Xbox Fans Want To Know What's Going On With Square Enix In 2023

While the recent release of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Reunion has gone down well on Xbox so far, we're also seeing quite a lot of disgruntlement directed towards Square Enix's current 2023 lineup of games.

Why? Well, there aren't Xbox announcements at all as of yet.

[Orchard]

I suspect Sony are in the process of buying them. Games where Sony have paid for exclusivity like FF7R and Forspoken I can understand, other games skipping the platform less so, especially when you look at things like Octo that was on gamepass.

However, if they are trying to acquire Square, the Activision acquisition may be a spanner in the works since Sony won't want to close on Square while that process is still going on since it would give MS ammunition - the first round of court cases aren't due to occur until August so... if they are trying to acquire them, they have some hard decisions to make.

[Vits]

It would probably make some sense to buy the game division, given that at this point Sony probably already paid more than what it's worth with the exclusive deals alone. The issue is if SE would be willing to sell only that and if not, would Sony be interested in buying the whole of SE? And would the other internal divisions at Sony be open to incorporating the ones from SE? I have some doubts that would be the case.

So for the immediate future, I imagine Sony will just keep doing what they are already doing. Either paying for exclusives or paying to block the release on Xbox. So the fans of the latter should probably look at a PC, PS5, or even a Switch if they want to play the games.

[andy85]

@343 FFXV sold more than FFVIII FFIX and FFX so it still is a big deal. And that's for a poorly reviewed one compared to those. Looking at how XVI is shaping up it'll be a blockbuster.

[loxim]

As much as I still play both consoles, I love how everyone here is throwing around the "Sony paying for exclusives", but as soon as Microsoft does it, Sony loses their mind and goes all hypocritical about losing out on series on the PlayStation.

[Redemption-64]

@loxim

What type of world do you live in? Exactly what exclusives have MS paid for that Sony has lost their minds on? The Xbox line up this year, has been filled with majority 3rd party exclusives. Which of them is Sony losing their minds on? MS literally had to lie about Sony blocking Bloodborne, an IP that Sony's owns, co-developed and approached FromSoftware about. Sony's issues has been MS buying publishers

[sinspirit]

My guess. Logically.. Sony is paying them roughly the estimated loss based on estimated sales on XBox. Their games don't do that well on XBox so if Sony can give them immediate cash ro make up estimated sales, and have no worry or dev costs associated with porting it, then it's an easy deal to make. Plus, maybe some extra cash for the deal on top of that.

[dcbronco]

Man, I've been staying away and somewhere along the way Sony fans started admitting Sony pays for exclusives sometimes? 2022 is a really weird year.

[-Foxtrot]

I don't really see the point in Sony buying them now

Hitman is gone, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief

What's Square Enix got now? Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts

[Hofstaderman]

Imagine they do buy Square and convince Sakaguchi to take the helm…a man can dream.

[CrimsonWing69]

Isn’t Final Fantasy kind of the big deal?

[-Foxtrot]

@CrimsonWing69

I mean I guess but I'm just saying compared to how eye catching they were having all these IPs under one roof compared to now. Just more bang for your buck.

Also not to knock FF16 as it's not out, but after 13 an 15, FF hasn't been amazing for a while.

[MadLad]

This is what I keep saying. If they were selling, it would have been prior to letting go of a bunch of their westen focused studios and IP.

[andy85]

Which are 3 massive series to be fair. And there's the Valkyrie series and Star Ocean.

[Elda]

Those 3 alone are popular Japanese titles including being internationally popular jrpgs.

[tay8701]

Why would PS need tomb raider, they already have the superior uncharted series. FF is definitely their crown jewel, it's not even close. Don't really care all that much about Dragon quest, and kingdom hearts. The nier series is really good and if they were to aquire them I hope they revive some dormant ips like parasites eve.

[-Foxtrot]

@tay8701

"Why would PS need tomb raider, they already have the superior uncharted series"

They are totally different lets be honest

Tomb Raider was always more about puzzles and platforming with gun play sprinkled in

Uncharted is more about fire fights and platforming with puzzles sprinkled in

Also if they had both they could rotate them

[andy85]

@tay8701 Dragon Quest is massive in Japan though. So they need reasons for the Japanese to still own a PlayStation and over 6 million WW sales for 11 isn't to be sniffed at.

