Ben-DutkaEuropean gamers are used to getting games long after Japan and the US, but this new generation has seen more simultaneous worldwide releases for big-name titles (GTAIV, MGS4, etc.). Furthermore, the European region passed North America in 2007 to become the second-largest gaming territory in the world.
And now, there's one big rumor that Euro gamers are going to find awfully interesting: it seems that Japan and Europe may get Final Fantasy XIII before North America. In fact, these rumors say FFXIII will release this year in Japan and Europe, while the NA release still sits in 2009. You can see such release dates at IGN and other sources, but Final Fantasy Versus XIII appears to be backwards… It holds a December 2008 release for Japan, an early 2009 release for North America, and apparently, it won't get to Europe until after that. But what to believe? Square-Enix hasn't issued any official release dates for either of the aforementioned games, and the latest update made it clear that FFXIII wouldn't arrive before 2009. We just assumed that included every territory, but it may not be so…
However, considering Square-Enix's newfound focus on expanding west and satisfying more gamers outside the Japanese territory, they may want to adopt the simultaneous worldwide launch approach. We don't really know what they're planning with the upcoming FF games, but hopefully, they'll provide more accurate release dates soon.
Related Game(s): Final Fantasy XIII
