FFXIII will get DLC, says Kitase

By Robert Purchese Published 28 January, 2010

Will arrive in West a "little later".

Final Fantasy XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase has confirmed downloadable content for the game.

He gave no details on what or when, but told OPM Benelux (via VG247) that "we did prepare a DLC but it will arrive a little later in the West".

Strangely, Kitase was - just a day earlier - reported to have said DLC wasn't being considered for FFXIII at present.

Thankfully, that no longer appears to be the case.

Earlier this month, art director Isamu Kamikokuryou revealed that there had been enough content cut from Final Fantasy XIII to make an entirely new game. An area around hero Lightning's home as well as a secret base for resistence group Nora and a Nautilus Park fairground had been axed to keep the game's size down, we learned.

Whether Square Enix intends some of that content to be reinstated we do not know.

Final Fantasy XIII will be released on 9th March for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • andywilkie35 #1 2 years ago

    Jesus christ

  • M_of_the_sys #2 2 years ago

    Cue same old whinging about DLC being taken from the original game...
    Edited by 2 at 28/01/10 @ 09:39

  • Widge #3 2 years ago

    OMG DLC is being taken from the original game!

  • SixFootHalfling #4 2 years ago

    "we did prepare a DLC "
    "there had been enough content cut from Final Fantasy XIII to make an entirely new game."

    Ready prepared, and probably an area cut from the game means you can bitch about it being taken from the original, as they've essentially said it is.

  • geeza2020 #5 2 years ago

    I wonder if this is a result of Microsoft forcing Square's hand. Microsoft seem to want every game that comes out now to have some kind of DLC, but if they made it for the original release anyway, i think this is kind of disgraceful. But hey, fuck it, I gave up on the Final Fantasy series a looong time ago now.

  • Lee_Morris #6 2 years ago

    That announcement just made me want to wait till it's released before i get the game.

  • Kazzahdrane #7 2 years ago

    OMG MY THE HELL DID I HAVE TO BUY A SECOND SEASON OF 24?!! ALL THAT STORY SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE ORIGINAL SEASON.

    Some people need to understand that in most creative industries there are still things called budgets and deadlines. The best intentions in the world can't get everything you want into a game, eventually you have to release it. The time between Alpha and release is usually months, months where the team should just be fixing bugs and so some can go off and work on DLC separate from the main game development.

    There are some clear exceptions when the story doesn't make sense or have a real ending without the DLC but I can't imagine FFXIII is one of those cases. In the end, if you don't want it then don't buy it.

  • Widge #8 2 years ago

    Curious: Does DLC tie you to a game? I.e. if you've bought DLC, you feel like you've made an investment to the game and are less likely to trade it in?

  • M_of_the_sys #9 2 years ago

    "Ready prepared, and probably an area cut from the game means you can bitch about it being taken from the original, as they've essentially said it is."

    Of course. Content never gets cut from the game in normal development. Perhaps this should stay out of the game and never be released as DLC.

  • Steroyd #10 2 years ago

    Some people need to understand that in most creative industries there are still things called budgets and deadlines.

    I would be more understanding to that, if SE's reason wasn't that they cut content to keep the game size down, which I'm STILL trying to decipher what that means exactly.

    Brotherbob: FF13 immediately gets blamed on MS. What a load of bollocks.

    Well if SE "Keeping the game size down" is due to the limitation of the DVD, then there's only one company to blame.

    If they're keeping the game size down to make it short, then I hate SE.
    Edited by 1 at 28/01/10 @ 10:09

  • sfp_noodle #11 2 years ago

    sorry, but to ppl who are defending this DLC, since when have SE ever had to release dlc after their game was out? when have they ever left 'chunks' out of their game to release it later? without being cynical, and i own both systems and favour my 360, but i strongly believe tht MS forced SE hand in releasing dlc for the title. normally im ok with dlc, but when its pretty much confirmed tht the dlc is stuff tht was always in the full game (see AC2 as another recent example) it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. when i read stories like this im glad tht GT5 is being delayed for polish and to make sure its complete. at least we wont be ripped off at £3.99 for a 10 car pack or some rubbish like tht
    Edited by 1 at 28/01/10 @ 10:05

  • TeaFiend #12 2 years ago

    @sfp_noodle:
    FFXI mayhaps? That had content released after the game was out. HOW DARE THEY!

