FF7 Rebirth was Japan's no.1 selling game for March. Ampere data suggests it has sold around 2 Million copies. |UP| Analysts says it's underperforming

Yurinka

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Don't get me wrong I am one of the biggest fans you can find of RE4, but FF games are fundamentally very different from RE and Monster Hunter. If you are good enough and know what you are doing you can beat the RE games in one sitting, MH is co-op and can be played in small bursts. FF has the disadvantage of not being able to rush through the game in 1 or 2 sittings. Frankly for the adderall generation big JRPGs are kryptonite

What Square can do to truly make FF a global phenomenon again is to try to make a monster hunter like, they have the monster bestiary to pull it off
Yes, RE, MH and FF are very different games. Regarding to add online MP to FF to somewhat replicate what MH does, I haven't played the FF MP games like FFXI or FFXIV, but I assume they already do it.

If not, I'd include it in these online games, and keep that separated from the SP ones, because some FF fans still haven't accepted proper (non NES-like turn based) action, so i would be harder for them to accept the games becoming MP titles.

And remember FFXIV, became the top performing MMORPG beating WoW.
 

Gods&Monsters

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Over time, since several generations ago all publishers have been moving to being more multiplatform (or crossgen) because AAA have been becoming more expensive every generation, so they needed more sales, and a bigger userbase reach means more sales.
Tell that to Koei that went multiplat for Wo Long and Wild Hearts after making exclusives for Sony (Nioh) and Nintendo. BOTH flops.

Immortals of Aveum, multiplat and FLOP. The studio is on his deathbed (if not dead already).

Dead Space = multiplat and FLOP. Franchise is dead again.

Banishers and Alone in the Dark came out on everything. Did anyone notice? MASSIVE FLOPS.

These are just recent examples. Multiplat is not a panacea. Also, porting and supporting multiple platforms is not free. All that labour for no return.
 

ethomaz

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I don' have any sensation, I saw the facts in the Statista graph I provided. The data you added says the same: grew from 110M in Jun 2014 to 185M in Oct 2023, around 9 years and a half: 75M.

Before that period took them longer to sell 75M, or that in around 10 years they sold less. Meaning, it isn't a declining franchise because they are selling more now than before. Which is what we were talking about before.

Regarding main titles after FFXV faster than main titles released after it can be explained because FFXV was multi day one and got the PC port a year and something later, while the other ones are PS exclusive, and in the case of FFXVI and Rebirth, for a relatively new console which had a smaller userbase.

In any case, I think all these post FFXV titles still have many units to sell, maybe also more ports to have, and we need more future data to properly analyze. I think it's too early, specially for Rebirth to take any conclussions.
Xbox sold at launch 500k units of FFXV… remove it and you still has way more than FFXVI or Remake.

And you are still using several spin off titles to make your “fact” lol
 

JAHGamer

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Zhuge is a known xbot like Imran Khan. He doesn't know shit. Imran did the same with FF16 and it was bullshit too.

It sold more than Dragons Dogma 2 in all the tracked markets and nobody is saying DD2 is a flop. All of them salty port-beggars.
Yes he is, this clown brought up sales in a thread that had nothing to do with sales, and even admits it. Loser behavior

 

Vertigo

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I’m gonna redownload FF14. I always assumed that FF16 was also part of a graphics and engine upgrade for FF14… and here it is!

Benchmark trailer


Update goes live tomorrow? Looking forward to jumping back in. I played the hell out of this when PS4 launched.
 

Infinity

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FF will probably never be a blockbuster ip again. Rebirth is definitely underperforming. No sales announcements from SE, who usually love to show off their sales.
 

Dabaus

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Few thoughts:

-If the game underperformed on PS5 it would have also underperformed on Xbox.
-Xbox made up 20 percent or less of 15s sales and that was before gamepass.
-According to maximillion dude, sony paid ALOT up front for this trilogy.
-To the last point, it may not even exist if sony didn’t foot the bill.

As to why it’s not a bigger hit I couldn’t tell you. I think it’s a confluence:
- of some people not liking remakes direction story/ gameplay
-People waiting for the complete trilogy
-It it’s name,Rebirth isn’t very descriptive where as remake part 2 is.
 

Danja1187

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Few thoughts:

-If the game underperformed on PS5 it would have also underperformed on Xbox.
-Xbox made up 20 percent or less of 15s sales and that was before gamepass.
-According to maximillion dude, sony paid ALOT up front for this trilogy.
-To the last point, it may not even exist if sony didn’t foot the bill.

As to why it’s not a bigger hit I couldn’t tell you. I think it’s a confluence:
- of some people not liking remakes direction story/ gameplay
-People waiting for the complete trilogy
-It it’s name,Rebirth isn’t very descriptive where as remake part 2 is.
Unfortunately I think a remake similar to Resident Evil 2 would have been better for FF7. I applaud square for not being lazy in execution but I think people also maybe not wanted the classic rewired as well into 3 different games.
 

