The Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remasters have officially hit Xbox Series X|S.
Square Enix made the announcement on Twitter, alongside of course the reveal on today’s Tokyo Game Show. This is what they said:
“The first six Final Fantasy titles are out now on Xbox and Windows!
The Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remasters can be enjoyed digitally as individual titles or as a bundle:
Which will you play first?”
As you may remember, the first six Final Fantasy games debuted on the Famicom and Super Famicom. Some of these games release on the NES and Super NES as well, but because the games were not that popular yet, Square (before merging with Enix) were not able to match their Japanese and worldwide release schedules.
The franchise’s big breakout moment was, of course Final Fantasy VII, but that also put these games in a strange position. They received ports to the original PlayStation, and would subsequently each receive different forms of rereleases and remakes.
Square Enix did bring these games to Nintendo and Sony platforms, as well as mobile and PC, but a platform that had long eluded these franchises was Microsoft’s Xbox. Microsoft had never been able to establish a solid foothold in Japan, in terms of market share, and also in terms of connecting with the local video game industry.
Square Enix always saw Sony as the great business partner that gave them their biggest success. And so, even though they would eventually renew ties with Nintendo, they always reserved their big budget and high profile titles for Sony’s platforms.
As we know, that very close relationship recently went through serious changes, because the big business that Square Enix originally felt was guaranteed on PlayStation was no longer there. Square Enix revealed in a financial report that their PlayStation 5 exclusive titles Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Final Fantasy XVI, and Foamstars, all did not meet sales expectations.
This didn’t mean that Square Enix was abandoning PlayStation. However, their big shift to multiplatform means that they will now actively work to help make other platforms successful with their titles as well. Naoki Yoshida was on record to say this:
“So 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.”
We are sure some fans may not really feel that this release is that big a deal, especially if they already bought these games. However, for the industry, it is a major step forward for Xbox in Japan.
No, Microsoft still doesn’t get every single Japanese game on Xbox that Sony has managed to get for PlayStation. However, they are succeeding in playing catch up, even threading that line in record time for those Capcom Fighting Collection games.
Now we know that what seemed to be a brief dalliance with Final Fantasy XV releasing on Xbox One, has now become a bigger commitment to Xbox in the future. Now it remains to be seen how Final Fantasy XVI and the Final Fantasy VII remakes get announced and released for Microsoft’s platform as well.
