Sony has ‘secured the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy as a console exclusive’

Sony has secured the complete Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy as a console exclusive.

That’s according to a new Washington Post report, which appears to confirm what had perhaps been widely assumed but not confirmed until now.

While the finer details of the exclusivity arrangement haven’t been publicly disclosed, the report seemingly extinguishes hopes of the trilogy coming to Xbox, in the near future at least.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake was released for PS4 in April 2020. An upgraded version of the game, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, arrived for PS5 in June 2021 before hitting PC six months later.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was released last week for PS5 and will be exclusive to Sony’s console for at least three months, meaning it’s possible PC players might have a relatively short wait to play the sequel, which isn’t coming to PS4.

“Securing the Final Fantasy 7 trilogy as a console exclusive is a feather in the PlayStation cap,” the Washington Post article reads.

Christian Svensson, vice president of second and third-party content ventures and strategic initiatives at Sony Interactive Entertainment, reportedly told the publication that console exclusivity was mutually desired when the Remake project got going.

“Back in that same console generation for the original PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment had few franchises of its own, and in order to find its place in a very competitive video game industry, we sought to win the hearts and minds of key third-party developers like Square,” he said.

That focus on securing third-party deals is “ingrained in our DNA to this day,” he added, “and connects directly to how we’ve worked together on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.”

“Final Fantasy has always been one of the primary franchise pillars on PlayStation consoles,” Svensson said, adding that Square Enix is “one of the best in the business at pushing beyond their fans’ lofty expectations and showing off what can be done with PlayStation hardware.”

Elsewhere in the article, Square Enix discussed the benefits of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s console exclusivity.

“Had it not been on a single platform, the world map would not be seamless, and game design may have had to regress significantly,” said Final Fantasy franchise producer Yoshinori Kitase.

It was announced last summer that Final Fantasy 14 would finally be released for Xbox consoles in 2024, following a decade of PlayStation console exclusivity.

During a subsequent interview with IGN, Xbox boss Phil Spencer wouldn’t be drawn on whether other PlayStation exclusives like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 16 will also come to Xbox, but he said the Japanese publisher’s commitment to Microsoft’s consoles was “really important”.