Today, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade finally got its demo build on Xbox Series X|S, ahead of an early 2026 launch.
Square Enix and Xbox have had something of a tumultuous relationship over the years. Final Fantasy has sporadically appeared on Xbox systems here and there, but never in a consistent way as it has with PlayStation or Nintendo platforms in years past.
As a result, Xbox never build up the same audience for JRPG and other popular Japanese genres and games that its competitors enjoy, and never achieved the same traction in the region with its ecosystem and hardware. It's a chicken and an egg scenario essentially for both companies — as Microsoft seeks to build up a bigger user base for gamers who enjoy these types of titles, and Square Enix seeks to find new users on new platforms.
As part of that, the team at Square Enix has been quite receptive to Xbox-oriented press beats recently. We interviewed We interviewed Final Fantasy director Naoki Hamaguchi a short while ago, and Hamaguchi shared some of his favorite recent Xbox titles with us while explaining why Final Fantasy has returned to the Xbox platform. Today, Square Enix shared a video with us from Final Fantasy 7 producer Yoshinori Kitase, also giving some shoutouts to Xbox.
In a new video, Final Fantasy 7 producer Yoshinori Kitase shared some of his favorite Xbox games, as FF7 demo hits Xbox Series X|S and Xbox PC. https://t.co/gNBJlLPseZ ❗❗ pic.twitter.com/9q6diHprhgDecember 17, 2025
"As a developer, I've always been drawn to platforms that allow us to push into new frontiers, and Xbox is truly putting that into practice. That is why being able to release Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrate on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Ally, is something that makes us extremely happy."
"Please allow me to introduce three titles that are especially memorable to me, I believe these titles that really showcase the appeal of Xbox hardware."
First up, Kitase talked up Flight Simulator 2024, "It's incredibly realistic, it reproduces the entire world at scale. It really is more of a flight simulator than a game. You know how in movies, sometimes the pilot dies in an accident or becomes unable to fly the plane, and then a passenger suddenly has to take the controls. I'm sure you've seen scenes like that. I often travel overseas on business trips by plane, and I'm always imagining what I would do if something like that happened. I always play while imagining that scenario."
Kitase also had positive things to say about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, noting how the original movie had left a huge impression on him back in the 1980s. Like many of us, Kitase found the nostalgic recreation of Indiana himself and the opening sequences from Raiders of the Lost Ark to be "incredibly moving," and hailed the franchise for originating many modern video game mechanics. "Even if you haven't seen it, the treasure-hunting mechanics, dungeon gimmicks, or puzzle-solving mechanics ... in a way, the origin of those ideas, the original inspiration, can be found in Indiana Jones."
Finally, Kitase gave a shoutout to the recently-released Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. "This is a strategy game set within the Final Fantasy series, with the original creator, Yasumi Matsuno, supervising the game design. It unfolds with an extremely deep and weighty story."
Can Xbox build a bigger fanbase for Japanese games?
It's no secret that Xbox is virtually non existent in Japan, and is hardly doing that well in the West either. Xbox hardware sales have been flagging for some time, and Xbox has become something of a pariah with a string of unpopular decisions this year.
Despite that, Japanese developers have been lending stronger support to the Xbox platform as of late. Franchises like Yakuza, Persona, and indeed, Final Fantasy are arriving on Xbox a lot more consistently in-line with other platforms, even if service games like Fortnite and Call of Duty continue to dominate the way the console is used.
Xbox has been expanding its horizons to PC to grow its userbase and find some of those "variety" gamers again, who have increasingly flocked to Steam in recent years. Xbox Game Pass has been a vehicle for delivering some of that variety too, although the big Xbox Game Pass price hike from a few months ago has eaten into its value proposition.
Director Naoki Hamaguchi, Phil Spencer & Sarah Bond met at Microsoft HQ to celebrate the close partnership between Square Enix and Xbox 💚This collaboration helps bring iconic games to even more players worldwide. Play the Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade demo on Xbox now! pic.twitter.com/Z5iqhFzDOODecember 16, 2025
Whether it's Xbox PC, OEM devices like the Xbox Ally, or Xbox Cloud Gaming, Microsoft and its Japanese partners could have a strong position on some of these new frontiers. Xbox Cloud Gaming is a great way to experience turn-based JRPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics, Persona, and the recent Dragon Quest remakes. They're also strong on battery-limited devices like the Xbox Ally, since they can be experienced in lower power modes.
I think it's around these types of experiences that Xbox could find new audiences for these types of games more and more over time, but it's hard to know for sure if they will be able to move beyond being a simple niche. Time will tell.
You can preorder Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on Xbox Series X|S today with some nifty bonuses (available until January 31, 2026), as well as try out this new demo. FFVII Remake launches on January 26, 2026 for Xbox Play Anywhere.
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