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[Update] Square Retracts And Amends Statement About Requiring 10 Million Copies Sold To Break Even
Update: Square Enix has retracted a statement made by Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata regarding a lofty 10 million unit sales goal for the game. The company says that the number is not intended to reflect the title's expenses.
Instead, the publisher says that Tabata was referencing the team's goal. The full statement follows:
We’d like to make a comment on the news reports that state Hajime Tabata, Director of FINAL FANTASY XV, commented that FINAL FANTASY XV needed to sell 10 million copies to recoup the investment at the press conference held yesterday in LA.
We believe there was a communication problem during the conference. In fact, Tabata was referencing 10 million copies only as a high goal which the development team set to realize their ambition to make the ultimate FINAL FANTASY game. And the comment was never meant to be referred as a recoup line of the investment.
Original Story:
With all of last night's information on Final Fantasy XV and its related entertainment projects, it was easy to forget for just a second how long this game has been in development. After a decade though, the expenses are piling up.
Director Hajime Tabata revealed this morning ambitious sales requirements for the title to break even. According to him, Square Enix needs to sell 10 million copies worldwide over the game's life to recover the publisher's enormous investment.
Square announced last year that the most popular game in the series to date, Final Fantasy VII, has sold 11 million units. This is inclusive of re-releases up to (but not including) the PlayStation 4 version.
[Source: Kotaku UK]
Our Take
There are two things to consider here. Square Enix has a good track record of extending the tail on its better games, like Final Fantasy VII. A PC release, for instance, would give FFXV a shot in the arm.
But there's something else to keep in mind. Square might very well be okay with taking a slight hit on Final Fantasy XV to make sure it's perfect. The series has fallen out of favor of late. It no longer has the cachet it once did. Spending more now to restore the franchise's luster makes sense.
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