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[BennyBlanco]

Just watch Clair Obscure expedition 33 outsell this

SE is so ashamed of turn based combat its pathetic.

And weirdly their smaller budget games have great turn based combat. Triangle Strategy, Bravely Default 2, Octopath, etc.

 

[mayham2199]

When Metaphor Re:fantazio smokes the out of the latest Final Fantasy. Someone should be paying attention.

What were the sales for metaphor?

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

By what metric is 3,5M a failure?

 

[Punished Miku]

The biggest issue for Final Fantasy is that the constant chopping and changing of gameplay in the PSX era and beyond has rendered all these things into mere decorations and window dressing. The series has thoroughly lost its soul.

Chocobos and Moogles are now to FF what Ewoks are to Star Wars, just some mascot creature that's made for merch.

Square not only needs to go back to its roots with its core franchises, but it also needs to start making new ones too.

I don't expect them to drop their biggest brand, but it is oversaturated for me at least. Getting back to roots could feel fresh at this point since they haven't done a turn based game with a budget for a long time. Worth a shot.

But I do really think the brand is more of a hindrance than a help at this point. I picture the best writer I know associated with SQEX, Yoko Taro, being tapped to head to the next FF game. I feel like it would only hurt him. It's all been done. We've had subversive takes on the crystals. We've had subversive takes on the summons. We've done sci-fi and medieval. I don't know. Maybe they'll surprise me. I hope so. FFVII Remake shows that BD1 is still extremely talented and is wasting a decade on remakes.

They badly, badly need to have a successful new IP though. If I was leading SQEX I'd cancel FFVII-3, make it into a CG movie, and put BD1 on a new IP now.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

Even funnier that Yoshida kept taking photo ops with Spencer and Sarah Bond.. And still no Xbox port.

It'll be that Sony have locked it down for 3 years.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

They badly, badly need to have a successful new IP though. If I was leading SQEX I'd cancel FFVII-3, make it into a CG movie, and put BD1 on a new IP now.

I really doubt the current Square is capable of that. They seem as useless as Ubisoft. They have the whole Nierverse and doing shit with it. It pains my heart.

 

[Moochi]

Benedicta should have been playable

 

[Mr Reasonable]

By what metric is 3,5M a failure?

Remember when Spiderman 2 needed to sell 8m copies or something to break even?
That.

 

[Punished Miku]

I really doubt the current Square is capable of that. They seem as useless as Ubisoft. They have the whole Nierverse and doing shit with it. It pains my heart.

I bet BD1 could do it. They are almost all that's left. But they have to always make some shit with crystals and chocobos.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Remember when Spiderman 2 needed to sell 8m copies or something to break even?
That.

I mean, we should differentiate "not meeting expectations" from "sales bomb". 3,5M is quite a lot, and FFXVI doesn't look like the kind of game with a budget of 150-200M. I think Square has unrealistic expectations, that's all.

If this is a financial failure, they urgently need to get their shit together

 

[KungFucius]

Somewhat undeserved.

No. I wouldn't recommend it. There is no exploration. It is just story and shitty sidequests. As one of the morons who bought this launchweek I wouldn't recommend it to the few who bought it after.

 

[diffusionx]

I mean, we should differentiate "not meeting expectations" from "sales bomb". 3,5M is quite a lot, and FFXVI doesn't look like the kind of game with a budget of 150-200M. I think Square has unrealistic expectations, that's all.

If this is a financial failure, they urgently need to get their shit together

3.5M for a brand new game in a flagship franchise is far from a lot. It's not 1998 anymore. I don't know how much it cost to make FF16 and I think budgets in Japan are more reasonable than the USA, but it looks like a high-end game with good production values. If it was made in the USA it would be a $200M game easy.

 

[near]

I picked it up on sale and ended up dropping it after about 8 hours. The game feels unfocused, it's not entirely good at anything. It's a terrible RPG, and a terrible action game. It has some in depth mechanics and the combat feels fun at times, but the level and enemy designs do not compliment the direction it seems to want to take so far as it being an action game. Dumb ass fetch quests don't make this an RPG, and the story falls flat with its terrible pacing. They tried to blend genres and fail miserably in my opinion. BOMBAAAAAA lololol

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I mean, we should differentiate "not meeting expectations" from "sales bomb". 3,5M is quite a lot, and FFXVI doesn't look like the kind of game with a budget of 150-200M. I think Square has unrealistic expectations, that's all.

If this is a financial failure, they urgently need to get their shit together

To be fair Spiderman 2 looked like the other Spidermen (? Spidermans ?), so perhaps we all need to temper our expectations.