[blackblades]

I agree to an extent, like it would made sense and was eye appealing but those western games that you mention actually was holding square back. They lost money I believe because of those games. Rumors was going hard that Sony was going for them but idk rumor is a rumor wasnt no real evidence

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Final Fantasy was a big deal in the late 90s to mid 2000s

[SurgicalMenace]

Don't forget about FF14 being one of the most successful online games, much like Destiny. Once you understand that Sony wants platforms and infrastructures, it will all start to make sense.

[I_am_Batman]

"Also not to knock FF16 as it's not out, but after 13 an 15, FF hasn't been amazing for a while."

What about 7 Remake and 14? I get that 13 and 15 were more divisive, but wouldn't that same argument cut against Tomb Raider? And when was the last time you've played a good Thief game? I don't think owning IP is that valuable if you don't have the studios to utilize them.

If anything Square Enix is more likely to be acquired after trimming the fat and refocusing on their core strengths in my opinion.

[Redemption-64]

Those IPs were not doing good, that is why they were sold for literally cheap. I am also sure Sony would be far more interested in Final fantasy, kingdom hearts and Dragan quest than Hitman or even Tomb raider, especially with them having Uncharted that seems to sell more.

[Profchaos]

If rumours are to be believed sony wasn't interested In those franchises so square sold them prior to any buyouts as Sony believed it already had strong competitors to those franchises.

Personally I would of loved to see tomb raider made in house but I guess Sony don't.

[shinoff2183]

Or they would just rather sell games instead of lump some money for gamepass. We all know jrpgs typically haven't done well on Xbox. Maybe on gamepass they get downloaded but it's two different things there

[shinoff2183]

What's up with the downvotes. Everyone knows your typical Xbox player is not into jrpgs. Simple as that. Ms did try durometer 360 with a handful. Shame though cause blue dragon and infinite undiscovery deserved better and would've sold more on ps3

[lelo2play]

Square have been in bed with Sony for some time. Sooner or later Sony will purchase them... if they haven't already.

[shinoff2183]

Lelo2play

And?

[lelo2play]

shinoff2183

And... have safe sex.

[neutralgamer1992]

Look it's well known square enix sold it's western subsidiaries because they were dragging the companies value down. Here is what we do know:

Multiple well known game journalists all knew deal was happening

Ms buying Activision has put everything on hold because this would be the worst time to announce any acquisitions. If Activision acquisition is allowed you best believe Sony will buy square and try to buy Capcom (combined with cost them less than 15 billion and they will get to control legendary IP's) MegaMan , resident evil, final fantasy, dragon quest, monster hunter, DMC etc

So let me ask my fellow Xbox fans is it worth gaining Activision if we lose square enix and Capcom? And if you think it's far fetched or something just know this Ms bought Bethesda and already made all their games exclusives

Sony hired someone with deep understanding of acquisitions with future plans to expand: https://www.resetera.com/th...

Xbox fans who are depending that this Activision deal be allowed must understand the ramifications it will have

[-Foxtrot]

That's the issue no one is thinking of

Microsoft buying Zenimax and Activision just starts a chain reaction

Now if Sony buys Capcom or Square Enix, it'll be shitty to see more publishers be bought BUT it's fair, Microsoft started it, they changed the game, can't knock Sony for it.

[shinoff2183]

I'd rather ms of had bought Activision. Personally I'm more mad about Bethesda. I'm atleast interested in alot of their games lol. F Activision.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

"Xbox fans who are depending that this Activision deal be allowed must understand the ramifications it will have"

They think Sony doesn't have the money to play the "who can aquire the most publishers" game. It'll take for Sony to aquire someone like EA or Take Two for them to see why Activision acquisition is bad because then that fear of not being able to play a game on the console you have been able to all this time will set in.

