Square-Enix goes Steam Powered

[Askari0]

JRPG giant Square-Enix is the latest developer to sign onto Valve's Steam digital distribution service, starting with The Last Remnant in early April.

The action RPG will be the first, hitting the virtual shelves on April 9th, but it won't be the last - Square-Enix plans to increase its Steam library, with specific plans and pricing to be announced down the line.

"Square Enix is committed to delivering the best quality titles to PC gamers and distribution on Steam is one of the many steps we are taking to increase accessibility for fans in North America and PAL territories," said Squeenix head John Yamamoto.

One wonders what other titles could potentially be on the way from the Final Fantasy publisher. Final Fantasy XI and its myriad of expansions are an obvious choice, but ... what else could there be? Personally, I can't wait for a re-release of the PC ports of FFVII through FFIX, provided they fix the parts where they were, y'know, filled with so many bugs they were practically a trial on Fear Factor.

News: Square Enix next on Steam - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

Didn't see another thread for this and I wondered what BG thinks might come of this. I personally feel that anything Valve touches becomes more or less great and fairly well known, so this could do wonders for the dying horse of FFXI and also bring some of the 360 exclusives to the PC.

Discuss.

[MisterBob]

The Last Remnant is an action RPG, wut?

[SephYuyX]

http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/ffxi-...ml#post2531466
I would of thought to put it here too, but Sono = boss.

[Sonomaa]

its major and related to the parent company these games are based on, it also might mean that ffxi might appear on steam
I thought about it for a bit, but decided to run with it

[Arnwulf]

The Last Remnant is an action RPG, wut?

^ This

Plus, I wonder if it's true that they're taking out the limit on # of leaders. That would really break the game. Although the more I think about it, it might just be removing the limit of leaders you can hire, not leaders you can use in combat.

[Wintermute]

I read the title and I thought they had turned over the FFXI servers to run on steam engines to increase efficiency...

Wonder if SE are planning on adding any older PC stuff to Steam.

[Okan]

It's just a tough market and Steam has shown huge success in the American markets. This might also increase the Japanese view on Steam to increase Steam sales overseas. Steam, in a sense, is a bit of "free" advertising for their games they'll be releasing on it and with Square being a bit of a Japanese powerhouse of a developer, Valve would gladly show off their games. It's early and I'm probably not making too much sense, but what I'm simply trying to say is: This could be good for both companies.

[Maguspk]

so this could do wonders for the dying horse of FFXI

Increasing the community in a game where a large community suffers more isn't going to do wonders for anybody. FFXI is a dead/dying game, putting it on Steam won't magically fix it's problems.

Square putting stuff on Valve is pretty sick, definitely a better option than shelling out the money for console copies.

[Pikarya]

At the end of the day, Square is still making revenue over an old MMO/game thats been running on four flat tires for a very long time. Even if it is a "dying horse". Its still practical income for them.

They put two cents into their game now, and that brings them double regardless. For almost nothing.