Microsoft is adding 10 ‘Final Fantasy’ games to Xbox Game Pass
Earlier today, Microsoft announced that it’s adding more than 50 new games to Xbox Game Pass — as well as giving three sweet freebies if you sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. By any measure, that’s a lot of games, but it’s an especially exciting crop if you’re a fan of Japanese role-playing series Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts.
With the blessing of Square Enix, Microsoft will add 10 Final Fantasy games to the service — technically nine if you consider Final Fantasy X: HD Remastered and Final Fantasy X-2: HD Remastered a single entry. The full list includes Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII: Remastered, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XV, as well as the aforementioned Final Fantasy X: HD Remastered and Final Fantasy X-2: HD Remastered. Next year, the publisher will also release Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 ReMIX, along with Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue on Xbox One.
Square Enix developers Shinji Hashimoto and Ichiro Hazama are here to FINALLY share what they have in store for @XboxGamePass! #X019 #InsideXbox
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— Xbox ?? X019 ???? (@Xbox) November 14, 2019
Each Final Fantasy title will join the service sequentially starting in 2020. While the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake is still a PlayStation 4 exclusive, this is probably the best news Microsoft could have delivered to its fans given the circumstances.
There’s more good news if you’re a Yakuza fan. Three Yakuza titles — Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 — are coming to Xbox for the first time, and they’ll join Game Pass some time in 2020.
After a brief flirtation with Japanese studios at the start of the Xbox 360’s lifecycle, Microsoft’s consoles haven’t been much of a destination for JRPGs. That’s clearly something Microsoft is trying to change. During the company’s X019 event, Xbox division head Phil Spencer spoke to all the trips he’s recently taken to Tokyo to secure today’s announcements and went on to add how he knows there’s more work to be done on that front.
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