Sony’s last presumed big exclusive for PlayStation 3, Final Fantasy XIII, recieved the biggest blow this week possible by Square Enix announcing at E3 they will give Final Fantasy XIII a Xbox 360 release in North America and Europe. Despite questioning all the factors why Square Enix are doing this, surely the switch is a crucial apex in the gaming industry.

Square Enix senior vice president of sales and marketing Shinji Hashimoto was asked whether he felt that the announcement was, of sorts, a turning point for the game industry.

“More than a turning point, you could say that perhaps this is a change in trends for the game industry as a whole,” he offered. “In the past, a single platform would be at the top, and the others would not be so close.

“But now each console has many users, so this has kind of dictated the way that Final Fantasy will evolve in the future, and why it’s being released on multiple consoles at once.”

“With Final Fantasy, the aim is to have as many people enjoy it as possible.”

Hashimoto was somewhat elusive concerning future playstation exclusives. “[Releasing on a] single platform doesn’t necessarily limit the market,” he said. “There’s software that’s specific to certain hardware, and uses those capabilities to its max. Nintendo does that, and there’s Gears of War for Microsoft. These titles do very well.”

However, the Square Enix executive concluded: “There’s not just one formula for success. But with Final Fantasy, the aim is to have as many people enjoy it as possible, so this is the form our marketing has taken.”

Source: Gamasutra

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