New Final Fantasy 7 Game Revealed For Xbox, But It's Not 'Remake'

Yea Remake is never coming, and I'll pass on this.

Crisis Core is awesome. Glad it’s coming to Xbox. I do think Square want to release Remake on Xbox (otherwise why bring Crisis Core/Stranger of Paradise/Octopath) but must just be blocked by Sony. It’s a shame that we never got confirmation but this is close enough.

Now I wish I had a Steam Deck!

I've been saying for so long the Remake is never coming to xbox. Square worked with Sony to make the game, the goal was to increase ps4 popularity. A simple Google search will tell you that. Final Fantasy mainline games are pretty much playstation Exclusives.

@Chaudy my only problem is....why not just say that? Why all the radio silence? Why string everyone along for two years?

Indeed it isn't the FF7 game I was hoping for, but I'll still check it out.

@armondo36 jeff grub did report rumor of Sony acquiring Square with xbox buying srydio after studio and now 2 publishers. Talks take long time, could have started around the time exclusivity was ending

Final Fantasy is overrated

@Royalblues Maybe after it's released on Steam next.

@Royalblues so MS should spend more money? Whatever money Sony paid them was astronomical. I don’t think it’s fair MS should have to spend what’s like double that for one game?

Don’t get me wrong but I’d rather grease Gust’s palms or Falcom over what has to be an insane amount of money.

Edit: clarity

Excited for this? Yes.
Sad about 'Remake'? No.
Remake was underwhelming at best.
Finished it and have no desire to play it again.
As for OG FFVII. Loved it on PS2, PS3, and am now on a second run through on switch.

@GhanaViking
Modern day FF maybe. Old school FF was legit.

@BartoxTharglod no you misunderstand. I’m not complaining about exclusivity. I’m saying it doesn’t make sense to me for MS to spend so much money to get 1 game when they can use the money for others. Surely, you can spend half that and nab others.

@mousieone
What about Goldeneye and Indiana Jones? Two IP's that Xbox doesn't own but are exclusive? They both do it let's not pretend otherwise.

And that 48h embargo where Microsoft forced Atlus to be silent about Persona coming to other platforms to make it seem exclusive? Very shady practice.

None are innocent.

FF VII Remake Intergrade will definitely come to Xbox like all the others. It had exclusivity deal with Epic until today, tomorrow comes to Steam and will come to Xbox later on.

What if it's kojima and mgs4, all over again?

@GADG3Tx87 pretty sure Indiana Jones may not be exclusive as it was a deal made by bethesda before the acquisition and the IP owner would want it multiplatform

@GunValkyrian Square is getting worse and worse...

@GADG3Tx87 Indiana Jones is multiplatform it was confirmed by jez corden the insider from Windows central.

GoldenEye never even came out on Xbox as a exclusive. Not sure what you mean by that?

@GADG3Tx87 what are you talking about!?

That’s no what I’m saying. I don’t care about the exclusivity what I’m annoyed about is everyone saying “MS is losing out on third parties” when in the time period that we haven’t gotten a mainline FF game we’ve gotten:

Dragon Quest
A new mainline Tales game
Nier
Octopath Traveler
Rune Factory (which I’m sure I’m the only one in this board who bought it)
A new Star Ocean game announced
A new Street Fighter announced
PSO2 New Genesis
Daganroppa
And now Persona

But all anyone seems to get mad about is Final Fantasy.

@BartoxTharglod yeah I see that now worries

@mousieone And Project Zero/Fatal Frame! Also, it got Tetris recently, first Tetris Effect Connected (launched on Game Pass) and then Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. More Japanese support than ever. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will come to Xbox after Steam.

@Chaudy
To my knowledge the multiplatform status of Indiana Jones is a rumour and the port of the upcoming Goldeneye game is said to be an Xbox exclusive and has been talked about here for weeks.

Amazon own James Bond and therefore control anything related to it. Exclusivity to Xbox is looking like it's paid for.

@mousieone because Final Fantasy is much more popular than those games you listed. They sell in the millions

@Rmg0731
Starfield was in development before the acquisition also and that's only on Xbox.

@GADG3Tx87 this golden eye game was supposed to be a big reveal during the showcase but never happened. It was just a rumour. Like that Gears collection which doesn't exist.

Indiana Jones project was signed by machine Games prior to the acquisition. So it's very very likely that Disney made sure it was multiplatform.

@Banjo- Oh shoot! I forgot those two.

But yeah also a new Kojima game, Samurai Warriors 5.

@mousieone
Well, I do t know the answer to that, maybe because it's a very well known series. Interestingly in relation to your list Octopath Traveller isn't on PlayStation despite Sony seemingly being very friendly with Square Enix. Why is that I wonder? Quite curious.

@GADG3Tx87 thats because the starfield IP is onwed by Bethesda whereas the indiana Jones ip is owned by Disney

@Chaudy
Then what about the article here recently that stated achievements suddenly showed up on an account? If that's so it exists somewhere.

@Chaudy In Japan, Final Fantasy is outsold by Dragon Quest by a long shot. And I’m pretty P5 has sold more than FF7R.

PC will be my go to for some of the non-Xbox games. Although I’m not super excited about FF7. The best non Xbox news for me was Spider-Man PC. I’ll finally get to play the one major PS game I’ve been wanting to play.

Same for Uncharted coming to PC on June 20. I’m glad I can at least play those there.

