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[Blackleg-sanji1]

Sadly, it doesn't appear that they can afford rough spots...

So. When this game inevitably fails to reach these lofty expectations, what happens to SE?

Nothing. Damn sure wont develop a game for 10 years again

 

[Mortemis]

Square is not going to die no matter how much this game bombs( if it bombs). They are financially really healthy company nowadays. Of course XV bombing would mean probably death of big budget JRPGs from them.

Yeah, I know. Gotta be dramatic though.

I'm cool with smaller scale FF. They need to bring in some actually good writers though.

 

[Dark_castle]

I know one way to achieve that 10 million sales. Bundle FFXV together with free FFVII remake demo. Boom.

 

[funkystudent]

Final Fantasy has always been a decent 6-8m seller but yeah. Betting on 10 million is risky but this project has clearly not gone as planned at all so its not exactly typical.


With FFXV in 2016 and FFXV enhanced edition for PC and PS4k in 2017 (maybe tossed in with a FF7R demo "wink wink) I can see it doing on the high end of FF's for sure but 10 million? Hmmmm

 

[Efren is G.O.A.T.]

I really don't know anything about game sales and I'm assuming success is very subjective but 10 million copies doesn't seem far-fetched considering that Final Fantasy is probably the most renowned (or pretty close to the top) franchise in video game history.

 

[Anth0ny]

Absolutely insane expectations and it's not gonna happen. Final Fantasy isn't the juggernaut it once was. Japanese games in general don't have that kind of pull anymore.

 

[backflip10019]

I think your expectations for a 20 year old remake that will be released episodically and despite the changes to the contrary will still need to maintain a semblance of the historical turn-based structure are seriously overblown.

People seriously believe that a remake of a 20 year old game will sell 10M copies?

The appetite for a FF7 remake is huge on gaming forums but won't be able to hit the way it did back then.

My coworker who doesn't play games bought a PS4 and said he will preorder FF7 upon hearing the announcement. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion.

 

[JuanLatino]

he is talking about the entire life-span of this Game

Ps4&Xbox One = 5-7 Mio
PC Version = 1-2 Mio
PS4K Version = 1 Mio

Nintendo NX Version = 1 Mio

i can see it happen? But it has to be a good game, with good reviews etc.

It will have a huge marketing campaing behind it with the movie and all the stuff.

 

[air jordans for dogs]

Only thing they can afford after this thing tanks is Final Fantasy pachinko

 

[kewlmyc]

Of course it's not going to be GTA level. The most recent GTA has sold over 50m units. But 10m over the course of its life really isn't all that outlandish. As I mentioned, even The Last of Us is close to or has possibly exceeded that number. And that's a new IP.

Last of Us also received universal praise and 10/10s across the board. FFXV would have to do the same and blow everyone's minds. Last of Us also had an updated release that caused a lot of people who originally bought the game to buy it a second time . We'll just have to see.

 

[DrunkShogun]

The game will do well but I just don't see it hitting those projections. The possibe future ports the game may have might increase its chance of reaching those figures.

 

[entremet]

They re-evaluate how they handle AAA productions most likely.

Their income will be fine though. They released jack shit last fiscal year and made record setting bank on the strength of their mobile and to a lesser extent MMO business.

Switching to UE4 may also help tons. The KH team is already on it so the transition should be easier.

 

[Mr. RHC]

This project is SE going all out. It could end great or badly. Hard to see an in-between.

A Final Fantasy.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

No Witcher series has shipped 20 million with half of that being Witcher 3. So almost 10 million.

Ah then I stand corrected. Then it's doable then but they need a pc version

 

[.....]

Well SE went with the 'go big or go home' approach for the marketing. I think 10 million is possible but barely.

 

[Kazuhira]

There's a difference between expected sales and what they need to earn to cover costs and make some profit.
They know the game won't sell that much, they aren't that stupid.
Just saying this because a few posters seem to think that SE expects to sell 10 million.

 

[Ydelnae]

Never happen with these characters. Noctis and the whole J Pop boyband is cringe worthy.
As a grown ass man, Id be embarrassed to be caught playing this game. I grew up playing Final Fantasy. Starting with FF1 on the Nes. It used to be about warriors and knights in armor with shields and swords. Not this bullshit skinny kid boyband crap.
After playing the demo FF is still dead to me

It will sell good in Japan though.

Are we still doing this lol

 

[Asd202]

he is talking about the entire life-span of this Game

Ps4&Xbox One = 5-7 Mio
PC Version = 1-2 Mio
PS4K Version = 1 Mio

Nintendo NX Version = 1 Mio

i can see it happen? But it has to be a good game, with good reviews etc.

It will have a huge marketing campaing behind it with the movie and all the stuff.

