Final Fantasy XIII Sells for $20, Sales Now a Damp Squib
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Feb 7, 2010 21:25 JST
- Tags: Final Fantasy, Marketing, PS3, RPG, Square Enix
Troubled blockbuster corridor marathon Final Fantasy XIII is now the subject of humiliating ¥1,980 sales, whilst its sales figures have dropped to record lows.
The sale in question, for new copies of the game:
Presumably the store in question found itself completely unable to shift its stock.
Second-hand, as reported the game is now being bought by stores for ¥1,500-2,500, although some stores are apparently no longer willing to buy. Second-hand stores are routinely offering the game for as little as ¥3,500.
More ominously, the sales figures for Final Fantasy XIII, whilst initially healthy enough, have plummeted to levels far lower than previous titles in the series.
(Columns: weeks 1-8, total sales, percentage of sales concentrated in week 1)
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maybe because so many bad rating about them in megazine or by the gamers.
oh wait,modern warfare got bad mouthed too but still no1 selling
That's because people buy it for the multiplayer you can't comparethe two.
You can compare them.
Modern Warfare is far from the best shooting game ever.
FF13 is "supposedly" far from the best ff game so far.
MW sold through the roof, and FF13 is going to sell through the roof.
Plenty of similarities.
And a lot more people play Counterstrike than MW2, even in this day and age.
I've played Modern Warfare 2. Battlefield 2 is still the best multiplayer fps
Well no matter how bad a game is fanboys will still buy it and still say it's the best and Modern Warfare is one of the best FPS to date no denying that and at least you'll know if don't like how the single player ended you can at least have a good multiplayer to get your moneys worth.Not the same can be said Final Fantasy.
Sell through the roof? It sold less than FFX-2 in the same time period. FFX-2!
I never could see the fascination with CoD. I tried MW2 and it's ok for a fps, but not the amazing experience it's made out to be.
As for FFXIII - sales are down because of all the bad reviews. I'ma make up my own mind and give it a shot. Linearity doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. If the story & characters manage to captivate you, then linearity & lotsa cut-scenes aren't gonna ruin the game.
MW2 is a amazing experience when you max it out with some what working 8x AA and get 29fps to 60fps and average 45fps on Radeon 4890 at 940/1100 on intel 3.9ghz cpu playing on a 42" lcd at 1920x1080p.
That's not an experience, that's a pretty picture.
And a pricey one, at that.
If you want linearity, read a fucking book or watch a movie.
I play games to do shit I read in books and watch movies, myself, not to watch more cutscenes where they do it for me.
if you don't want linearity than don't play a jrpg, because it IS what they pretty much all do, especially Final Fantasy.
and don't give me that "FF7 had a nonlinear open world!" crap
those of you that seriously believe that clearly have no idea what nonlinearity actually means in an rpg, and probably DO need to play more wrpgs just so you have a clue what ppl are actually talking about when they talk about nonlinearity.
Fuck WRPG's and their personality deficient, soulless main characters. You are obviously confused about what kind of linearity people are complaining about. JRPG's usually have a good balance between weaving a great story while giving the players a decent level of choice in how to get to the end (usually one). WRPG's generally just throw a lot of shit choices at you in an effort to make you feel as if you're the hero. Don't assume that people who enjoy JRPG's are going to like a dumbass WRPG's that wouldn't know what balance was if it gave them a blowjob.
too late now, SE already sold millions.
Objective met.
Moving on to next target.
Dude. They wanted to sell 5 million IIRC. Thats not quite 2.
Think about it. FXIII has only been released in Asia so far. Even if FXIII sales didn't reach SE's expectations, it could possibly be a big hit in NA and the UK.
5 mill worldwide, FF has never hit that high in japan.
Dragon Quest didn't even hit that high in japan alone.
Now maybe when it releases in the US, i wont have to pay so much.
Heh, you wish.
Cheapskate.
Are all those FFFanboys dead? Always tought they would buy it as long as FF is in the title. Well, don't care. *goes playing video games from the nineties/eighties*
They aren't dead, they just haven't bought a PS3 yet. FFXIII has already managed to sell copies to well over a third of the PS3 market in Japan. That is a huge number. And with the massive sales in the first week already catering to a third of owners of course sales will fall after that. Everyone who owns a PS3 and wants the game would have already gotten it.
....and sold it.
I CAUGHT MISSING NO.1!!!
given the overall PS3 attach rate, they did buy it.
