Square Enix will aim to release more titles on more gaming platforms at launch, according to board member Naoki Yoshida.
In an interview with Director Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame and co-producer Naoki Yoshida, who’s more widely known for directing Final Fantasy 14 the past ten years, they explained many of the decisions behind the Fantasian: Neo Dimension re-release, including the release onto multiple platforms.
“In the future, Square Enix titles will be released simultaneously on each platform,” Yoshida said in that context. He points out that while it was a lot of work for the Mistwalker studio, fans’ excitement over the multiplatform release seems to be worth it.
Originally Fantasian was a single-“console” release, only available through the Apple Arcade service. Sakaguchi explains that he was already considering multi-platform release after the exclusivity went up; however, the topic came up sooner when Sakaguchi sat for a meal with Yoshida. The two have been talking from time to time in part due to Sakaguchi’s love for Final Fantasy 14. It’s to the point where apparently, the new Fantasian release will include Final Fantasy franchise music since Sakaguchi liked the first orchestral remake of Final Fantasy 4’s “Battle with the Four Friends” featured in last year’s Endwalker patch Buried Memory.
Therefore, it seems like a lot of decisions, such as a multi-platform release and additional voice lines, are influenced by these conversations and Sakaguchi’s love for FFXIV.
The multiplatform release will likely also be a testing ground for Square Enix in general to expand onto more platforms more quickly.
Recent major Final Fantasy titles such as Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 saw Playstation releases first and foremost, followed by PC releases on Steam and Epic stores. However, relatively poor performances for Rebirth, despite widespread community anticipation, are in part attributed to the unpopular console exclusivity timeline.
Seemingly, instead of buying for Playstation, many fans wait for possibly “inevitable” PC releases due to this release pattern.
It seems like if the multiplatform release strategy for Fantasion: Neo Dimension works out, Square Enix will have more reason to put its game onto more consoles. From the interview, it seems they’re especially eyeing how the Xbox Series X|S release does, but Yoshida thinks the Switch will perform the strongest—and hopes its younger audience sees its appeal in the midst of Square’s games’ reputation of being for older people.
