Microsoft has finally made good on a soft promise they – and Square Enix – made to Xbox gamers.
As they revealed on the Xbox Game Showcase 2025, Final Fantasy 16 is coming to Xbox Series X|S. And by coming, we mean that they have shadow dropped the game on their platform. Because of this, Microsoft makes a particular boast that will be very special for Final Fantasy fans on Xbox Newswire:
The release also means that all single player mainline Final Fantasy games are now available to play on Xbox! And with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade also on its way this winter, there’s even more for Xbox fans to look forward to in the future!
Rumors about both Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade coming to Xbox have been persisting for the past two years. A little over a year ago, after their games failed to meet sales expectations as PlayStation 5 exclusives, Square Enix launched a drastic reorganization, part of which is still ongoing. This included a pivot to making fewer games, but also making as many of those games multiplatform as possible.
It was pure serendipity that Spencer successfully won Square Enix over to bring their MMO Final Fantasy XIV to Xbox Series X|S. But after this company pivot, Square Enix’s Naoki Yoshida started talking about Final Fantasy XIV as the “starting point” for more of their games to come to Xbox.
Shortly after, Square Enix staff also started talking publicly about their desire to bring Final Fantasy 16 to Xbox as well, but then the rumors came in. Within this two year time frame, the number of rumors and sources that came in basically confirmed for the public that Square was definitely going to bring as many Final Fantasy games to the Xbox as they possibly could, and especially Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade.
This did lead to an awkward situation, as one rumor boldly claimed that Xbox was prioritized over Nintendo’s unannounced Switch 2 for both Final Fantasy games. Nintendo revealed Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade in the big Switch 2 Direct last April, before it would be revealed for Xbox. NatetheHate came back online to insist that he was sure the at least Fantasy VII Remake and Fantasy VII Rebirth were coming to Xbox.
These new announcements partly confirmed those rumors after all, though we can now also clearly see none of them ever really get the full picture that they can be really sure that some consoles are prioritized over others.
Nonetheless, it’s really Square Enix that is front and center here, as they’ve made moves to keep the company healthy and making the games the fans want for the near future. If you’re a fan of Square Enix, you should root for them to find success in this new strategy in their blue ocean in Xbox, as well as their existing platforms in PlayStation, Nintendo platforms, and PC, so we can all keep enjoying their games.
