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Final Fantasy XIII Hits Japan on December 17, Could Launch in U.S. Next Spring

Posted September 8, 2009 by James Brightman

Final Fantasy remains one of the biggest franchises not only in Japan, but across the globe, and countless fans are eagerly awaiting the launch of Final Fantasy XIII. Today Square Enix held an event in Tokyo to announce that the game will be hitting store shelves in Japan on December 17.  "Some 22 years ago, the very first Final Fantasy made its debut on December 18 [in Japan]," said FFXIII executive producer Yoshinori Kitase [thanks GameSpot]. "So in a way, our newest release is coming out on the eve of the series' birthday."

Although the RPG will be coming to both Xbox 360 and PS3 in North America and Europe, in Japan it remains exclusive to Sony's console - something that Sony is obviously quite happy about. SCE boss Kaz Hirai also took the stage at the event to announce that Sony will launch a PS3 Slim bundle with Final Fantasy XIII day-and-date with the game's release in December.

"Looking back, the PlayStation has truly been taking its steps in history together with the Final Fantasy franchise," said Hirai. "Back in 1996, it was announced that Final Fantasy VII was coming to the PlayStation platform. When the game came out in January the next year, the sales of our console instantly doubled. It was of tremendous support to us. On the PS2, there was Final Fantasy X [in 2002]. On the PSP, there was Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII [in 2008]. So, Final Fantasy is a wonderful franchise that has continually supported the PlayStation format."

As for us in the West, we probably won't have to wait as long this time to get our hands on this Final Fantasy. "We're not at a stage where we can announce any specific dates yet. In the past, it took about a half a year to a year [after the Japanese release]. But we're hoping that this time, we can release it with only one season's worth of a delay," noted Kitase.  Square Enix chief executive Yoichi Wada was a bit more direct [thanks Kotaku], saying, "In the past, it's taken a year or half a year to release our games abroad, but this time we are aiming for an international release this Spring."

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.