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"From now on, Square Enix plans to increase the amount of titles releasing simultaneously on each platform," Square Enix confirms more Xbox support while discussing this new upcoming JRPG

PlayStation's exclusivity grip on Square Enix is finally slipping as the publisher's future titles are confirmed to release on Xbox simultaneously.

www.windowscentral.com

What you need to know​

• Square Enix's Naoki Yoshida has confirmed reports that more Square Enix games will release day and date on Xbox and PC.
• The publisher has previously had exclusivity agreements with PlayStation for some franchises, including Final Fantasy, that have not been as profitable due to sales numbers not compensating for the game's growing operating costs.
• Earlier this year, Square Enix announced plans to shift its marketing strategy to eschew exclusivity agreements and instead embrace a more widespread release schedule across multiple platforms, including Xbox and PC.

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More Square Enix titles are making their way to Xbox and PC with day-and-date releases to their PlayStation counterparts, according to comments made by Square Enix director and executive officer Naoki Yoshida (a.k.a. Yoshi-P) in an interview with 4gamer.net.

Square Enix announced its plans to bring more of its games to Xbox and PC earlier this year after financial reports revealed that the Japanese publisher's games were failing to recoup operating and development costs, even with increasing sales numbers. The plan revolved around major franchises and AAA titles, as well as older IPs tucked away in the publisher's catalog, and would see an end to timed exclusivity agreements for games in the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises.

FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is among the first Square Enix titles to launch simultaneously on all platforms following the announcement of the strategy change. Slated to release on December 5 on Xbox, PC via Steam, PlayStation, and Nintendo, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension is a definitive edition of a classic JRPG adventure that precedes the Final Fantasy series. In the interview above with 4gamer.net, Yoshida explains that he expects the Nintendo Switch to be the most popular platform for FANTASIAN because of its portability. When asked about PC and other console ports, Yoshi-P says, "This time, the Xbox Series X|S version will be released at the same time. In the future, Square Enix will release more and more titles simultaneously on each platform... so I hope Xbox users will play it, as well."

Yoshi-P followed up the statement with an apology to Mistwalkers, the developers of FANTASIAN, for the extra work required to ship the game on all platforms. "The fact that it is released simultaneously on such a platform has led to excitement. . .so we are grateful that they did a good job," Yoshida said. Yoshida was at the forefront of pushing FANTASIAN to a multiplatform release, telling 4gamer.net, "We have to think about how to get as many people as possible to play it and how to make it viable from a business perspective."

According to Yoshida, the team looked at FANTASIAN's metascore and the awareness the game raised when it was released in 2021 on Apple Arcade. The team also considered the regions where FANTASIAN's original release was played to determine which platforms would be best for the release of the definitive edition. Yoshi-P has also hinted that other Final Fantasy titles could see multiplatform releases in the future, leading to hope that Final Fantasy XVI could see an Xbox once the PC port is finished. Square Enix is known for being behind some of the best JRPGs on Xbox, and the publisher has been heavily courted by Xbox executives Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond.

Their efforts have seen some success, as Square Enix has recently brought several JRPGs, including the definitive versions of Final Fantasy I-VI, to Xbox consoles and Windows PC in recent months. The popular Mana series, consisting of Trials of Mana and Legends of Mana, was also recently added to the Xbox Game Pass library. Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is also scheduled for a November 14 launch on Xbox.

 

[adamsapple]

Square finally learning what Sega learnt years ago.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Square Enix always a decade late to a decision, they start supporting Xbox in its death throes

 

[bender]

I see the check from Phil's Game Pass funding account cleared.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Phil pulled out the checkbook again. This is good for Xbox gamers. bender I see we were on the same page.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

The FF teams of SE have been acting stubbornly archaic, but it looks like the business side is done with leaving money on the table.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

this company is the xbox of Japan.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Square finally learning what Sega learnt years ago.

Microsoft finally learning what Sega learnt years ago, you mean….

 

[Punished Miku]

Well I just bought FF1-6, Octopath 1-2, Dragon Quest 3, Fantasian, and they got my rental money on Octopath 1-2, and 2 Mana games. Just a month or two of releases. Easy money. Got Triangle Strategy on Quest also.