@GADG3Tx87 why hasn't it released?

@mousieone I just did a Google search Persona 5 has sold just over 5 million and FF7 sold over 10 million.

@Chaudy
Perhaps it's not ready. But like I said there's been a lot of talk and achievements apparently showing up? There's no way it doesn't exist if there are registered achievements.

@GADG3Tx87 yes and? I mean clearly Square Enix wants money to port Octopath Traveller to a new platform. Sony doesn’t think spending the money to get Square to port it is worth it.

@GADG3Tx87 yeah maybe it exists

@mousieone
And how do we know that? How do we know it's not being blocked? Unless you have a source saying otherwise? Genuinely curious.

I'm done taking rumors as a maybe, As great full as I am that this game is returning, I've just about given up on the idea of the remake coming to xbox.

@xMightyMatt14x Ironic that Xbox and PC might become the combo this generation with Sony publishing for Windows.

@GADG3Tx87 it’s on everything else? I mean I don’t care either way but it went to Stadia. . I mean I guess they could have bought exclusivity but seems bizarre for game one literally everything else. And it’s been on Xbox over a year. But I mean I don’t really care? I hate exclusivity but get it’s business practice I’m complain about people ignore everything else we’ve gotten.

@Chaudy "Persona 5 has sold just over 5 million and FF7 sold over 10 million."

Final Fantasy Remake shipped 5m for PS4 according to Vgchartz. I doubt it has sold over 5m more on PS5 when the user base of PS4 is, theoretically, 113m. There are just 20m PS5 consoles around the world.

https://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/games.php?name=final+fantasy+vii+remake

The original version of Persona 5 shipped 5m plus the Royal version which is quite popular on PS4 (1.80m). Total = 6.80m.

https://www.vgchartz.com/gamedb/games.php?name=persona+5

@Chaudy persona 5 and persona 5 royal have a combined sales of 5 million, (3.2 million for the original and 1.8 million for the Royal version) yet final fantasy 7 remake had 3.5 million sales in its first 3 days alone and by August 2020 had sold over 5 million so by now it should be between 7-8 million sold, so it's fair to say final fantasy is still more popular

@Banjo- xbox have to pay as much as did with Sega to have Persona.
Rather, considering that FF is greater then Persona, xbox have to pay even more, for a game 2-3 years old.

@GADG3Tx87 you can't honestly think xbox paid for octopath traveller's exclusivity 😭😂
If you'd take a look at its botched release dates and given that it's a squenix game surely something else should pop up.

@Tzara I think that Microsoft's strategy in regard to the expensive exclusivity deals surrounding FFVII Remake is to wait until all the deals have expired and let the game come without paying any exclusivity at all. Firstly, it was Sony for PS4; secondly, it was Sony for PS5; thirdly, it was Epic for Windows; fourthly, it was Steam for Windows. Unless Stadia (?) wants to pay for exclusivity, who else is there? The game can't run on Switch and Nintendo wouldn't pay anyway. Once there is no exclusivity anymore, Square Enix will have no problem in bringing the game to Xbox, a Windows console, like they have done with all the other FF games (the Xbox One X version of XV is the PC version), including the original VII which was believed to never come to Xbox. I don't know when but FFVII Remake Intergrade will come to Xbox.

I had this on psp. I thought it was pretty cool at the time, although I don’t think I will pick it up again. I have soured on FF since the 16bit era, I like my JRPGs Dragon Quest these days.

@Banjo- so are you saying that steam paid square to have FF7R on its store?
nah, FF 7r is 100% free and the playstation exclusivity has finished for some time now.
Simply Square has no interest to port Final fantasy on Xbox assuming that Microsoft pay them.

After all Xbox has just paid Sega to brand Persona brand as it was a long time Xbox franchise.

I hope everyone who even only has a REMOTE interest in Final Fantasy or action RPGs plays this game. It has some of the best storylines ever in a Final Fantasy game. It's so hard not to spoil for this game, so please, PLEASE just play this game. You will not regret it.

@Chaudy that’s FF7 not FF7R, I believe. @UltimateOtaku91 had the most recent figures but both figures come from 2020. Anyway yes FF in general is more popular, but my point is that everyone is ignoring everything else we’ve gotten in favor of this one thing and then complains. And it’s not that much more popular. I mean seriously?

Either way I rather MS put the money elsewhere. Chasing FF seems kind of a financial waste.

@Tzara Do you really think Square Enix thinks it’s more financial viable to port a remaster of a PSP game but not the more recent Hd game?

@mousieone this is a fair point. Sure we haven’t gotten FF7R. But we’ve gotten just about every other thing imaginable that is popular, and often on gamepass.

@GADG3Tx87 not saying its definite, jezcordon an xbox diehard reported it. Also Starfield is a bethesda owned and developed IP. Indiana Jones is not as its owned by whatever film group ir individual

@mousieone I’ll add to your list.

Gungrave Gore
No More Heroes 3
AI: The Nirvana Initiative
Fallen Legion: Revenants
Hatsuna Mika Paint
Soul Hackers 2
Persona 5 Royal
Digimon: Survive
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
Xbox is getting solid Japanese support outside of Final Fantasy. And personally I’m fine with that.
As long is it continues, I say let Sony keep it.

@mousieone Simply Square wanna xbox money to port the game.
The game has been a success on playstation and it will continue on steam now.
Xbox is the weaker system there are no doubts about that, and there's no need to port the game considering the lower sales.

