Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has commented on whether or not FF7 Remake and FF16 will ever migrate to Xbox platforms.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake hit PS4 in April 2020, where it remained as a timed exclusive until launching on PC in December 2021. But Square Enix hasn’t even made a peep about the remake’s much-coveted, and still unconfirmed, Xbox version.
The recently released Final Fantasy 16 sits in a similar boat. It’s performing well on PS5, with a PC port expected to arrive in 2024. Will it land on Xbox platforms, though? That much remains a mystery.
At the very least, Xbox owners can look forward to FF14 Online launching in Spring 2024 on Series X|S. However, it’s unclear if Square Enix’s support for the Xbox ecosystem will eventually extend to some of the more recent Final Fantasy releases.
Phil Spencer comments on FF7 Remake and FF16 Xbox ports
IGN sat down with the Microsoft Gaming boss during Gamescom 2023 and asked him about the status of the hopeful Xbox versions of FF7R and FF16. Spencer’s admittedly vague comments hint at something being in the works, yet he wouldn’t confirm anything concrete.
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He said, “Sarah Bond (Corporate VP, Game Creator Experience and Ecosystem at Microsoft) and I fly to Tokyo and have conversations, and we’ve spent a lot of time with Square [Enix]. There’s obviously business deals and relationships that will have to get worked through on certain games.
“But I’ll say it was really great to have the CEO of Square and Yoshi there to just talk about their commitment to Xbox… So you’ll hear more. I’m not going to push them. They’re going to have to find their own rhythm. But having them make a commitment to Xbox was really important both to me and… to the community as well. And [FF14] was more of a commitment.”
It would seem that Xbox versions of FF7 Remake and FF16 remain in limbo for the unforeseeable future. But the 2024 rollout of FF14 Online should at least offer Xbox players a small ray of hope.
Square Enix’s questionable support of the Xbox brand with Final Fantasy will likely persist for quite some time, though. After all, FF7 Remake Part 2, or Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is launching as a timed exclusive on PlayStation hardware.
