Surely they realize this type of business traps them into that same exact cycle? By not going mutliplatform they hurt their chances at having a mega hit that finds future huge multiplatform games. By working for commission that pays for that game (essentially) they’re stagnating their business.
I bet 100% we would be having this exact same conversation about Capcom if they didn’t take a chance on making MHW a multi platform game. It would have been SO EASY for them to take an exclusive deal from Sony, but they didn’t. They released it on Xbox and it was a great success. Now, MHW on Xbox probably sold comparatively to FF15 on Xbox, but to Capcom that is worth it and here we are with full AAA support from Capcom still to this day.
SFV deal existed in a world where Capcom was weaker before MHW and probably involved a heavily bullish Sony. Still, Capcom never should’ve made that deal because I feel Street Fighter suffered from it.
I believe that Square Enix is severely misjudging the impact that their strategy will have on them as a company. They already support the distant #2 console in Japan, their biggest market. They are now choosing to go with what will very likely be a distant #2 in North America (by the start of next gen and beyond), their second largest market. Square Enix is choosing to drastically decrease the market of consumers that they choose to sell their products to at a time when just about everyone else (especially their jrpg competitors Bandai, Capcom and Sega) is realizing that multiplatform expands their market and their sales as a result.
Squares conservative approach, caution against globalization, and ill-chosen alliances will directly impair their ability to persist as a major publisher in the future.
After FF13 and FF15 I think they are finding the build up and hype are worth more than the actual end product so they are taking advantage of that. Also they have decided to follow that “only think about the next quarter’s results” corporate methodology rather than building anything long term. When it no longer works all of those in charge will bail out on their golden parachutes and let someone else deal with the mess.
Productions values would indicate they are hoping it’s much more than a niche game.
But by going exclusive, they are risking that the game will drown in public conversation if there’s a big multiplatform in proximity. Look what happened to Horizon Forbidden West earlier this year, it got completely overshadowed by Elden Ring as the combined voice of Playstation, Xbox and PC players is much louder than the voice of Playstation players by itself.
This is already scheduled to happen. Diablo IV and FFXVI are both launching in June. I 100% expect FFXVI to be delayed out of June because it is not a good idea to launch that game as a ps5 exclusive up against a cross gen mega franchise that is day and date on everything except Switch.
Well there is a rumored FF9 Remake, and that it will be much lower scale than FF7R (most likely will be a Switch game). But I guess with recent events we can expect it to be Switch/PS/PC
This right here, Sony has first dip on anything FF. FF9 is still mainline, timed PS exclusive is a forgone conclusion. I would even say Xbox Exclusion is like 80-99 percent too. It really sucks for Square/FF gamers on Xbox but it the reality.
Don’t expect Final Fantasy IX Remake on Xbox. It’s impossible to predict which games Square Enix will ever bring to Xbox. I really don’t understand the criterion with which they decide. For example, the announcement of the console versions of the Pixel Remasters was leaked a few days before the release of Crisis Core, so the excuse of low sales doesn’t hold up. Someone suggested that games like these or even The Diofield Chronicle and Star Ocean were developed by external developers like Tose, Lancarse and tri-Ace and therefore Square Enix didn’t have to worry about development, but there are Octopath Traveler 2 developed by Acquire and Infinity Strash Dragon Quest developed by Game Studio (this same studio is developing Synduality for Bandai Namco too), so the excuse of external developers doesn’t hold here either.
My excitement for square games on xbox are dead. Luckily I have a PS5 to play these games, but I feel for those that don’t and will miss out on these games.
If SE wants to align themselves that much with Playstation and run their FF IP into the ground, then so be it. I could understand if Sony owned SE, but Sony does not own SE.