After all if Microsoft paid Sega to port Persona 5, which is older then FF7, why square should do it for free?

Sony wants to play dirty, then play dirty to Microsoft. Don't give them ANYTHING form Activision-Blizzard let them suffer a slow painful death.

• @Tzara so again Crisis Core is more financially viable? Because I doubt MS paid for a PSP port and not the big game.

Or Chrono Cross Remastered?

This is weird to bring crisis core to Xbox without any of the sequels. A bit like p5 strikers on switch without p5. Why not just keep it on ps? Strange. Who on Xbox is interested in a touched up psp prequel to a ps-only series. It's like releasing the Star field character creator on switch.

And this is square so you know they'll use it to prove ff7 doesn't sell on Xbox.

I assume 7r is ps only at least until next gen.

@NEStalgia Im not touching it

@Tzara So if Steam didn't pay anything, why would Microsoft pay to have the game the last of them all, which is what you suggest? It doesn't make any sense. Xbox will get FFVII Remake without paying, unless it's a Game Pass deal.

Do you have any proof that Microsoft paid Sega to port Persona 5 Royal to Xbox?

Also, why you keep repeating that Xbox is the weakest? If you mean technically, it's the strongest. If you mean the user base, PS5 shipped 20m and Series X/S 15m, not a huge difference.

Do you really believe that Square Enix don't like selling their games on Xbox? They love it but exclusivity deals (=moneyhatting) is Square Enix's priority. If they port minor games to Xbox, they will port better-selling games as well.

@Tzara Also, PS5 is weaker than the X

It really looks like it’s using FF7R assets.

@Tzara I’m sure Microsoft would gladly pay for the port IF it’s also Game Pass day one. That might still happen but Square might fear impact on Steam, so they might hold on a lot longer before accepting that deal.

(Btw Xbox is, spec wise, the strongest console right now.)

I’d still take Persona on Xbox than this every day of the week

@Kingleo31 Xbox also got Elden Ring. Which is think is more popular than anything on all our lists.

@Ashadelo but stronger than the S what's that got to do with the price of fish lol

@Tharsman depends on if you have the X or the S

@Would_you_kindly "Xbox is the weaker system there are no doubts about that".

@Banjo- I don't think that comment meant spec wise I think they were talking about the player base

Player base...

"There's no need to port the game considering the lower sales."

15m vs. 20m so not a huge difference to decide not to port a game as he said. The argument doesn't make any sense when Square Enix port worse-selling games to Xbox.

@Banjo- to be fair Xbox doesn’t sell those titles as well no matter the size of the player base.

@Rmg0731 they've had PLENTY of time to simply say, it's never coming, they've known for some time that it wasn't coming. Leaving everyone wondering was a ***** thing to do. This game is a consolation prize. "Hey Sony bought us off, but we still want your money, so here's this game. It KINDA looks like remake, doesn't it?" Lol

@BartoxTharglod the digital thing I can explain. The physical to digital ratio on Xbox is nearly at the 80% mark. Christopher Dring had mentioned it a few times.

Edit: not that exact stat but that Xbox gamers have a larger digital ration than the others.

Oh looks awesome

@BartoxTharglod oh that’s exactly what happens. Here in the States the only physical games stores in store for Xbox are EA. 2k, AB, and MS games. It gives the impression Xbox only had those games.

@NEStalgia I never thought I’d live in a world where Xbox got a persona game before a Final Fantasy but here we are.

@mousieone @BartoxTharglod It's not just the digital ratio. IIRC there's a pretty high minimum print requirement on Xbox, so if you don't plan on making a high number if physical copies for XB, you can't actually do a print run. A niche game will never hit the print threshold and will be digital only. Which isn't so important on xb since most of the physical players are likely to be more mainstream game oriented. Vs ps/Nintendo where there's a niche of "collectors". But, unless they've changed that policy, physical on xb is more or less policy limited to high profile games expecting to sell many copies.

That having been said, physical used to be all important in Japan, but they've since adopted Steam, xss, and most importantly mobile and are a lot more digitally oriented now, so I don't think that's as much a barrier as "nobody owns an Xbox". Then again when I see praise over ps sales numbers vs Xbox, I laugh. Yes it beats Xbox by I wide margin, but it's like beating the last place finisher in a race by 20 minutes. It's a big difference but you're still losing the race by so much the audience went home and the tv stations switched to a Food Saver infomercial... . Both consoles are practically irrelevant there, one just moreso than the other.

FWIW in the us we don't really have many physical stores selling games. Walmart and Target, the supercenter stores are as mousie described. A whole row of ps/Nintendo and a small shelf of ea sports games for xb. But that's their consumer in a nutshell. Best buy is better usually with 4 whole aisles of games, one for each console and one for pc gaming peripherals plus swag. All of them disheveled and I'll maintained as though gaming is a dying market and they'll remove it soon. GameStop. Well it's GameStop and they have a partnership with Xbox now so they moved xb up front... Just behind the tshirts and lightsabers.

And that's it.

But the reality is even physical games buying gamers here just buy online. Brick and mortar is for true normies/parents that don't actually know what they're buying. Like the guy in front of me in GameStop in 2017 February asking to pre-order the "new Wii".