Yeah cause 1.8 million copies sold on a platform with approx 4.7 million units in circulation is bad. >.>
All this FFXIII trolling is getting ridiculous. Why is it that no one seems to think of the fact that this is the first FF title released on PS3 and thus has a much smaller audience to appeal to than previous titles? Comparing them is unfair. From those numbers you can also see a drop in sales with FFX as compared to FFIX too. Same deal though the PS2 market share went up much faster than the PS3 has.
but still, its a good 'looking' game with bad ideas....
The PS2 install base at the time FFX was released was about the same as the PS3 install base when FF13 was released.
When FFX was released in Japan, the PS2 install base is about 5.2m. FFX sold about 2.1m during its first month. That works out to be 40% installed base buying FFX.
Both PS2 and PS3 had about the same start. Saying it has a much smaller audience is patently false.
In its first month FFXIII moved around 1.8mil in a market of approximately 4.5mil PS3s. I'm not sure where you learnt math but 4.5 is smaller than 5.2.
Did you miss the part on "about the same"? The difference between 4.5m and 5.2m is not significant. To use that difference as an excuse for "much smaller audience to appeal to than previous titles" is simply grasping for straws.
0.7 million is a large portion when considering that the difference between the monthly sales was only 0.3 million. Also percentage wise it is not insignificant for these sales.
Also the original post was suggesting in a general sense that most FFs have had a larger audience to appeal to. FFX is the exception where it was the first featured on the console much like the situation now and only had a slightly larger audience to appeal to. Every other game up there had a much better chance of doing well due to the consoles popularity it was featured on and the fact that FFs golden age was in the late nineties.
I'm a fan of the series and am more than willing to admit that its popularity has obviously decreased however this drop in popularity is by no means creating bad sales for the game. 1.8 million in the first 7 weeks is more than most games can ever dream of. Especially in a territory like Japan. (and yes I am aware many games do achieve this, however lots more do not get close even worldwide) It shits me that people make it out as the antichrist of gaming for that.
Stop being so hung up on install base to give excuses for FF13.
Let's look at FF12. When FF12 was released in March 2006, there were over 20m PS2 sold in Japan. In comparison, when FFX was released in July 2001, there were only 5.2m PS2 sold.
Saleswise, FF12 sold 2.42m copies in Japan by its 10th week. FFX sold 3.02m copies in Japan by its 10th week.
Why doesn't FF12 sell much better than FFX, since there were so much more people to sell it to? Maybe it's because FF12 just isn't a good Final Fantasy? If a game is good, it'll sell, install base be damned.
81% of FF13's sale was in the first week when it was shiny and new. After that word of mouth got around.
I wonder what the asterisk are. I am curious on the reason for low third weeks sale of the previous three titles.
Final Fantasy 13 wasn't release in the US Market yet. If it doesn't sell well in Japan then it looks like Square Enix isn't going to sell FF13 in the US any time soon for some reason.
I wanted them to bring Front Mission 5 that was cancel due to lack of sales.
They planned to release it for US all along, and as far as I remember, someone mentioned that it was due to targeting the western audience more that it's more linear. No idea whether that's true or not, but let's face it, most non-JRPG players either want a completely open-ended world, or the 'no-nonsense' style gameplay with no ridiculous other quests. Not sure why they went that route if that's even part of the reason...
Either way, we'll see just how much it appeals to the graphics whores. All this negativity about it makes me want it just because I know shallow, stupid people judge things without thinking about it, and based on their expectations rather than what is reality. If people expected cities and are pissed, then they're not judging the game by what it is, but what they wanted it to be, which is wrong. Play a game for what it is.
Let me guess you don't want to mention the one game that sold 2 million copy's because Square Enix doesn't want to admit defeat by the hands of some dirty foreign game company that made a good game right?
According to Vgcharts.com Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie for (DS) so happens be made by Square Enix manage to be second in the charts which is not bad.
ppl aren't making excuses, they're using their brains.
a small install base means the game is going to literally have to push consoles to sell a greater amount.
an actually rare feat that gets greatly exaggerated in importance (there's rarely one system seller. even FF7 didn't technically sell the PS1 single-handedly even though ppl like to dub it as having done such).
does a larger install base mean that a game is going to proportionately automatically sell higher? no, thus your FFXII example
does a smaller install base mean that sales potential will be proportionately compressed? yes, thus FFXIII example.
when you're only hitting 10% of the install base (FFXII), you're pretty free of any effects of base compression.
but when you need to hit 50% or higher of the base to meet a certain goal (FFXIII), you ARE going to start seeing the effects of that smaller base.
they ARE completely different situations. at least for people who're willing to think a little deeper at the economics than making excuses to justify believing the game was a failure.
that's not excuses, that's having some brains and knowing market economics.
