Square Enix console exclusivity may be coming to an end soon

By Tomas Franzese Published May 13, 2024

Square Enix, the Japanese developer and publisher behind recent PlayStation 5 exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, plans to release more multiplatform titles in the future.

The announcement came as part of a “medium-term business plan” that Square Enix will follow between now and March 31, 2027, in order to address problems like “low profitability” in its AAA console games. It not only plans to “shift from quantity to quality” and release fewer titles going forward, but wants to make those games available in as many places as possible. Specifically, Square Enix says it wants to “aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy that includes Nintendo platforms, PlayStation, Xbox, and PCs” for its most popular franchises and AAA games.

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Over the past couple of console generations, Square Enix hasn’t strayed away from taking an enticing timed console exclusivity offer when it saw one. Games like Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default 2 were initially released only on Nintendo Switch. More notably, Final Fantasy XVI and the Final Fantasy VII Remake series have been PlayStation exclusives. Even Xbox got Rise of the Tomb Raider as a timed exclusive in 2015.

Although this approach seemed to work for Square Enix for some time, Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth have reportedly underperformed, a sentiment Square Enix’s comments in this new business plan appear to back up. Square Enix announced its intention to bring more games to Xbox last year, starting with Final Fantasy XIV, and now it looks like more multiplatform games are on the way from the publisher.

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Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

PSA: Don’t burn yourself out on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s open-world activities

Cloud from FFVII

I'm normally a completionist when it comes to games, but I wish I had told myself to push that mindset to the side before I started Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

I get the desire to do it all, I really do. In the critically acclaimed sequel, we're finally let loose outside of Midgar. Square Enix has laid a huge, lush set of biomes to stretch our legs in after being stuck in the cramped hallways and tunnels of the drab city. Despite most of the world activities in Rebirth being standard open-world fare (activating towers, scanning points of interest, and hunting down specific monsters), there's an undeniable novelty to doing it with Cloud and the rest of Avalanche. What I wish I had known before starting was just how easy it was to burn out on that feeling.

Gaming

The best armor in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth

Cloud from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Just like in Remake, you only have one valuable armor slot per character in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Deciding on what you want to put there is more complicated than you think, since each piece of armor has multiple factors that determine how effective it will be, and you may want to prioritize different things for different characters. New armor will become available as you go deeper into the world of Gaia, and you can even make some yourself with the new Transmutation system, so comparing and contrasting them all can be a major chore. We get it, you're just a merc looking to get the job done, so let us worry about figuring out the best armors so you can just put them on and get back to the action.
The best armor in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Armor in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth have three major factors to consider when you're equipping some: the physical defense rating, magic defense rating, and Materia slots. The best armor will either focus heavily on one of these or have a strong balance of them all. Here are our picks.
Garm Bangle

The Garm Bangle is an amazing piece of physical-focused armor that becomes available once you hit the Nibel region. It has a fantastic 59 rating for regular defense, aplus a decent 28 for magic defense to keep you from being totally vulnerable to spells. Offensively, it has two pairs of linked Materia slots plus a spare, so you can still make plenty of killer magic combos for your mages.
Hades Armlet

Gaming

Whatever you do, don’t skip Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s card minigame

Queen's Blood

If you're getting ready to start your Final Fantasy VII Rebirth adventure, let me offer you fair warning: it is a long game. If you're planning to do every sidequest, minigame, and Chadley combat battle, you'll be wandering around Gaia for 100 hours. That's not an exaggeration; I hit credits in 73 hours and I still had a massive checklist of side content to complete.

Considering that length, you'll want to prioritize the best content if you want to get through the story in a timely matter. Some minigames are safe to skip, but there's one you absolutely should not sleep on: Queen's Blood. Not only is it a surprisingly deep deck-builder, but it contains a secret story all its own that makes it Rebirth's absolute best minigame.
All hail the queen
Introduced early in Rebirth's story, Queen's Blood is an optional card game that appears all over the world. It's essentially Rebirth's Gwent equivalent, giving players an in-world deck-building game to obsess over. That's become a bit of a cliché in modern open-world games, but Queen's Blood is the best take on the idea I've ever seen.