Square Enix Reveals It Doesn’t Care About “The final fantasy 16 so far. The game launched exclusively on PS5 on June 22, with shipments and digital sales totaling 3 million copies in its first week.
That figure is lower than the most recent releases in the series, and while Square Enix has never officially revealed the game’s sales target, it’s still lower than what people might expect for the next mainline game in the storied Final Fantasy franchise.
But according to Square Enix, the game’s sales were “extremely strong.” The publisher’s argument is that Final Fantasy VII Remake, which sold 3.5 million copies in three days, is exclusive to the platform, with a smaller installed base on PS5 compared to PS4.
Square Enix told IGN: “As of March 31, 2023, PS5 consoles have shipped 38 million units worldwide, and Final Fantasy 16 surpassed 3 million worldwide just days after its release on June 22, 2023.”
“Considering the sales figures for the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy VII Remake and the difference in the PlayStation 4 install base at the time of the game’s release, we can see that Final Fantasy XVI’s install rate is quite high given the PS5 install base.”
The company added that while it’s pleased with how the game has performed so far, it will “continue to take broad steps to encourage more people to play.”
Discrepancies between the remake and the new mainline games aside, Final Fantasy XVI also trailed Final Fantasy XV in sales. Released in 2016, the game has sold over 5 million units since launch, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy game of all time (a record that has yet to be broken).
The main difference here, of course, is that Final Fantasy XV was released simultaneously on PS4 and Xbox One. Just a few months later, the game had sold more than 6 million copies, even before it hit PC.
While Square Enix’s argument about Final Fantasy XVI’s attach rate versus earlier games has merit, the situation isn’t all that different from what it was when Final Fantasy XV was released. The game was released in November 2016, three years after its launch on PS4 and Xbox One.
“Final Fantasy 16” was launched in June 2023, two and a half years after the launch of PS5. Currently, there are more than 38 million PS5 consoles on the market. Before and after the release of “Final Fantasy 15”, the number of PS4s exceeded 50 million units, and the number of Xbox One game consoles exceeded 30 million units.
While Final Fantasy XVI will undoubtedly continue to sell well in the months and years to come (as the PS5 install base grows and the game’s price drops), Square Enix is not being honest. The company ignored the presence of Xbox Series X and S consoles and PCs. Perhaps, if the game was released on more platforms than the PlayStation 5, its first-week sales would match or even exceed that of Final Fantasy XV.
Even without comparisons to past Final Fantasy games, all three have pretty poor numbers when compared to Elden Ring, God of War Ragnarok, and many modern games with existing roots.
If anything, sales of each new mainline Final Fantasy game should increase the fanbase; easily bumping up against the year’s hottest releases. That goal should be easier to achieve with Final Fantasy XVI, since it’s designed to be a true action game inspired by God of War and Game of Thrones–all of which make it the first foray into the series for many players.
Unfortunately, as Square Enix continues to pretend that the PlayStation is the only console in existence, any audience willing to try the series without a PlayStation will have to look elsewhere. We hope that sooner or later Square Enix will realize that it needs to satisfy players.