Square Enix makes baffling decisions sometimes, even if it means leaving money on the table. Over the weekend, the publisher revealed that the highly-requested Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are finally coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2023. That wasn’t all that surprising as rumors had been flooding the internet; the real surprise was that physical copies were given an extremely limited release with no advance warning. The announcement also came at 1 a.m. ET, when many people were sleeping. By the time most people woke up to the news, they could only be added to a pre-order wait list. However, the website has been updated to say copies are no longer available.
News of the change was shared on twitter by @Wario64 and can be found in the Tweet embedded below.
Square Enix Store just switched from “Join Waitlist” to “No Longer Available” for Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster physical copies https://t.co/WIy24QtYXA pic.twitter.com/SFTItFnry7
— Wario64 (@Wario64) December 20, 2022
It’s hard to overstate how bizarre this whole circumstance has been! Ever since the Pixel Remasters were first announced, fans have been begging to see them released on consoles. Final Fantasy fans might be some of the most passionate in all of gaming, and diehards have spent the last day or so begging Square Enix to make more copies available. This is in spite of the fact that the physical release was given a hefty price point; the standard edition was priced at $74.99, while shipping cost more than $20.
The Pixel Remasters don’t have a set release date just yet, so it’s possible that Square Enix could still go back on its decision and make more copies available. However, this is the same company that exclusively released cloud versions of the Kingdom Hearts games on Nintendo Switch, when fans had also been begging for a physical release. Given that, it’s hard to say whether Square Enix will give fans a chance to give them money. The company’s social media posts have been inundated with requests to make more copies available, so Square Enix has to be aware of the demand. For now though, it looks like fans are out of luck.
Did you secure a pre-order? Do you think Square Enix will make more copies available? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter and on Hive at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!