During yesterday’s Nintendo Direct presentation, it was revealed that a slew of Final Fantasy games would be making their way to the Nintendo Switch. However, what wasn’t immediately apparent was that many of those same Final Fantasy titles would also be ported to the Xbox One, including the critically-acclaimed Final Fantasy 7.
Right now, Xbox One owners can download Final Fantasy 15: Pocket Edition, which retells the story of Final Fantasy 15 in a bite-sized form. Then on November 6, Xbox One owners can get their hands on an enhanced version of World of Final Fantasy called World of Final Fantasy: Maxima. 2019 is when some of the older Final Fantasy games will be making their way to the Xbox One, headlined by Final Fantasy 7.
Besides Final Fantasy 7, Square Enix is also bringing over ports of Final Fantasy 9, Final Fantasy 10/10-2 HD Remaster, and Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age. This is significant as this is the first time many of these titles are releasing on a home console that isn’t a PlayStation.
Of course, with Square Enix bringing these Final Fantasy titles to the Xbox One, it makes one wonder if the Japanese publishing giant will bring other titles to the Microsoft’s console in the future. If these Final Fantasy ports do well, we could see Square Enix bring over some other remasters that have previously been PlayStation-exclusive, such as the Kingdom Hearts collections (especially since Kingdom Hearts 3 is releasing for Xbox One in January anyway).
We may also see Final Fantasy 8 eventually get the same treatment, though it has been mysteriously absent from these announcements. It’s unclear why Final Fantasy 8 hasn’t been included in the lineup of Final Fantasy ports for Switch and Xbox One, but perhaps Square Enix will offer some answers in the coming months.
In the meantime, one has to imagine that bringing the original Final Fantasy 7 to Xbox One opens the door for the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake to come to the console as well. The game’s development has been somewhat troubled, and so making it multiplatform may be the only way Square Enix can hope to recoup its investment in it.
Final Fantasy 7 is out now for PC, PS1, and PS4, and is coming to Switch and Xbox One in 2019.