Yurinka

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His source are analyst estimates of unknown accuracy.
His source are unknown analysts who may not exist. He may have made it out. The data from Ampere aligns more with what we may guess with the sales rankings: apparently sold less but in a more or less relatively similar range than the other main FF game. Not the half.
 

Danja1187

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FF brand unfortunately has been saturated and smeared with mediocrity over the years. Th brand can be rebuilt but it will take time. They need to figure out who their audience is and what that audience liked about the games. Similar to what Capcom has done again with Resident Evil
 
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Yurinka

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Tell that to Koei that went multiplat for Wo Long and Wild Hearts after making exclusives for Sony (Nioh) and Nintendo. BOTH flops.

Immortals of Aveum, multiplat and FLOP. The studio is on his deathbed (if not dead already).

Dead Space = multiplat and FLOP. Franchise is dead again.

Banishers and Alone in the Dark came out on everything. Did anyone notice? MASSIVE FLOPS.

These are just recent examples. Multiplat is not a panacea. Also, porting and supporting multiple platforms is not free. All that labour for no return.
You forgot to include Candy Crash. These are cherrypicked examples that have absolutely nothing to do with Final Fantasy.

I didn't say it's the panacea. I just say which is obvious, something that any person with half a functioning brain can understand: if a game like FFXV can be bought in 6 platforms obviously the user reach and potential sales is way bigger than if released in only one of them.

Obviously crap average games like Immortals, Banishers and Alone in the Dark will have lower sales even if multi, because the sales don't only depend on the amount of platforms they are available. But if these three would have been exclusive would have sold even less, that's for sure.
 
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Vertigo

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Eh….

Console gamers and those unexposed to FF14 don’t recognize how it’s carried the brand for nearly a decade. It was a tremendous game even then. Identity of the series has shifted since what it does best to satisfy modern gamers and classic ff no less is found in the mmo. Dungeon crawling, incredible ost, actual towns and meaningful build crafting and the gameplay depth to needed to make that any good. And pssst… people love the narrative and world building too 😎

From software has ate their lunch and thensome in the single player field and while “western” rpgs continue to grow in appeal as Witcher and 2077 sell thru 30 million each while the square style rpg continues to dwindle.

Part of the reason I was so disappointed in 16 is because 14 is such a banger. And yes, there is plenty to do strictly as a single player rpg. Don’t be scurred.

Dawntrail will be their bottom line and deservingly so. I suggest everyone jump in next week withe engine upgrade (I for sure will)… but it’s a bit pricey for all the expansions and to catch up on narrative. Hopefully there’s a sale.
 
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ghostwriter74

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Why is there always this whole discussion about FF? This is also being discussed in Era and it leads to the same false assumptions that a day 1 PC release would lead to significantly better numbers. That was not true for Persona, Forspoken, Like a Dragon or Dragon Quest 11. It doesn't make sense either, since FF7 Remake sold significantly better than Rebirth despite being PS4 exclusive, and the PC port afaik didn't lead to massively more sales. On the contrary, PC gamers were crying again because SE wanted full price.

It also makes little sense to compare Rebirth's numbers with Remake. Remake was released in April 2020, right in the middle of the Corona lockdown and in the last year of the PS4. At the time, the PS4 had sold over 100 million units and was cheaper than the PS5, which is around 60 million. Since Spider-Man 2, also a PS5 exclusive, is selling significantly better, the reasons are obviously somewhere other than PS5 exclusivity.

This is my subjective opinion, but Final Fantasy as a brand is no longer particularly interesting thanks to FF13 and at least since FF15. This constant reinvention of the brand has ultimately not led to more success. While I still thought FF16 was pretty good and had a lot of fun playing through it, I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong with FF7 Rebirth. At the moment I'm just struggling through the game. This is due to the rather exhausting "open world" maps, the non-existent story and the chaotic combat system. I won't even start on all the technical deficits like LoD or muddy image in performance mode. In short, I really hope the rumors are true and FF9 will be more of a conservative remake including turn-based battles and brilliantly staged summons. When I look at what F2P titles like Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail are delivering, SE will have to think about where they want to go with FF at some point.

In my opinion, the series would probably have disappeared into the abyss long ago without Sony. Nothing new about Nier for 7 years, even though it was a surprise hit, and DQ11 is almost 6 years old. A DQ8 remaster on all systems would have been useful as a bridge until DQ12 (if it ever comes out). But SE doesn't seem to be making particularly smart decisions. Perhaps Sony will lose interest even with the moderate success of FF and SE will bring FF17 back to being multiplatform. I wouldn't be surprised if there is another chaotic development like with FF15 and currently DQ12.
 

