De relatie tussen Microsoft en Square-Enix was niet bepaald op een hoog niveau. Veel games van Square-Enix komen exclusief uit op de Nintendo Switch of PlayStation-consoles.
Games zoals Forspoken, Final Fantasy VII Remake en Final Fantasy XVI zijn nooit uitgekomen op de Xbox One of Xbox Series-consoles. Veel mensen speculeerden zelfs dat Square-Enix zou worden overgenomen door Sony.
Nu beloven Microsoft en Square-Enix een betere samenwerking. Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu belooft Xbox-consoles in het vervolg beter ondersteunen door alle mogelijke games op het platform uit te brengen. Belangrijk is het woordje ‘mogelijk’, want zeer waarschijnlijk zijn er lange termijn deals gemaakt met Sony voor mainline Final Fantasy-games. Andere games van Square-Enix hebben nu een goede kans om te verschijnen op Xbox consoles en Xbox Game Pass service.
De eerste game van deze samenwerking is de MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV die in de lente van 2024 op Xbox gaat uitkomen.
“First off, I have to thank you, Phil-san, for working with us to make the Xbox version of Final Fantasy XIV a reality,” Kiryu said. “This is a project that wouldn’t have been possible without [Phil’s] support.”
Kiryu continued, “I think I can speak for myself, [Yoshida], and all of our Warriors of Light here watching the live stream when I say how excited I am to see Xbox support added, and for us to welcome countless new friends to the world of Final Fantasy XIV. Final Fantasy XIV is only going to get bigger and better, so all the Xbox gamers out there, I urge you to give Final Fantasy XIV a try.
“And one more thing, as CEO of Square Enix, we want to continue to deliver fabulous games to fans across the world, and of course we want to welcome the Xbox community as well, and starting with today’s announcement of Final Fantasy XIV coming in spring 2024, and whenever possible, we are planning to bring our games to Xbox for players around the world to enjoy. We’re really looking forward to working closely with Phil and the Xbox team to make this possible.”
Spencer then added, “Thank you, Kiryu-san. We deeply respect the rich legacy of Square Enix, and we look forward to building on the relationship that we’ve established in bringing Final Fantasy XIV to Xbox, and partnering closely with you and the Square Enix team on future games.”
Yoshida closed, “I am extremely thankful and we are committed to working with Xbox going forward.”
Enjoyed being onstage with Yoshi-P and Kiryu-san to announce Final Fantasy XIV coming to Xbox. We’re thrilled that the Xbox community will join the Warriors of Light and we look forward to partnering closely with Square Enix on future games. pic.twitter.com/zq0ETkDFq1
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 28, 2023
