Why Square Enix Fans Left PlayStation’s State of Play Disappointed

PlayStation’s most recent State of Play broadcast sparked passionate debate across social media, especially among fans of Square Enix’s flagship series like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Many tuned in expecting major updates on the company’s biggest franchises, only to find that the main Square Enix spotlight during the show centered on Octopath Traveler. For a vocal slice of the community, that mismatch between anticipation and reality led to frustration, memes, and heated threads about what the publisher is doing with its most beloved IPs.

This article unpacks that reaction: why expectations were so high, what was actually announced, why Octopath Traveler became the lightning rod, and what this all suggests about communication, platform partnerships, and the future of Square Enix’s blockbuster series.

Setting the Stage: What Is PlayStation’s State of Play?

Before diving into the fan response, it helps to understand the context of a State of Play presentation. Sony uses the format to showcase new trailers, updates, and surprise reveals for PlayStation platforms. These streams vary in size: some are deep dives into a single title, while others resemble mini-E3 showcases with rapid-fire announcements across many publishers.

Sony describes State of Play as a recurring livestream series focused on upcoming PlayStation games and updates; depending on the episode, it may highlight first-party titles, third-party partners, or indie games.¹ When a new stream is announced, fans often begin building lists of what they hope will appear, especially from major partners like Square Enix.

Why Square Enix Announcements Matter So Much

Square Enix has a long history with PlayStation. From the PlayStation-era breakthrough of Final Fantasy VII to modern exclusivity deals and timed launches, the publisher is closely tied to the PlayStation brand in the minds of many players. High-profile titles such as Final Fantasy XVI and the Final Fantasy VII Remake project have been heavily marketed in collaboration with Sony, often with trailers debuting at State of Play or similar showcases.

Because of this relationship, State of Play streams are routinely viewed as primary venues for:

• New trailers or DLC reveals for flagship Square Enix IPs.
• Release date announcements or platform confirmations.
• First looks at completely new JRPG projects.

That legacy formed the backdrop for the latest stream and the expectations that came with it.

Why Fans Expected Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts News

In the weeks leading up to the show, community speculation hit a familiar pattern. Fans across forums and social media threads shared wishlists that prominently featured:

• A new trailer or release window for the next Final Fantasy VII Remake installment.
• Any teaser or development update related to Final Fantasy XVII, however unlikely.
• Fresh footage or even a brief logo tease for Kingdom Hearts 4.

While none of these were guaranteed, the absence of clear statements from Square Enix about when or where those games would appear left room for hopes to grow unchecked. In addition, Square Enix has publicly discussed a strategic pivot toward making its future catalog more multiplatform and global in reach, emphasizing the importance of major franchises in its long-term plan.² This made some fans feel that a broad-reaching platform like a PlayStation showcase would be a natural place to update the audience on big-name titles.

The Hype Cycle and Silent Development

Modern game development often involves long stretches of silence between updates, especially for large-scale RPGs. During those quiet periods, every event—State of Play, Summer Game Fest, The Game Awards—becomes a potential flashpoint for reveal speculation. Because Square Enix has multiple major RPGs in development at any given time, speculation for each event can quickly collide into a single towering block of hype.

The problem is that expectations tend to accumulate even when publishers haven’t promised anything. Without clearly scoped messaging from Sony or Square Enix about what the State of Play would contain, many fans took the mere presence of a showcase as an invitation to hope for the biggest possible reveals.

What Actually Happened: Octopath Traveler Takes the Spotlight

When the show aired, the Square Enix segment focused not on Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts, but on Octopath Traveler—Square Enix’s HD-2D role-playing series known for its retro-inspired visuals and multiple protagonist structure. The announcement centered around the game’s arrival—or re-arrival—on PlayStation, with the reveal framed as a noteworthy moment in its own right.

For many RPG fans, Octopath Traveler is a critically appreciated series that helped solidify the HD-2D visual trend within Square Enix’s lineup. The first game has been praised for its art direction and battle system by reviewers at major outlets such as IGN and Game Informer, even as opinions differ on its narrative cohesion. Yet in the hierarchy of Square Enix brands, Octopath Traveler isn’t generally seen as being on the same level of cultural impact as Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts.