That's very generous for non Nintendo game on Nintendo home console.

 

[Mifec]

Ah then I stand corrected. Then it's doable then but they need a pc version

Yeah but they are not offering it as a sim release sadly.

 

[Kuraudo]

Can see it moving 6-7 million, but 10 seems like a huge stretch. Marketing can only go so far: your game needs to fit in with the current vogue in order to hit 10 million. Skyrim and The Witcher 3 show that there's potential for RPGs to shift millions of units, but those games clearly tap into Western tastes which FFXV doesn't. The only thing it really has going for it is that there aren't really any other big RPGs releasing this fall.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

Are we still doing this lol

Its embarrassing

 

[Muffdraul]

You know the drill. No matter how objectively awesome and rad the game actually is, there will be a vocal contingent of naysayers declaring it's pure dog shit from top to bottom. And then were will be a huge group who will say "Gosh I'm sorry to hear that, I was hoping it would be good. But these guys say it's bad, so rather than form my own opinion I'll just take their word for it and never play it."

Sorry Squeenix. It's good to have goals.

 

[Squire]

Last of Us also received universal praise and 10/10s across the board. FFXV would have to do the same and blow everyone's minds. Last of Us also had an updated release that caused a lot of people who originally bought the game to buy it a second time . We'll just have to see.

It would need to exceed The Witcher 3 in every way, which isn't happening.

 

[Durante]

Tabata recently commented on the budget and said that even including all the shit they wrote off when Versus was canned, the entire 10 year cycle for the project isn't remotely close to the numbers thrown around for GTAV and Destiny. So it's probably closer to 100 million than "a few hundred" million.

I think the huge numbers thrown around for those include marketing though. I'd assume most of the marketing expenses for FFXV are still coming up.

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

Maybe im way off the mark but I think this will sell more than 7 remake..

Oh for sure. The Remake mostly appeals to nostalgic fans. I'll be there day one but I doubt it's going to sell all that much.

XV will be seen as the hot new "fresh" game by newer players so they'll gravitate towards that. XV looks more "edgy".

 

[Nirolak]

Are we still doing this lol

I do think his post is relevant though in that there's a lot of potential target audience where this is going to be a cultural issue even if they have a less extreme take.

 

[rhandino]

I don't know why you all trying to get with the sales of The Witcher 3 while trying to imagine the sales of this one because the 2 games are so different in target and presentation with The Witcher 3 being the clearly winner considering that it hit all the sweet spots of what the market wanted/wants while FFXV looks like a cute mess that doesn't really know who to pander.

 

[Linkyn]

Lol, good luck with that. Very few RPGs do those kinds of numbers, and even fewer JRPGs.

Something is seriously wrong when selling a few million copies is seen as anything other than a profound success.

 

[Revven]

There is only one suitable response to this:



10 million for a series after FF13 trilogy that clearly damaged the brand and a game (FFXV) that has been in development hell for so long is just noooot gonna happen. Especially if said game doesn't hit all the right notes to capture both the old and new audiences, East and West, etc etc.

They would really, really need the Japanese market to hit 2 million, maybe even 3 million sales to have any chance of getting 10 million within a reasonable timeframe. And in the current state, that's just not happening in the console space. No matter how much marketing you put behind it, how hard you push it. It'll only sell extremely, extremely well with amazing word of mouth + if it's an absolutely superb game with almost no flaws to speak of; and I just cannot see that happening with this game.

This is the same kind of shit that put SE in trouble before. They even had high expectations of the original Tomb Raider reboot and that game failed to hit the mark they wanted by a significant margin. SE sales goals/expectations are lofty.

 

[Caronte]

Of course it's not going to be GTA level. The most recent GTA has sold over 50m units. But 10m over the course of its life really isn't all that outlandish. As I mentioned, even The Last of Us is close to or has possibly exceeded that number. And that's a new IP.

It's also a shooter/survival game made by a studio in the West who has great reputation from other recent games.

 

[entremet]

Are we still doing this lol

The aesthetic aspects won't help it in the West. It's just not gonna be as appealing for many prospective buyers as The Witcher or an Elder Scrolls would be in that regard.

Nothing wrong with noticing that.

 

[shortsFortallPeople]

I dont expect them to hit that mark.

But maybe once they release FFXV-2, 3, etc they can meet or exceed that mark

 

[Vincent Grayson]

I'll do what I can by purchasing it at launch, and when the inevitable PC version hits.

 

[Kain]

I thought they got smarter with the new management.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Never happen with these characters. Noctis and the whole J Pop boyband is cringe worthy.
As a grown ass man, Id be embarrassed to be caught playing this game. I grew up playing Final Fantasy. Starting with FF1 on the Nes. It used to be about warriors and knights in armor with shields and swords. Not this bullshit skinny kid boyband crap.
After playing the demo FF is still dead to me

It will sell good in Japan though.

