PS5 gets another timed exclusive, as Project Athia skips Xbox for at least 2 years

Project Athia
(Image credit: Sony)

Project Athia, the new title from Final Fantasy creators Square Enix, is a PS5 console exclusive for at least “24 months” after its initial release date. 

The game was first revealed during Sony’s PS5 games presentation, though details still remain thin on the ground. 

Developed by Luminous Productions, the game looks to be an ambitious fantasy title with spectacular-looking visuals. The game’s writing is being led by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story writer Gary Whitta, who previously said that he “led a crack team of A-list writers from the worlds of film, TV, games and fantasy literature” to help create Project Athia’s universe.

The game’s exclusivity period was revealed in a “new and upcoming games” trailer for PS5, where it clearly states that Project Athia (which is a working title) is coming to PC, but won’t be available on other consoles until at least 24 months after release date.

That’s a blow to Xbox Series X owners, then, who may have been hoping Square Enix’s new game would also come to Microsoft’s console. Sony has also snagged the exclusivity rights for Final Fantasy 16 for an indeterminate period of time, so it means that action RPGs may be in short supply on Xbox Series X.

Project Athia’s PS5 console exclusivity deal comes as no surprise. Sony is continuing its strategy of creating a library of compelling PS5 exclusives to encourage existing PS4 owners to upgrade, or to tempt people to pick its console over Microsoft’s offerings. 

The PS5 is already home to three fantastic PlayStation exclusives that you can’t find anywhere else. We were impressed by every title in the PS5’s launch lineup, with Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls and Sackboy: A Big Adventure all offering a fantastic experience.

Adam Vjestica

Adam was formerly TRG's Hardware Editor. A law graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various technology sites and also established his very own award-nominated video games website. He’s previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. He is now an editor at The Shortcut.