After a long wait, final fantasy 16, the latest mainline installment in the popular Square Enix franchise, debuted at the end of June to much fanfare. Despite its excellent reception from critics and many gamers, its initial sales caused fans to scratch their heads and question its success.
On June 28, the Japanese company revealed that the fantasy JRPG shipped 3 million units worldwide in less than a week. Although it is an impressive figure, it fell behind the 5 million copies sold that the previous installment achieved when it premiered in 2016.
Now, updated sales data sheds light on the commercial performance that the video game produced by Naoki Yoshida enjoyed in its first weeks on the market. Is it a success or a failure? That question has already generated a heated debate on social networks between fans and detractors of the project.
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Final Fantasy XVI sales cause debates and discussions among fans
According to the information, final fantasy 16 debuted at number one in the UK, but its physical sales were 74% worse compared to the initial sales of final fantasy xv in 2016. In addition, sales fell 78% in the following week. It is worth noting that those figures do not include digital copies.
Something similar happened in Japan. According to data from the magazine Famitsu, the JRPG starring Clive Rosfield shipped 336,027 physical units in its first week, but only 37,763 in its second. This represents an approximate drop of 88%. Again, these data do not take into account sales in digital format.
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With these figures on the table, it seems that FF XVI got off to a worse start than previous installments of the franchise on Japanese soil. For example, final fantasy xv sold 716,649 physical copies in 2016, while final fantasy 7 Remake did the same with 702,853 units in 2020.
Detractors of the Square Enix video game used this data to claim that the latest PlayStation 5 exclusive is a commercial flop, at least compared to previous IP titles.
Proponents, however, point out that the PS5 user base is noticeably smaller than that of PS4. They are also quick to point out that, for example, final fantasy xv it also debuted for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Finally, they argue that more and more players prefer to buy their titles in digital format.
The truth is that it is difficult to rule with complete certainty if the JRPG is a success or a failure, since the company’s sales expectations are unknown. Of course, a few weeks ago a report emerged indicating that Square Enix was supposedly concerned about the low number of pre-orders.
In any case, it is best to wait for the developer studio to share more information about sales to have a better understanding of the landscape.
But tell us, what did you think of the game? Did it turn out to be what you expected? Let us read you in the comments.
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