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Japanese publisher Square Enix plan to start releasing their major games across all platforms including PC, Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation. The publisher announced the major shift to their release strategy in their latest earnings report, stating that they will "aggressively pursue" releases on multiple platforms moving forward.
"Shift to a multiplatform strategy for HD titles, the Group will aggressively pursue a multi-platform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs," it's stated in the report.
Furthermore, Square Enix made it clear that they want to build an environment where more players can get access to AAA franchises, which is certainly great news to Xbox and PC players who didn't get the chance to play Square Enix's big releases due to the platform exclusivity partnership between Sony and Square Enix.
Some big games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Final Fantasy 16, Foamstars and Forspoken were PlayStation 5 console or full exclusives but it does look like Square Enix are walking away from that strategy.
"Especially, in regards to major franchises and AAA including catalogue titles, it will build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles," Square Enix confirmed.
One of the reasons for such a major change in their release strategy could be the sales performance of some of these exclusive games. Final Fantasy 16 failed to meet the publisher's expectations due to the slow adoption of PlayStation 5 while Forspoken was a big commercial flop.
Another reason could be Microsoft's efforts to improve their relationship with Square Enix over recent years. MMO Final Fantasy 14 recently hit Xbox while Phil Spencer promised even more games on Xbox Series X|S in the near future.
The new President Takashi Kiryu also seems to be pushing this new strategy, stating recently that Square Enix want to bring their games to more platforms including Xbox.
All in all, the majority of players will certainly welcome this news, especially those who didn't have the opportunity to play Square Enix's games due to exclusive deals with the platform they don't own.
Having more games available on more platforms is where the industry seems to be heading and we couldn't be happier about that.
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