 will be an RPG/puzzle game, may not feature the professor

The series has sold 15 million units.

Professor Layton developer and publisher Level-5 has announced a seventh game in its favoured franchise, only this time it will be an RPG/puzzle game that may or may not feature the titular professor.

Layton 7.

Revealed by Level-5 at a press conference and in Famitsu (via NeoGAF), the curio is being developed for 3DS, iOS and Android. It's described as a "role-playing puzzle game," where you play as various characters in a small 3D town.

This wouldn't be the first Layton game where you don't play as the good professor, as the Phoenix Wright-esque Layton Brothers Mystery Room came out for iOS in June. He'll also share the stage with Wright in his Ace Attorney spin-off coming to Europe and North America next year.

No western release has been confirmed for Layton 7, but I'm looking into it - as well as if it will actually feature the titular character in it. I'll update as I find out more.

Elsewhere, Level-5 has revealed at its latest press conference (via Siliconera) that the Professor Layton series has sold a total of 15 million copies worldwide, making it the publisher's best-selling franchise. We know over one million of these emanated from Layton Brothers Mystery Room, suggesting Level-5 is keen to mix up the formula again.

Comparatively, Level-5's Studio Ghibli RPG collaboration Ni No Kuni has sold 1.4 million across the globe between the PS3 game and its Japan-only DS version.