 

[DarkstarRising13]

Well, the only positive outcome from Square Enix's choosing to go fully multiplatform is that when a title underperforms, despite going multiplatform, they don't have the Sony boogieman as usual to blame.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Bit late to the party.

Just prioritize PC. Microsoft is.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I interpret the news differently; I read this as Sony no longer willing to pay as much for exclusivity as before, as such SquareEnix no longer sees the point in continuing with the deal.

Exclusivity deals are directly related to potential lost sales in the rival platform. So if Sony sees Xbox as no longer worth worth paying attention to, Sony could well be the ones who decided to either cancel exclusivity deals or only offer an insultingly small amount of money.

And this then leads to Square Enix needing to interpret the news in a way that sounded nice, which is "we weren't rejected for a larger payout, we voluntarily decided to end the deal."

i am aware this is not much better than a conspiracy theory. However, i couldn't see it any other way because the alternative doesn't make sense. Why would you start to port to a platform only AFTER we know they already lost the generation?

 

[SmokedMeat]

Square’s finally realizing that Sony and Epic’s timed exclusivity checks aren’t worth it.

 

[adamsapple]

i am aware this is not much better than a conspiracy theory.

Hey at least you recognize how cooky it sounds, so that's a plus.

 

[poppabk]

I interpret the news differently; I read this as Sony no longer willing to pay as much for exclusivity as before, as such SquareEnix no longer sees the point in continuing with the deal.

Exclusivity deals are directly related to potential lost sales in the rival platform. So if Sony sees Xbox as no longer worth worth paying attention to, Sony could well be the ones who decided to either cancel exclusivity deals or only offer an insultingly small amount of money.

And this then leads to Square Enix needing to interpret the news in a way that sounded nice, which is "we weren't rejected for a larger payout, we voluntarily decided to end the deal."

i am aware this is not much better than a conspiracy theory. However, i couldn't see it any other way because the alternative doesn't make sense. Why would you start to port to a platform only AFTER we know they already lost the generation?

Don't think Sony has been paying them to keep most games off PC, they just haven't done it, because they are idiots.

 

[Mister Wolf]

They must have lost their ass on FF16 and Rebirth.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Hopefully FFIX Remake and VII Part 3 will be day one PC launch.

 

[adamsapple]

Hopefully FFIX Remake and VII Part 3 will be day one PC launch.

IX probably, but I think it's a safe assumption that Sony has money'd the shit out of the VII trilogy.

 

[POKEYCLYDE]

Ill be there day 1 for FF9 remake on Xbox.

 

[Kataploom]

The problem wasn't there missing Xbox version, but PS exclusivity, since PC is one of the strongest markets and also Nintendo is currently the strongest platform in Japan

 

[Represent.]

I guarantee you the quality of their games, especially at launch, will go down.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

IX probably, but I think it's a safe assumption that Sony has money'd the shit out of the VII trilogy.

True, I could see the last of the trilogy still being a timed exclusive as unfortunate as it is but I was always a bigger FFIX fan so I'll be extremely happy if that isn't a time exclusive.

Ill be there day 1 for FF9 remake on Xbox.

Still my favorite FF of all times! Such a unique world and art style!

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Hey at least you recognize how cooky it sounds, so that's a plus.

Why buy the cow when you get the milk for free?

It isn’t cooky at all

 

[Bloody Crow of Cainhurst]

Despite the self-importance of PCMR dweebs, FF16 peaked at 25k ccu on Steam, which is abysmally low given how much they act like no game can succeed without their platform. Even accounting for the year long delay, the 3 million sales in its first week on PS5 easily dwarfs whatever it sold on PC. SE can now finally step out into the world and see what their IPs are really worth without name-dropping Sony in interviews every week.

 

[Gojiira]

I interpret the news differently; I read this as Sony no longer willing to pay as much for exclusivity as before, as such SquareEnix no longer sees the point in continuing with the deal.

Exclusivity deals are directly related to potential lost sales in the rival platform. So if Sony sees Xbox as no longer worth worth paying attention to, Sony could well be the ones who decided to either cancel exclusivity deals or only offer an insultingly small amount of money.

And this then leads to Square Enix needing to interpret the news in a way that sounded nice, which is "we weren't rejected for a larger payout, we voluntarily decided to end the deal."

i am aware this is not much better than a conspiracy theory. However, i couldn't see it any other way because the alternative doesn't make sense. Why would you start to port to a platform only AFTER we know they already lost the generation?

