Square Enix to "further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers", says Final Fantasy 14's Naoki Yoshida
MMORPG had "really strong response" on Xbox.
Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida has said Square Enix would like to "further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers" following the release of the MMORPG on Microsoft's console.
The game's arrival on Xbox was announced at the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest in Las Vegas last year, where Xbox boss Phil Spencer took to the stage. It then released on 21st March, with latest expansion Dawntrail being the first to release alongside PC and PlayStation.
Speaking to Eurogamer at Gamescom, Yoshida noted players have been "waiting a long time for the Xbox release" but it's had "a really strong response" with communities growing on the platform.
He then spoke more generally about bringing Final Fantasy games to Microsoft's console.
"Of course, when Final Fantasy 15 was released, at that point in time Final Fantasy 14 was not available on Xbox," he said. "And it is a fact that currently, Final Fantasy 16 is not available on Xbox. So with that in mind, it is true that because of the amount of time that has elapsed since then, the Final Fantasy fanbase on Xbox has reduced.
"With Final Fantasy 14 as an opportunity, we can take this opportunity to strengthen the community on Xbox towards the Final Fantasy franchise. I think this is where we would take more communication and work on establishing the community moving forward. And this is important, not for Final Fantasy 14, but, I would say, for Square Enix. With Final Fantasy 14's release on Xbox, Phil Spencer spent a lot of his time and a lot of effort and put in a lot of hard work into making it a reality. So we would like to make the best of that and further deepen the relationship with Xbox gamers moving forward."
Yoshida noted, as a general argument, that Xbox has struggled in Japan due to the low number of users. "Naturally, because we are Japanese developers, we have a desire for many people in our country to play our games," said Yoshida, adding it's "really a tough point in terms of a business standpoint".
He continued: "However, at Square Enix, we have been changing our policy. So now we are moving towards the policy of releasing our games on a multiplatform basis, and we really want as many players as possible to play our titles. So with Final Fantasy 14 as the starting point, we do want to release more Square Enix games on Xbox, and there will be more of our titles released on Xbox. So I hope players will look forward to future things to come on the platform."
Back in May, Square Enix released a medium-term business plan alongside its financial report, stating the company is "aggressively pursuing" a multiplatform strategy as part of a move to "diversify earnings opportunities".
It seems the release of Final Fantasy 14 on Xbox - the company's most profitable game - is a major step forward in this strategy.
For more from Yoshida, check out Eurogamer's Gamescom interview discussing criticism of Dawntrail and the future of Final Fantasy 14.