‘We plan for the time being to make our new titles available for both current and next-generation consoles
The next generation seems to be in a really weird spot, and it hasn’t even arrived yet.
In the past several months we’ve heard about how multiple studios aren’t developing exclusives yet, making the generational gap between the present and the future that much more ubiquitous. Square Enix is joining that list, based on a new statement from president Yosuke Matsuda in a recent financial results briefing.
When asked about how the publisher feels about next-generation consoles, Matsuda responded: “The next-generation consoles will have backward compatibility, so we plan for the time being to make our new titles available for both current and next-generation consoles. It will therefore be somewhat farther down the road that we release titles exclusively for the next-generation consoles.”
It’s a pretty cut-and-dried response that seems in line with the non-bullish approach from many other publishers. It also helps create a multifaceted and cascading outcome, which simultaneously props up the value of older consoles (if the same games are available on both) while cheapening the idea of getting a shiny new toy that can play all-new things. I’m firmly on the side of “the more relevant platforms, the better.”
Then again, we’re roughly 10 months away from the next-gen and we still don’t have firm price points yet. It’s going to be an interesting year!
Financial Results Briefing [Square Enix]