[HardKnockKid24]

I love when people trot out the “Microsoft Started It” did Sony not acquire studios in its PS1 days? Before Xbox was out…. PS2 gen? PS3 gen? So on and so? Then the qualifiers pop up, oh well they never bought a publisher…. Then if the buy Square, well it’s not as big as ABK…. Guys give it a rest, given enough time, all companies will turn your past comments into lies and us all into hypocrites.

[neutralgamer1992]

HardKnockKid24

Vast majority of the studio Sony on they were working with before even being acquired Sony has never acquired a publisher

shinoff2183

I agree I really like Bethesda games and if I was running FTC there would be my argument. They simply bought out zenimax and made all their games exclusives even though vast majority of them were selling better on PlayStation

[thesoftware730]

That's the thing, all those ip combined don't match A/B , you make it sound like all you get is 1 game from A/B.

WoW(bigger that FF14)
Diablo series(huge)
Crash Bandicoot(classic)
Tony Hawk(Good series)
Overwatch( Massive series)
Candy Crush(biggest mobile game)
Spyro(Classic)
Guitar Heros(long-running)
CoD(the biggest game every single year)

See all of the games you named, most of them I love, RE being one of my favorite series, but you are talking in a hardcore gamer bubble. The A/B games I listed generates more money and players than Capcom and SE games combined. I understand that as an HC gamers we have our favorites, and want what we enjoy, but we are the vast minority. MS is already dead in japan and has been since their inception, so it would hurt them less overall to lose 2 Japanese-based companies that don't always support them anyway.

Think bigger and outside of our HC impressions, and trust there is a bigger picture that most people are missing. Fans like us already know what we are getting, and probably own multiple consoles already, but the people who buy a single console just for CoD will have to migrate to either xbox or GP or stop gaming.

[Lifexline]

Because Sony wrote them a check it’s as simple as that to keep square games of Xbox. We already knew this why is this person acting like he was born yesterday.

[dekke]

more likely SE games sells like a shit on xbox so theres no need to release anything on it =)

[blackblades]

They mostly sale on ps and nintendo, then can be said about alot of japanese games. If MS could go after these Jp studio they would have cause somebody always talking about them.

[crazyCoconuts]

Probably because they don't sell as well on Xbox, Sony's check doesn't have to be as big. It's a vicious cycle for MS

[Workshyskiver]

Its a chicken and egg situation though, Sony pays for genre defining titles not to appear on its competitor i.e FF or Street Fighter, and as such fans of those genre's buy Sonys console and sales of the genres that do get released naturally are lower due to the pull of the ones that Sony has made exclusive. Without FF exclusivity you would naturally find bigger audiences on the xbox.

[Jin_Sakai]

“Because Sony wrote them a check it’s as simple as that to keep square games of Xbox. We already knew this why is this person acting like he was born yesterday.“

If that was the case then Microsoft could write a bigger check. I believe this based more in relationship and sales than anything.

[HardKnockKid24]

Nope, to an earlier point, the check MS would have to write would have to be MUCH larger, due to lost PS sales. Yes relationships but that is probably 5 percent of the equation. Corporations are profit driven…. Without profit they die.

[shinoff2183]

Hey Ms wrote a check to keep tales of vespria of ps3 in the west. Which is why we never got it on ps3 in the u.s. it's no different dog. Let's not act like ms hasn't bought 3rd party exclusive stuff. Hell ms was known for it during the 360 days.

[Lifexline]

Lol okay….. the title states “xbox fans want to know what’s going on with square Enix in 2023” so I’m simply answering the question I never said MS never did the same thing. We all know they did the same thing. Damm why so defensive lol Sony fans are so funny death threats lawsuits come on calm down guys. The PlayStation is not god.

[blackblades]

That wasnt the only one, star ocean 4 and others. They had exclusive blue dragon and others, they had that 1 year advantage that era.

[DarkZane]

@Lifexline actually, it's more likely that Square-Enix doesn't want to bother porting it because it wouldn't make them any money. Sony didn't pay any money beyond the 6 months deal.

