Bravely Default Sells a Million Copies

[StewShearerOld]

Bravely Default Sells a Million Copies

Square Enix's 3DS JRPG Bravely Default has sold 400,000 units in Japan and 600,000 in western markets.

It might be fair to say that Square Enix has made some unfortunate moves in recent years. With the experimental Final Fantasy XIII failing to grab the widespread acclaim the company was hoping for and its efforts to gain ground with audiences outside of its traditional fan base falling short, there were more than a few fans (present company included) who wished it would just go back to the way it used to make games in the good old days.

Then it released <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/10987-Bravely-Default-Review-Damn-Fine-RPG>Bravely Default. Built around traditional JRPG sensibilities, it was a surprise hit that sold well across borders and partially led to Square Enix announcing that it would be <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/133397-Square-Enix-Recommitting-to-JRPGs-After-Bravely-Defaults-Success>refocusing its efforts back toward the genre that gained it its fame in the first place. It really makes you wonder; if that's how it reacted when the game had sold just 200,000 copies in North America, how does it feel now that it's sold a million worldwide?

While the company has yet to confirm the number itself, reports have stated that the little-JRPG-that-could recently crossed the million mark with 400,000 units sold in east and another 600,000 in the west. Granted, these sorts of numbers aren't on par with titles like Tomb Raider, which Square Enix once <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123150-Square-Enix-Faces-10-Billion-Yen-Loss-in-Restructuring-Efforts>branded a failure for not selling five million copies. That said, we can only imagine that making a 3DS game costs a tad less than crafting a AAA action title, leaving more leeway where profit's concerned.

These figures are probably also welcome since the publisher is already in the process of creating a sequel: Bravely Second. Second has yet to be announced for western markets just yet, but with 60 percent of the first game's purported sales taking place outside of Japan, we're willing to bet it will come our way in due time.

Source: Dengeki Online via <a href=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/28/bravely-default-sells-over-1-million-copies>IGN


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[Vegosiux]

It's a good motto really. If you're defaulting, do it bravely, don't get into the entire kind of trouble Greece is in.

Lame joke is lame, I will show myself out. But good on Squeenix it'd say. About time they managed to catch a break and release something successful. Or release something successfully?

 

[Queen Michael]

Not that surprising -- a guy I passed with Streetpass on had been playing it lately. That's usually a good sign, sales-wise.

 

[Something Amyss]

ONe of these days, I'ma have to break down and buy it.

 

[PunkRex]

I still have it in my bag, gonna start playing it some time this week.

 

[hazabaza1]

I wonder how many people got to the ending.

Spoiler

Once it started the Groundhog day loop thing I thought I could finish it but after the fourth runthrough or something fucking ridiculous I just gave up on it.

Decent game otherwise.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

Bravely Default is a great game, so I'm not surprised to see it doing well. Anyone with a 3DS and a penchant for JRPGs gets it recommended to them by me. It's traditional enough with all the right tweaks and the intensity of the story really caught me off guard. It proves to me that deep down inside there is still a little sliver of the magic Square Enix used to work. If they can tap that potential and stop trying to ram FFXIII and their basically-female-Cloud-protagonist down our throats they'll definitely get more of my money.

 

[Roxas1359]

I'm actually surprised it took this long for it to hit 1,000,000 sales given how much it's been praised, and the fact that it's on a handheld which Japan eats up. Still, good to see that it's selling still, so hopefully Square Enix will learn from this, seeing as FF XIII: Lightning Returns has barely over 1 million sales.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Wow, turns out giving your customers what they want results in sales. Whoda thunk it?

Though, I thought 13 was pretty damned good. I'm surprised to hear it didn't sell as well as SquareEnix hoped, since 6.6 million for the first one and 3.1 million for the sequel is quite a few.

 

[Gxas]

Hmmm, I guess I should pick it back up and start finishing it up, huh?

I loved the game but I got into a rut of not touching my 3DS at all.

