Square Enix shares jump following FFXIII move to 360
Corporate executive Shinji Hashimoto explains thinking behind bringing classic RPG franchise to Microsoft's console
Square Enix's shares have gained 3.2 per cent to JPY 3190 after Microsoft said the developer's next title in the Final Fantasy franchise would be available on the Xbox 360, reports Bloomberg.
It was announced yesterday at the Xbox 360 E3 press conference that Final Fantasy XIII will be available on the Xbox 360 console in the US and Europe, in order to reach the broadest audience in the West possible.
"We considered the hardware situation, and would like to provide Final Fantasy XIII to as many fans as possible throughout the world. It was because of the spread of the hardware," corporate executive Shinji Hashimoto said during the company's E3 briefing, reports Eurogamer.net.
The PS3 and 360 versions will have a simultaneous release in the US and Europe, although the European release will most likely arrive some time after the American one.
"We will try to make it as close as possible, expedite is as fast as possible, make it much faster than previously," claimed Hashimoto.
The decision to bring the title to the console was a relatively recent one, and the company is only now just ready to develop the title for the Xbox 360, he detailed.
"We had to adjust so many things, including the relationship with Microsoft, and the development tools - it wasn't such a long time ago that we made the decision," Hashimoto said.