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Eurogamer - Final Fantasy 16's exclusivity is a mess

Birdo

Banned
FFVII Remake reveal, E3 2015 (5 years before release).
final-fantasy-vii-remake-ps4-exclusive.jpg

No mention of other consoles or PC though. At the time people assumed it would be console exclusive and just come to PC.

I remember getting into arguments over it...... I guess some things never change at Sony and Square :messenger_grinning_smiling:
 
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FranXico

Member
No mention of other consoles or PC though. At the time people assumed it would be console exclusive and just come to PC.
People assumed, like you say. It only says PS4 first, though. Other platforms are never mentioned until the deal allows them to be announced.
FFVIIR will be announced for Xbox soon, and close to a year after its release, so will FFXVI.

Edit: to be clear, I'm speculating this based on history. I have zero insider knowledge, obviously.
 
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Redlight

Member
Oh so its not on PC or even announced for it? All you're doing is port begging
"In the case of FF 16, Square Enix asked IGN to remove mention of PC from our initial FF 16 news story, and when asked for a statement a Square Enix spokesperson said, “We have no further information on if Final Fantasy XVI will be released on platforms other than the PS5.” https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-demons-souls-ps5-pc-release

The confusion is widespread. PC release listed on the slide during the PS5 showcase and, in case you're wondering, Square Enix's statement is pretty much the opposite of an actual denial. I think it's safe to assume that it's coming to PC at some point.

Port begging? Were you trying to lay some kind of trap? Frankly, I couldn't give a flying rat's arse if it ends on on PC or not, it's just interesting that the messaging is both misleading and messy.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Of course its going to other platforms. Is a sony bought timed exclusive not a normal thing now?
 

Antitype

Member
Hardly any copies of FF are sold on other platforms, just look at FFVIIR... massive sales without other platforms. The XBox crowd isn't interested, PC audience is tiny and the game won't run on Switch anyway. IMO

Back when Steamspy was still accurate, we had the opportunity to follow the sales of NieR Automata which launched on PC 1 week after PS4, so almost day and date. And PC was roughly 2/3 of PS4. That's hardly "tiny" for a game that had no marketing whatsoever on PC, to the point SE refused to even acknowledge that version (no doubt due to marketing deal with Sony) and Sony showing it as an exclusive during their event.

PC is far too big a market to ignore nowadays. And long term it's proably an even bigger market than consoles because games always work, there's no generations, thus never ending legs. We also know from several of the big publishers that PC makes a huge portion of their revenue.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Sony is intentionally misleading people to think games are more exclusive than they are, and that they were made just for the PS5 when they sure as hell weren't.

This is something that's happened for at least 20 years. Why are you guys surprised? Sony, MS, and Nintendo have done this since the early 2000s.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Back when Steamspy was still accurate, we had the opportunity to follow the sales of NieR Automata which launched on PC 1 week after PS4, so almost day and date. And PC was roughly 2/3 of PS4. That's hardly "tiny" for a game that had no marketing whatsoever on PC, to the point SE refused to even acknowledge that version (no doubt due to marketing deal with Sony) and Sony showing it as an exclusive during their event.

PC is far too big a market to ignore nowadays. And long term it's proably an even bigger market than consoles because games always work, there's no generations, thus never ending legs. We also know from several of the big publishers that PC makes a huge portion of their revenue.
From the information available.... the game has sold slightly over 4.5 million copies (2020), just under 3 million (2019) were on PS4, with the remainder on XBox and PC.
 

Fbh

Member
So it's a timed exclusives that will launch on PC after some months and then on Xbox after a year.

Like the vast majority of console exclusives that are neither developed nor published by the console maker.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Where did you get that platform breakdown?


The just under 3 million sales are estimates from PSN and chartz and previous sales reports.. (probably around 2.7-2.8 million)

It looks like PC sales are above a million, probably close to 1.5 million.
 

Metnut

Member
If you want to play games like FF7 Remake and FF16 without waiting over a year, then PS5 is the only console that can deliver that.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Regardless of all else, how is Sony announcing FFXVI as a console exclusive in any way "a mess"?

They announced it was in production for their system and had negotiated a deal for an undetermined period of exclusivity. They did their job.
 

01011001

Banned
Sony always tries to be as misleading as possible when it comes to exclusivity in order to suggest that games are more exclusive than they really are.

people always make fun of all the different labels Microsoft uses in their presentations like "Console Launch Exclusive" or "Console Exclusive" but they do this in order to be transparent.

Sony is just like: PlayStation Exclusive (also notice that the trailer says PlayStation not PlayStation 5, so PS4 version incoming?)
 
