In an interview with Reuters Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada said overseas launches of the latest Final Fantasy game will come in April 2010 or later. Meanwhile Japan is on track to get Final Fantasy XIII and a playable demo in 2009.
The short story is North America won’t get Final Fantasy XIII until 2010. Bummer. However, we don’t know when in 2009 Japan will see Final Fantasy XIII in stores. They might be playing Final Fantasy XIII in June or they might not. Probably not. Japan may have to wait until November or December 2009, which means an English version of Final Fantasy XIII could be right around the corner in summer 2010 given Square Enix’s usual six month localization gap for big releases. From a strictly business standpoint it seems like Square Enix wants to book the profits from Final Fantasy XIII in Japan in one fiscal year and worldwide sales in another.
Hopefully, Square Enix will have some kind of treat for their international fans after all this waiting. Perhaps we’ll get bonus content like in Final Fantasy VII which Square Enix can later turn around and sell as Final Fantasy XIII International Fabulous Crystal Edition in Japan.
Images courtesy of Square Enix.