When the Square Enix slot in the stream turned out to revolve primarily around Octopath Traveler, many viewers experienced an emotional whiplash: the content itself wasn’t necessarily bad news, but it clashed sharply with the much grander reveals they had allowed themselves to anticipate.

Why Some Fans Felt “In Shambles”

The immediate social media reaction featured a mix of humor, disappointment, and genuine anger. Comments ranged from light-hearted memes about being “baited” to more serious frustrations that Square Enix and Sony were ignoring the franchises that built their shared reputation among JRPG fans.

Expectation vs. Reality: A Familiar Frustration

From a psychological standpoint, this kind of backlash is a classic case of expectation violation. Players who go into a showcase with a neutral mindset often judge it more on the objective quality of the games shown. But when viewers are personally invested in specific IPs and spend weeks predicting their appearance, the absence of those titles can feel like a loss—even if the show is strong by most other metrics.

Industry observers have documented a similar pattern around other digital showcases, where the gap between fan speculation and actual lineups can dominate the discourse more than the games themselves.³ In the case of this State of Play, Square Enix’s portion became the focal point of those emotions; Octopath Traveler was not inherently unwelcome, but it was perceived as replacing something bigger that never existed outside fan expectations.

The Second-Tier Perception Problem

Another layer of frustration came from how Octopath Traveler is perceived in the wider Square Enix ecosystem. Many players enjoy the series, but some view it as a “B-tier” franchise compared to blockbuster names like Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, or Dragon Quest. Highlighting it in a high-visibility showcase therefore triggered debates about where Square Enix is putting its marketing energy and development focus.

For fans chiefly focused on the company’s premium, big-budget projects, seeing a more niche RPG take the spotlight can feel like evidence that their favorite series are being deprioritized—even when development timelines and marketing plans likely tell a different story.

How Octopath Traveler Fits into Square Enix’s Strategy

To understand why Square Enix would give Octopath Traveler a high-profile slot, it’s useful to zoom out. In recent years, the company has pursued several parallel strategies:

• Maintaining and expanding mega-franchises like Final Fantasy.
• Building new recurring series using mid-sized budgets, like Octopath Traveler and other HD-2D titles.
• Experimenting with smaller-scale games and live-service projects, some of which have struggled.

Square Enix’s latest annual reports and management commentary emphasize a desire to diversify revenue through multiple IPs and formats, while also expanding presence across more platforms instead of relying too heavily on a small number of tentpole releases.² In this context, promoting Octopath Traveler on PlayStation—especially if it’s arriving on the platform later than on others—makes strategic sense: it helps the company reach more players and reinforce that this newer IP is here to stay.

From a business perspective, the State of Play segment operated as a marketing beat in a long-term attempt to solidify Octopath Traveler as a core part of Square Enix’s catalog. From a fan perspective focused on Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, it felt like the wrong priority at the wrong time.

The Role of Platform Exclusivity and Staggered Releases

Another source of tension is how Square Enix manages platform exclusivity and staggered launches. Historically, the company has often debuted games on a particular platform or set of platforms, then slowly expanded to others later. Final Fantasy VII Remake, for example, initially launched as a PlayStation exclusive before later reaching PC, with Sony highlighting the game heavily in its own marketing.⁴

When a series like Octopath Traveler appears on PlayStation after existing elsewhere, the announcement has a split audience:

• PlayStation-only players who are excited to finally get access.
• Multi-platform players who have already played it, and hoped for brand-new reveals instead.

That split helps explain some of the friction in fan reactions. For many PlayStation-focused JRPG fans, this State of Play offered them a new Square Enix title to look forward to. For others, it felt like re-packaged news taking up valuable showcase time that could have gone to something they hadn’t seen before.

Did Square Enix or Sony Miscommunicate?

Critically, neither Sony nor Square Enix had promised Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts news for this State of Play. Official descriptions of the show typically highlight a mix of upcoming titles without naming every participating franchise. Sony has used language such as “get a look at what’s next on PlayStation” for prior States of Play, framing them as broad overviews rather than franchise-specific events.¹

Yet from the perspective of viewers, the absence of explicit promises doesn’t always matter. What counts is the impression they form. When speculation across social media, YouTube prediction videos, and Reddit megathreads converges around a few big hopes, those hopes effectively become unofficial promises in the minds of fans—promises that no one at Sony or Square Enix actually made.

