Final Fantasy XV: A Royal Conundrum

Update: It would seem that the 20$ price point for the Royal Edition content was unconfirmed. Square-Enix has made it clear that the Royal Edition content will be made available as a free update to current Season Pass holders. Big thanks to Daniel Flatt for that info.

With the announcement of Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition, Square-Enix is looking like the people’s champ to many of the holdouts that elected to wait for an inevitable Game of the Year Edition-type bundle.  To many of XV‘s early adopters, Square-Enix is beginning to look a bit like…well, a bit like Capcom.  The company has taken a lot of heat from fans in recent years for some of its game design choices.  It’s safe to say that the once beloved Final Fantasy developer has potentially lost quite a bit of its original fanbase as a result of said choices.  It’s even safer to say that they’ve cultivated an even larger base of new fans due to those choices.  Some gamers adore the nuances of a properly developed turn-based battle system.  Some gamers curse the apparent lack of involvement in these systems.  Many of us hold action-RPGs like Kingdom Hearts to be brainless button mashing nonsense.  Many of us hold that same series dear for the feeling of speed and control, and the generally demanding postgame boss fights.  XV was always going to ruffle some feathers, but with the announcement of Royal Edition and its 19.99 USD price tag for owners of the original game, it seems they’re ruffling the feathers of an entirely different bird.  How did we get here?.

• Final Fantasy XV was 59.99 USD at launch, with a 24.99 USD Season Pass available.  That season pass would eventually include Episodes Gladiolus, Prompto, and Ignis, the Booster Pack, and the multiplayer Comrades expansion.
• Several small updates and several significant updates were added to the game over the course of the last year and a half.
• The Final Fantasy XV: Comrades DLC itself is being sold for 19.99 USD as a standalone product.
• The new Royal Edition content includes new gear, new weapons, new bosses, a sea transport called the Royal Vessel, a new dungeon (presumably with some new wrinkles to the story, albeit small) a first person mode, and a new action-oriented Armiger mode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=137&v=lPHypsuXNKs

As it stands, the people that purchased the season pass will be effectively burned to the tune of 20$ for that new content.  The people waited for a bundle can now very easily buy this game brand new for 40$ and upgrade to Royal Edition for 20$, saving $45 in the processes.   People can even find this game at preowned for as low as 20$ some places, leading to even wilder savings. Considering the fact that the official price of the entire Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition retail release has yet to be announced, this game might become even cheaper for some.   Needless to say, this is a major come-up for the latter two groups of people, and an absolutely terrible case of consumer mistreatment to the former.  I think, at the very least, this should be an $8 DLC to season pass owners, and if they REALLY wanted to respect the early adopters that significantly impacted their bottom line, they would make this a free update to season pass holders.  I’m sure there are going to many people that aren’t particularly upset over this; many are past the point of giving a damn.  At this point, we’re just used to ugly business and Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition isn’t most egregious case of ugly business, but it certainly is one of the most disappointing.