440°

Square Enix Points To PlayStation Exclusivity As A Key Reason For Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Success

Now, as Square Enix is embarking on a journey to remake one game with three games, we’re learning why Square has decided to keep all three of these games exclusive to PlayStation consoles.

In an interview with the Washington Post, producer Yoshinori Kitase cites keeping Final Fantasy VII: Remake, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and seemingly the third game exclusive to one platform has been a core part of the success of the first two games so far.

Snookies1286d ago (Edited 86d ago )

I don't really think that's true. I went out of my way to buy a PS5 to play FF VII: Rebirth. So, it's the other way around for me lol. I would have bought another Xbox (after trading mine in not too long ago) if it was only there to play. Final Fantasy's name recognition, on top of VII's renown in the gaming world is why it's moving a lot of units.

86d ago Replies(3)
Nitrowolf286d ago (Edited 86d ago )

Did you not read it or just not get past the title?

The PS5 in the headline is obviously because it's what's exclusive platform it's on, but this is pertaining to the games scope and how being on a single platform really helped them build this world. That has played to it's success, otherwise it possibly wouldn't be getting as good as reviews. Good review and having good things to talk about your game bring in sales.

It could have been exclusive to any other platform, they're just pointing out how that really helped them, versus setting resources and time aside to developing another platform at the same time, that would have ultimately downgraded what they could have done, or delay the game out to who knows when.

Ironmike86d ago

It's only a timed exclusive it ends in May feel free to check

mkis00785d ago

Ironmike

Let me know how remake plays on xbox will you? Are the controls good?😶

Babadook785d ago (Edited 85d ago )

“It's only a timed exclusive it ends in May feel free to check“

And if Rebirth is like Remake don’t count on the game actually coming to PC in May. Who knows how long it will take to develop. Remake took longer than the exclusivity deal. There’s no announcement either.

Christopher85d ago

***It's only a timed exclusive it ends in May feel free to check ***

SIE says they're not timed. Feel free to check.

Asterphoenix85d ago

Ironmike

It will be the same case as with FF7 Remake. It will drop on PC sometime after the PS timed exclusivity is up. The recent news of it being a PlayStation console exclusive is highly likely true with lots of Sony people had a hand in support the development of these titles. Which is shown in the credits of those titles which other Square multiplatform titles don't.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 85d ago
blacktiger86d ago

But you went out of the way,
THAT'S A HUGE SUCCESS

KwietStorm_BLM86d ago

You either didn't read the interview at all or you just didn't get it.

Juancho5186d ago

Just cause you don’t think it’s true doesnt make it so. Final Fantasy 7 and other titles have been Sony exclusives and have utilized the hardware and systems specifically so they could push boundaries and not succopmb to lowest common denominators. Sony’s partnership with them on these projects is very obviously breneficial to the game and the gamers alike, the final product is a testament. We all played FF7 on PS1, if i didnt already have a PS5 i would’ve bought one just for these titles because of how much i loved ff7.

derek86d ago

@Snook, not saying your opinion is irrelevant but SE opinion holds way more weight.

Michiel198986d ago

Square has more incentive to lie/give a skewed view though, they are the one benefitting from it the most.
It's kinda insane how you all gobble up pr talk like hungry turkeys. No matter the result of their partnership, they would have always talked positive about it. No company would ever say anything negative, especially not so short after launch or you might as well start pouring gasoline over your money.

Games_People_Play86d ago

That nice little 💰 Sony gave them for exclusivity, probably didn’t hurt either.

z2g86d ago

I agree. An exclusive intentionally limits who can play it. You’ll get disagrees because loyalty supersedes logic amongst the diehards. What’s objectivity, anyway….

lelo2play86d ago

Square Enix basically belong to Sony...

DarXyde85d ago

Well known fact that games sell hardware. But it is also true that people look to maximize their hardware investment over the course of a few years and buy in before there's much to play yet.

We'll get an idea of how much Rebirth drives PS5 sales by end of March. Since it's a late month release, we'll have a better idea in March.

If PS5 sales are high, we can assume people held off on getting a PS5 until Rebirth.

If PS5 sales remain within the typical estimates with high Rebirth sales, the game is likely being sold to an existing install base.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 85d ago
Tacoboto86d ago

FFXV was open world and released on the weak as heck Xbox One S day and date with everything else.

Ubisoft titles... Red Dead Redemption 2... Hogwarts Legacy... GTA V on the 360 and PS3.

No. Being exclusive isn't the reason it's a seamless map.

86d ago
MrNinosan85d ago

Just admit you have not played Rebirth, if you compare it's open world with FFXV.

Tacoboto85d ago

I haven't played yet - decided to start Armored Core VI instead, but the Special Edition came in and is awaiting install.

But I have been playing games, that have been multiplatform and open-world, since the 360 era. This developer comment makes no sense and seems insulting to the dev team actually.