You people need to realize that Xbox players don't buy japanese games, so developers will not port them. Hell, xbox players don't even buy games anymore, they just wait for them to be on gamepass. For an indie, that's good, they get a huge cash from Microsoft and make money. For AAA developers, that little check Microsoft give them is not even close to what they would make by selling it at full price. Why would they release it on Xbox when their players won't buy them and therefore, make them no money.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

We bought Elden Ring

[shinoff2183]

Your exactly right. Anytime I hear someone outside of the internet talking Xbox it's always gamepass games. Nothing else. Sure some bought elden ring and whatever cod they are on but that's about it.

[gold_drake]

id still like a source on that, and no rumour talk, actual proof.

its not confirmed and quite honestly, super ridiculous

[shinoff2183]

Lifexline.

I've seen a bunch of your comments. You post things to try and throw shade and to downplay ms buying publishers not studios like Sony has. Your either a dimwitted or playing one. Jagoff

[Lifexline]

Okay wow a fan lol. MS is buying a publisher which consists of developers. Microsoft is buying activision for the ip and the developers not the publisher side of business they are one of the biggest publishers on xbox.

Dumb little kids like you who can’t think properly try to make it a big deal that they are buying a publisher when they are too immature to realize they don’t care about the publishing side they just want the ip and developers. Call it a publisher if it helps you sleep at night but it’s a fact they are buying them for that reason that I stated. There is no difference from when Sony or any other company buys a developer. They want the ip and developers. There is no use trying to explain it to a little kid any further their mind is not mature enough to comprehend such complexities. How to see past the obvious.

[shinoff2183]

Meanwhile ms has bought up all the western rpgs studios. Obsidian Bethesda inxile so boo hoo author even if that's what happened. Truth is Xbox players typically don't mess with jrpgs.

[VersusDMC]

And not only that...

Microsoft made deals for Crossfire, Stalker, Warhamer, Scorn, High on life...they are both doing it. And if you are talking about permanent 3rd party deals i don't see dead rising 3, Recore, Quantum Break on playstation yet.

And if you say Microsoft published some of those...it doesn't matter as Microsoft just winned about Bloodborne being exclusive and it was published by Sony.

[HardKnockKid24]

Now you know……. Sony has signed WAY more exclusivity deals than that. And also none of those games have been as relevant in the gaming space as Final Fantasy and MGS, etc.

[Justo909]

I'll just leave this here.

UK charts FF7 reunion launch week -

"Square Enix's latest release, Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - Reunion made its top ten debut this week, coming in at number eight. The RPG spin-off performed particularly well on PlayStation, making up a total of 82% of the sale split across the PS4 and PS5. Switch accounted for 12% while the Xbox made up the final 6%."

[Thundercat77]

There you have it

[HardKnockKid24]

I’ll tell you, when I decide which console to buy a game on, I think about the ecosystem and where I think that game will be able to flourish the longest with the best support. With the spotty Xbox support I only buy Square games on PS. The more Square/PS exclusives the worse Square games will perform over time on Xbox imo

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

Realistically, why would Xbox gamers buy Reunion without playing FFVII? It makes no damn sense.

[VersusDMC]

The original FF7 is on Xbox. Crisis Core is a prequel to the original FF7.

[Immagaiden]

Although it’s strange no Xbox titles have been announced by Square Enix for next year yet, I doubt they’ll go the entire 2023 without one release

[CrimsonWing69]

Well they didn’t get Valkyrie Profile, they’re not getting Rebirth, Forspoken, or FF16. Let’s face it, if you’re a Square Enix fan and you only own an Xbox, you done picked the wrong platform.

[Vits]

I mean if you are a Square Enix fan you are wrong no matter the platform that you choose. /s

[blackblades]

Shouldve known that since ps4/one days, 360/ps3 era maybe

[CrimsonWing69]

@blackblades

Actually the 360 had Square Enix exclusive games that never went to the PS3.

Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant. Man, that’s was back by when Xbox was on fire. The 360 was seriously their best era. I can’t believe how far they’ve fallen since then.

I’m hoping one day they’ll get their sh*t together.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

SE isn't the end all be all.

