Final Fantasy 16 is one of the best Final Fantasy games. It’s a hill most Final Fantasy fans will die on. But, the majority will remember the latest Final Fantasy installment for the controversies surrounding its sales and the backlash that followed its launch instead of the praise and critical acclaim.
Now that FF16 is finally headed to the PC (and possibly the Xbox Series S/X next), it appears that the game isn’t out of the controversy-filled woods just yet.
During the latest Xbox Two podcast, Jez Corden shared Xbox will have something Final Fantasy-related to announce at the Tokyo Game Show event, adding, “I’ve heard that the whole slate’s on the docket, including Final Fantasy, and 16, the FF Pixel Remasters.”
This isn’t surprising at all. Anyone who’s followed Square Enix lately know that they haven’t been too happy with the sales of their PlayStation-exclusive games lately, including Forspoken, FF16, and even Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which has led them to bring Final Fantasy 14 to Xbox, and tease the arrival of the rest of the franchise on the platform.
If what Corden is saying is true, then every Final Fantasy game will be on Xbox soon enough. However, there’s a problem. Technical limitations, particularly concerning the Xbox Series S, is an Ifrit-sized roadblock.
The less powerful hardware of the Series S compared to its counterpart, the Series X, raises questions about how it handles the demanding graphics and performance requirements of games like Final Fantasy 16, or if it could even handle the game, in the first place.
The game’s performance issues on PS5 at launch and in the months that followed are concerning. The Xbox Series S has already resulted in the delay of several AAA titles on the Xbox, including Baldur’s Gate 3 and, depending on who you believe, Black Myth: Wukong.
The good news is that Phil Spencer has been vocal about wanting to establish a stronger foothold for the brand in Japan. Seeing as he’s been more involved lately with optimization efforts, he could be personally working together with Square Enix to speed up the process and make sure that FF16 runs as well as it could on both Xbox consoles.
Xbox could also bide their time by releasing the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters on Xbox first. The re-release of the first six Final Fantasy games would leave only few games in the series that aren’t available on the Xbox yet.
If it’s successful, Microsoft could start changing how Japanese developers perceive the Xbox market. The inclusion of major Final Fantasy titles could potentially make Xbox more appealing in a region where it has traditionally struggled to sell, save for certain occasions.
Not to mention, the success of other JRPGs that arrived late on the Xbox, such as the Persona franchise, has demonstrated that there’s a substantial market for these games on Microsoft’s platform. This suggests that even if Final Fantasy titles arrive on Xbox years after their initial release, they could still find a receptive audience.
For Square Enix, this is huge amidst its financial struggles. The additional revenue generated by bringing more Final Fantasy games to Xbox is a massive W. Microsoft could also secure a complete version of FF16 and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection on the Xbox Game Pass, which would require a substantial investment, much to Square Enix’s delight.
With only a few weeks to go until the start of the Tokyo Game Show on September 26, it’ll be interesting to see what else will come up in the coming days.
What’s certain so far is that Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony will have plenty of exciting announcements in store in the days ahead.
