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Square Enix Touts Big Shipment And Digital Sales Numbers For Final Fantasy XV
Square Enix shared some of its Final Fantasy XV shipped units and sales metrics today, and the game appears to be off to a good start.
The wording of the press release reads, "the day one shipment and digital sales for Final Fantasy XV, released simultaneously across the globe earlier this week, has exceeded five million units – becoming the fastest selling game in the history of the Final Fantasy series." Shipped units is a much different metric than units sold and it's unclear exactly where that 5 million number is split. The other part of the announcement, however – "fastest selling game in the history of the Final Fantasy series" – doesn't leave much room for skeptical interpretation. Final Fantasy XV is selling quickly out of the gate, but it is worth noting that XV is the first Final Fantasy to receive a simultaneous global launch. We've reached out to Square Enix for more details on the split between digital sales and shipped units, and will update this story if and when we hear back.
In April, when Final Fantasy XV was featured on our cover, the game's director, Hajime Tabata, called the game "make or break" for the franchise. You can find that interview below or by clicking here. For our review of Final Fantasy XV, head here.
Our Take
As the story goes, the name Final Fantasy was a metaphor for the future financial success of Square in 1987. The NES game was titled Final Fantasy because the future viability of Square was riding on the success of the game. Final Fantasy XV's situation mirrors that in some ways, according to the game's director, which is why its commercial success is under scrutiny. I'm happy to see that the game appears to be doing well, as it marks a risky change for the long-running franchise. I just wish publishers would stop using shipped units as a metric of success. Just because you printed a ton of copies of a game, doesn't meant they're all going to be bought.
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