Getting the predictions right for this year’s hits and misses is purely a matter of luck. ‘Indiana Jones’ is a failure, ‘Barbie’ is a success, ‘Zelda’ is a smash hit, and… what about ‘Final Fantasy XVI’? What’s happening with it? In a 2023 filled with blockbusters in film, television, and video games, it seems to have fallen victim to the lack of hype. Specifically, a person can only be excited about a certain number of things throughout the months. Or perhaps we are mistaken, and it has secretly been a huge success? Let’s analyze it.
Pure fantasy (final)
Since the beginning of time, ‘Final Fantasy’ sales have only gone up and up without limits. ‘Final Fantasy XV’ sold five million copies just on its release. Six years have passed since then, and the numbers are far from being as impressive now: in its first week, the sixteenth installment of the franchise had to settle for three million units. There are explanations, of course.
The first, the most obvious one: far fewer people have a PS5 compared to those who had a PS4. Additionally, ‘Final Fantasy XV’ was released simultaneously on Xbox One, and at that time digital sales (which are not accounted for) were much lower than they are now. And all of this is very true: it’s possible that there isn’t less hype for the game, or that it hasn’t even sold less than its predecessor, but the drop in the second week is harder to explain.
In Japan, the game sold 336,027 units in the first week, but for the second week, it dropped an incredible 88% to only 37,763 units, painting a rather bleak outlook for its future. It seems like everyone who wanted ‘Final Fantasy XVI’ has already purchased it, and now only residual sales remain. It’s not the only major country where it saw a decline from one week to another: in the UK, for example, it experienced a steep drop of 78% and was once again surpassed by ‘Tears of the Kingdom’, resulting in a double somersault with bruises.
The reception has not been as expected for a game in the franchise, partly due to its different gameplay style and partly because nothing on the screen resembles the ‘Final Fantasy’ we know. Perhaps with the price drop of the PS5, the fan base will grow and expand, but the future outlook for Square Enix doesn’t look promising. The question, at this point, is not whether there will be changes in ‘Final Fantasy XVII’, but rather… if there will be a ‘Final Fantasy XVII’ at all.
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