Final Fantasy 16 will not be releasing on Xbox, instead it will be a PlayStation exclusive. Microsoft really messed up with this one, as it's their own fault the game won't be on Microsoft's console!
In a month, Final Fantasy 16 will release exclusively on PlayStation 5. This is a current trend for Square Enix, as most of their big games seem to be PS exclusives in recent history. In an interview, producer Yoshida Naoki or simply YoshiP now revealed, why that is. So the question is: Did Microsoft mess up big time or does Square Enix just not care for Xbox Gamers?
Generally speaking, Square Enix isn't known for putting their games onto Xbox. Only FF13 and FF15 released simultaneously on PlayStation and Xbox, while FF9, 10 & 12 were ported to the Xbox One in 2019 and older games are just plain not available. Kingdom Hearts just put their compilations and the third main installment on the Xbox a few years ago. Meanwhile, Sony has always had a close relationship with Square Enix and even got the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy as an exclusive. To say the two companies seem to be close is an understatement.
Final Fantasy 16 Not Releasing On Xbox: Microsoft Didn't Fight For It
So the reason FF16 is not coming to Xbox is actually rather simple. Microsoft didn't make a good enough offer, while Sony didn't pass off the opportunity for another exclusive. Of course, there are other variables and benefits to a one console release, but they are not the reason for this decision.
YoshiP explained it in an interview with Gameinformer:
[...] - 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.
So an offer was made and the PlayStation one was just the better deal. It seems, Microsoft didn't put a lot of effort into getting Final Fantasy 16 for their console. After all Square Enix decided to make the game a PlayStation exclusive and not get any sales from Xbox copies at all.
Further, YoshiP explains that it is better for development to only work for one console and Sony even helps the dev team with their own developers and programmers to really optimize the performance on PlayStation 5 . So they are definitely committed to FF16 and hands on to make playing the game an amazing experience.
Many have voiced discontent with Square Enix for not respecting Xbox fans and continuously letting them down, but is that really the case? Final Fantasy has never really been an established franchise on Xbox, and can we really fault them for not taking a worse deal, when the other one has many benefits for their game? If you are angry at Square Enix, then you should also be angry at Microsoft for not caring about Final Fantasy 16 , but that is just my opinion.