Final Fantasy 16 sold 3 million copies in just a week. However, the acclaimed RPG has not hit Square Enix’s highest expectations.
Square Enix blamed the PS5’s install base
As noted by Bloomberg‘s sources, Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu reportedly said in a post-earnings call that Final Fantasy 16’s initial sales “did not meet the high end of the company’s expectations.” Bloomberg also alleged that he blamed “slow adoption of the PS5,” which is unusual since the PS5 is vastly outselling the Xbox Series X|S and is only slightly behind the adoption rate of the PS4. He reportedly noted that the company has plans to boost sales now that more systems are out there.
This is all a little unexpected since other stories concerning Final Fantasy 16, aside from the company reportedly worrying about pre-order numbers, were all positive. It was the fastest-selling PS5 exclusive and performed “extremely well” according to Square Enix. However, sales can still be solid but under expectations, especially when tied to one single system with a user base of 40 million people, which is what Square implied with its “extremely well” statement.
For comparison, Final Fantasy 15 launched on PS4 and Xbox One in November 2016 and sold 5 million copies in just a few days, a milestone it could hit because of the multiplatform release on two systems. Final Fantasy 7 Remake sold over 3.5 million copies in 10 days in April 2020. And while it did just launch on PS4, the PS4 install base was over 106 million at the time.
Square Enix has been notorious for its acclaimed, multi-million-selling games still coming under expectations. Tomb Raider, Hitman, Sleeping Dogs, Just Cause 4, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Marvel’s Avengers, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy are some of the other Square Enix-published games that came in under what the publisher expected. Most of those studios and franchises have also been sold.
Final Fantasy 16 is different because it is the only title in this group that was developed in Japan. Square Enix also noted that Forspoken sales were “lackluster,” but it’s the least acclaimed title of the bunch and therefore doesn’t have positive reviews backing it up like the others.