    If this is all "MS forcing SE hand" toss, surely it would be 360 exclusive content?

  • M_of_the_sys #13 2 years ago

    @sfp_noodle

    "when have they ever left 'chunks' out of their game to release it later?"

    People have taken two seperate bits from an article and put them together much like SixFootHalfling has.

    "we did prepare a DLC " - words of producer Yoshinori Kitase
    "there had been enough content cut from Final Fantasy XIII to make an entirely new game." - words of art director Isamu Kamikokuryou and quoted seperately in the article by Rob.

    We don't know whether the DLC is going to be content cut from the game or not. The chances are high that it will be but it sounds like the content would have been cut from the game regardless of whether it was going to be released as DLC or not.

    Edit - Stupid tags.
    Edited by 2 at 28/01/10 @ 10:15

  • bad09 #14 2 years ago

    "...every developer releases DLC and charges for it now...."

    So true...and yet so sad. Throw in DRM, knowingly broken unfinished games sold then patched later, the need for nearly every single player game to have some crappy MP mode forced in and it is starting to feel like internet connected gaming is slowly becoming the worst thing to ever happen to gaming....

  • Hix15 #15 2 years ago

    Shocker in dev wanting to make more cash from there investment!
    Coming next: paranoia & finger pointing from gaming community!

  • TeaFiend #16 2 years ago

    And the other reason SE most likely have not had DLC on an FF game, the facility was not present on PS2 and this is the first game released on current generation consoles. Lazy aren't they?

  • ignatiusjreilly #17 2 years ago

    OMG MY THE HELL DID I HAVE TO BUY A SECOND SEASON OF 24?!! ALL THAT STORY SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE ORIGINAL SEASON.

    Analogy fail. The second season is a new story, with a new beginnning and end. No one's saying this game should have been part of Final Fantasy 12.

    But I do hear the new season of 24 has only 23 episodes. You can buy the 24th a couple of months later as there is clearly enough customer demand for additional content that creates extra value and increases the viewer experience. You should have used that as an example instead.

  • Murton #18 2 years ago

    They've already said that content has been cut to keep the game size down, what other reaction do you expect from gamers? Any of them with even a little common sense are going to read "cut due to game size" then look at the disc formats and see plain as day that the game has been held back due to the limitations of the good ol' DVD.

  • uiruki #19 2 years ago

    The way it's been described, it sounds more like what used to happen with the delayed foreign localisations and Japanese 'international' releases - extra content added.

    If it means I don't have to restart the whole game to see the new stuf a la FFXII, then I see it as an improvement.

  • TeaFiend #20 2 years ago

    Game size is unlikely to refer to disc sizes. It is more likely time to get areas finished, bug fix, tinkering and so on. You can use multiple discs on an Xbox 360.

  • miiiguel #21 2 years ago

    Sounds like to me that the decision to release on 360, meant they had to cut back on the dev time to ensure the port is getting done as well, which means they cut "chunks" out of the game...which they are then making available as DLC.

    Either you have some solid inside info to back that up, or that just a few sentences glued together with a "which means", imo.

    wonder if this is a result of Microsoft forcing Square's hand. Microsoft seem to want every game that comes out now to have some kind of DLC,
    That's new, now MS invented DLC. MS forced every compan hand to release DLC. Fuck me, this is way to crazy!
    Edited by 1 at 28/01/10 @ 11:04

  • twoism #22 2 years ago

    /cues being disappointed by costume skins dlc turnout

  • geeza2020 #23 2 years ago

    miiiguel - where in my post do i say that MS invented DLC? Learn to read before you post. Its a sure-fire way of not making yourself look like a fool.

