Publisher and developer Square Enix officially confirms that its role-playing game Final Fantasy 15 ships a total of 6 million copies since its launch in November 2016.
After years of anticipation, Final Fantasy 15 finally launched in 2016, and was largely well received by critics. Now, Square Enix has released some information about the game’s sales performance in its first six weeks of availability, and at least on the surface, the results are promising.
Final Fantasy 15 has apparently shifted some 6 million copies since it was released on November 29, 2016. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the game has sold 6 million units, given the way that Square Enix chose to disseminate the information.
The figure of 6 million copies is made up of both digital downloads and physical copies shipped to retailers. This means that not all the shipped physical editions may have been sold to consumers, so it’s not quite accurate to say that 6 million copies have been sold. However, it’s a decent ball park estimate that gives us a good indication of the game’s performance.
Sales in Japan are apparently about a million copies below the amount that Final Fantasy 13 sold in the same timespan, according to a report from Eurogamer. This might seem like cause for concern, but it’s no secret that the country’s console gaming market has been in decline for some time.
The game is said to have made up for this deficit thanks to its Chinese release — Final Fantasy 13 was not released in China. Strong sales recorded in the West are also said to have had a positive influence on the game’s overall performance.
Of course, the game’s sales aren’t the only factor that will decide whether or not Final Fantasy 15 is deemed a success. Square Enix has already announced a swathe of downloadable content that should bring in plenty more money over the coming months.
Combined with the release of the Kingsglaive movie and mobile spin-offs, Square Enix has attempted to give Final Fantasy 15 as many opportunities as possible to recoup its development costs. However, given that the game was in various stages of production for a decade, it remains to be seen whether this will be possible.
Last year, the game’s director claimed that Final Fantasy 15 would need to sell 10 million copies to break even. The title has already made a dent in that number — but it will be some task to reach its goal, given that the hype surrounding its release has already been and gone.
Final Fantasy 15 is available now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