Nah I think your pretty much spot on.
Theres no argument to be made for SE going fully multiplat, with Sony they had marketing, development assistance all provided but going multiplat, means SE now has to cover all of that.
But yeah I think the same that its actually Sony unwilling to put so much money into them for so little return, and being dragged across the coals surely soured their opinion somewhat.
But yeah cant wait for sales figures to show 90% on PS and PC, with Xbox sales barely being worth it.

 

[pulicat]

Final Fantasy brand relevance has plummeted after taking exclusive deals from Sony PlayStation.

FF XV - 10m(PS4/XB1/PC)
FF 7 Remake - 7m(PS4/PS5/PC)
FF XVI - 3.5m(PS5/PC)
FF 7 Rebirth - 2.5m(PS5)

While other brands have increased their popularity thanked to the multiplat strategy.

Sekiro - 10m
Elden Rings - 25m
Monster Hunter Rise - 16m
Monster Hunter Sunbreak - 8m
Monster Hunter iceborne - 14m
Monster Hunter World - 22m
Resident Evil 2R - 14m
Resident Evil 7 - 14m
Resident Evil 8 - 10m
Resident Evil 3R - 9m
Resident Evil 4R - 8m
Dragon Ball Fighters Z - 10m
Dragon Ball kakarot - 8m
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 - 10m

 

[poppabk]

Despite the self-importance of PCMR dweebs, FF16 peaked at 25k ccu on Steam, which is abysmally low given how much they act like no game can succeed without their platform. Even accounting for the year long delay, the 3 million sales in its first week on PS5 easily dwarfs whatever it sold on PC. They can now finally step out into the world and see what their IPs are really worth without name-dropping Sony in interviews every week.

? The whole point is that delaying release, especially for a game that has bad word of mouth, kills follow on sales.

 

[Bloody Crow of Cainhurst]

? The whole point is that delaying release, especially for a game that has bad word of mouth, kills follow on sales.

Which game had bad word of mouth?

 

[Dorfdad]

They say this shit once a year!

 

[Gaiff]

Despite the self-importance of PCMR dweebs, FF16 peaked at 25k ccu on Steam, which is abysmally low given how much they act like no game can succeed without their platform. Even accounting for the year long delay, the 3 million sales in its first week on PS5 easily dwarfs whatever it sold on PC. SE can now finally step out into the world and see what their IPs are really worth without name-dropping Sony in interviews every week.

It's a shit game. They can keep them on PS5 for all we care. PC isn't the place to recoup the losses of your terrible products.

 

[yet_another_alt]

Square going to be porting more 2DHD games to VR.

 

[poppabk]

Which game had bad word of mouth?

FF16.

 

[Bloody Crow of Cainhurst]

FF16.

I've heard mixed things about it, so I won't speculate about the quality, but if that's true then the problems extend beyond platform exclusivity, and SE should have enough self awareness not to trot out this narrative every other week

 

[PatientGamer]

Doesn't matter if they put everything on Xbox. The install base simply isn't there.

Xbox have shown time and again that they're not really interested in Japanese content.

There's pretty much zero interest for playing anything on Xbox in Asian markets too.

They want shooters, Gears of War type stuff.

PC on the other hand... SE should focus here.

 

[Bloody Crow of Cainhurst]

It's a shit game. They can keep them on PS5 for all we care. PC isn't the place to recoup the losses of your terrible products.

Nah, bro, you're gonna get all these Square Enix games on Steam whether you like it or not

 

[Topher]

Good. Third party exclusivity needs to end.

 

[pulicat]

? The whole point is that delaying release, especially for a game that has bad word of mouth, kills follow on sales.

Yes, the hype cycle isn't going to be working on the second time unless it has excellent wom like Monster Hunter World and Rise.

Usually the publishers will cultivate a good result after releasing their biggest titles day one on steam instead of a year later.

Japanese games
Metaphor - 85k CCU
Elden Rings - 900k CCU
Dragon Ball Sparking - 128k
Dragon's Dogma 2 - 228k
Resident Evil 4R - 168k
Street Fighter 6 - 70k
Tales of Arise - 60k
FF XVI - 27k(lol)

 

[Unknown?]

Going to be extremely disappointed as always.

 

[DarkstarRising13]

Good. Third party exclusivity needs to end.

