Final Fantasy XIII Coming to U.S. in 2010 at Earliest

Reuters is reporting that Square Enix benefited from positive holiday sales, despite the downturn in the economy. It’s expected that the Japanese publisher will meet its goals for the fiscal year ending in April.

"Demand has been generally brisk," said Square Enix President Yoichi Wada to Reuters. "The sluggish economy has not hurt us that much yet."

For the next fiscal year, Dragon Quest IX on DS is expected to be a large seller when it releases in Japan on March 28, 2009. Final Fantasy XIII is also expected to launch in 2009 in Japan, where it will be a PS3 exclusive. Internationally, where the game will release on both PS3 and Xbox 360, Final Fantasy XIII is expected to release in April of 2010 at the very earliest.

Moving forward, Wada indicated that his company is looking into possible mergers and acquisitions. Square Enix recently proposed a buyout to Tecmo, though that company eventually decided to merge with Koei instead. "Talks are going on with various companies at home as well as abroad," said Wada in short.