Square Enix, one of the world’s most renown makers of video games, is known for launching their games in Japan six months to a year before the United States gets them. However, recently they’ve been attempting to broaden their worldwide appeal and expand their business on the western hemisphere. Apparently, this includes releasing games at the same time on both sides of the globe.



Square Enix president Yoichi Wada stated today that one of the goals of the company will be “making simultaneous releases the norm.” That’s all well and good, and you bet I’ll appreciate not having to hear about Final Fantasy XIII’s Japanese release for months before finally getting my hands on it… if this new plan does indeed include the highly anticipated RPG.

With FFXIII and Dragon Quest IX both on the way, I can’t help but wonder if this new dual release strategy is going to apply for them as well. I certainly hope so, but I can’t hold my breath; that would probably mean that no one in the world would see FFXIII until sometime in 2009 at the earliest. Still, it’s nice to know that in the future, we may not have so long to wait for Square Enix’s games.