  • Murton #24 2 years ago

    TeaFiend: the submission fees and royalties that a publisher must pay to MS to release a game on the 360 go up in a stupid fashion once you go multiple disc. 2 discs is fine, but publishers who have been faced with games that wouldn't fit on 2 discs (such as RAGE) have been faced with either ditching the platform and therefore a lot of potential sales or making cuts and annoying a load of people on the internet. The fact that any cuts made can now be sold as DLC expansions for little cost to the publisher makes the decision a no brainer for them.

  • Nazo #25 2 years ago

    "Thankfully, that no longer appears to be the case."
    Am I the only gamer these days who isn't that enthralled with the idea of spending more money on a game I've already bought?
    It seems companies are increasingly planning DLC before the game is even complete.

  • alimokrane #26 2 years ago

    Watch as one of the platforms gets this as an exclusive!! Something tells me the announcement is saved for February around the time of a certain event..... just in time to sway people to buy that particular version right before release
    Edited by 1 at 28/01/10 @ 13:53

  • Yaz #27 2 years ago

    @Murton who wrote "They've already said that content has been cut to keep the game size down, what other reaction do you expect from gamers?"

    You made that claim before, and I answered it (and more) here;

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/article s/big-la-noire-reveal-coming-next-month/comments
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/big-la...[/link]

    Given that SE also says that FFXIII will take *experienced* gamers 50-60 hours to finish (so perhaps over 100 hours for the average gamer?), I believe they were probably talking about the duration of game, not the physical size of the game on disc (although of course, the two are related).
    Edited by 1 at 28/01/10 @ 16:02

  • Steroyd #28 2 years ago

    You can use multiple discs on an Xbox 360.

    You say that, but I don't recall any game not published by Microsoft themselves to be on multiple discs, I recall Id with their RAGE game were complaining about how the royalties goes very high to try and discourage them from using multiple discs, so perhaps the decision isn't so clear cut.

  • ZeroAX #29 2 years ago

    so maybe we'll get our towns now?

  • Yaz #30 2 years ago

    @Steroyd who said "but I don't recall any game not published by Microsoft themselves to be on multiple discs"

    I believe SE's Star Ocean 4 (The last Hope) was on 3 DVDs for the 360.

  • Bander #31 2 years ago

    "sorry, but to ppl who are defending this DLC, since when have SE ever had to release dlc after their game was out? when have they ever left 'chunks' out of their game to release it later?"

    Final Fantasy VII International and Final Fantasy X International immediately spring to mind. Except those were full price re-releases for the sake of a little extra content, as opposed to DLC at a fraction of the cost.

  • seanthejackal #32 2 years ago

    DLC?...Final Fantasy?...THATS IT!!! No FF13 for me, i mean whats going to be in the dlc...a bloody town? Half the game that was cut because of 360? lots of bugs? a green chocobo with AIDS and a tattoo on his butt saying "jump in"?

  • Steroyd #33 2 years ago

    I believe SE's Star Ocean 4 (The last Hope) was on 3 DVDs for the 360.

    B-b-but MS moneyhatted that for a timed exclusive. :p

    Final Fantasy VII International and Final Fantasy X International immediately spring to mind. Except those were full price re-releases for the sake of a little extra content, as opposed to DLC at a fraction of the cost.

    I thought you can only really see it that way if you live in japan?

    I remember that by time FFXII released in Europe it already had the tweaks of the international version re-release in Japan, and other RPG's like Rogue Galaxy were the same.

  • Lamb #34 2 years ago

    Watched the FFXIII trailer again recently and the story sounds a bit dry maybe they could offer some voice overs in the form of DLC to make a more comical version like IGN did here.

    http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=1MmG41Tll...

    Its awesome sauce. :D

  • karooo #35 2 years ago

    What exactly are they planning to put in the dlc? extra NPC's?