Final Fantasy comes with a certain expectation about visuals/presentation. It's entirely possible that making a game with those kinds of overheads just isn't possible for that franchise anymore.

 

[Hudo]

I think 3.5 million units sold is actually not a failure. But, of course, Square Enix expected 20+ million, since they are retards.

That being said, FF16 is a pretty weak entry in the franchise. Ironically, even as an action game, Square Enix themselves have something far better: Stranger of Paradise.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Thats seems unbelievably low, i cant read japanese, but this would mean it has sold barely anything after launch week, is this by any chance just physical?

 

[Holammer]

That's the FF where they chased the Game of Thrones audience? They got what they deserved.

 

[AmuroChan]

Remember when Spiderman 2 needed to sell 8m copies or something to break even?
That.

To be fair, the licensing fee alone was $100m for Spidey. S-E can't use that as an excuse when they own the FF IP.

 

[DeceptiveAlarm]

I know everyone one loves to hate this game but I thought the boss fights were amazing. I loved this game. It's the only final fantasy I could even finish.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

FF3 to basically FF10 are must plays with the odd one not being quite as good, but still industry leading type stuff.

Everything after FFX has been a hard pass and it's not coincidence that that's when they ditched the traditional turn based strategy. If it wasnt broke dont fix it. Go back to what works for fucks sake.

 

[Larivel]

He is comparing financial results from OCT-DEC 2024 to OCT-DEC 2023, where one period had the DQ III HD-2D remake with over 2 million sales and the other had FF16 with over 3.5 million sales. Nowhere in the article does he mention the lifetime sales of those games.

 

[PauloRoberto]

Im sorry, but if you simply believe these numbers, you are a gullible idiot. Why? Using the public numbers for PS5 and PC, this means that no copy was sold in more than a year...

 

[TGO]

Not a traditional FF game but had a good story. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Which is ironic as people was saying it was BACK TO IT'S ROOTS.

 

[Madflavor]

So 3 million shipped in it's first week, and 3.5 lifetime so far? That's what I'm reading here, but if this is the case that's pretty terrible.

3.5 million sales for a JRPG is a wonderful number that many studios dream about. But for Final Fantasy? A 30+ year old series with a AAA budget attached to it? These are pretty poor numbers.

 

[yurinka]

Maybe this is what he reported on its launch quarter when reporting the fiscal reports of this quarter.

Because in PC it sold around half a million until now, and on PS5 it sold 3M at launch. It's impossible to don't have sold anything on PS since launch until now.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

To be fair, the licensing fee alone was $100m for Spidey. S-E can't use that as an excuse when they own the FF IP.

Sure, but I think the budget was still $300m - which fits with the estimated 150-200m that Angry_Megalodon was talking about after you deduct that license fee.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I’m enthralled

It’s totally riveting.

The best sidequest was something like

“help me! My kids’ clothing is falling apart and I need some fabric to mend it! I ordered fabric from this little shop stall halfway across the continent but it hasn’t arrived yet, probably because we live in a secret hideout in the middle of a poisonous lake in an abandoned wasteland. Can you go over there and find out what happened to my fabric?”

Long story short, after a rollercoaster ride of an investigation you figure out that

Spoiler: Megaton spoiler

bandits stole the shipment, so you go kill the bandits and get the lady’s fabric back

Total mystery why people are saying this game is boring.

 

[Pandawan]

Streamlining a game can attract a new casual audience and increase sales (as happened with Monster Hunter Wilds), but if you streamline too much, you'll alienate both casual and old-school fans. And FF16 (as far as I can tell) has been streamlined as hell

 

[cash_longfellow]

Hey, we haven’t had a Final Fantasy 16 hate thread in quite a while, thanks OP.

 

[Shubh_C63]

So we were wrong. I remember Square getting worried noting pre order numbers for FF16 were less than FF15 and we all went " just released this awesome looking game and let your worry be done for".

 

[Zacfoldor]

If it’s really 3 million in the first weekend and 3.5 two years later, after the port and DLC, then that tells you everything you need to know about this game’s reception, quality and word of mouth.

That's impossible no game can fall off that much. They just must not have reported an update lately.

I mean, that is impossible right? No way pent up demand sold 3 million and they only sold 500k after that, seems impossible right?

I did my part, bought game at release, bought all DLC. Haven't played it yet though. SE was ubisoft before ubisoft I guess. They have got to figure out what keeps going wrong. Their games have no hype anymore.

 

[Icymanipulator]

That’s what happens when you turn your party based rpg franchise into a solo character action game.
No sympathy for them at all. Let this be a lesson learned.