The same GameStop that received exactly one copy of disgaia5 switch. SWITCH! If nobody stocks weeb games on switch here, who would ever bother on xb?

I just finished the OG ff7 for the first time this week. So i am looking forward to this one. Hearing good things about the original Crisis core and absolutely loving the OG ff7 i'm excited to play this

@BartoxTharglod Well yeah it's an Xbox studios game. Does Sony own Square?

Infinite in mystery is the gift of Square-Enix. We seek it thus, and take to the sky.

I still don’t know why Remake isn’t coming to Xbox. From a business perspective they’re cutting out a large chunk of potential customers, doesn’t make sense.

I think Xbox & Switch will get it at the sametime either summer next year or when part 2 drops on PlayStation. As Steam gets it now so they will want at least 6 months to get sales & we get Crisis Core in Winter. So I'd say they may announce it when the 35th anniversary event is in the winter as it could help later sales of Core Crisis on Xbox & Switch.

@mousieone Still, the argument doesn't make sense because Square Enix port worse-selling games to Xbox.

Lol Square is basically trolling Xbox at this point.

@BartoxTharglod The Xbox section is usually small here, too. However, the Xbox accessories section is big and the Xbox controllers are usually among the best-selling multiplatform accessories. Xbox is more digital around the world. It's somewhat surprising that Switch and PS5 still have so many physical collectors when most games are updated and expanded digitally and Switch cards sometimes have half of the launch game inside.

@Banjo- its reported as exclusive, so I wouldnt hold your breath waiting for it, unless you know better than Squenix themselves?

.... and sales of xbox controllers are obviously bolstered by the fact its the primary choice for pc players. You cant read anything into that.

@Titntin

"its reported as exclusive, so I wouldnt hold your breath waiting for it, unless you know better than Squenix themselves?"

Wrong. Final Fantasy VII Remake is not a Sony exclusive, it had an exclusivity deal with Sony that has already expired. Exclusive is The Last of Us Remake I, that will come to PC anyway like most Sony games according to Sony themselves (source: Sony).

"and sales of xbox controllers are obviously bolstered by the fact its the primary choice for pc players. You cant read anything into that"

In regard to the Xbox accessories, of course they are also used for PC because they're the best controllers in the market but bear in mind that Series S/X is more popular than PS5 in some markets and the total difference is 5m. worldwide, a small advantage for Sony compared to the last generation and compared to Switch (source: Vgchartz). But yeah, after our last conversation, I know your perception might differ from the reality. However, this time I don't feel like getting dragged into another Sony fan loop 😅.

@Banjo- Xbox is by far the weakest system in selling games, especially with jrpg genre, and it's the only thing that matters in the real world.
Steam never paid anybody

The proof that microsoft paid sega for Sega to port Persona is evident:
1) Persona, a long time Playstation exclusive (27 years), is now branded as xbox brand, that means xbox bought persona commercial rights, at least for this retro collection.

2)Xbox imposed the 48h embargo on the media, preventing atlus citing that persona 3-4-5 will arrive on playstation too. Something never heard in the industry before.

3) that happens after Atlus ignored for 4 times in a a row Xbox with:
catherine full body
Persona 5 strikers
Smt 3 remaster
Persona 4 arena remaster
These games are out everywhere less xbox.

@Tzara Even if Xbox sell fewer Japanese games than PS, something that I have never ever questioned, your argument "no need to port the game considering the lower sales" doesn't make sense because Square Enix port niche games to Xbox.

In regard to Persona 5 Royal, there is a Game Pass deal but that doesn't mean that Microsoft paid anything to port the game. On top of that, the Royal version is going to be released for Windows and PS5 the same day as Xbox. Conclusion: Microsoft paid for a Game Pass deal that it's not even timed exclusive.

When you mention the lack of Atlus games on Xbox, that's why these are news in the first place, just like when Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts hit Xbox recently for the first time. It just means more Japanese support. What's wrong with that?

So in the past Xbox had "no games" and now that it has more, including Japanese games, is a new problem? Like, Xbox has "too many games"? 🤣

@Banjo-
"But yeah, after our last conversation, I know your perception might differ from the reality."

How unbeliebably dismissive can you be? Ill hide your posts and never respond. No point in trying to have a conversation with a guy who thinks he has a hot line to the truth despite no experience in the industry at all. Good day.

@Titntin All I did both times was to reply to your comments quoting me. If the only two times that you have said my name it's to say things that are not true, the least you can expect is two replies.

Also, it's not that I hold the truth but when I'm not sure about something I just don't speak and the things I have written are easily proven or confirmed by the sources I posted. If you read my comments history, when I don't know something, I ask and I'm not ashamed at all.

@Titntin it was only initially reported as a timed exclusive. Which then was extended with the DLC and then Epic store release. Anything beyond that is still speculation (though the chances are pretty low now). Unless you can give me a source where Square Enix is saying it’s a permanent exclusive?

@Tzara there are plenty of embargoes in the industry. It’s not unheard of at all. Maybe not 48 hours, but it looks like Sony has one over Deathloop Xbox release being able to be spoken about too. Also didn’t they reverse the PC release comment on one of their trailers for Final Fantasy saying it was a mistake… lol. Was an extremely dumb embargo on Xbox’s part but still. It’s not unheard of.

