Yesterday, Square Enix announced that their Pixel Remastered version of the first six Final Fantasy games would be coming to Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch along with other platforms. However, Xbox was conspicuously left out, lending some evidence to the possibility that the relationship between Microsoft and Square Enix has broken down.
Along with the Pixel Remasters, it’s also been shown that the upcoming Final Fantasy 16 won’t be coming to Xbox consoles, though it will be releasing on PC six months after releasing on the Playstation 5. Octopath Traveler 2 is also not coming to Microsoft’s own console, though Square Enix has been cagey as to why.
According to Corden’s report, the only Square Enix games that the company has allowed to go to Xbox Series X are games like Final Fantasy Origin: Strangers of Paradise and Diofeld Chronicle, neither of which got very good reviews.
All of Square Enix’s most popular games have gone on for Nintendo consoles or been exclusive to the Playstation, which might be because of sales. But, if the relationship between Microsoft and Square Enix has broken down, it must have been fairly recent.
The past several major mainline Final Fantasy games (including the 13 trilogy and 15) both came out on Xbox consoles, though Final Fantasy 14 has yet to make the jump. Final Fantasy 7 Remake, despite supposedly being a timed exclusive, also has yet to arrive on Xbox despite now being available on PC.
The fault for the apparent deterioration of Microsoft and Square Enix’s relationship might simply be because Square Enix games sell better on Playstation and PC, whereas Microsoft is mainly known for shooter games and the like.
Either way, with less Final Fantasy games coming out on Xbox consoles, Square Enix and Sony are keeping a very popular game out of Microsoft’s hands for the most part, though that also depends on how well Final Fantasy 16 and the Pixel Remasters have done on PC, especially since Microsoft essentially owns the PC market due to Windows.
Final Fantasy 16 will be releasing exclusively for Playstation 5 consoles on June 22, and six months later will come to PC.
