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Sony may be winning this generation’s console war based on numbers alone, but it’s pretty clear that the whole thing isn’t nearly as sleek and dry as the Japanese console giant would like. The PS5 is still struggling with chip shortages that Microsoft has been able to overcome to some extent with brute financial force, both the Xbox Series S and the X have started selling the PS5 in Japan, and Microsoft’s impending acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has made Sony nervously admit that it can’t possibly create anything to compete with Call of Duty.

Microsoft’s moves and shake-ups have prompted some reaction from Sony. Last month, Sony completed its acquisition of Destiny 2 developer Bungie, and earlier in the year bought a few indie studios like Haven Studios and Valkyrie Entertainment. However, all of these things would pale in significance for Sony to buy Square Enix, as reportedly recently planned.

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Square Enix is ​​the publisher behind major JRPG franchises such as Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hrats, Dragon Quest, and NieR, and has also been instrumental in pushing new JRPG series, such as Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler. It is in every way the ‘JRPG company’ and has long lasting ties to Sony. In fact, Sony was one of Square Enix’s largest shareholders until 2014, before selling all its shares for $47 million (significantly below their actual value).

Sony and Square Enix have had good times together and their convergence would feel like a late 90s/early 2000s reunion. Games like Final Fantasy VII through XII, Kingdom Hearts, Vagrant Story and Chrono Cross made the Playstation 1 and 2 synonymous featuring some of the best JRPGs of all time and vice versa. If Sony acquired Square Enix (and then brought all those series back under the umbrella of exclusivity), it would hark back to what many consider to be the “glory days” of the Playstation, when the console was known as the place to host many of the best to play. games coming from Japan.

This ‘Back to Japan’ feeling would be reinforced by the fact that Square Enix continues to sell its major western studios, with whom it has frankly a difficult relationship. In the wake of the sale of studios such as Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive and Eidos-Montreal, along with the Hitman, Deus Ex, Thief, Tomb Raider and many other IPs, a lot of news has emerged about the strained relationship between the publisher. and its western studios. There has been talk of Square Enix’s concerns that Western studios are “cannibalizing” sales of Japanese games (via Eurogamer), and some strong words from Eidos-Montreal about its partnership with Square Enix.

The main takeaway from this is that Square Enix is ​​very much returning to its roots in Japanese-made games with Japanese design philosophies. If Sony acquired Square Enix, it would be arguably the biggest games publisher acquisition to date, and could change the identity of the Playstation into the Japan-focused console it’s known in the PS1 and PS2 years. was standing. Granted, it wouldn’t be that extreme given the massive influence of Western-made Playstation series like Uncharted, God of War, The Last of Us, and Horizon, but it would tap into that 2000s nostalgia.

This identity shift is said to not only have been made by Sony, but also largely shaped by Microsoft’s moves. In particular, the Bethesda buyout, which has resulted in massive RPGs like Starfield, and apparently the next Elder Scrolls game, which will be an Xbox exclusive, has removed one of the main Western RPG developers from the Playstation.

In an echo of the early 2000s, in a few years we could be at a point where a ‘Playstation RPG’ will mean games like Final Fantasy and Dissidia, while an ‘Xbox RPG’ like Elder Scrolls, Starfield, and (possibly) Fallout. Since RPGs are the culturally important genre they are today, this split could have a serious impact on who buys which console. We’re still a long way from having disparate game libraries like we had in the PS2 and OG Xbox days, but it will definitely make both consoles more distinctive than they’ve been since.

That might not be such a bad thing for Sony or Microsoft. In generations past, the Xbox and Playstation seemed to be moving towards homogeneity, not offering the same amount of unique games and exclusives as in previous generations, and a lot of playing it safe. Recent acquisitions by Microsoft have shaken that up in a big way, forcing Sony to take its own steps that will ultimately help differentiate the PS5 and future consoles from its rival.

But from a neutral gamer’s point of view, it all feels a bit gross. Where exclusives happened in the past because of developer preference (Square Enix didn’t want the cost of making Final Fantasy VII for N64 cartridges), or a publisher who acquired a studio helped create a series and then long-term (God of War and Horizon on Playstation, Gears of War, Halo, and even Sea of ​​Thieves on Xbox, for example), it’s a little different when a series that gamers have been used to playing on their consoles for years of choice is suddenly stripped away.

We live in a time where you can buy a PS5 with a view to playing The Elder Scrolls 6 on it, or an Xbox series thinking you can play both Halo and Final Fantasy on it, but let that take you away from you. because of ruthless business decisions. In some ways, these acquisitions help differentiate consoles from rivals in ways they haven’t for years, but the way they do it will inevitably be destabilizing for players who have invested in one console or another.