It looks like the time of Final Fantasy exclusives is coming to an end, and that would probably be a wise decision for Square Enix.
The relationship of Final Fantasy, but also of Square Enix in general, with the exclusives has always been decidedly strange and conflicted, but it could soon undergo a profound change, given what Hiroshi Takai, director of Final Fantasy 16, recently said in an interview. “I think it’s possible, probably even probable” that the next chapters of the series could arrive at least at the same time as the launch on PC as well as consoles, adding however that “the team responsible for each project decides its own policy, so this is just my personal opinion”. It would be desirable, in fact, because these delayed releases, or simply missing without particular explanations, are starting to make less and less sense and even seem anachronistic.
On the other hand, Takai’s personal statement seems to be shared by Takashi Kiryu, the new CEO of Square Enix who seemed intent from the beginning to bring a breath of fresh air into the company’s organization, even if for the moment this change has not yet been seen in a very clear way. Already at the beginning, the number one of the Japanese company had made it clear the need to abandon some settings now seen as anachronistic legacies of the past and try to embrace a wider audience launching itself on different platforms, in search of a greater dynamism that the label seems to have desperately needed for several years now.
Are these solutions now anachronistic?
An initial demonstration came from the (very late) release of Final Fantasy 14 on Xbox Series X|S, which seemed more like a sort of declaration of intent. The now very tight knot with Sony still needs to be untied, and on this front we need to understand how much it would be convenient for Square Enix to continue with this close partnership that continues to cause new chapters to arrive late on PC and other platforms, or not at all in some cases.
It is a fact that the revenues from the various games in the series continue to not be particularly satisfactory, at least in the short term, and an opening to a greater number of platforms from launch could be a saving grace on this front.
Does Sony’s investment in the franchise still justify the exclusion of a potentially large segment of the public? This is probably the simple question that Square Enix will have to answer in the near future, but considering the indications that are coming from various sources within the company, it seems that they have already made up their minds and opening up to multiplatform seems to be the next step to take. At least as far as PC is concerned, which could become the version available on day one for the new Final Fantasy chapters, but broadening the concept it is possible that this will also lead to a more logical organization of releases for other titles and other platforms. Chaotic situations like that of Octopath Traveler, which saw the first chapter come out first on all platforms except PlayStation and the second on all except Xbox (except to fix the issue after some time), generating confusion and possible frustration in part of the public, hopefully will be progressively removed from Square Enix’s modus operandi in the near future.
This is an editorial written by a member of the editorial staff and is not necessarily representative of the editorial line of Multiplayer.it.
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