Spoiler

/s

 

[And_Gignac]

Never happen with these characters. Noctis and the whole J Pop boyband is cringe worthy.
As a grown ass man, Id be embarrassed to be caught playing this game. I grew up playing Final Fantasy. Starting with FF1 on the Nes. It used to be about warriors and knights in armor with shields and swords. Not this bullshit skinny kid boyband crap.
After playing the demo FF is still dead to me

It will sell good in Japan though.

Would you feel better about it if the characters were buff, muscular westerners dressed in military outfits?

 

[Obliterator]

Ah then I stand corrected. Then it's doable then but they need a pc version

Its possible but the game has to be great, and with how rough the demo's have been I'm not 100% convinced on its quality yet. Also it has the very Japanese aesthetic working against it. Witcher is a much more Western friendly game.

I hope it succeeds as it bodes well for big budget AAA RPG's, but its going to be an uphill battle.

 

[Memento]

I think it could hit 10 million if it is good. If it reviews well I mean...

Otherside I think it is going to end up at 7 million maximum.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

I dont expect them to hit that mark.

But maybe once they release FFXV-2, 3, etc they can meet or exceed that mark

They aren't doing that..

 

[JORMBO]

I am assuming they are ok with taking a loss as long as it boosts the franchise again. Assuming the game is actually good...

 

[Griss]

Outrageous expectation for this kind of game.

If the game is good - a big if! - they could do 4-6 mil. 10 million is, well... a fantasy.

 

[Seik]

Healthy expectations.

Hah, yeah, the most polite way to say it.

Good luck to them though, I'll be in that 10 million for sure.

 

[CHC]

I just said exactly this to someone last night.

The event had a very clear underline of "Please please buy this game even if you don't like FF/anime/Japanese games in general."

Don't get me wrong, it was easily one of the very best conferences I've seen (being there in person was so rad), but I do also think there was a sort of quiet desperation that could be felt. A cry for help.

I won't disagree, the tone was slightly desperate. However, winning back a western audience of "everyday gamers" is something the Final Fantasy series (and Japanese developers in general) desperately need to do.

JRPGs as a genre have been drifting further and further into niche territory, to the point that I even feel alienated by many of them for their tropy-ness... and I'm an open minded guy. I actively go looking for unusual games! So if people like me are starting to feel pushed away by a lot of these games, you can imagine that they're not even a blip on the radar of most regular gamers.

So yeah, regardless of the sales goals, this is something that I think is pretty important and I'm not going to fault them for pursuing it. It seems like this whole thing could work. They have a hell of an ad campaign and the story seems more-or-less... culturally universal (hope that makes sense). It's a tale of friends, adventure, fantasy, reclaiming a homeland. If the game is good, I don't see it being anything that needs a disclaimer, like many JRPGs do.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

he is talking about the entire life-span of this Game

Ps4&Xbox One = 5-7 Mio
PC Version = 1-2 Mio
PS4K Version = 1 Mio

Nintendo NX Version = 1 Mio

i can see it happen? But it has to be a good game, with good reviews etc.

It will have a huge marketing campaing behind it with the movie and all the stuff.

I assume the PS4K version would just be a patch. That would be dirty if they sold it separately.

 

[Maxim726X]

Would you feel better about it if the characters were buff, muscular westerners dressed in military outfits?

This series was easier to market to the West when it was pixelated... Let's be fair here, it's an aesthetic that isn't going to win over a lot of the casual gaming audience.

 

[GoldandBlue]

Calling it now, FF7R demo to be included with the game. Maybe also a DQ11 demo for Japan.

 

[AngelOFDeath]

they're joking right, don't think this will happen but lets see

 

[gamechanger87]

My coworker who doesn't play games bought a PS4 and said he will preorder FF7 upon hearing the announcement. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion.

That game sold 10M over 20 years ago. Tastes have changed and in order to hit that number you need to have a large number of those original buyers decide to re-buy a remake and get new ones on board.

I can't for the life of me figure out why people think a 20 year old remake (no matter how good the game is) will ever sell as much as the original.

 

[Timeaisis]

That's...high.

 

[True Fire]

TEN million copies at a minimum????? They're going to need this game to be a fucking cultural phenomenon. What the hell, why did they even bother commissioning a car or a shitty Anime series? Square Enix's costs are out of control.

The Witcher 3 is overrated trash though. Notice how nobody talks about it anymore now that the hype is gone? Just like what happened with Dragon Age: Inquisition and Bioshock Infinite kii. XV already has a lot more hype than W3 ever had, and we're still half a year away.

XV will undoubtedly double W3's numbers, mark my words.

This is one of the worst analyses I've ever seen.