Fans have been clamouring for an iOS port of the later Final Fantasy games for years, but it looks as though publisher Square Enix is set to go one step further — announcing that not only will some of these titles soon be making their way to mobile, but also that the company behind them is experimenting with a new cloud-based mobile streaming service called Dive In.
Dive In is set to debut October 9 with an initial offering of three games, including Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 13 and The Cherry Blossom Murders.
The only problem? You guessed it: currently the service is only available in Japan.
Dive In offers an intriguing new take on mobile gaming, since it will allow users to rent the title instead of outright buying it. Final Fantasy 13, for instance, will set users back 250 yen ($2.3) for three days, 510 yen ($4.7) for ten ten days, 1250 yen ($11.7) for one month, and 1800 yen ($16.9) for the year.
As we ditch digital downloads in favor of more and more subscription-based streaming services in areas like music, it will be interesting to see whether a similar strategy can pay off for games.
While Square Enix has not yet said whether the Dive In app will be coming to the U.S. any time soon, it’s definitely a concept to keep your eyes on.
Source: Touch Arcade
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Final Fantasy VII and XIII headed to iOS in Japan”
Very excited to see these two games on iOS but definitely not a fan of this subscription service idea. Come on Square, you already gouge users with high priced iOS games that rarely get updates for bugs, now you won’t even let us buy the game? No thanks.
These gaming companies like Square and Capcom keep ripping customers off with fake DLC and consumers need to take a stand. I, for one, will not support such business practices even though I love the games. There are plenty of other games or other ways to play them.
I’ll keep playing on my emu using a PS3 controller, all for free. I’m sure the iOS touch controls will be bad anyways like you messed up my fav Chrono Trigger.