Summary
Square Enixhas confirmed thatFinal Fantasy 16andFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthhave yet to hit their sales targets. It still expects both games to hit planned milestones overtime, but as part of a wider shift in the overall strategy it has for blockbuster games, it will be leaving behind console exclusivity and focusing on a multiplatform strategy that includes PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.
This has been a long time coming, with Square Enixalready expressing worryabout exactly how viable console exclusives are in the current landscape when budgets are so massive or production cycles are so long, meaning that when a game eventually goes out into the wide world, it needs to reach as many people as possible. Being on a single platform doesn’t help those chances, and certainly didn’t when it came to Final Fantasy 16 or Rebirth.
What Is The Point Of Console Exclusives In 2024?
ThePlayStation 5had a rocky start. Launching in the middle of the pandemic, it had a lousy selection of launch titles and years later has received only a handful of exclusives, most of which have since been ported to PC. Due to component and stock shortages, getting hold of a console was incredibly difficult for the first year or so, and thus it was difficult for the console to build up a loyal audience who were ready and waiting for marquee games.
We have long left behind the days of PS4 and Xbox One where major exclusives were more than enough to sell an entire console. How we consume games, whether it be through console exclusivity or services, has changed drastically. As has how we pay for them and the types of games we play, with millions of people engaged either only in service titles or big hitters like Call of Duty or EA Sports FC that come around once a year. Final Fantasy as a PS5 exclusive might hit with hardcore audiences or casual consumers who recognise the name, but that just isn’t enough to make ends meet anymore.
Many of these corporations are stuck in the past, with Square Enix complaining about the sales of its big titles for decades now, but at least it has decided to actually take responsibility for its failures for once. To acknowledge how the tides are changing and the growing irrelevance of games being exclusive is a step I expect most publishers and platform holders to take in the years to come, and some of them already are.
Xbox released Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, and Grounded on PS5 earlier this year, and a handful of them came to Nintendo Switch too. Xbox Game Pass numbers stalled and lacking a traditional means to sell its biggest titles, Microsoft shifted its strategy in ways I don’t see it going back on.But even this success isn’t enough to stop studios being closed.
Sony used exclusive partnerships to ensure the likes of Final Fantasy 16, Remake, Rebirth, and Deathloop came to the PS5 first, shackled to the platform for months until the initial contractual agreement reached its end. After that, developers would be free to capitalise on PC ports or had done so already, but ones for other platforms, like Xbox or Switch, weren’t possible.
I’ll always be of the opinion that the more places a game is available, the better. I hate the fact that I can adore a game like Rebirth, but have to preface that with the fact it is a PS5 exclusive, and those not willing to pay hundreds of pounds for a new console will have to either wait for ports or miss out entirely. It sucks, and we’ve moved beyond that console war mentality.
Why Is The Attitude Towards Console Exclusives Changing?
The attitude to console exclusives is changing for a lot of reasons, including those I’ve mentioned above, but I think all parties involved are starting to realise that the old ways of marketing and selling video games just don’t cut it.
Developers and publishers are continually looking to diversify revenue streams and make as much money off their audiences as possible, so unless you’re Nintendo or Sony and boast the first-party talent required to make these experiences a reality, you’re better off widening your net to every single platform under the sun. It might lessen the value of your platform or give consumers fewer reasons to pick up a new console right away, but only because, during their entire history, PlayStation and Xbox haven’t really traded on anything else worthwhile.
Third-party exclusives were roped in with promises of guaranteed success, but now that can no longer be supplied, companies like Square Enix are wisening up to the winds of change and instead branching out, a move that has been a long time coming and will benefit everyone. We more than likely will still see the majority of copies sold on a dominant platform, but allowing Xbox and PC to come to the party could shift millions more units, and open the conversation up to parts of the medium that otherwise remained needlessly restricted behind exclusive lines.
If a flagship entry in a series as celebrated as Final Fantasy 16 can’t meet expectations, then something has gone terribly wrong and needs to change. I doubt Sony will be happy about it losing a major exclusive cash cow and needing to rely more on its own IP, but I’d prefer it be forced to adapt and innovate than continue to restrict excellent games for no good reason.
Console exclusives haven’t made sense for a long time, and with any luck, Square Enix will herald in the start of something new.
Final Fantasy 16
WHERE TO PLAY
An action RPG from Square Enix Creative Business Unit III, Final Fantasy 16 takes place in the world of Valisthea. As Clive Rosfield, First Shield of Rosaria, you embark on a quest to find your missing younger brother.