@K1LLEGAL Its true, expecially with sqeenix, that you can never say never, and the first title was indeed announced as a timed exclusive.
With that having lapsed, and companies being in the season of announcing whats coming to the next year, you might imagine that any xbox release might have been announced already seeing as how both microsoft and sqeenix have now announced their coming releases. In the absense of certainty, maybe we can agree its looking pretty unlikely?
This is further compounded by the trailer for rebirth suggesting ps5 only. However, as many have pointed out, sqeenix annoucments and releases do seem to defy logic.

I sincerely hope that anyone wanting to play these on xbox gets a chance to, but fear that might not be the case, at least for the near future. At least theres a ton of other fantastic games coming day and date to the system, so people should always have something cool to be playing 😁

@NEStalgia couldnt agree more, its weird title to bring to xbox in the absense of the others.
However, the psp original was an excellent stand alone title.
I imagine the majority of people on the current sony platforms didnt play it on psp, so Id expect this title will work fine as a stand alone game.
I liked the combat plenty in crisis core and like the idea of revisiting it. If your platform is xbox and you fancy some of that ff rpg stuff, I wouldnt dismiss this release, as im expecting it to be entertaining if it stays true to the first. Hopefully!

@SplooshDmg Yeah, it's the lack of clarity that's the issue, and it's an aspect I really don't understand. If Sony wants ff and buys exclusivity, fine, FF is a PlayStation game just like during PS1 and PS2. Why not just say so? The other thing I don't get about it is, why would Sony not want it said so, since saying that you can never get FF7R without buying a PlayStation benefits them and strengthens their brand. There's something legally entangled about this that's not as straight forward as it just being a PS exclusive. And there's something about Square that often gets into this, seemingly always with Sony. There's some sort of weird contractual....something between those two.

If it were fully Sony console exclusive, I would think Sony would boat that, and Square wouldn't be able to play "maybe it will, maybe it won't" all the time. And referencing the "Adult reasons" they couldn't talk about DQXI for Switch at all (despite having announced the game before anyone even know what NX was) then released it on Switch as an exclusive for a year but a new version in a new (worse) engine, then released that exclusive back onto PS + XB..... There's something about Squary.

IDK if it's that they have some extremely awkward deals with Sony. IDK if it has something to do with PS1-era contracts for these franchises that Sony holds over them (remember when they were going to have the permanent rights to Mario based on the VERY clever legal contract for the Nintendo Play Station? Wonder if they worked something like that into Squares contracts that they retain some permanent legal rights to FF, DQ, and KH for some reason?) Maybe Persona was caught up in that as well?

Or it could be that Square just plays all 3 against each other, blackmailing them for payments to bring their games. Nintendo's not likely to pay, but what they end up doing is doing the publishing instead of Square. A form of "soft contribution."

The one upshot from this is I think it tempers the rumors of Sony buying Square. Announcing a new game for XB, especially from the FF series, doesn't sound like something that would happen if talks were going on, considering the importance of FF to Sony. FF is arguably the only thing of Square's they really have any interest in. This gives the impression actual numbered sequel games are the only things they really want, so 7R they want, and CC they don't care. Not worth buying a publisher for. Doesn't mean it's not happening, but I think it deflates the rumors somewhat.

Square-Enix will eventually release FF7 "Remake" (reboot) on Xbox. But it might take several years before it happens. Just like previous FF titles and Kingdom Hearts.

I'm not really excited about this game. The last FF title I've really enjoyed is FF10. I haven't even finished Intergrade. I prefer the turn-based combat from the OG series.

@Tzara "Xbox imposed the 48h embargo on the media, preventing atlus citing that persona 3-4-5 will arrive on playstation too. Something never heard in the industry before."

I find this one a curious one. It's literally impossible that media embargoes are "unheard of." Such things are standard fare in the consumer products industry. I'm not sure where that meme came from. It's highly irregular for the publisher itself to be so reckless as to state it and leak it. Otherwise the media would never know there was an embargo, the content would be unreleased until it was to be released. It's not that unusual. More common is the full marketing rights like Sony has for COD and GTAV, and MS had for Cyberpunk and years agot RoTR, where the other company isn't allowed to talk about it other than putting it on their store for months or years.

All of it sucks but the whole "this is unheard of!" schtick is silly. Most publishers aren't incompetent enough to leak it, but Atlus is Atlus who sent out press releases flagged with an embargo time. Which is likely a contract breach, like if Square came out and stated the terms of the 7R exclusivity to the public. You don't sign a blackout contract and then state to the world "We can't talk about Fight Club because we signed a contract that nobody is allowed to know about Fight Club for 48 hours so don't tell anyone mkay?" There's a fair chance MS could get their money back for that little breach if they pursue it. You can't pay for a blackout if the signatory then tells the world the secret.

But it does give us a rare window into how shady these inner workings are. Make no mistake, like the Nintendo era deal with Sony, they've all been doing legal but questionable activities for a long time. Nintendo required publishers to buy their cartridges at inflated prices in the 80s. A 48 hour embargo is nothing in this business. It's sad, but there it is. PS fandoms just flipped out because they're used to dishing it out via their favorite mega corporation but not used to taking it from another platform. Which is funny because Sony's particularly notorious in their screwjob legal contracts. Their biggest division by revenue is insurance....that really should answer any questions. Who trusts an insurance company to play on the level?

@Jireland92 The only presumable explanations is either Sony or someone is paying them not to, or they're basically blackmailing platforms that they won't bring a high profile game unless the platform pays them to. Either way the answer is money, either a lucrative payment to not bring it, or desire to get a big payment to bring it.

