Square Enix has insisted sales of Final Fantasy 16 are “extremely strong”, telling IGN the game has sold well relative to the PlayStation 5 install base.
The PS5 exclusive sold three million copies during launch week, a figure that sparked a debate online about whether it had met Square Enix’s sales targets.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake shifted 3.5 million copies in three days when it launched as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in April 2020. Final Fantasy 15 sold 5 million units in its first day, but that game launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in November 2016 and remains the fastest-selling game in the history of the series.
The debate was fuelled by a Bloomberg article that pointed out sales of the game in Japan had dropped dramatically in the second week after launch, that initial sales had “lagged” behind previous games in the long-running role-playing series, and Square Enix itself was “grappling with weak momentum” on its flagship franchise.
In a statement from Square Enix issued exclusively to IGN, the company pointed to the difference in install base between the PS4 when Final Fantasy 7 Remake came out, and the install base of the PS5 when Final Fantasy 16 launched last month.
“With 38 million PS5 consoles shipped globally (as of March 31, 2023), sales of Final Fantasy 16 surpassed three million units worldwide several days after its release on June 22, 2023,” Square Enix said.
“Taking into consideration the sales figures of the acclaimed Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the difference in size of the install base of the PlayStation 4 at the time of this title’s release, we can see that the attach rate of Final Fantasy 16 is considerably high, given the PS5 install base.
“Square Enix considers the initial sales results of Final Fantasy 16 to be extremely strong, and we will continue to carry out a wide range of initiatives to encourage even more people to play the game.”
Square Enix is infamous for its wildly inflated sales expectations, with everything from Tomb Raider to Hitman considered failures internally despite selling millions of copies.
IGN sources familiar with the performance of Final Fantasy 16 confirmed sales had slowed considerably since launch but that the game was not yet considered the disaster some claimed it to be. One source pointed to recent comments from producer Naoki Yoshida that DLC may be on the horizon, and thus further investment in development time, as a key indicator Final Fantasy 16 may have legs.
Final Fantasy 16 divided fans by leaving behind the role-playing features prevalent in previous entries for a more gritty, action-oriented experience inspired by Game of Thrones.
In IGN’s Final Fantasy 16 review, we said: “Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.”
Louise Wooldridge, research manager at Ampere Analysis, said its games data painted a positive picture. According to data from Ampere Games – Analytics, Final Fantasy 16 was the sixth biggest title by monthly active users globally on PS5 in June, with 13% of PS5 players playing it. For three days following the launch, Final Fantasy 16 was the second-highest PS5 title by daily active users globally, just falling short of FIFA 23 but surpassing the likes of Fortnite and Call of Duty. By the end of the month it had dropped to fourth place but seemed to have stabilised, maintaining a lead ahead of big live service titles such as Diablo 4, NBA 2K 23, and GTA 5.
“Final Fantasy 16 was launched into market conditions that were quite different compared to those of previous franchise releases like FF7R and FF15, so comparisons are problematic,” Wooldridge explained.
“For example, FF16 is a PS5 exclusive, and it launched earlier in the PS5 lifecycle than FF7R did in the PS4 lifecycle. When the PS5 active installed base is less than 40m globally, sales of three million are certainly not poor.
“This may be below Square Enix’s expectations, but the launch environment and Mature rating of the game do limit its potential somewhat. Given the success achieved by Yoshi-P in turning around Final Fantasy 14, I imagine expectations were particularly high.
“A rapid drop-off in sales in the days following the launch is also expected for an RPG - many of the initial sales will be from core players and fans of the franchise. It will be interesting to see whether it can continue to sell and remain in the charts in the coming months, and that will perhaps be a better indication of its performance.”
Wooldridge said the perceived lack of sales in Japan are more down to the popularity of the PS5 compared to the Nintendo Switch in the country, where the latter dominates sales charts. In Japan, Final Fantasy 16 attracted twice as many daily players as the next most-popular PS5 game, Apex Legends, and was far and away the most-played game for that time period.
“It is not surprising that it has not sold incredibly well in Japan, given the new direction the game has taken,” Wooldridge said. “FF16 has more serious, darker themes than previous installments, as well as – for most of the game – an older cast of characters. Gamers in Japan broadly favour young characters (as seen with Nier Replicant where in Japan, the main character was a teenage boy, but in its western release the main character was a man in his 40s). FF16 seems much more targeted to western audiences – it lacks the traditional JRPG style.
“It seems like the game is straddling the core Final Fantasy fanbase and the wider, ARPG audience – it has moved away from its original style and structure… not so far that it loses most fans of the franchise, but not far enough that it fully engages more mainstream players.”
As fans wonder which direction Square Enix will take for the inevitable Final Fantasy 17, the company is already bigging up the winter launch of Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Part 2, officially called Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. A remake of Final Fantasy 6 is said to be a hot topic within the walls of Square Enix, too.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
