A recent interview exposed an industry practice that few are actively aware of, and that is the cost of content acquisition.
One of the most contentious issues facing Xbox as of late is its ability to attract interest from third-party publishers. The vast majority of AAA publishers and studios are actively launching games for Xbox platforms, but many independent developers have been arbitrarily skipping the platform in favor of PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Few examples of this have been more prolific than Square Enix, whose support of Xbox has been historically iffy. Microsoft scored some support from Square Enix a few years back, with Dragon Quest 12 and Kingdom Hearts. More recently, however, Square Enix has been even more dismissive of Xbox than ever, with most-wanted JRPG Final Fantasy 7 Remake still absent from the platform despite an expired exclusivity agreement, and Final Fantasy 14 still nowhere to be found despite pledges by Xbox lead Phil Spencer at a previous event.
An interview in Game Informer (via TweakTown) recently shed light on why the hotly anticipated action RPG Final Fantasy 16 is skipping Xbox, and it's sadly unsurprising. According to Square Enix, PlayStation simply offered a better content acquisition deal than Xbox did.
"Final Fantasy [is one] of Square Enix's [most] important franchises up there with Dragon Quest and the Kingdom Hearts series. When we do begin development, we do approach multiple platforms, multiple companies, about releasing the game. And when you approach them, they're going to come back to us with their offers."
Square Enix also noted that the deal also offers them high-level platform support with PlayStation engineers, to the implication that Xbox does not. Square Enix also emphasized the benefits of focusing optimization on a single platform.
The firm has previously confirmed on the PlayStation Blog that the exclusivity runs through the remainder of the year, with a PC version planned for 2024.
Will Final Fantasy 16 ever come to Xbox? Probably not, unless something major changes between Xbox and Square Enix. We don't know the full details of what goes on behind the scenes with these companies, but it could be that Square Enix is asking Xbox for an exceptionally high figure to offset perceived (or actual) risks of building a version for Xbox platforms. Square Enix would have to invest in a heavily optimized version for the Xbox Series S too, which requires its own version as part of Microsoft's licensing agreement. PlayStation has no such weaker hardware SKU to account for. With PC versions increasingly raising their minimum recommended hardware requirements for AAA games, it could be that the Xbox Series S version requires a level of investment either Microsoft or Square Enix aren't willing to fund. Of course, without more information on the secretive details surrounding these content acquisition deals, it's all speculation.
Platforms investing in AAA content is by no means new, and has been going on for years, even for multiplatform titles. The level of investment Square Enix might be asking for could be so high that Microsoft simply can't see a return on investment. On the flip side, Square Enix might consider offers from Xbox to be too low to justify the work involved.
Windows Central's Take
Either way, it's on Microsoft, as the platform holder, to resolve and work through content acquisition issues. The main ones suffering are gamers who select Xbox as their primary platform. Oftentimes, it feels like as soon as Microsoft solves one problem with third-party franchise support, a new one crops up.
The best Xbox games line-up is doubtless impressive, and Xbox Game Pass remains the best deal in gaming, and the list of best JRPGs on Xbox has improved — but we're in a world where PlayStation has been increasingly winning mindshare as the console with the most compelling line-up of AAA action-oriented experiences. After the disaster of Redfall and the possible collapse of the Activision-Blizzard deal, fans are eager to see Xbox find new success stories.