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Antitype

Member


The just under 3 million sales are estimates from PSN and chartz and previous sales reports.. (probably around 2.7-2.8 million)

It looks like PC sales are above a million, probably close to 1.5 million.

So made out of thin air. PSN estimates are about as accurate as Steamspy is now (so not at all) and VGChartz is an absolute joke, all their numbers are made up based on a few retailers that share their numbers with them. The only accurate figures they have are when publishers publish sales breakdown.
SE never commented on platform breakdown. All we ever had was total and Steamspy and as soon as Valve restricted access to users game list, we were basically in the dark.
 

Bryank75

Banned
So made out of thin air. PSN estimates are about as accurate as Steamspy is now (so not at all) and VGChartz is an absolute joke, all their numbers are made up based on a few retailers that share their numbers with them. The only accurate figures they have are when publishers publish sales breakdown.
SE never commented on platform breakdown. All we ever had was total and Steamspy and as soon as Valve restricted access to users game list, we were basically in the dark.
I didn't say they were 100% accurate. They are estimates but I don't think they'd be too far off.
I mean 1.5 million is a good amount, could be higher.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
It is pretty funny though, because in the long run it does feel like Sony is trying really hard to flex the "exclusive" muscle to make it look like they have even more exclusives. Not really a big surprise. Big company pays a lot of money to get their name on it (albeit times), so of course they're gonna be like, "NOPE, OUT ON OURS AND NO ONE ELSES!"
 

killatopak

Gold Member
Really? sales would have been far far higher had FF7 remake come out on pc/xb also...
I mean yeah but Sony payed for the exclusivity and marketing. Besides after a year, anyone who wanted to play it will play it on PC and Xbox anyway. There’s plenty of data to go around like NieR Automata and FFXV sales distribution between platforms and release dates.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
sony paid for timed exclusivity on nier automata. it launched spring 2017
on xbox it shipped summer 2018
and its on game pass

No they didn't, it was never planned for Xbox because sales of the original Nier were ghastly. It only ever got greenlit because of its fanbase in Japan.
 
No they didn't, it was never planned for Xbox because sales of the original Nier were ghastly. It only ever got greenlit because of its fanbase in Japan.
Game was originally planned to release on pc-only according to Yoko Taro
then something happened and it was shown as a ps4 game.
few months later the whispers started that it would release at one point on xbox too.
it released 14 months later, following all ms guidelines for timed exclusives, aka cannot be released in same original form, has to include extra stuff etc,
so we had the Nier Automata: Become as Gods edition, including all dlc and some other stuff
 

BlackM1st

Banned
No mention of other consoles or PC though. At the time people assumed it would be console exclusive and just come to PC.

I remember getting into arguments over it...... I guess some things never change at Sony and Square :messenger_grinning_smiling:
It reminded me. I should wait and play FF7R Definitive Edition for PS5.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
If you really want FF16, buy PS5, or wait to see if it ever appears anywhere else. It's clearly launching on one platform first. That much seems certain. So if you can wait, then wait. If you can't wait, get a PS5. Worst case with waiting is you end up buying a PS5 and getting the game discounted. The game will be the same whether you buy it at release, or months/years down the line. It doesn't seem like a big deal. You don't need to know everything right now. More information will be known sometime in the future, and you can make your decision at that point. The game isn't even coming out at launch anyway, so there's plenty of time. Chillax.

I doubt many, if any PC and Xbox players would buy a PS5 for an exclusive FF game. If it were reversed PS5 players would probably buy an Xbox for it.

If something like GTA or CoD was exclusive PC & Xbox gamers might switch to PS5, but Final Fantasy highly unlikely. I'll only play when it's free on GP and if it's as annoying as FFXV i won't even finish it.
 

leo-j

Member
I love how we are quotting random twitter people as sources.
Sony is intentionally misleading people to think games are more exclusive than they are, and that they were made just for the PS5 when they sure as hell weren't.

Uses a random twitter account as source
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Game was originally planned to release on pc-only according to Yoko Taro
then something happened and it was shown as a ps4 game.
few months later the whispers started that it would release at one point on xbox too.
it released 14 months later, following all ms guidelines for timed exclusives, aka cannot be released in same original form, has to include extra stuff etc,
so we had the Nier Automata: Become as Gods edition, including all dlc and some other stuff

I think that's probably a mistranslation of Yoko being his usual self-deprecating self.

Why would SE plan a PC only sequel to a title that was never released on PC, give the job to a developer mainly known for their console output, has a primarily Japanese-centric fanbase (a territory fairly ambivalent to PC), and then announce it at SE's E3 2015 briefing for PS4 only despite the game being (as per Saito at the presentation) so early in development that all they could really show was a sneak-peak of the artwork?