If you know where the shift button is to type out such things as ARE, FF, % and PS, kindly use it for words such as That's, When and They too ^_^
@23:37
So you telling me 2.42 million is a bad number to be sold? you've got to be kidding me if you call that a shit number.
So now the worth of the game we are talking millions as in dollars
FFXII 2 DOLLARS
FFX 3 DOLLARS
What's with all the freakin algebra?
It doesn't really matter how many COPIES they sell. If it gets shit reception, they can always lower the price. AS SHOWN. Therefore, they keep around the same number of copies sold, but the cash flow has slowed to a slow trickle.
Just because they're buying the game, doesn't mean they're fans. Nor does it mean they LIKE the game.
Damn...
Install base has absolutely nothing to do with how many games sell. it's a complete bullshit excuse. If the game is good and people want it, they will buy the console and the game. Just look at what Halo did for XBOX sales.
meh, i see it more as either you like it or dont. as usual all the fanboy vs trolls stuff is so taboo to me its just like passing all the blah blah blahs
This is getting sadder and sadder. Proves how much "effort" is put in the game >.>
It's not so bad compared to other FF. This site likes to exaggerate every little news. I would have loved to see even worse figures, because it'd be a clear warning to developers that we won't buy shit, even under a renown brand.
well at least the doujins will sell much higher...probably...
Those figures for resale of anything that has sold that many copies is not surprising. Local gamestops have there buy back price set for FF13 at $30 and the game isn't even out yet here. ¥2500 is only $2 shy of $30. Why so surprising?
This is pathetic. Only 5,500 copies sold last week? So what's your excuse now, FF13 fanboys? If this is your idea of "greatest FF in history with superb graphics/music, amazing story, great characters and innovative battle system", why is it even selling so piss poorly?
Oh yeah, it couldn't sell more because having 1/3rd of the installed base buying it is considered an achievement already. Nevermind the fact that everyone in the console business knows that software is supposed to move hardware. I guess this means the PS3 still has a crappy selection of games, hahaha.
Those sales are for the Japanese release... wait till the European release before you start shooting down the Fanboys...
The game already sold a huge amount of PS3's in Japan. In fact it broke the record for weekly sales of PS3's in Japan. I believe the number was around the 250k mark. Do some research before assuming this game isnt moving consoles.
Obvious Troll is Trobvious
the FF series is losing their "touch".
Stop being pussies, the game is good.
And with this, you've convinced me!
lol
Exactly. While I can barely understand what's happening in the game, knowing just enough Japanese to get by, I still find the game very enjoyable. This is coming from a guy who loved the freedom that FFXII offered.
Great marketing strategy from SE for choosing to release the JP version first instead of releasing both the JP and international versions at the same time. Now SE can expect stellar sales from their international version release in March thanks to the intial overwhelming great reception and reviews from Japanese fans!
Actually, they're adding a lot to the international version. You can't blame SE for an internet avalanche of stupidity and exaggeration.
Where'd you hear this? It's the same game, or slightly less of it in the case of the Xbox version.
They're tweaking some stuff for the international version. It was in that interview a while back where they said the international version was finally completed. I would expect some tweaks to crafting, the crystarium grid, and summons, and the ability to make money, personally.
I guess "adding a lot" was a bad choice of words, but I thought they pretty much did this with every FF game. Release, listen to feedback, tweak it a bit, then add more and tweak it again for the international version. Either way it's an improvement for free. Only now I'd be shocked if we don't get all the additional international version stuff too in the form of DLC too.
They pretty much went out of their way to tell everyone to hang on to their copies because DLC was on the way. They said that one day before the Japanese release of the game.
the sales are plummeting cuz everyone already has the game, they got it at launch. all that remains is people who are yet to buy a ps3.
"well i guess we shouldnt have effed with the fans"
Man that aya hirano is really ugly.
I dont see how the game is getting negative progress in Japan while the newspaper in my country is saying how awesome the game is and it's one of the top-selling games :P
I dont see how the game is really THAT bad. What are the negative points about it?
Finally, I'm glad to see less and less people buy these games.
13 times eh. I'm just wondering how many times they can milk the same concept ad naseum.
does this mean it will be hepas cheap for 360?
Im glad the sales are dropping, this will teach SE to think twice before they slack off and still want to milk fans like a cash cow.