 

[Bond007]

Im 3/4 through this game- first playthrough.
Cliff is awesome, the story so far is good. I like some of the supporting characters. The game just feels thin outside of the combat- most missions are talk to two people and proceed, meh. As much as i love the combat yea, i can see why longtime fans are unhappy. This combat could have basically started a whole new series.
Unfortunate for sales- but FF aint going nowehere. My biggest disappointment is probably that this character likely is done.

 

[near]

That's impossible no game can fall off that much. They just must not have reported an update lately.

I mean, that is impossible right? No way pent up demand sold 3 million and they only sold 500k after that, seems impossible right?

I did my part, bought game at release, bought all DLC. Haven't played it yet though.

It is not entirely out the realm of possibility, the initial 3 million could've been shipped not sold and then just did negligible numbers from there. It is a failure.

 

[mckmas8808]

What was the budget? Square Enix is notorious about having insane expectations + sony i believe gave them some funding and marketed it, so im not sure how SE can still complain
Edit: looks by Google budget is around 59m which is not too bad

Hold..............no way this game cost $59 million to make. Do others believe this?

 

[Tarnpanzer]

What amount did XV sell in comparison?

 

[Arachnid]

Great action game., not a Final Fantasy.

I had the same feeling. Loved the characters, story, and action. Some of the best set pieces I've seen in video games since God of War 3. I enjoyed it.

FF isn't the place for it. I'm here for strategic, preferably turn based, combat.

Hold..............no way this game cost $59 million to make. Do others believe this?

Yeah there is no shot that's legit lmao

 

[Kacho]

What amount did XV sell in comparison?

A quick Google says 10 million.

 

[adamsapple]

What amount did XV sell in comparison?

10 million in around ~6 years of reporting after release.

Final Fantasy XV has sold 10 million copies worldwide

The milestone was reached six years after the RPG launched.

www.gamedeveloper.com

 

[aclar00]

The most boring FF i ever played. I regretted paying full price. Ive only played like 5 FFs, and maybe its because im older, but the game was often times barely a step above doing nothing.

 

[TintoConCasera]

By what metric is 3,5M a failure?

For a Final Fantasy game I'd say it's a low number. DQ XI sold twice as much.

 

[proandrad]

Didn’t they sell 3million just on ps5 in the first month? Math ain’t mathing. And the 3 mil was before Christmas season, sales, and the pc release.

 

[ArtHands]

I mean, we should differentiate "not meeting expectations" from "sales bomb". 3,5M is quite a lot, and FFXVI doesn't look like the kind of game with a budget of 150-200M. I think Square has unrealistic expectations, that's all.

If this is a financial failure, they urgently need to get their shit together

They already said they are going to get their shit together.

Square Enix plans to “aggressively pursue” multiplatform game releases

Square Enix has gotten bit by the multiplatform bug, too.

www.theverge.com

 

[Buggy Loop]

PC owners:, it will be saved by releasing it on PC but instead the sales fails oh typical "PC" master race agenda thinking PC market is best selling place for games with time exclusive issue

Also to add to my previous post that PC is not supposed to save every little shit stains found on the floor, by NOT releasing on PC day 1 the thing that happened is that there's no day 1 FOMO and hype machine which was quite strong initially for this game based on the demo, until peoples played it and the feedback became negative.

So months later PC sees that Playstation fans in majority think its one of the worst FF.

Surprised Pikachu face that we didn't jump on this?

It would have sold a lot more had it been day 1 on all platforms and everyone would have been caught falling for the hype of a mediocre FF.
Very easy to understand.

 

[Auto_aim1]

The brand is damaged greatly. They need to remake FFX and make people fall in love with Final Fantasy.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

For a Final Fantasy game I'd say it's a low number. DQ XI sold twice as much.

The thing is, in the modern era, FF is not that big anymore. DQ and Monster Hunter are.

So, expectations should be set with that in mind. IMO the JRPG people have moved on to another franchises, and it won't be easy to get them back.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

This is a franchise that can easily eat GTA 6 budget per game if SE could afford to.

Sadly not possible with 3.5 million sales. Should get relegated to AA, low budget franchise if this downward trend continues.

 

[T4keD0wN]

Im 3/4 through this game- first playthrough.
Cliff is awesome

Which cliff in particular? Ive liked the one with the waterfalls in the Dhalmekian Republic the most.

 

[TintoConCasera]

The thing is, in the modern era, FF is not that big anymore. DQ and Monster Hunter are.

So, expectations should be set with that in mind. IMO the JRPG people have moved on to another franchises, and it won't be easy to get them back.

I agree, I'd rather play a DQ or SMT game than an FF game. Thing is, FF used to be huge, and I think that's where the problem comes from here and why it's considered a sales disaster.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Since when did over 3 million sales become a flop ?