News > Final Fantasy XIII non-exclusive?
March 25, 2007
Reasons to own a PS3 are in a constant state of flux. Initially to have a slew of high-profile exclusives, that list seems to dwindle by the day. It appears that FFXIII may be the next to wander down the path of cross-platform existence, undoubtedly making Xbox 360 owners mighty happy in the process.
Georges Fornay, president of Sony Computer Entertainment France, recently went on record discussing the high costs of current-gen game development, and their impact on the shape of the gaming industry - particularly the PS3's library of exclusives. In an interview with French newspaper Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, he had this to say:
"The development costs of games have exploded, and it has become more difficult to have exclusives, outside of our own games...
...As far as Final Fantasy XIII goes, I can tell you that the exclusivity is in discussion."
Hmm. "In discussion" is a very loose term, but in light of the way things have gone thus far, it likely carries more weight than the words themselves might indicate. FFXIII does run on a multiplatform engine, and Final Fantasy godfather Hironobu Sakaguchi is a fan of the Xbox 360 platform. Signs point to non-exclusivity.
This may very well be the harbinger of yet another lost leverage for Sony in the console war with Microsoft, and further begs the question, "Why own a PS3?"
-Eddie R Inzauto
