We have an interesting new rumor about Xbox’s third party plans, and the upcoming Tokyo Game Show.
Microsoft revealed that they would be at Tokyo Game Show in a statement from last week. This year’s Tokyo Game Show will be held on September 26, at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan. Among other things, they promised “an exciting lineup of games from third-party partners primarily based in Japan and across Asia.”
In today’s episode of the WBG podcast, host Durt Griggity, and one of his guests, Lord King ‘98% right’ David from the Iron Lords podcast, came out with what they had heard about Xbox’s third party plans. Durt said that he heard that Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster are coming to Xbox. But Durt isn’t sure about Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are also coming. That means Durt joins that little coterie of people who heard about these Final Fantasy Xbox rumors, but he won’t be the only one joining them.
Lord King ‘98% right’ David has shared even more details, as it seems he has even broader connections, or at least more sources. In David’s words:
“What they’re going to be show at the Tokyo Game Show is going to be all their partners that’s in the Eastern Market in Asia. All of the stuff.”
David then elaborates that that could include Black Myth Wukong, that big third party title which reportedly sold 18 million copies in two weeks and broke Steam concurrent player records. David says that Xbox could also announce its Xbox release date at the show.
Black Myth Wukong has been in the center of controversy, as several sources corroborated the claim that Sony made some form of exclusivity deal with the game’s developer, Game Science. One of those earlier sources happens to be David. So if this new rumor is true, it means that Microsoft has come in the clutch to get marketing ramped up for Black Myth Wukong’s arrival on Xbox.
David also says that Square Enix’s entire slate will also be on the show. While the Final Fantasy games would come first in mind, David suggests that it could go beyond that. There are quite a few recent games that Square Enix hasn’t brought to Xbox yet, such as Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, Live A Live, Bravely Default II, and Foamstars. While we don’t think all these games have a huge potential on Xbox, Square Enix can see the general benefit of just extending the potential audience for these games to as many platforms as technically possible. We will also note there are plenty of Square Enix games that recently came to Xbox, such as Octopath Traveler II and Visions of Mana.
Finally, David says that there is at least 1 big game that will be announced for Game Pass. Zakkenkloot speculates on Twitter that it could be Black Myth Wukong, Final Fantasy 16, or Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which was already published to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S earlier this year. We won’t venture a guess here, but it could be a game that wasn’t even brought up on that livestream. David did not actually say anything to suggest it was Black Myth Wukong or a Final Fantasy game.
Of course, all these rumors can be taken with a grain of salt until we know for sure. But if Microsoft was looking for an opportunity to showcase their presence and commitment in Japan after the Activision merger in a big way, this would be it.
