Final Fantasy XVI has been one of the more fascinating sales stories to watch in 2023, as the game launched as a PS5 exclusive – essentially positioned as a PlayStation first-party title – and many wondered if the gambit would pan out. Initially, Square Enix tried to paint a positive picture, boasting about how quickly the game reached the 3-million-units-sold mark, but now they seem to be singing a different tune.
This weekend, Square Enix offered a downbeat report for Q1 of their 2024 fiscal year, with operating income being down 79 percent compared to the same period last year, despite the release of Final Fantasy XVI. Now again, FF16 was far from a flop, but it didn’t sell enough to make up for numerous other weaknesses in Square Enix’s business, ranging from the legit flop of Forspoken, and declining revenue from Final Fantasy XIV and mobile titles.
According to a report from Bloomberg, during a post-earnings conference call, Square Enix Takashi Kiryu said Final Fantasy XVI did “not meet the high end of the company’s expectations.” Furthermore, Kiryu at least partially pointed the finger at the limited size of the PlayStation 5 user base. Now that PS5 supply constraints have largely been alleviated, Square Enix hopes they can boost FF16 sales as more people get their hands on the machine.
It’s hard not to see a connection between these latest Kiryu statements and the ones he made when he took to the stage with Phil Spencer and announced that Final Fantasy XIV, and all future major Square Enix titles, would be coming to Xbox. It seems Square Enix has soured on the possible PlayStation-exclusive future they once envisioned.
Slightly disappointing sales aside, Final Fantasy XVI is definitely a spectacle worth your time, as Wccftech’s Francesco De Meo spelled out in his 9 out of 10 review…
“Final Fantasy XVI heralds in a new standard for Japanese role-playing games and while the RPG components themselves are limited by Square-Enix standards, it’s the narrative and gameplay that exceed all expectations. […] Nothing short of a technical marvel, Clive Rosfield and Torgal are among some of the best character action duos and their 70-hour epic adventure across Valisthea will forever be remembered in Final Fantasy XVI.”
Final Fantasy XVI is available now on PS5.