 

[Malbourne]

From all I'd been hearing, I thought this was being bought up like rock candy. Glad to hear people are enjoying it even now, though! Maybe this will be a good incentive to shift perspective. If and when I get a 3DS...Well, there are priorities, but it's high on the list.

 

[Fappy]

ONe of these days, I'ma have to break down and buy it.

You should. It has its flaws, but it is an overall enjoyable experience.

 

[Trishbot]

So both Bravely Default and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD outsold Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

I wonder if Square Enix got the right message.

I still need to get Bravely Default. It's my most-wanted 3DS game right now, but I haven't even finished Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, or New Super Mario Bros 2 yet.

 

[Dominic Crossman]

The game has microtransions so it is automatically evil, even though I hate them I still enjoyed the game.

Spoiler

At a certain point bosses start teaming up and that can crank the difficulty up to ridiculous levels, especially teams including the enemy singer who gives her whole team extra turns.

You will be leaving your 2/3ds on sleep mode alot during the final battles, because you will need the edge the hourglass thing gives you.

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

Bravely Default is a great game, so I'm not surprised to see it doing well. Anyone with a 3DS and a penchant for JRPGs gets it recommended to them by me. It's traditional enough with all the right tweaks and the intensity of the story really caught me off guard. It proves to me that deep down inside there is still a little sliver of the magic Square Enix used to work. If they can tap that potential and stop trying to ram FFXIII and their basically-female-Cloud-protagonist down our throats they'll definitely get more of my money.

If Final Fantasy becomes way too much like Braverly Default, it will fall into a MUCH worse rabbit hole in the long run.

The CoD and Assassin's Creed route. This is a much worse problem and here's why. Braverly Default lacks a single entity that every FInal Fantasy (save for FF14, FF2 and FF3) have. Identity. This is not a Final Fantasy game. It's a game PRETENDING to be a Final Fantasy game. It bases itself on nostalgia and nostalgia alone when it comes to it's work.

People keep saying:
"Oh the story is SO good!" but it falls into overused cliches every now and then.
"Oh the characters are so developed!" but they fall into overused cliches.
"Oh the battle system is so good!" but it's just a higher quality version of FF5's battle system.

FF12 and FF13 are more true to the Final Fantasy name than Braverly Default ever will because they don't rely on THE NOSTALGIC OUTLOOK OF PEOPLE IN THE 90'S. Braverly Default might be selling just as much or even more than Lightning Returns, but that's not really impressive when you think about it. It's selling equal to that of a spinoff console game that his a fraction of the cost, production and promotion compared to a number title game.

BD is a decent game, but it's not a Final Fantasy game. Instead of holding itself up on it's own achievements, it takes FF4-FF6's work and calls it it's own. If I want to play a game with FF4-FF6 features, I will play FF4 THROUGH FF6, not Braverly Default.

Imagine what would happen if Square Enix basically took Braverly Default and implemented it for their future Final Fantasy titles for now on. It would start to get stale and people would say "Why should I buy the next game if that game is going to be the same as the last"? It's not a long term solution, it's a short sighted one. And this is what happened with Ubisoft and Infinity Ward.

The problem isn't in the number titles of Final Fantasy, it's the direct sequels for getting too far away from the source material. Braverly Default does the exact opposite but equal problem of getting too close to the source material that it doesn't try to shake things up and implement a unique identity. And that goes against what the franchise stands in of itself.

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

Wow, turns out giving your customers what they want results in sales. Whoda thunk it?

Though, I thought 13 was pretty damned good. I'm surprised to hear it didn't sell as well as SquareEnix hoped, since 6.6 million for the first one and 3.1 million for the sequel is quite a few.

ACtually, the creator of FF13 (Toriyama) only wanted to sell 5 million copies and it oversold to being 6.2 million in a year. FF13-2 sold 3.1 million and was the second best selling game on the PS3 in Japan. It's basically the journalist trying to get more views by implementing controversy.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Wow, turns out giving your customers what they want results in sales. Whoda thunk it?

