Even with the Epic Games Store gaining traction through giving away numerous free games and securing aggressive timed exclusivity deals, Valve's Steam store is still a massive industry powerhouse. Timed exclusives expire eventually, however, and it seems Square Enix managed to accidentally hint at the possibility for Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake hit the Epic Games Store just days ago, marking the game's PC debut. The critically-acclaimed remake is currently exclusive to the Epic Games Store and PlayStation platforms, and no official announcement has been made for release on other platforms yet.
Modders looking through Final Fantasy 7 Remake's game files have found a Steam app number and Steamworks DLL files within, suggesting that the game's Steam integration is already at least being worked on. This ties into a running theory that the Epic Games Store release is a debug build, as such files would likely not make it into a release build of the game. Square Enix has not issued an official statement on the matter, and the potential that it will is low, since accidentally leaking its own future plans for the game is an embarrassing problem.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's PC launch is fraught with issues on its own; from the game having ridiculously high system requirements to possibly being a debug build, it will take several updates before the game is in a stable state. This gives the developers more time to get it ready for the Steam audience, but calls into question why this unfinished version was released in this state at all, even if it is on the less popular platform.
The increased standard pricing of games also makes it frustrating that the game would release in such a broken state. Final Fantasy 7 Remake costs $70 USD, which is a $10 increase over the already significant price of $60. It also takes an absolutely massive 100GB of hard drive space to install, and it appears that Square Enix has made little effort to mitigate the steep requirement with strategies like selective download of high-resolution textures.
Even with the many issues players are currently struggling with in the PC version, Final Fantasy 7 Remake coming to PC is a major step for the sub-series and means Part 2 also coming to PC eventually is likely. Whether Part 2 will be an Epic Games Store timed exclusive as well is unknown, but releasing on multiple platforms will no doubt reflect well on sales overall.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
Source: PCGamesN