It happens that the Final Fantasy 7 remake did good on its Epic Games Store exclusive release during the last holiday season. However, publisher Square Enix is not ready at present to share any sales figures with the public.
During an earnings call for its third quarter on the weekend, president and representative director Yosuke Matsuda was asked the reason behind the Epic Games Store exclusivity and if that decision has bore fruits.
Matsuda tiptoed with a general response that Square Enix was content with the response the Final Fantasy 7 remake received on the Epic Games Store and that the exclusivity decision was based on a comparative analysis.
“We have seen a fair response,” said Matsuda. “I cannot go into the specific reasons why we chose the Epic Games Store, but our decision was the outcome of our comparative analysis of a variety of different factors.”
Square Enix and Epic Games worked together to optimize Unreal Engine 4 for the Final Fantasy 7 remake. Adding an exclusivity clause for the Epic Games Store may have hence been added owing to the already existing collaboration.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was released on the Epic Games Store on December 16, 2021, nearly two years after releasing for PlayStation 4. The exclusivity will be timed and the game will definitely release for Steam somewhere down the road.
The Epic Games Store version has already been data-mined to reveal Steamworks folders and files hiding within the game files. As for when a Steam release can be expected, the exclusive status of games on the Epic Games Store normally lasts between six months and a whole year. By that count, the Final Fantasy 7 remake could release by the summers or by fall 2022 at the latest.
Square Enix will still have to work on a lot of improvements for the PC port though. The Epic Games Store version received a lot of flak for lacking basic options such as anti-aliasing and V-sync settings. The game is also reported to be suffering from frame-rate stutters in specific areas which the developer is currently addressing.
