Gamers of a certain age will undoubtedly, at some point, have been impacted by Final Fantasy. One of the most prolific RPG franchises of all time, Final Fantasy popularized the JRPG format in the west, spawning a massive wave of influence that can still be felt to this day.
The classic Final Fantasy titles precede the 3D era, and remain timeless entries among the best PC games of all time. Publisher Square Enix has recently been working to port the series to PC with quality-of-life improvements popularized by emulators, such as speed controls, UI improvements, auto battle options, and more. The entire bundle of games from Final Fantasy 1 through 6 is available to grab on Steam for around $80 depending on your region, and many have wondered when Square Enix would bring the collection to consoles. Today, we got an answer — and if you're a long-suffering Xbox fan, it's not a good one.
Today, Square Enix announced that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection will finally come to consoles. All consoles except Xbox, that is. On April 19th, fans on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and 5 will be able to pick up the entire collection of classic RPGs, in all their train-suplexing glory. This announcement makes Xbox quite literally the only place you cannot play these games. You can buy them on PC, you can buy them on Android, and iPad, and to add insult to injury, they're even available on Amazon's Fire tablet app store. RIP.
Increasingly, I've been hearing rumors that there is something functionally wrong with the relationship between Microsoft and Square Enix. Square Enix has only been offering Xbox a very limited selection of titles from its catalog, including games like Stranger's Paradise and DioField Chronicle, neither of which reviewed particularly spectacularly. Despite Octopath Traveller launching on Xbox and even into Xbox Game Pass, the sequel is nowhere to be found, and likely isn't coming.
Despite being announced as a timed exclusive for PlayStation, Final Fantasy VII Remake also shows no sign of appearing on Xbox. It's quite clear that something has gone terribly wrong between Microsoft and Square Enix, to the detriment of Xbox fans who enjoy Square Enix's titles. There's no sign of the relationship improving any time soon either, which paints a bleak picture for hotly anticipated games like Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 14 Realm Reborn, and Dragon Quest XII, all of which are unlikely to join the list of upcoming Xbox games, given the soured relationship between the companies.
In any case, you can grab Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters on practically any other platform, even your Samsung Smart Fridge. Just don't expect them on Xbox any time soon.