@Lavalera You brought up a great point that I hadn't thought of at all, it's the prequel to the OG FF7 which is on XB, so it does have value existing. Assuming they haven't tampered with the plot much.

When are 3 parts are completed and eventually released in one big collection it is still possible for an Xbox console to get it, but I doubt it. I breezed through the comments, but I think people are forgetting how tight Square Enix is with Sony and how critical the 2 have been for each other. Sony isn't going to allow Square to publish it anywhere else...they've already backed the money truck up. If the Activision-Blizzard acquisition becomes official, you'll see Sony buy Square Enix. Little doubt in my mind.

@NEStalgia I doubt they change much about it since its labeled as a remaster and not a remake. Most of the time when it's a remaster they keep the game as close to the original as possible.
I hope more people will get excited to play the OG ff7 when Crisis core comes out, because even if it is 25 years old, the story is still amazing. Sure the graphics, sound and controls feel a bit old, but that didnt bother me that much while playing.

I think i will hold off with my first playthrough of ff7r (which i already own on my ps5) until i played crisis core. That way i can enjoy the "original" games before i play the remake.

@NEStalgia "Or it could be that Square just plays all 3 against each other, blackmailing them for payments to bring their games."

I would say that's the right answer of the two, because FFVII, aka The Untouchable FF game, reached Xbox after all and so does this new prequel-remake later this year. The soonest that VII Remake Intergrade will come to Xbox is after spending some time on Steam, or perhaps when Rebirth hits PS5 next year, or when the full trilogy has been released for PS5-6, but it will come after burning Sony's money. Square Enix are clever and the only thing that matters to them in regard to distribution is money. Somehow, they have managed to preserve all their games rights in spite of numerous exclusivity deals with Sony, Epic and whoever knocks on their door with $$$ since ancient times. They even managed to make their own Super Nintendo Station. I don't like how new Sony deals with customers (players) but they are business masters.

"All of it sucks but the whole "this is unheard of!" schtick is silly".

That's right but some people only see reality when it's against the platform of their choice.

"PS fandoms just flipped out because they're used to dishing it out via their favorite mega corporation but not used to taking it from another platform".

I couldn't have said it better and it also produces a pure contradiction between I make fun of Xbox because it has no games (Xbox One) and I bash Xbox because it has too many games (Series X/S). The only thing that they can do now about it is to come to Xbox sites to state that at least this particular game will never come to Xbox but with zero proof whatsoever.

@BrainHacker That's right, it's just a matter of time but, as I said, the PS fandom is focusing on the game that they think will not reach Xbox, in spite of Square Enix supporting Xbox now more than ever before. At the end of the day, the FFVII remake trilogy will be available everywhere except Switch for technical reasons (or because it's dead). That's the logical thing to think if you are objective because every other Final Fantasy game has been released for Xbox (except the NES/SNES ones, for now) including VII (2019) and VII Crisis Core (2022). Square Enix are not selling games (not even VII) but temporary exclusivity to stores owners (Sony, Epic, Steam?).

@NEStalgia @SplooshDmg Japanese games have a special print privledge so it’s reduce by like half. I’m sure LR has another deal like that maybe all the games under one print amount?

@SplooshDmg What's weird to me is Epic v Apple ended up leaking what some of these exclusivity checks were actually worth, and honestly the dollar amounts didn't seem all that spectacular. I'm not really sure why Square is limiting their market expansion in favor of anemic checks.

Something about it still smells fishy on a financial level. What company limits market reach, growth, and total cap in favor of a one time check of mediocre value unless they're pretty much bankrupt, which they outwardly seem not to be on the books? Yet then they sell off half the company for cash value and a shockingly low price. Then keeps complaining their games fail to meet sales expectations resulting in a loss/non-profit. If their business actually operates the way they say it operates, there's no way they're not bankrupt.

Either there's some kind of Enron accounting going on, and S-E is actually pretty bankrupt, barely operating, and all the profits they report are made of paper and air, so they need to grasp for immediate cash like a corporate payday loan wherever they can, or there's a backdoor on this somewhere. Or just a revolving Swiss bank account between Matsuda and Sony Corp with a nod and a wink. Wouldn't be the first dirty Japanese company, we all remember Index Corp., former parent of Atlus. There's too many points that don't add up for a public company. Squeenix is exceptionally fishy. Shareholders aren't digging though, and I can't figure out why.

While it's not "fishy" there's also the about-face, where they said they sold Squeenix West "to invest into NFTs", and then at the AGM Matsuda "clarified" that by turning 180 degrees and saying it's going to be spent strengthening their core business and investing in IP growth. The about face is obvious on the surface because NFTs collapsed right after that initial statement. But what's fishy is that they seem to be making up where the money is going on the fly to suit the moment. It could all be cover for "we're just buying time for Sonys buyout to go through", but, I'm not sure that's the case. At first it seemed like they were shedding weight to become attractive for a buyout, but considering the rumored buyer was probably more interested in the weight they shed than what they kept, especially for the low, low price they sold it for.....I don't think that's it.

