We live in a world where video game consoles are defined by their exclusives. If one is more popular than the other, chances are it has a stronger and more appealing library of titles. PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo all have their own franchises that drive people to buy their consoles, but Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida has recently made a bit of stir by suggesting that the industry would be better if we only had to one console to choose from.
In a recent interview with Taiwanese YouTube channel Muyao 4 Super Player (translated viaIGN), Yoshida states that he wishes that “there was only one” console to play games on, claiming that it would be “better” for everyone if this was the case. Yoshida doesn’t go into his reasonings behind this belief, though we can probably assume that it has something to do withFinal Fantasy 16being exclusive to PlayStation consoles.
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“Game platforms… I probably shouldn’t say this, but I wish there was only one,” says Yoshida. “It would be better for both the developers and the players.”
It’s a little difficult to see how limiting our options in regards to consoles benefits the players in any way, besides removing the existence of exclusives. It would make things a lot easier from a developer’s perspective for sure, but only having one console potentially means there’s only one storefront to purchase games from.
This wouldn’t be like the PC landscape, in which there are multiple launchers competing for customers. Only having one place to buy games risks companies abusing that fact and setting prices to whatever they like, safe in the knowledge that we would have nowhere else to turn.
Given that Final Fantasy 16 hasn’t performed as well as previous titles in the series, it’s possible that Yoshida’s comments are driven bythe whole sales discourse in Japan. Those that know the games industry will be aware that Nintendo is the dominant player in the Japanese market, with both Xbox and PlayStation struggling to make strides. The latter is enjoying much more success, but it’s possible Yoshida could simply be looking at how much the Nintendo Switch dominates in Japan, wishing he could release Final Fantasy 16 on that too.
Thankfully, it was recently announced that Yoshida’s other big Final Fantasy project is one step closer to becoming available on all platforms. After having being locked to PlayStation consoles for years, it was announced at this year’sFinal Fantasy 14Fan Fest that the gamewill be coming to Xbox consoles at some point in 2024.
