Is there hope for Xbox players to experience FF7 Rebirth and the FF7 trilogy games? A recent error in reporting raises questions

The three FF7s on Xbox? Not so sure

It's no secret, but Microsoft is not the most intimate with Square Enix when compared to the publisher's relationship with Sony. The latter was able to grant the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, its sequel Rebirth, Final Fantasy XVI and even Forspoken.

Concerning the FF7 overhaul, we have been wondering for years if Xbox platforms will one day be able to benefit from it, especially since Final Fantasy XIV will soon be available on Xbox Series (the release date has just been revealed!). After all, FF7 Remake was released four years ago now!

Recently, Phil Spencer, boss of Microsoft Gaming, claimed to have met with the CEO of Square Enix to talk about the future. “You’ll hear more later.”he declared last year. “I'm not going to push them. They're going to have to find their own pace. But getting them to commit to Xbox was really important to me.”

Where things get interesting is that the very serious Washington Post was able to speak with Christian Svensson, the vice president of third-party publisher projects and strategic initiatives at Sony Interactive Entertainment: in his article, the famous media affirms “that having the exclusivity of the Final Final Fantasy VII trilogy was a real secret weapon of PlayStation”. The problem is that it was never stated that the three games were indeed exclusive to Sony.

Aware of having obviously said something that was not necessary, The Washington Post therefore modified its article to only mention FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth. “The entire FFVII trilogy is NOT yet confirmed to be a Sony exclusive”we can now read.

A long history

The article also details the close collaboration between Square Enix and Sony, which dates back to the 90s and which would simply explain this exclusivity agreement, apparently in place since the FF7 Remake project began.

“During the generation of the PS1, Sony Computer Entertainment had few exclusive franchises and in order to find its place in a very competitive video game industry, we sought to win the hearts and minds of large third-party developers, like Square “says Christian Svensson.

This good understanding, which allowed Square to rise to the top (with the legendary Final Fantasy VII among others) but also PlayStation, is “rooted in our DNA to this day and is directly linked to how we worked together on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”. Just that.

A collaboration that is bearing fruit, since Final Fantasy VII Remake is the biggest success in the history of Square Enix on PlayStation, for digital sales. Note, however, that a PC version subsequently appeared and that Rebirth will only be exclusive to the PS5 for three months, therefore leaving the field free for the publisher to bring its baby to Windows as well. But on Xbox? Not so sure, so…

Buy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Amazon