Then why is Stalker 2's Xbox Series exclusivity not being criticized?

 

[kazuyamishima]

Exclusivity is the least of the probleMs for SE.

But at least be consistent SE, there are a few titles like Triangle Strategy, Harvestella or Dragon Quest Monsters that haven’t released on PS systems.

 

[Topher]

Then why is Stalker 2's Xbox Series exclusivity not being criticized?

It has been. Plenty of times.

 

[willothedog]

Then why is Stalker 2's Xbox Series exclusivity not being criticized?

It's day one PC so not series exclusive

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Quick cheque pay outs only work if the proceeds outweigh long terms sales and profits from gimped distribution channels.

It's no different than big retailer saying they'll give a good cost price to supplier X if they get first dibs for 12 months. It might be worth it if the cost concessions are good enough and the supplier thinks it wont mess up the market releasing everyone else in year two.

But what can happen is the sales can be gimped so much in year one at retailer Z it fucks up the product. So in year two when other stores see research data saying the product sucked, they wont bother listing it. Or they list it but the big wow marketing campaign which happened in year one is kind of over and now customers who shop at year two kind of stores dont even know about it lost interest already because the buzz is gone. so sales stink anyway. And if the product sells poorly in the year one exclusive store, they might end of cancelling/delisting the product as other stores might be selling it. So what happens is the supplier is kind of fucked in year two.

Congrats Square.

You fell into the quick payout trap. The exclusive store desn't care because they made 25-40 pts of margin on every sale. And even if the product bombs, they already made their money and got a million other products from 1000 other suppliers to fill the gap. Its the supplier who has to scramble.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It's a shit game. They can keep them on PS5 for all we care. PC isn't the place to recoup the losses of your terrible products.

Salty

They are fantastic games. Sounds like you just have bad taste

 

[Gaiff]

Salty

They are fantastic games. Sounds like you just have bad taste

Nah, bad games that live off the name alone. That’s why studios like Atlus are making better games that sell as much with probably 1/5th of the budget. Nobody knew Atlus but weebs back then. Now, they’re one of the premier JRPGs studios and are taking SE’s lunch money.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Nah, bad games that live off the name alone. That’s why studios like Atlus are making better games that sell as much with probably 1/5th of the budget. Nobody knew Atlus but weebs back then. Now, they’re one of the premier JRPGs studios and are taking SE’s lunch money.

Yes, such bad games that have a metacritic of 87 and 92 respectively. Have you played them both before spouting nonsense? These are objectively good games.

How do you know the Atlus game will sell more overall? Metaphor most likely won't sell anywhere near what either FF game is selling, despite being higher CCU on PC alone.

 

[Gaiff]

Yes, such bad games that have a metacritic of 87 and 92 respectively. Have you played them both before spouting nonsense? These are objectively good games.

Don’t care about metascores. These games are getting beaten out by AA studios when they probably cost $100M+ to make. The user reviews on Steam have this mediocre trash at 78%, Mostly Positive. They’re not paid shills like journalists.

Played XVI and it was nothing but cutscenes. Refunded it before the 2 hour window.

How do you know the Atlus games will sell more overall? Metaphor most likely won't sell anywhere near what either FF game is selling, despite being higher CCU on PC alone.

Persona 5 sold 7.3M units as of April 2023. Remake sold 7M as of September 2023. I’d hold my horses if I were you.

Also got nothing against Remake and Rebirth. It’s XVI that sucks. I didn’t like the way they completely changed VII, but meh.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Don’t care about metascores. These games are getting beaten out by AA studios when they probably cost $100M+ to make. The user reviews on Steam have this mediocre trash at 78%, Mostly Positive. They’re not paid shills like journalists.

Persona 5 sold 7.3M units as of April 2023. Remake sold 7M as of September 2023. I’d hold my horses if I were you.

Also got nothing against Remake and Rebirth. It’s XVI that sucks. I didn’t like the way they completely changed VII, but meh.

Metaphor is not Persona 5.

Why would you trust user scores on Steam over metacritic? Steam users can cry about a lot of stuff unrelated to the actual game, it's a terrible way to judge quality. They will complain about stupid garbage like a PSN log in being required. A bunch of PC shill entitled audience that cares more about settings than games.

 

[EDMIX]

for now...