Glad to see a lot of die hard fans with sensible mind too
Yeah, because working on a game for 5 years is slacking off. Because charging $60 for a 60 hour (very low estimate) game is milking the fans like a cash cow. Because making extra additions and tweaks in the English version costs us extra money.
gtfo
Time spent does not equal time WELL spent. Look at how long Daikatana and Prey took to make. Look how long Duke Nukem Forever was worked on, only to produce nothing.
The proof's in the pudding.
Personally, I could never compare this game to Daikatana lol.
Time well spent is another matter, as this was their first game on a notoriously difficult system to develop for, and they started development of it on PS2. I'm pretty sure it was a good investment if they can use their knowledge of PS3 architecture and the Crystal Tools set to release games much faster now.
Either way, I think it's safe to say they weren't "slacking off." It's pretty much the best looking game on PS3, with almost no load times.
The bottom line is that if this wasn't called Final Fantasy, and was some new game released by Atlus instead, everyone would just say it's the best shit they've ever seen, with zero complaints. FFXIII is amazing, and the people who can't see it are liars, to themselves and everyone else. If it was a new Shin Megami Tensei spinoff or something, none of them would have even a single complaint. That is called unjustified bias.
Not to mention, the absurdity of the tone of every single story on the matter. You would think that people would at least try to hide the fact that their entire opinion is nothing but silly putty shaped by the media, but I guess not. Most seem to be proud of their inability to think for themselves.
And 5 years does not mean they have been working on the game, they were prob, well like what the poster said, slacking off.
The whole 60hours of this game has been an infinite pressing 'x' button without the need of my single brain cell.
@15:36
You're playing the wrong game.
I really hope that everyone talking shit on it never plays it. Ever. Not, wait until it's $20 then play it and admit a year later that you're wrong after you've already tried your hardest to ruin the game for everyone. No, just don't fucking play it.
I haven't been back to this site for 2 months, and I sure as hell don't miss it when I see bullshit like this. Fucking corridor simulator my ass.
FFXIII is amazing, and if you don't want to play it, then do everyone here a favor and shut the fuck up about it, and don't buy it, ever, for any price. If someone you know is playing it, then get up and leave the room. You don't deserve to see anything in this amazing game.
Fuck you haters. I hope that something you love is trashed by a hoard of ignorant, hateful idiots, until it dies.
I played, and im telling its shit. Now just go and get yourself mentally prepared so you dont kill yourself on 3/9, Fucking fanboy without mind of its own
deng... what's going on square enix.
Is it shallow that I want it for the music?
Or to hear the music in natural context, anyway...
Cool, I can't wait to buy it and play it. I love people listening to fucking mouth breathers that do nothing but complain on the internet, it's like the people that call Modern Warfare 2 or Bioshock horrible games. The fact is, they're excellent games to a large majority of people that play them and this will be no exception.
Seriously, complaining about linearity in a JRPG? LOL
Excellant. This is the only thing that'll really teach them not to pull such bullshit in the future.
I've made my suggestions countless times as to what they should do next time...
Wait, so where is this store? I wanna pick myself up a copy!
Why talking about MW2 ? BFC2 will beat the crap out of this shit !
Unfortunately, there are people who are out for gameplay. For those who are out for games with good gameplay, FFXIII is basically a piece of crap for them.
It is done,
FF XIII
AKA Finally Failed XIII
Nothing ever come well on thirteen
Unless someone's jacking off onto it.
Coulda swore we just had this same topic made.
FXIII is an amazing game, people are morons who will jump on any hate bandwagon haha.
Kishishishi Mario is beating the hell out of this game...... Like I always say don't fuck with Mario.
So I shouldn't probably buy it on release date huh...
I did play FFXIII and didn't like it at all. T_T
Disappoint.
Many ears ago I was made fan of FF by FFVII.
FF13 is very bad game play, not RPG really, not what I expect FF must be. The girls are pretty but everything else is bad.
Replay value is zero, don't want to keep it that is why.
SE fail.
For what they've done to this game, I hope it does bad. Only because I want Toriyama and Watanabe to never team up and touch a main numbered Final Fantasy game again. They're destroying the Final Fantasy name.
The reviews world wide are a likely contribution to the lackluster sales, assuming this information is accurate. Reviewers nowadays have this convoluted philosophy that video games, regardless of genre must be open-ended and explorative, which may not be a necessity. Final Fantasy X is a prime example of an immensely popular, yet remarkably linear game. The release of Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age, both of which are the WRPG creme de la creme may have further factored into the scoring. Nonetheless the game appears intriguing and with similarities to my favorite game in the series (FFX) I am certainly going to allot Square the opportunity to impress me. I do concede since FFX, Square has not produced stellar titles, granted your opinion may vary.