Square Enix defends high priced mobile titles

With a growing list of $15+ iOS games, Square Enix has finally emerged to explain why it has adopted a pricing structure adverse to what mobile gamers are currently used to.

The publisher offers a handful of titles on the App Store, including games from Final Fantasy and The World Ends With You franchises, that range anywhere from $16 to over $40 (including premium in-game content purchases).

According to Square Enix that’s because the games were originally intended for consoles, but were ‘reconfigured and optimized’ for the mobile platform and released at a lower price than the planned console/handheld versions.

The games you mention and several of our other mobile titles were originally intended for the consoles, and we’ve reconfigured and optimized them for the mobile platform, releasing them at a lower price than their original console or handheld versions,” an unnamed Square Enix rep told Kotaku.

The rep added the firm determines price points individually for its titles, leaving at least the possibility open for a change in philosophyat some point as the mobile space evolves.

Square Enix does provide other casual titles in the lower price range, and as the market evolves, we’ll take all different price points into consideration on a game-by-game basis.”