Another PC port that'll flop? Final Fantasy 16 debuts on Steam with 1470 player count

ethomaz

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21 Jun 2022
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ethomaz
What I don't understand is why sony funds marketing costs when people anyway will buy FF on PS. I would understand Xbox doing that but PS?

That money could be used for first party games.
Sony fund / help game developers (even more Japan game developers) all the time.
It is part of their delivery as platform holder.
And of of the key point of their success.

Nobody remember but most well know IPs from PS1 era were 3rd-party with Sony funding the development.
That is how FFVII ended being exclusive to PS1 after all previous games being on Nintendo platforms.
Square Soft was very excited to work with GCI and the CD space but the Sony fund is what really set the deal.
 
Last edited:
24 Jun 2022
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19.4K now on Steam; at this rate it should probably tap out between 25K-30K peak realistic.

FWIW, Persona 5 peaked at 35K, but that was a Day 1 PC release. And there's a small chance XVI could match or beat that game's peak CCU over the weekend.

I'm not saying any of this to imply the game isn't a "bomb"; CCUs don't tell us everything about sales metrics for example, and for all we know total sales could be on the lower side. But, with the numbers as they currently are, the game's probably going to be at least a modest success on Steam, probably 1 million copies between now and next year.

Still nothing compared to what the game sold on PS5, btw. And that's with pre-launch sabotage by Square-Enix themselves i.e already talking about the PC version publicly before even releasing the PS5 one (including fine print in the TV adverts; same thing happened with Rebirth BTW).
 

Evilnemesis8

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19 Dec 2023
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19.4K now on Steam; at this rate it should probably tap out between 25K-30K peak realistic.

FWIW, Persona 5 peaked at 35K, but that was a Day 1 PC release. And there's a small chance XVI could match or beat that game's peak CCU over the weekend.

I'm not saying any of this to imply the game isn't a "bomb"; CCUs don't tell us everything about sales metrics for example, and for all we know total sales could be on the lower side. But, with the numbers as they currently are, the game's probably going to be at least a modest success on Steam, probably 1 million copies between now and next year.

Still nothing compared to what the game sold on PS5, btw. And that's with pre-launch sabotage by Square-Enix themselves i.e already talking about the PC version publicly before even releasing the PS5 one (including fine print in the TV adverts; same thing happened with Rebirth BTW).

In my experience, as a watcher of Steam, JRPGs do about 10-25% of the launch sales even for Day 1 titles.
There's a few exceptions of course, like Granblue Fantasy Relink(but that's because 50% of reviews come from China.)

Looking at SteamDB estimates, and thinking of a "realistic" number for FF7RIntegrade's copies sold when it was an EGS exclusive, it seems that FF(FFXVI included, although that's TBD)titles are looking at being on the low end of the scale at 10%~

Now, like I said, some of that can be attributed to delayed launches/EGS deals/questionable quality of PC ports.
But even at a 20%+~ of launch/LTDs, PC is just a supplemental help.
It is not the "magic pill" to make FF sells many more copies.

Increasingly, it looks like if Square-Enix wants to sell a lot more copies for FF(mainline and/or spin-off) they need to release their titles on the Nintendo platform Day 1, or at least in a timely manner. But considering the trajectory of the FF franchise, in terms of scope/fidelity, it seems that without a drastic change, it's not looking very feasible.

I know folks here at not big fan of downsizing the scope of ambitions, at least how it manifest itself for FF. Likewise for the current crop of Producers/Directors in charge I think. A bit stuck between a rock and a hard place, it seems like.

I don't think we're going to see FFXVII in a long time. I imagine we won't know what kind of internal changes will be taking place as far as the direction for the franchise either. It is a curious time for sure over at S-E.
I imagine there's a lot of changes going on right now.
 

Systemshock2023

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8 May 2023
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They are inconsistent for sure. Same applies to FFVII REMake. Some of the greatest graphics ever (Aerith House and garden) and hideous textures and character models in other places.

Heard remake part 2 is an even worse offender as it traded quality for scale.
 

Landiri

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12 Sep 2024
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I know folks here at not big fan of downsizing the scope of ambitions, at least how it manifest itself for FF. Likewise for the current crop of Producers/Directors in charge I think. A bit stuck between a rock and a hard place, it seems like.
Downsizing would mean selling much less.
Most JRPGs are not Multi-Million Sellers, and rather niche in the west.

Big-Budget Visuals always made FF stick out. Take that away, and it will have much less pull.
 

anonpuffs

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29 Nov 2022
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If this hits 500k sold in launch week at $50 it'll be a decent infusion of cash if square really is strapped. Pretty sad state of affairs though.