Though, I thought 13 was pretty damned good. I'm surprised to hear it didn't sell as well as SquareEnix hoped, since 6.6 million for the first one and 3.1 million for the sequel is quite a few.

ACtually, the creator of FF13 (Toriyama) only wanted to sell 5 million copies and it oversold to being 6.2 million in a year. FF13-2 sold 3.1 million and was the second best selling game on the PS3 in Japan. It's basically the journalist trying to get more views by implementing controversy.

True, but Toriyama isn't SquareEnix. The company wanted to sell more than they ended up actually selling.

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

Wow, turns out giving your customers what they want results in sales. Whoda thunk it?

Though, I thought 13 was pretty damned good. I'm surprised to hear it didn't sell as well as SquareEnix hoped, since 6.6 million for the first one and 3.1 million for the sequel is quite a few.

ACtually, the creator of FF13 (Toriyama) only wanted to sell 5 million copies and it oversold to being 6.2 million in a year. FF13-2 sold 3.1 million and was the second best selling game on the PS3 in Japan. It's basically the journalist trying to get more views by implementing controversy.

True, but Toriyama isn't SquareEnix. The company wanted to sell more than they ended up actually selling.

If that was the case, then explain this:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Square-Enix-Reports-Record-Breaking-Profits-142494.shtml
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/square-enix-sees-6-billion-yen-profit-in-fiscal-2012-thanks-to-d/

If that was the case, then they would have lost money like they did with Tomb Raider and Hitman.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Wow, turns out giving your customers what they want results in sales. Whoda thunk it?

Though, I thought 13 was pretty damned good. I'm surprised to hear it didn't sell as well as SquareEnix hoped, since 6.6 million for the first one and 3.1 million for the sequel is quite a few.

ACtually, the creator of FF13 (Toriyama) only wanted to sell 5 million copies and it oversold to being 6.2 million in a year. FF13-2 sold 3.1 million and was the second best selling game on the PS3 in Japan. It's basically the journalist trying to get more views by implementing controversy.

True, but Toriyama isn't SquareEnix. The company wanted to sell more than they ended up actually selling.

If that was the case, then explain this:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Square-Enix-Reports-Record-Breaking-Profits-142494.shtml
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/square-enix-sees-6-billion-yen-profit-in-fiscal-2012-thanks-to-d/

If that was the case, then they would have lost money like they did with Tomb Raider and Hitman.

What relevance does that have to anything? SquareEnix wanted to sell more of those games than they actually ended up selling, that's all there is to it.

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

Wow, turns out giving your customers what they want results in sales. Whoda thunk it?

Though, I thought 13 was pretty damned good. I'm surprised to hear it didn't sell as well as SquareEnix hoped, since 6.6 million for the first one and 3.1 million for the sequel is quite a few.

ACtually, the creator of FF13 (Toriyama) only wanted to sell 5 million copies and it oversold to being 6.2 million in a year. FF13-2 sold 3.1 million and was the second best selling game on the PS3 in Japan. It's basically the journalist trying to get more views by implementing controversy.

True, but Toriyama isn't SquareEnix. The company wanted to sell more than they ended up actually selling.

If that was the case, then explain this:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Square-Enix-Reports-Record-Breaking-Profits-142494.shtml
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/14/square-enix-sees-6-billion-yen-profit-in-fiscal-2012-thanks-to-d/

If that was the case, then they would have lost money like they did with Tomb Raider and Hitman.

What relevance does that have to anything? SquareEnix wanted to sell more of those games than they actually ended up selling, that's all there is to it.

You were literally arguing that Square Enix wanted to sell more, yet they got record profits for the game anyway and the creator (Toriyama) stated that they wanted to sell 5 million for FF13. If the company was hoping to sell more, then they would have raised the bar. If the game failed to sell at that bar, there would have been a financial loss instead of a profit. And the "record sales" FF13 pulled would never have even happened. Get it?