Square Enix confirms Sony exclusivity for Final Fantasy VII's remake trilogy

The Final Fantasy 7 remakes will only come to PlayStation consoles. Per the Washington Post, Sony has already locked down the entire trilogy as system exclusives.

Square has generally been vague about the sub-series' future on non-PlayStation systems. Final Fantasy 7 Remake came to PC over a year after its PlayStation 4 launch, but the publisher never explicitly mentioned bringing it to Xbox or Nintendo.

Having these games solely on PlayStation helps Sony twofold. Along with reminding players of the original Final Fantasy 7's status as a PlayStation 1 exclusive, it gives them a system-only title during a fiscal year devoid of major first-party games.

Last year's Final Fantasy XVI was PlayStation 5-exclusive, like last week's Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. The series and PlayStation go hand-in-hand and will likely continue for future installments.

Who benefits from Final Fantasy's exclusivity

According to Sony Interactive's Christian Svensson, the remake trilogy's exclusivity was "mutually desired." He even noted how Square Enix has become "one of the best in the business...[at] showing off what can be done with PlayStation hardware."

"[In the 90s], we sought to win the hearts and minds of key third-party developers like Square," Svensson explained. "Final Fantasy has always been one of the primary franchise pillars on PlayStation consoles."

On Square Enix's end, having Rebirth PS5-only helped take the load off development. Franchise producer Yoshinori Kitase pointed out how making multiplatform games can be an undertaking due to the parity required in port work.

He went on to say that if Remake had been multiplatform, the game's design "may have had to regress significantly."

Developers have previously noted difficulties in making multiplatform titles. Larian, for example, said porting Baldur's Gate 3 to Xbox Series X|S would've led to some "compromises" due to the lower specs of the Series S.

While the remake trilogy will be locked to PlayStation, other Final Fantasy installments, like Final Fantasy XIV, will embrace being multiplatform.

The Washington Post's full report can be read here.