Barlos86d ago

That's a laugh, because that was also the reason why FFXVI didn't perform as well as expected wasn't it?

Rocketisleague86d ago

Yeah, that was the excuse.

Ff7 is a system seller. Simple as.

Barlos86d ago

Definitely. Always has been.

Ironmike86d ago

I don't think it is and I own both games remake and rebirth but iam only giving my op of remake as I haven't played rebirth yet but remake is notva system seller its good game and actually got me into the franchise

Rocketisleague85d ago (Edited 85d ago )

Nobody cares what you think of the game ironmike, or me for that matter. It is factually a system seller. Final fantasy in general used to sell systems. Ff7 in particular is the one that made final fantasy a system seller in the first place. Hence a good remake pushing the nostalgia drug trip over those who didn't get ps5s yet.

Ff16 was actually the point at which I finally got a ps5 myself.

Shane Kim86d ago

You must be delusional if you think it being on xbox would make any difference. FFXVI was sadly written off from the get go.

Barlos86d ago (Edited 86d ago )

It wouldn't. Xbox doesn't do JRPGs. I did think it was a great game though. Sure it was a departure from typical FF formula, but it was no less enjoyable. To me at least.

FinalFantasyFanatic85d ago

Considering Rebirth's success, I sometimes wonder if FF16 isn't as good as people make it out to be, I haven't played it so I can't say for sure.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 85d ago
slate9186d ago

Yeah the lump sum they're getting from Sony is definitely key to their success.

DarkZane86d ago

You're incredibly delusional if you think it would have made a difference if it was on Xbox.

slate9186d ago

Selling anything to an install base of 30+ million will make a difference. This website got you gassed up.

mkis00785d ago

Go look up sales splits for games, then go look up sales splits for japanese games...xbox sells like a tenth of what the same japanese game sells on playstation.

Sephiroushin86d ago

if we go by crisis core numbers not even a margin of error difference!

porkChop86d ago

Considering Xbox isn't getting the FF7 remake trilogy, did you really expect the Xbox fanbase to buy the prequel?

Sephiroushin85d ago (Edited 85d ago )

@pork
are you asking me, really?
Well, I dont expect xbox fanbase to buy them at all even if it was coming to xbox same day release... now a days xbox gamers would first ask if it was coming to gamepass, get told "no", then proceed to wait for it to come to gamepass sometime ...

MrNinosan85d ago

@porkChop
Crisis Core has nothing to do with Remake.
It's a prequel to Final Fantasy VII, which is available on Xbox, but that didn't sell either.

S2Killinit86d ago

I think anyone who wants to minimize costs of production would be smart to release on PlayStation, as opposed to xbox.

Considering that xbox base doesnt play games like FF relative to PlayStation or Nintendo, why would they want to release on xbox with its 30 million instal base? It would be wiser to release on PlayStation and invest the savings into making a better game.

Incidentally, thats what he is saying in the interview. But someone has to spell it out to people it seems.

Alos8886d ago

@slate91 Not when the platform in question has a historical indifference to japanese rpgs. Xbox only ever accounted for about 30% of FFXV's lifetime sales, and it's likely Sony's cash incentive for exclusivity more than made up for that.

MrNinosan85d ago

@Alos88.
FFXV didn't even stand for 10% of the sales on Xbox compared to Playstation.

Show all comments (97)
410°

Days Gone Director Says Bend's Project Costs Over $250M; Says PS Co-CEO Doesn't Want 2 Zombies Games

Days Gone director claims Sony has already poured in at least a $250M in Bend's project; says Days Gone sold more than Death Stranding.

shinoff21831d 2h ago

Well that sucks. Seems they want more online trash. I'd rather of had the sequel if it was single player

MrNinosan11h ago

What online trash games did PS Studios release last 10 years?

Notellin9h ago

The past has nothing to do with the future. This is such a terrible argument. Everyone knows about their current live service push.

_SilverHawk_8h ago

It's so tragic what happened to days gone. It is such an amazing game but bandwagoners trashed it and it underperformed in it's launch year. Days gone is the best open world zombie game released in the past five years. I was recently playing it on pc and I'm still amazed by it.

Games are very expensive to make and it seems like it's normal for a AAA game to cost over a quarter billion to make so if a quality game like days gone greatly underperforms then people shouldn't be upset when they see a lot of GAAS. I still remember a lot of bandwagoners calling days gone trash but years later it's now amazing when it's considered a failure by sony.

If a game isn't the best thing seen since hats with pockets then a lot of gamers who haven't played it automatically calls it rubbish and whoever made it should be incarcerated

Cacabunga7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

Co CEO prefers gamers to boycott.. so be it. I’ll never buy a gaas.
Just imagine buying a game you cannot replay in some years.. this shit must stop.

Days Gone did zombies in a very original way. The story was also so engaging. You actually only meet Zombie hordes later in the game. There are many more enemy groups to deal with.