The result is a communication gap: official channels are technically accurate and non-committal, but fan-driven hype fills the vacuum with specific expectations that can’t all be met.

Balancing Showcase Lineups for Diverse Audiences

An additional challenge is that State of Play streams serve several different audiences at once:

• Hardcore franchise fans seeking updates on their favorite series.
• General PlayStation owners open to discovering new games.
• Players on multiple platforms who follow industry-wide news.
• Publishers and developers wanting exposure for their titles.

A segment focused on Octopath Traveler may be a disappointment for someone chasing Final Fantasy VII news, yet it can be a highlight for players who love classic-style RPGs and weren’t previously aware of the game’s arrival on PlayStation. Sony and Square Enix have to juggle these perspectives when planning their showings.

The friction becomes visible when one group feels that their interests have been repeatedly sidelined. Some Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fans interpret each non-update as evidence of neglect, even though large-scale projects naturally go long stretches without new public information.

What the Reaction Reveals About Fan–Publisher Relationships

The strong emotions around this State of Play say as much about the bonds between players and these franchises as they do about any individual announcement. Games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts have spanned decades, multiple console generations, and entire eras of personal growth for fans. When you’ve spent hundreds of hours with a series, its absence at a major showcase can feel personal.

At the same time, Square Enix is operating in a global market with shifting business pressures. The company must weigh how to allocate budgets, development resources, and marketing beats across an entire portfolio, not just its biggest names. Its leadership has openly stated goals of boosting profitability through a mix of large and mid-scale titles, and fostering new IP alongside legacy brands.²

This creates a tension that is unlikely to disappear: fans equate the importance of a series with their emotional investment, while the publisher must view it within a broader strategy encompassing timelines, risk, and growth potential.

Practical Takeaways for Fans

While disappointment is understandable, especially when you care deeply about a franchise, there are ways for fans to navigate future showcases more comfortably:

• Separate official messaging from speculation: Treat predictions as fun possibilities, not expectations.
• Watch for event-specific framing: If a stream is marketed as focusing on a certain set of titles or themes, adjust hopes accordingly.
• Recognize development realities: Big JRPGs can take years between meaningful public updates; long silences are not unusual.
• See mid-tier franchises as part of the health of the ecosystem: Games like Octopath Traveler can help sustain a publisher and keep traditional JRPG design in the spotlight.

These strategies won’t erase disappointment when a favorite series doesn’t appear, but they can help keep frustration from overshadowing everything else in a showcase.

Looking Ahead: Will the Next Big Reveal Land Elsewhere?

Given Square Enix’s multiplatform ambitions and the crowded calendar of gaming events, it’s entirely possible that major Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts updates will surface at a different venue: a future State of Play, a dedicated franchise event, Summer Game Fest, or another major stage. The lack of news at this particular showcase doesn’t mean those projects are stalled; it simply means that this wasn’t their moment.

For now, the State of Play that spotlighted Octopath Traveler will be remembered by many Square Enix fans as the show where their biggest hopes were dashed. But it also serves as a useful case study in how modern gaming hype cycles work—and how quickly a single announcement can shift from being good news for one group of players to a symbol of disappointment for another.

FAQ: Square Enix, State of Play, and Fan Expectations

Did Sony or Square Enix ever promise Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts news for this State of Play?

No. Public descriptions of the event did not explicitly mention those franchises. The expectations largely came from community speculation rather than official statements.

Why did Octopath Traveler become the focus instead of larger IPs?

Square Enix is working to grow Octopath Traveler and similar HD-2D titles as long-term IP, and a State of Play slot is valuable exposure. From a business perspective, highlighting it helps expand the series’ reach on PlayStation.

Is the lack of Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts news a sign of trouble?

Not necessarily. Large-scale RPGs often have long development cycles with relatively few public updates. The absence of news at a single showcase is not unusual and doesn’t by itself indicate development issues.

Why do fans react so strongly to these showcases?

Long-running franchises build deep emotional attachment. When players invest years into a series, they naturally look to high-profile events for reassurance that their favorite games are progressing, leading to strong reactions when those expectations aren’t met.

How can fans avoid feeling let down next time?

Keeping expectations grounded in official information, treating predictions as possibilities rather than promises, and remembering the broader portfolio strategies of publishers can all help temper disappointment.