Sony held a State of Play focused on the PlayStation 5 that concentrated on the Japanese market. The presentation announced new information about an in-house title – but raised false hopes among the fans.
What was the problem? During the State of Play, host Yuki Kaji led the evening, whom you probably know as the Japanese voice of Eren Yeager from Attack on Titan. He announced at around 26:49 minutes into the video that an announcement regarding a title from a beloved series by Square Enix would follow.
At this point, many fans thought that a new installment of Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts was implied, as many commented in the video’s comments. But in the end, only a new trailer and the announcement of a demo for Octopath Traveler 0, which was already known and will be released on December 4, 2025, followed.
The top comment below the video states that the jump scare about Square Enix caught him off guard. Others write that they were expecting part 3 of Final Fantasy 7 or Kingdom Hearts 4. They are disappointed and find the announcement of Octopath Traveler 0 boring.
One of these live reactions can even be watched on Reddit. But the developer is not willing to tolerate the major discontent.
Developer wants you to give the game a chance
How does the developer respond? Hirohito Suzuki is the producer of Octopath Traveler 0. He writes on X that he is honored that his title was mentioned as a “beloved series” in the State of Play. However, he is also aware that the announcement did not meet the expectations of the fans:
It is an honor to have OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0 featured as a “beloved series” in State of Play. It may not meet everyone’s expectations, but it has been developed with a lot of love. If you are wondering why it is so beloved, why not try the demo.
With the new trailer, a demo for the game was also announced, where fans can try the first three hours of the role-playing game. It does not matter which current console you play on, as the demo will be available for Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Steam.
As content, players can play the first chapter of the Retribution Story and the first chapter of the Restoration Story. If you finish both before the 3-hour timer runs out, the demo ends sooner.
The special thing: you can transfer your progress to the full version of the game. So if you want to see why Octopath Traveler is called a beloved series, you can convince yourself from now on – the demo has been available since the announcement (to the PS5 demo).
Unfortunately, Square Enix has recently incurred losses with single-player games. However, a well-known MMORPG is compensating for these losses. Thus, the company can still afford the development of single-player titles: Square Enix is currently losing a lot of money with single-player games – but an MMORPG is saving the whole company