MrNinosan5h ago

@Notelin
I am one of the few who bought Days Gone on release day and loved it completely.
However, "more online trash" is phrased like Sony has put out alot of trash online games.
We got what, 2 games? Helldivers 2 and GT7, 2 of the most sold Playstation games where both is loved by millions.

You, me and especially shinoff has no idea if Fairgames, Marathon and Concord will be trash.

Just because we (as in you and me) don't love or support online games, doesn't mean millions of other do.

And we don't know what Bend Studio is working with? We don't know if they're forced to make a online game or another amazing single player experience.

The only thing we do know is that it's not Days Gone, sadly due to poor sales the first 6 months.

shinoff21833h ago(Edited 3h ago)

More online trash wasmt meant how insee it comes across. I should've worded it different I was meaning the focus they currently have on it.

Anything online is online trash to me. How long did naughty dog spend on that dumba last of us multiplayer, how about Concord, or even the other couple we hear about. I fk with Sony because rpgs and their 1st party single player games. Been like that for years. I hate seeing them waste time, money, and talent on trash. I understand bot every game is gonna be for me but this focus they've seem to had on multiplayer is extremely disheartening. Even at the state of play the only things I was really feeling were Astrobot and silent hill 2 and I'm content with that, not everything is for me. It's just the online focus I hate. Ms bought up 3 to 4 wrpgs developers, Sony just ignores rpgs 1st party wise.

And a days gone 2 would've been much better then whatever online sht bend is working on. I do know sometimes I get very idk emotional. I do need to work on toning that down a bit lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3h ago
-Foxtrot1d 2h ago

It would be a shame if it was true that Hermen never gave the franchise a chance simply because he didn't like it and they already had a "Zombie" game with TLOU.

NaughtyDog are most likely moving onto a new IP next so it would have been the perfect time to do it.

ThinkThink18h ago

Here's where xbox steps in and releases state of decay 3 day and date on ps5.

shinoff21833h ago

I mean it's not out of the realm of possibility at this point.

Grilla11h ago

Days gone 2 was canceled before Herman was in charge. That happened like 4 years ago.

vfl52310h ago

4 years ago he was head of Playstation Studios. He would've probably had a hand in the cancelation.

Notellin9h ago

Man two seconds of research could have saved you from this comment. Amazing work Grilla you fit in with the uniformed N4G community who speaks before verifying anything that they say.

Redemption-648h ago

Maybe encourage people to buy the game at full price and not when it's heavily discounted or go on plus. If this game had sold well when it was full priced a sequel would have been in the works. They made a single-player game that most people didn't support until they dropped the price.

Cacabunga6h ago

The guy’s just a moron.. he should have stayed within game development. His choices will have a terrible impact on the brand in the long run.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3h ago
excaliburps12h ago

Yep. Kind of weird since it wasn't a sales flop, no?

I know we have to take what Ross says with a grain of salt since we're hearing just one side of the story, but even so, the game wasn't bad at all. Heck, it's my brother's favorite last-gen game from what I recall.

The amount of zombies on screen, imagine that with the PS5 and SSD? That would be insanely fun!

Grilla11h ago

Most copies were sold on sale. Not enough ppl bought it at full price. I paid 20$ for it 6 -7 months after release.

Notellin9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Yeah we should never believe the creators side until we hear the corporate/big business side as history has shown we should always believe billion dollar corporations.

What a bootlicker statement.

derek5h ago

@Notellin, of course you'll believe an embittered ex-employee with an axe to grind because it's evil Sony he's complaining about. You guys act like days gone was this huge success and somehow Sony hates easy money a sequel would have generated. The game was mid and so was the response to it. They're still supporting the developer who is making a new ip that could be great.

shinoff21833h ago

Days gone was fantastic. I bought day one but didn't get around to it for months. When I finally did I was pissed at myself for waiting so long lol

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3h ago
P_Bomb11h ago

Well I don’t want 10 live service games, but they have no problem doing that lol. Ugh.

CrimsonWing6911h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Oh great so we only get what the big wigs want… y’know, the people that really have their fingers on the pulse of what their consumers want. Faaaaantastic!

rippermcrip8h ago

Well consider they know the sales... they do know what the consumer wants.

It sold shit.

-Foxtrot3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

But if it’s true what this guy says it sold better than Death Stranding

Yet that got a sequel and Kojima aside out of them both DS didn’t really NEED a sequel compared to Days Gone which ended on such a cliff hanger twist.

Show all comments (55)
60°

Greetings from the newly minted CEO - Shams Jorjani

Operating under the username BigKahuna_AGS, Jorjani created a lengthy thread on the Helldivers subreddit to introduce himself to the community following his appointment as CEO in early May.

50°

Frostpunk 2 Dev Talks Creative Risks, Supply and Demand, and More

Game Rant speaks with Frostpunk 2 co-game director and design director Jakub Stokalski about everything 11 bit poured into the sequel.

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