Square Enix Clarifies Status of Final Fantasy on 360

Recently, Final Fantasy Executive Producer Shinji Hashimoto was quoted by Japan’s Nikkei BP as saying, “As for Final Fantasy on the Xbox 360, it’s currently a completely blank page.” Many people thought that this meant the title would never be seen on 360 again. However, Square has issued a ‘clarification’ on his comments, saying that he was merely referring to the company’s current plans.

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Michael Pachter, an analyst for Wedbush Morgan, says that he expects the next title in the Final Fantasy seriesti be exclusive to the PS3, but also thinks Square will be facing a tough decision, saying, “The series has always been single console and given the Xbox 360 sell through in Japan, it would be hard to put the next Final Fantasy installment on the 360 only. Square Enix faces a dilemma: put the next game on the 360 only and alienate Japanese fans, depart with tradition and make it multi-platform, or go with PS3 as an exclusive and deal with the backlash from the west. I view Square Enix as a tradition-bound company, and expect the last alternative to be chosen.”

Personally, I think Pachter hit this one right on the head. Square has had a long relationship with Sony, and I can’t see them breaking that relationship just for a few more sales on the 360. Besides, Sony’s PS3 sales haven’t been as abysmal as everyone seems to think, and they’ve already sold through a million units in Europe faster than either the PS1 or PS2 did.