We might not wait so long for the next FF7 Remake, as Square Enix plan to “win over PC users” with “aggressive” shift away from console exclusives

rockpapershotgun.com:

After rebooting Final Fantasy 7 as the trilogy of Remake, Rebirth and Really, You Went With That? (TBC), Square Enix are now planning to reboot themselves. Among the publishers’ revamped approach to making money - following a recent drop in profits, per their latest financials - is a more “aggressive” approach to bringing their games to more platforms than specific consoles (in other words, PlayStation) as exclusives, with a particular focus on “win[ning] over PC users”.

The New Medium-term Business Plan, which is also referred to in the presentation as “Square Enix Reboots, and Awakens” - which I especially like for how much it sounds like it could’ve come from a Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts trailer - plans to spend the next three years shifting “from quantity to quality”. (Thanks, Eurogamer.)

In a pleasing corporate balm to other multi-million/billion/trillion companies shutting down their more experimental projects that don't instantly make a gazillion dollars, Square Enix say they will “be bold in attempting to create new IP, prioritizing novel forms of excitement and striking the right balance with earnings potential”, giving “bringing smiles to our customers’ faces” top billing to boost players’ loyalty to existing series while also releasing “mid-class” titles that aim to increase the company’s “hit rate”.

Part of the effort to grow existing audiences for their franchises and win over some new players to boot is an “aggressive” multiplatform push that aims to “build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles in regards to major franchises and AAA titles”. That certainly sounds like corpo-talk for putting out games across more platforms than just PlayStation - the presentation mentions PC alongside Xbox and Nintendo consoles.

PC in particular is a real point of attention for Square Enix, as they say they will “pursue initiatives designed to win over PC users”, adding that PC is a “growth market” for the company - hard to argue with that, given