Final Fantasy 16 producer and 14 director Naoki Yoshida has said Square Enix is looking to double down on Xbox releases, after its focus on PlayStation exclusivity led to a financial dip.
Yoshida told Eurogamer that Final Fantasy 14’s recent release on Xbox was met with a “really strong response” and is just the “starting point” for more Square Enix games to launch on the platform.
“With Final Fantasy 14’s release on Xbox, [Microsoft Gaming CEO] Phil Spencer spent a lot of his time and a lot of effort and put in a lot of hard work into making it a reality,” Yoshida said. “So we would like to make the best of that and further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers moving forward.”
Xbox has historically struggled to breach the Japanese video game market, where its two biggest rivals PlayStation and Nintendo are based, and Yoshida said this can dissuade Japanese developers from focusing on Xbox as a platform.
“However, at Square Enix, we have been changing our policy,” he continued. “So now we are moving towards the policy of releasing our games on a multiplatform basis, and we really want as many players as possible to play our titles.
“With Final Fantasy 14 as the starting point, we do want to release more Square Enix games on Xbox, and there will be more of our titles released on Xbox. So I hope players will look forward to future things to come on the platform.”
This shift in strategy arrived after a huge fall in profits was revealed in May 2024, when Square Enix declared it would “shift to a multiplatform strategy” through a three year plan to reboot the company.
Though several games have arrived on Xbox and Nintendo platforms over the years, PlayStation has been a focus for Square Enix as it’s released the likes of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy and Final Fantasy 16 on PlayStation exclusively. Both of these were well received but failed to meet financial expectations.
Final Fantasy 16 was finally officially announced for PC after a lot of back and forth, however, with a September 17, 2024 release date. Director Hiroshi Takai recently echoed Yoshida’s comments too, by saying future games in the franchise will “likely” come to PC at launch.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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