[CrimsonWing69]

@343_Guilty_Spark

Nobody said Square was the “end-all-be-all”. We’re all literally discussing Square Enix games on Xbox per the article posted here.

Literally, the story is Xbox fans wanting to know about Square Enix plans for 2023 and we’re discussing if you’re solely an Xbox owner and a Square fan you’re going to be missing out in 2023.

Make sense?

[FGHFGHFGH]

Not only did they have exclusives, but ffx3 went from being ps exclusive to xbox having full marketing rights in the US. Square was 100% pro xbox for 360/ps3 era. FF13 still sold better on playstation and square had record losses.(SONY sold there stock in Square Enix during this time also) The president of square enix was forced to resign, and now square puts there games on ps and nintendo consoles.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Immagaiden]

@ Crimson

If you want to play the numbers game look how many Square Enix titles this year alone that Xbox did receive as well as every individual year prior

With how multiplatform Square Enix has become over the years, it’d still be strange for them to completely neglect Xbox next year.

Yes their titles don’t sell as well on that brand, but that didn’t stop them from supporting it since 2006. Even various other Japanese publishers aside from Square Enix are still supporting the platform. It may not get the most support, but it’s still not getting completely neglected by the majority of them either

[CrimsonWing69]

I’m not saying they aren’t going to get any Square Enix games, but with as much as they got this year PlayStation and Switch got more.

These are the games you’d be missing out on:

Voice of Cards
Tactics Ogre Reborn
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth
Valkyrie Elysium
Romancing Saga Minstrel Song
Triangle Startegy
Front Mission 1st Remake
Harvestella

I mean next year Xbox is missing out on:

Forspoken
FF 16
FF Rebirth
FF Pixel Remaster Collection

Those are kind of big deal releases for Square Enix fans. If you only have an Xbox and you’re wanting to play Square Enix games you made a big mistake.

[DOMination-]

If you only have an Xbox and you're waiting for those games then it's your own fault. Apart from a weird spell in the middle of the X360 era, JRPGs have never really been a big focus for Xbox. And for Japanese Square Enix games, the majority of them never released on Xbox anyway.

It makes sense that the Japanese console is going to have more games from Japan and I feel they should stay on PS (and/or Nintendo). Moving forwards the Xbox will be the home of WRPGs with Starfield, Outer Worlds, ES6, Avowed, Fable, InXiles new IP (which is supposed to be a first person RPG).

If Xbox Game Studios can actually deliver (and right now that's still a big if), then the differences between the two are going to end up being a really good thing.

[jznrpg]

They know where their money is made and it’s not Xbox . Fairly simple

[Hofstaderman]

If you guys are so concerned about Square how about actually BUYING their games? Historic sales figures indicate XBOX owners are not interested in their titles unless you waiting for them to be released on GamePass

[rlow1]

This article says nothing. I think personally that Square possibly could be getting ready to be acquired by Sony. Or Sony has a clause in a contract with them forbidding them from releasing on Xbox.

[bleedsoe9mm]

that's a fair question FTC should be looking into PlayStation business practices

[MadLad]

I'm surprised Microsoft hasn't already brought up all these money deals Sony makes to keep content and games off of their platform.
Especially when keeping content from other players is exactly what Sony's attempted block is about. And this is also after Microsoft already honored multiple big name titles coming to PlayStation after acquiring the studios and making them 1st party.

[Gamingsince1981]

They can't bring up things they have no proof of, they can't just say square aren't bringing games to xbox because Sony is paying to keep them off because that hasn't been established as true. The main reason the xbox is not getting any of these games is because they just don't sell well at all on xbox, for e.g the new ff7 game sold 6% of its total sales on xbox, why would square care about xbox with sales like that

[shinoff2183]

Most of sonys deals are timed exclusives. Ms is buying permanently. Huge fing difference madlad, come on do all you Xbox guys gotta play so dumb

[Elda]

It seems S-E is going back to releasing some of their AAA games exclusively on PS consoles. It's evident S-E has their reasons & only Sony & S-E know what those reasons are.