So yeah, it might have been PC only for about 5 minutes, but that's it.

As to the Xbox release, it was a quick and dirty port that simply collated all the additional stuff from the PS4 release (pod skins, the addon, etc.) and literally nothing new.
 
Are you saying that it's selling nothing cause it's on GP?
two-factor combo: it released when it was old news and it's on gamepass

As to the Xbox release, it was a quick and dirty port that simply collated all the additional stuff from the PS4 release (pod skins, the addon, etc.) and literally nothing new.
Hardly
1080p on ps4pro, dynamic 4k on xboneX
 
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Pantz

Gold Member
IIRC they did the same thing with FFVIIRemake. They made it seem exclusive for a while but eventually slapped a tag on the box art saying 1 year exclusive.

I gotta play it on day 1 though, so they got me. Will end up multi-dipping.
 

NahaNago

Member
I think that's the point... They should just be clear and say it's a timed exclusive and they aren't in control of what Square Enix decide to do after that point.


But why would they be clear when the whole point of saying launching exclusively on ps5 is to get you to both buy a ps5 and the ps5 version of the game. Why would any company say hey you can actually buy this product later at my competition's store.
 

Redlight

Member
I doubt many, if any PC and Xbox players would buy a PS5 for an exclusive FF game. If it were reversed PS5 players would probably buy an Xbox for it.

If something like GTA or CoD was exclusive PC & Xbox gamers might switch to PS5, but Final Fantasy highly unlikely. I'll only play when it's free on GP and if it's as annoying as FFXV i won't even finish it.
I've tried many times, but I've never met a Final Fantasy game that's agreed with me. :)
 

Megatron

Member
Has Eurogamer said anything about Microsofts 20+ timed exclusives?

Or is it just that no one is really interested in those
The difference is Microsoft is above board and transparent and actually communicates about the timed exclusivity. That’s the point of the article. ‘Sony is being deliberately vague’ not ‘timed exclusives are bad.’
 
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BRZBlue

Member
The difference is Microsoft is above board and transparent and actually communicates about the timed exclusivity. That’s the point of the article. ‘Sony is being deliberately vague’ not ‘timed exclusives are bad.’

Like with Shadow of the Tomb Raider... oh wait.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Hardly
1080p on ps4pro, dynamic 4k on xboneX

No new content = quick and dirty. That One X runs at a higher res then Pro is as surprising as the Pro running at a higher res than One S and Base PS4.... I'd guess the cutscenes are still the same pre-rendered 900p ones as found on PC too.
 

Megatron

Member
Like with Shadow of the Tomb Raider... oh wait.
Wow, 5 years ago. How topical. It’s telling that you have to go that far back for an example. Proves my point, actually. Sony does this constantly and MS stopped doing it 5 years ago.

But yes, 5 years ago MS did it, got a bunch of shit for it and stopped. I’d like Sony to stop too and just be transparent.
 

CitizenX

Banned
Wow, 5 years ago. How topical. It’s telling that you have to go that far back for an example. Proves my point, actually. Sony does this constantly and MS stopped doing it 5 years ago.

But yes, 5 years ago MS did it, got a bunch of shit for it and stopped. I’d like Sony to stop too and just be transparent.

It wasnt Shadow, it was Rise.
 

thelastword

Banned
Sony always tries to be as misleading as possible when it comes to exclusivity in order to suggest that games are more exclusive than they really are.

people always make fun of all the different labels Microsoft uses in their presentations like "Console Launch Exclusive" or "Console Exclusive" but they do this in order to be transparent.

Sony is just like: PlayStation Exclusive (also notice that the trailer says PlayStation not PlayStation 5, so PS4 version incoming?)
So Microsoft is transparent when they say "Console Exclusive", but Sony is being coy when they say "PlayStation Exclusive"......

So your problem is Sony does not say "it's PS5 exclusive from launch day on June 24th 2021, 12pm PDT, to June 24th 2022, exactly 365 days of exclusivity on PS4/PS5 till my friends this beloved game will also be available on the most distinguished Microsoft Console".......

You have an issue with Sony just saying PlayStation, because lord knows PS4 is not a PlayStation, so the idea of them saying PlayStation is so vague and ambiguous and it's only there to fool us. when all the wording does, is that it covers both PS consoles. MS on the other hand says Console Exclusive, is it Series X, is it XBONEX, Is it SAD. is it XBONES is it Series S. Console exclusive could mean the Super NES for all I know, because it covers a much larger pool of consoles, console exclusive could mean PS too can't it not.....but you don't see any issue with that. MS is all about transparency. good communications and pro consumerism you see...
 
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