JAHGamer

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Why is there always this whole discussion about FF? This is also being discussed in Era and it leads to the same false assumptions that a day 1 PC release would lead to significantly better numbers. That was not true for Persona, Forspoken, Like a Dragon or Dragon Quest 11. It doesn't make sense either, since FF7 Remake sold significantly better than Rebirth despite being PS4 exclusive, and the PC port afaik didn't lead to massively more sales. On the contrary, PC gamers were crying again because SE wanted full price.

It also makes little sense to compare Rebirth's numbers with Remake. Remake was released in April 2020, right in the middle of the Corona lockdown and in the last year of the PS4. At the time, the PS4 had sold over 100 million units and was cheaper than the PS5, which is around 60 million. Since Spider-Man 2, also a PS5 exclusive, is selling significantly better, the reasons are obviously somewhere other than PS5 exclusivity.
Yep, it's nothing but disingenuous nonsense by jealous Xbox/PC fanboys. Fueled and amplified even more by trash like Daniel Zhuge
 
OP
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Gamernyc78

Gamernyc78

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Why is there always this whole discussion about FF? This is also being discussed in Era and it leads to the same false assumptions that a day 1 PC release would lead to significantly better numbers. That was not true for Persona, Forspoken, Like a Dragon or Dragon Quest 11. It doesn't make sense either, since FF7 Remake sold significantly better than Rebirth despite being PS4 exclusive, and the PC port afaik didn't lead to massively more sales. On the contrary, PC gamers were crying again because SE wanted full price.

It also makes little sense to compare Rebirth's numbers with Remake. Remake was released in April 2020, right in the middle of the Corona lockdown and in the last year of the PS4. At the time, the PS4 had sold over 100 million units and was cheaper than the PS5, which is around 60 million. Since Spider-Man 2, also a PS5 exclusive, is selling significantly better, the reasons are obviously somewhere other than PS5 exclusivity.

This is my subjective opinion, but Final Fantasy as a brand is no longer particularly interesting thanks to FF13 and at least since FF15. This constant reinvention of the brand has ultimately not led to more success. While I still thought FF16 was pretty good and had a lot of fun playing through it, I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong with FF7 Rebirth. At the moment I'm just struggling through the game. This is due to the rather exhausting "open world" maps, the non-existent story and the chaotic combat system. I won't even start on all the technical deficits like LoD or muddy image in performance mode. In short, I really hope the rumors are true and FF9 will be more of a conservative remake including turn-based battles and brilliantly staged summons. When I look at what F2P titles like Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail are delivering, SE will have to think about where they want to go with FF at some point.

In my opinion, the series would probably have disappeared into the abyss long ago without Sony. Nothing new about Nier for 7 years, even though it was a surprise hit, and DQ11 is almost 6 years old. A DQ8 remaster on all systems would have been useful as a bridge until DQ12 (if it ever comes out). But SE doesn't seem to be making particularly smart decisions. Perhaps Sony will lose interest even with the moderate success of FF and SE will bring FF17 back to being multiplatform. I wouldn't be surprised if there is another chaotic development like with FF15 and currently DQ12.
Yeah FF isn't what it used to be. I'm the end if it covers development and brings in profit it is a success.
 

Dabaus

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Final fantasy sales are definitely in Schrödinger cat territory. On one hand people praise Dragons dogma 2 for its sales on ALL platforms as a success but FF7 rebirth selling more or about the same on ONE platform is a failure.

People are also bringing up how Yakuza and persona are so ascendant because of their multipiplatform strategy but FF still mogs those games in sales so even if they are doing better, it’s relative to their past, not that their more popular than Ff, which seems to be the implication. Another thing is, I guarantee majority of those sales are still on PlayStation anyways. Maybe pc reaches the 30-40 percent territory but no way does Xbox cross double digits.

Another thing about yakuza and persona, I guarantee their budgets are a fraction of What 16 and 7s are so it makes sense SE would want the financing and free marketing from Sony if Sony is willing to give it. If SE were to go mutiplatfrom is it worth forgoing Sonys financial and marketing help in hopes that Microsoft makes the difference and PC fans by the game enough to possibly strain the relationship with Sony?


Look at from squares point of view, they get Sony to help bank roll the game, get marketing, bulk of the sales will come from PlayStation anyways regardless of multiple platforms so it’s redundant to put them there immediately, they can then port to PC, then years later MS gives them a gamepass check. Square is in a win win situation no matter what. They’re getting paid from Sony and then eventually Microsoft while fans buy the games.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that focusing on one platform for remake , 16, and rebirth has lead to better metacritic scores that than ff has had since the ps2 days because, as any developer can tell you, focusing on one platform at a time increases quality.