[Immagaiden]

Not exclusively

A large number of their titles are still coming to Switch

[jznrpg]

There are a decent amount exclusive to PS but there are a good amount of games on both .

[Elda]

You didn't read my comment carefully. I stated "It SEEMS S-E are releasing SOME of their AAA games exclusively on PS consoles" I didn't say anything about S-E releasing most of their smaller titles on PS consoles only. Though they did release the low-budget Valkyrie Elysium on PS consoles only.

[a7madRyan]

I think sony plan is give other players on other platforms a taste from some games like “monster hunter rise, ffvii crisis core and all there old games on pc” and then if you want to buy the new bigger games buy them exclusively on ps5, i do think monster hunter world 2 will be timed exclusive for ps5

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Square Enix don't give a damn about Xbox.

[shinoff2183]

Cause yall don't play jrpgs and these days most of yall don't even buy games

[SoulWarrior]

Probably more accurate the other way around.

[gold_drake]

ah, all 4 of them then

girl, if you are a final fantasy fan, then you bought the wrong system.

[Panhandler]

As an old FF fan I don't care about anything Square Enix does honestly. I haven't enjoyed a FF game since FF9.

[Panhandler]

Laughing at disagrees but volleyball is lame and no one cares about anything past the old JRPG era.

[a7madRyan]

try ff14 you can play it for free tell lvl 60 maybe you will change your mined

[Panhandler]

Yeah I didn't pay FF14 to lvl 60 but I didn't care to play it.

[gold_drake]

because so many good games are coming for it haha
next year is gonna be super expensive

[Panhandler]

I've yet to see a Playstation exclusive with paying for. Let me know how that goes for you after this next year.

[andy85]

Looking at your comment history bashing PS for having a terrible year and saying Xbox has dominated I wonder why you have that biased and strange opinion 😂😂

[gold_drake]

*worth

if you wanna be a lil brat, atleast spell check.

and i will, no worries :)

[Kekewei]

Maybe this is why:
last week sales figures in Japan
PS5／59352台
PS5 数字版／9467台
Xbox Series X／331台
Xbox Series S／778台

If they really care about jp games, just buy a ps5 or ns.

[TheColbertinator]

My question is when is the next Triangle Strategy?

[Zeldafan64]

My guess is 2024.

[babadivad]

Sony payola is what's going on.

[darkrider]

Microsoft impact on Japan sales is close to nothing. Sony doesnt need to pay...

[babadivad]

"Sony doesn't need to pay"

Yet they still do.

Square's games sell more outside of Japan than they do inside Japan.

Sony pays to keep Square games off Xbox everywhere, not just in Japan.

[MADGameR]

They don't want to know anything but what's coming for Gamepass. Don't get mad because you are all losing out on the big games, it is your own fault for allowing Microsoft to kill your own platform by cheering on all of those stupid moves.

[Cockney]

I would have thought Square Enix and their release schedule would be the last of their worries

[darkrider]

No they don't. Tottaly fake news. What were the sales of the old final fantasy that come out recently ? Even if it was just uk, under 8%?

When was the last game from square that sold well on Xbox? Not even Tomb raider....

[Dirty_Lemons]

I don't understand why this is even an issue. There are separate consoles so we can have separate games. Final Fantasy didn't come to Xbox until many years as a Nintendo exclusive, followed by many years as a PlayStation one. There is no point to multiple consoles if they all have the same games.

[YourMommySpoils]

Goes to show you don't need to get bought to have loyalty.

[isarai]

They don't know how to garner relationships with Japanese devs/publishers. Their last "effort" that they made such a big deal about was just slapping japanese games on gamepass (which should'vebeen the norm not the special exception to the rule). As if that's such a privilege that all Japanese devs would suddenly forget how poorly they sell on their console, then they cancel their best bet at breaking that stigma with Scalebound. I'm sure Sony sweetens the deal, but i doubt it takes much persuasion.

[lucian229]

Xbox sucks

[hotnickles]

Has square made any good games recently? Aside from final fantasy which I can’t comment on and have never played. Have they all been stinkers like the avengers? I haven’t wondered about what square was up to in a long time lol.