@Banjo- The frustrating part when dealing with these sorts of "console war" issue in PS fandoms isn't even so much that ponies are ponies. Every console has extreme defensive fans. It's that there's this weird collective manifest destiny about PS fandom that assumes PS is the one console to rule them all, and all others are inferior and shouldn't interfere, and anything that interferes with it being the only console that matters is somehow scandalous. As a Sega fan steamrolled by a truck named Sony, I find that offensive and hurtful.

@mousieone That's interesting they'd have an exception for Japan. I had not heard that. It's still a huge number, but should be enough for most of these. So maybe it comes down to retailers not ordering it more than publisher decisions. Which isn't surprising since, again, it's hard to find this stuff on Switch at retail let alone Xbox. It's really "printed to sell on Amazon" more than anything. Of course with Xbox, their top selling console doesn't even accept physical media, so there's a pretty solid reason for no retail showing for them, most XB owners can't even use discs.

@Banjo- It's intersting what you're saying here.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I cannot see any reason for this delay AND this silence apart a Gamepass adition, something like in six months or so.

The game just cannot be on gamepass right now, cause it would hurt the steam release. But in six months ? Yeah, definitly.

@NEStalgia After reading that, I'm not sure if Square Enix are excellent businessmen or they just sell themselves cheap for a few months/years to different storefronts to be able to keep producing 10-year-cycle games?

If the temporary exclusivity deals aren't as expensive as I thought (how much money are we talking about?), then a Game Pass deal seems likely as it wouldn't be as expensive, but it wouldn't occur before the PC user base has been milked.

@Bobobiwan Thank you. The Sony exclusivity deal has expired, the Epic deal has expired and it just launched on Steam. Besides, VII and VII Crisis Core on Xbox. No reason to think that VII Remake is the only modern Final Fantasy game/trilogy that won't be available on Xbox.

@Banjo- We really don't know if the exclusivity deal expired or not. With 7R2 and XVI being PS5 exclusive (and it doesn't say timed) it's always possible Sony retroactively renewed the exclusivity clause for the whole trilogy. We'd have no way of knowing where the contracts stand at this point or if they bought a lifetime exclusivity and paid for the development. But then we also don't know if that means "remasters" are limited to the contract (like whatever happened with DQXI where the rewrite in a new engine for Switch could then be sold on XB and the OG PS4 version was abandoned.)

I think we just don't know enough to know what kind of hold Sony does or doesn't have for console exclusivity at the moment. TBH I think that's something that needs to be legislated where terms of exclusive partnerships need to be revealed publicly in terms of duration. Right now companies can infer and imply exclusivity or non-exclusivity and change terms quietly, leaving the market uncertain of where properties stand. Imagine real estate contracts where the public can't know who owns what lease for how long? It's a legal loophole in IP that doesn't apply to RP and that hole should be closed.

But right now we have the possibility that the exclusivity ended and either Square doesn't want to put it on Xbox now, or Sony is buying Square (in which case why release CC?)

Or we have the possibility that the exclusivity has not ended and has been renewed, and if it has we have no idea what the terms are, if it's lifetime, and, if it is lifetime, if that applies to remasters.

For now I think it's safest to treat it as a fully PS exclusive. Like the original 7 it could make it's way to Xb in generation or two if Sony doesn't own square. Or sooner, maybe after the full trilogy is out, but I don't really think it should be on Xbox player's radars for the remainder of the XSXS generation at minimum.

@Banjo- Yup. Look at the comments on PushSquare. PS fans are more excited that FF7 Remake will not be coming to Xbox any time soon than the actual trilogy announcement. Somehow, knowing that other people on another platform won't be able to play the same game without spending another $500 adds to their enjoyment of gaming.

@BrainHacker It's weird. PS fans weren't like that back in the PS3 days. It was nice and mellow, and mostly just gamers back then. X360 fans were obnoxious but it wasn't about their brand....it's just people who gathered around it tended to be obnoxious "varsity football" parody types, and XB's marketing intentionally tried to attract that market to it. PS fans didn't become like that until the PS4, or specifically after Matrick ticked everyone off and Sony snarkily leaned into it. Somehow after that this cult of feeling the need to destroy Xbox and make PS the one and only viable console formed. Post SeriesX, it's kind of split. The overall PS community mellowed with more people respecting the competition and "gaming for all", but a portion of the community seemed to dig their heels in and doubled down on the need to delegitimize XB, lest it knock their beloved brand from it's arrogant, exploitative pedestal.

Some of it is probably anti-Americanism from a Eurasian centric fandom not aware their favorite brand is as American as Xbox now. Some if it is a rejection of the digital future while Xbox has become the flag bearer of it with images of Matrick still looming over it.

It just coalesces into this big, annoying "PS good, Xbox bad, everything bad for Xbox is good for PS so good for us" groupthink that defends PlayStation USA's exploitation of their loyalty.

The good news is it's probably only a quarter of PS fans. The bad news is they're so freaking loud.

@NEStalgia Literally when a third party game got a partnership with Sony or Microsoft and that game is shown at a xbox/playstation event with a specific trailer, there will be a multi trailer available at the exact moment when the event ends.

You could see it with Street Fighter 6 or Resident evil 4 Remake brought at the Sop sony with ps5 label and then with the multiplatform confirmed immediately after by capcom.

Event with the FF7 Exclusive there was a written at the end of the trailer which specified the the duration of the deal between Sony and Square, 1 year then prolonged 6 month with intergrade.

