If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy, specifically Final Fantasy VII, then it’s been a busy week for you. Not only did we get an announcement of the Final Fantasy VII Remake update for the PlayStation 5. We can’t forget about the Final Fantasy VII Intergrade exclusive to the PS5, but we’ll talk about that in another article. The final (pun intended) reveal was that Final Fantasy VII Remake is now coming to PlayStation Plus in March 2021. The latter has been a huge discussion topic due to the PS Plus version of the game not being eligible to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version. But why is that? PlayStation isn’t talking, but I have a suspicion as to why.
So, let’s talk about this.
I’d hope that people would have realized that games that are released via PlayStation Plus, and Xbox Live, are not free. These are games that are being leased or rented to whoever is subscribed to the service. It’s simple, actually. You pay a fee each month, and the respected company provides you with a few games each month. If you let your subscription lapse, either on possible or accident, you lose access to those games.
Are you following me so far?
Now, say you purchased some DLC for a game that was provided by either of those services. You’re purchasing content to be played on a game that you technically do not own. Sure, this may not seem like a big deal, but let’s play devil’s advocate. Let’s say that somehow your subscription did lapse, and suddenly you don’t have access to that game anymore. What happens to that DLC or addon your purchased?
Seeing how the game isn’t playable anymore, the content you paid for is useless. Sure, you can and purchase the game. That way, you can go and use that content again. Or you can renew your membership. But in this day and age, people have the mindset that if I was provided something for “free,” they should get to keep it and argue that it belongs to them. This has been an issue for a while, and I’ve seen several incidents where someone purchased content for a game offered by PlayStation Plus. In the end, it required contacting Sony multiple times, and there wasn’t always a happy ending.
Now, enter the “free” version of Final Fantasy VII being offered via PlayStation Plus. Again, I’m doing air quotes when I say “free”. This version, as I mentioned before, can not be upgraded to the PlayStation 5 version. And I’ve seen several conversations asking why this decision was made. I, too, also thought about this, but I felt in the end, it comes down to legality. This is how I”m looking at this. Suppose the restriction wasn’t in place, and someone upgraded the game to the PlayStation 5 version, which is a free upgrade. Imagine if someone then purchases the Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade upgrade, which adds the Yuffiee side story.
Now, let’s toss a wrench into the scenario. Again, this is a game being offered via PlayStation Plus, a paid subscription. Now, what if the membership lapses? Then PlayStation pulls the game that was upgraded to the PS5 version from your account. Suddenly, you’re left with DLC that you no longer can play. As you can imagine, this would cause both some confusion and frustration, with many looking to point fingers at PlayStation. We know how gamers can be at times, and we’d rather get upset rather than use logic. This is why I believe that PlayStation and Square Enix have decided to make the PS Plus version illegible for the PS5 upgrade.
Why not just buy the non-PlayStation Plus version?
Of course, the alternative to this is to buy the standard version via PlayStation Network, except you can’t. PlayStation, with its infinite wisdom, has made it that as long as you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can’t purchase games that are part of the membership. You can get around that by purchasing the physical copy, but not everyone wants to do physical games anymore (I’m part of this crowd). This leaves you in a weird situation. You can’t purchase the digital game. Not unless you let your subscription lapse, so you’re screwed. Why PlayStation doesn’t allow you to purchase the digital copy of the game, or provide an incentive to buy it, is beyond me. Looking at what Xbox does with Xbox Live, it’s the opposite. If you are an Xbox Live member, you can not only purchase games that are offered via the service, and you get a small discount. PlayStation needs to fix PlayStation Network because this glaring flaw has been in place for a while now, and people have been asking for them to change it.
In the end, it comes down to accountability. PlayStation wants to remove any possibility of anyone attempting to use the “free” copy of Final Fantasy VII Remake and possibly purchasing the Intergrade addon. I can imagine the controversy this would cause otherwise. That’s it, at least that’s why I believe. Of course, I’d love for PlayStation to come out and officially say this, but I doubt they will. But, I feel my speculation does make complete sense.
Do you agree with me? Do you think I’m completely off-base? Let me know in the comments.
