Square Enix's director of corporate planning Michiro Sasaki has mentioned that his company was looking into supporting Microsoft's second hardware platform, which is currently scheduled to launch in late 2005. However, he did not provide any details regarding the decision making progress. Microsoft has attempted to lure Japanese publishers such as Square Enix to their platform for years, to develop Xbox-exclusive titles, with very little success.

Another large third party publisher already made its policy very clear: Kazuhiko Abe, executive at Capcom mentioned his company currently has only one Xbox-exclusive title in the pipeline, citing a lack of profitability as the main reason for the Osaka-based company's disinterest in the platform. With an installed hardware base of less than 500,000 units, Xbox has been a no-factor on the Japanese market ever since its launch on February 22nd, 2002.

• GameSpot