So nope what happened with Xbox and Sega for Persona in not the norm, absolutely.
Where, I repeat, Persona has been the longest third party game exclusive for Playstation and there will no exclusive here considering that Persona 5 Royal will be available in the same day for PS5 and Xbox.

@BrainHacker "Yup. Look at the comments on PushSquare. PS fans are more excited that FF7 Remake will not be coming to Xbox any time soon than the actual trilogy announcement".

Exactly! It's ridiculous. They should be celebrating that the second part is coming next year and here we are.

@NEStalgia I'm pretty sure that Square Enix is holding all the rights for themselves and just selling timed exclusivity deals and that FFVII Remake will reach Xbox eventually just as the other FF games, including FFVII which you believed would never be released for Xbox One 😝. I agree that the deals should be clearer. While one of them is active, many things remain uncertain. It has improved though, Sony was forced to ditch the ambiguous tags they used to use in the beginning of the PS4 era, "exclusive", "exclusive", "exclusive" and now they specify what kind of exclusive and for how long. Also, when Epic exclusivity deal was announced it was also revealed that it would last 6 months. Things have improved but what they won't tell you is when they will release the next version because that depends on the publisher/developer and not the storefront that moneyhatted them. Look at Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest coming many years later to Xbox One. You said that Square Enix is interested in the Western market without Western studios and that's right.

@NEStalgia PS fanboys are the most obnoxious when it comes to exclusivity. Some of them think they share ownership to PS games. Just because they bought a copy of the game to check-in the DRM.

They will always say that Xbox and PC gamers should not expect every game to be released on their platform. However, when the tables are turned against them, they have a temper tantrum. You'll never win an argument with these guys because they keep moving the goalposts.

Their toxic behavior toward other platforms is the result of constant arguing on social media and forums. So, when PS gains a competitive advantage. They believe they have won an argument.

@Banjo- When a new game trailer is released, I'm sure the first thing PS fanboys look for is whether it's exclusive to PlayStation or not. It is most likely their top priority over gameplay and graphics.

@BrainHacker You're totally right!

Wow. So many toxic comments here towards PlayStation fans who have done nothing to you. This entire thread turned into a "we hate PlayStation and their fans" thread. You call them toxic and obnoxious but look at your own hypocritical comments. It literally makes you no better. You all say they celebrate when they get an exclusive when you all literally do the same. Remember your toxic comments when Microsoft bought Bethesda and Activision? Remember when people here went to PushSquare to troll them and 'revel in their misery'? (Yes that was the first comment here). I see comments here very often saying 'we want this exclusive, we want that exclusive. Microsoft should buy this company and that company'. Why? What does it do other than take games away from other people when you're moaning about the same thing here which isn't the fans fault. Do you see the hypocrisy?

You're all trying to say they're celebrating that the remake isn't on Xbox when the comments regarding this on PushSquare, atleast a majority, aren't even talking about Xbox at all if you bother to check your facts. The salt here is ridiculous and they're living rent free in your heads.

All you've all done is constantly bash them here while claiming they are toxic. Read you're own comments and evaluate who is actually being the most toxic fans right now. Because it isn't them.

@dsar9012
I'm not a PS fanboy but this is exactly what I'm talking about, the assumption followed by a toxic comment. Thanks for proving my point.

And FYI there were tons of people trolling and gloating after the publisher buyouts and there were people here specifically saying they were going to PS websites and forums to do exactly that.

@dsar9012 while it might be the most “notable”series, many of those “Niche” series we have now were never on Xbox. You know like Taiko? However, I don’t consider games that sell in the millions to be all that “Niche” you know like Dragon Quest? And keep in mind you called “all”the games I listed as “small”. DQ 11 has sold in the millions. Persona 5 had sold I the millions. Elden Ring sold 12 million copies in 3 weeks. Yup totally a Japanese “Niche” souls game. And he’s got Kojima working on an exclusive game but again I guess that’s “niche”. Yup, I guess we should fire him because he can’t get Final Fantasy. Because at the end of the day it’s all about Final Fantasy.

@GADG3Tx87 could you stop using the word “all” because I for one haven’t once “bashed” Sony in this thread. I’m just sick of people ignoring the games we have gotten to the point they complain and in some cases don’t even play when we do get them. I think that’s a fair complaint. Also I’m not the only many of us were discussing what you find on store shelves and print run copies.. while there were some people voicing that complaint against Sony. certainly it wasn’t’ “all”.

@dsar9012 Microsoft's plan is to sell GamePass and make it available on as many devices as possible. You can blame Phil Spencer for the lack of time exclusive games. But that doesn't make it any less ***** that Sony is money-hatting third-party games in order to keep them off other platforms.

@GADG3Tx87 You're not a PlayStation fanboy, but the comments in this thread triggered you. You're not going to fool anyone in here. On PushSquare, I constantly see you making salty comments about PS games coming to PC, even referring to them as "our games."

@dsar9012 I agree that it could kill their consoles, but Microsoft is first and foremost a software company. They want GP to be as easy to use as Netflix on any device. Their console sales could plummet dramatically. However, gaming publishers make money by selling software rather than hardware. Imagine how many GP subscriptions they could sell if they could sell it on every device possible.

When high-speed internet becomes more affordable and widely available. Cloud gaming will become more appealing to people who simply want to play. Nobody knows how the gaming industry will evolve. So who knows if Microsoft's plans will pan out. I'll probably keep using my PC or console until cloud gaming can match or outperform it.