The gaming industry is an ever-shifting place, meaning that something you would “expect to be around forever” might not be there tomorrow. Fans of Octopath Traveler found that out the “hard way” today when they went to the Nintendo eShop page for the game and found that it’s “not available” anymore. Now, don’t panic; that doesn’t mean the game has been erased, or you can’t redownload it if you’ve already purchased the title; it just means it’s not available for a new purchase via the eShop. Over on Reddit, fans were speculating about why this would be the case at all, given that it was originally an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.
The answer they came up with is that the new CEO of Square Enix likely switched the published rights directly over to Square Enix instead of Nintendo as they were before. It should be noted that the original title was eventually released on PC, and there have been rumors about the first game going multiplatform on Xbox and PlayStation, much like the sequel did last year.
Square Enix and others like Sony are looking into doing more multiplatform releases as they feel it might be in their “best interests” due to the rising costs of video game development and how having their titles on more systems could lead to better sales. This isn’t indicative of the relationship between Square Enix and Nintendo, as they’ve had much success working together on the Switch, as the various Team Asano games can attest to. Thus, it’s very likely that the game WILL come back to the Nintendo eShop soon enough.
If you’ve never played the original Octopath Traveler, we’ll happily give you a brief rundown of events. The title focuses on eight individual characters, each with their own “path” and story to follow. You take on these stories via chapters and can do them in any order you desire. Along the way, the eight people meet up, and you battle with them in 4-person parties.
The game was praised upon its initial release for its story and the unique 2.5HD graphics that helped make the game feel like a classic RPG-style title while making the graphics pop on newer systems.
The game sold a million copies in less than three weeks and inspired Square Enix to use the new visual style to make several other games, many of which came out on the Switch, including the sequel to the original title that also did well.
