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Kyuu said:

DQX Offline having a 65/35 (was it?) FW physical split is hardly a flex. PS4 is a dead system in Japan, PS5 is yet to take off, and digital isn't factored in, though obviously in this instance digital might favor Switch depending on shipments vs demand.

Playstation exclusivity isn't happening (even a timed exclusivity is highly unlikely), but Switch getting skipped and Switch 2 being temporarily skipped are both possibilities. I guess you weren't around when everyone swore the next big Monster Hunter game couldn't possibly skip Nintendo platforms unless Capcom wanted to kill the franchise (and themsleves!!). Look how that turned out! Capcom's best decision ever. If Sony actually paid then that's the cherry on top, it simply means Capcom made all the right decisions.

Can you name me those JPRGs that sold better in the west? The general pattern I noticed is that games designed for lower specs and scaled up generally sell better on Switch than Playstation. But games that are designed around Playstation specs can perform very well as evidenced by countless Japanese games including JRPG's or JRPG-esque games like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Persona, Monster Hunter, FromSoftware games, NieR, Nioh etc.

Low tech games (like DQX Offline) make little sense to buy on Playstation because the bells and whistles PS versions offer are easily outweighed by Switch's portability. I'd also argue that Switch's lower resolutions can mask some of the visual flaws that are made clearer on high resolutions. Low fidelity games can look uglier on bigger screens.

Designing for Playstation is essentially the same thing as designing for Xbox and PC. So the comparison in Square Enix's mind isn't Switch vs PS5, but rather a lower tech multiplat (Switch + PS + Xbox + PC) vs a higher tech multiplat (PS5 + Xbox Series + PC + Switch 2 late port or otherwise). If SE wants to go ambitious, it's possible that THEY would be approaching Sony for a deal as a safety net in the case the project doesn't match their commercial expectations. It's not always the platform holder that makes those deals. Hell, Sony likely never made a deal with Capcom on Monster Hunter World. They just went experimenting on their own, and the experiment was a success.

The best selling Japanese games in the west are all high tech/designed around fairly high specs. Dragon Quest may or may not benefit greatly from being a high tech video game if it ends up excellent and SE backs it with a strong marketing campaign. The biggest Japanese games in the west aren't even available on the Switch, with a few exceptions like MHR, Dragon Ball, and late ports/cloud versions.

I'm not making any bets, but skipping Switch 1 does have a lot of potential benefits to the IP with or without Sony's moneyhatting, and it's something that SE has to consider. Dragon Quest will be just fine without a Switch because gaming is so much more than just Switch, and the DQ brand is big enough to survive skipping Nintendo platforms in Japan just like MHW did before it.

Bold 1: Trials of Mana, SMT3HD, Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana (I think according to SE sold best on Switch) of the top of my head.

Like I said before, my point is that the likelyhood of a PS5 exclusivity is so low that entertaining it is simply nonsensical.

Bold 2: Once again, SE doesn't own or even develop DQ.