Highlights
- According to Square Enix, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has seen underwhelming sales.
- While the company recently shared its fiscal report for the last quarter, the total sales for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth still haven't been published.
- Square Enix recently announced that it would prioritize a multiplatform strategy going forward.
Square Enix shared its fiscal report for the past quarter, but the total sales for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth remain under wraps. Some hoped that the long-awaited report would finally reveal the up-to-date sales figures for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launched on February 29, 2024, and received praise and high ratings from both critics and fans, ranking above its predecessor, Final Fantasy 7 Remake. However, despite this, Takashi Kiryu, the CEO of Square Enix, revealed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth had seen underwhelming sales and didn't meet the publisher's expectations, alongside games like Final Fantasy 16 and the live-service game Foamstars.
It's unclear exactly how underwhelming these sales are, because Square Enix has remained tight-lipped regarding how many copies of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have shipped. According to the fiscal report, the previous quarter brought a few releases, leading to an 18.4% drop compared to the same period last year. However, the operating profit still grew 259%. In the same quarter of 2023, the Japanese studio released Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster for PlayStation 4, among other smaller titles, which was enough to boost sales. Final Fantasy 16 sold three million units in its first week, and the publisher didn't waste any time sharing those figures.
Experts Suggest Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Sales Are Low Due To Exclusivity
With Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sales still veiled in secrecy, the total copies shipped are estimated to be less than Final Fantasy 16. Pundits and fans attribute Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's low sales numbers to the RPG's temporary exclusivity on PlayStation 5. Square Enix seems to have acknowledged this, recently deciding to implement a new business plan to overhaul its entire development pipeline. According to the CEO, Square Enix will aggressively pursue a multiplatform strategy, suggesting that none of its future releases will be exclusive to one platform.
Additionally, Square Enix's new business plan emphasizes large-scale triple-A games and leverages the publisher's most famous IPs while reducing the number of games released yearly and concentrating all development efforts in-house. However, months after announcing this new strategy, the CEO shifted his statement and said that Square Enix would still produce indie games in addition to triple-A titles.
Square Enix has a packed release schedule for 2024, with Visions of Mana set for August 29 and Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven coming in October. The rest of the year will see the release of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Life is Strange: Double Exposure, and Fantasian Neo Dimension.
OpenCritic Reviews Top Critic Rating:93/100 Critics Recommend:99% Franchise Final Fantasy Platform(s) PlayStation 5 Released February 29, 2024 Developer(s) Square Enix Publisher(s) Square Enix ESRB T For Teen Due To Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence How Long To Beat 40 Hours PS Plus Availability N/A Expand See at Playstation Store$70 at Amazon
