Final Fantasy XIII-2 Debuts to Lackluster Sales

Marshall Honorof

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Debuts to Lackluster Sales


In its first week of sales, Final Fantasy XIII-2 sold only 1/3 as well as its predecessor.

Most game developers would jump on top of their servers and dance for joy if their game sold 500,000 copies within its first week. Square Enix is not one of those developers. Final Fantasy XIII-2, the follow-up to 2010's often-maligned Final Fantasy XIII [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/7296-Review-Final-Fantasy-XIII], cleared the half-million sales mark in only four days. While these sales figures are not bad on their own, it's a decline of roughly 66% from Final Fantasy XIII's 1.5 million units sold within the same time frame.

There are a few possible reasons why Final Fantasy XIII-2's sales have not lived up to its predecessor's. Despite "greatly damaged" [http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/final-fantasy-xiii] state, which could make new fans hesitant to buy anything bearing the words Final Fantasy.

While the behemoth-sized series does not appear to be in any real danger, these sales figures could spell a different fate for the Final Fantasy XIII sub-franchise. 500,000 units may well cover the cost of production, and XIII-2 will definitely sell more copies over the next few weeks, as well as in January and February, when the game hits Western shores. If Square Enix was expecting the sequel to perform on par with the original, however, it may be shy about pumping additional money into continuing the story of Cocoon and Gran Pulse.

Since the game has only been out for a few days, it's far too early to draw any meaningful conclusions from the data. If the sales figures are a sign of things to come, however, Square Enix may want to reevaluate that proposed yearly release schedule [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114322-Square-Enix-Wants-a-New-Final-Fantasy-Every-Year]. It may not be as profitable as it looks.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/39292/Final_Fantasy_XIII2s_Diminished_Debut_May_Spell_Trouble_For_The_Franchise.php]

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Sucal

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Dec 23, 2009
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Oh what a shame. Who could have guessed that releasing a Sub-par MMO, completely changing most of the stuff loved by the fan base, and making a sequel with a cast that's almost completely different to their original selves could impact sales. I mean, its not likely anyone could possibly get annoyed at a previously open and exploration capable series have an extended twenty hour tutorial before half the features could be unlocked.

That being said, while I like some of the ideas and things used, I disagree with them being tacked on to the Crystals Franchise. Seems like too much of a game departure from the original 13, which might have been a good thing if it wasn't for all the changes. Throw in the mid battle quick time events, and a plot that seems rather derivative, and they should have simply made this Final Fantasy 15, instead of changing what little lore the original 13 had. Especially since they are trying to shoe horn a connection to the other Crystal games, which were supposed to be linked by nothing but themes.
 

Zeckt

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Nov 10, 2010
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After totally knifing their fanbase in the back then kicking them in the gutter to bleed after final fantasy 14, WHAT DO THEY EXPECT!?!
 

Beautiful End

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Well, those who got FFXIII-2 the day of its release are probably FF's loyal fans. For example, I am one of those people who will not only get the game the same day it comes out, but I already reserved the special edition. I haven't finished FFXIII, though, and I am hating its glacial pacing. But there's something something that makes me wanna keep playing. And I have hopes that Square-Enix learned from its mistake and will fix this. I don't know. I can only hope.

No, I haven't seen any Japanese walkthroughs or anything. I only trust my own review of the game. So we'll see in about a month.
 

OtherSideofSky

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Jan 4, 2010
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Huh.
I didn't even hear about it coming out. All the Final Fantasy advertisements I've seen have been for Type 0.

On the other hand, there's no way I would have bought the game after playing XIII. I didn't even mind the pacing or the linearity, I just felt insulted that they would have so many cutscenes without hiring someone who actually knows how to direct (it seems like a lot of people making game cutscenes are people who wanted to make movie. There's generally a good reason they couldn't make it in the film industry.). Seriously, SquareEnix produces some of the worst choreography and editing for action scenes I've ever seen. On top of that, isn't this sequel supposed to be centered around one of the most annoying and bland characters from the first one?
 

Andy of Comix Inc

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For some reason, I read this headline, smiled, and sighed with relief.

I think I'm a bad person. All I could think was YEAH FUCK YOU FINAL FANTASY XIII. God I hated FFXIII. I'm so happy to see it failing. I have never been this vindictive with any game series, ever. Even if Call of Duty - a series I despise - announced it sold badly, I'd feel slightly let down, and sorry for the devs.

This news? This news cheered me up...
 

digital warrior

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Oct 17, 2008
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Is it bad that i want this game to do poorly? If only because i want them to take a long hard look at were the series is heading and actually make something good?

I mean I'm a huge fan of their old games, chrono trigger, ff6, ff7, ff9, even chrono cross, All great games. Their new games just keep getting worse with confusing stories and plot lines, Terrible scripts, annoying characters and overlong tutorials. Its getting so bad ever hard core fans i knew are having a harder and harder time defending them.

It is time for them to step back find what has been working and what hasn't and try to expand from their, and maby they will make something good again.
 

seraphy

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Jan 2, 2011
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Yeah, I prolly won't care about this. FFXIII was such a horrible game, can't see how this could be better. I wonder is SquareEnix is going to figure at some point again why earlier final fantasies are actually liked.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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digital warrior said:
Is it bad that i want this game to do poorly? If only because i want them to take a long hard look at were the series is heading and actually make something good?

I mean I'm a huge fan of their old games, chrono trigger, ff6, ff7, ff9, even chrono cross, All great games. Their new games just keep getting worse with confusing stories and plot lines, Terrible scripts, annoying characters and overlong tutorials. Its getting so bad ever hard core fans i knew are having a harder and harder time defending them.

It is time for them to step back find what has been working and what hasn't and try to expand from their, and maby they will make something good again.
roughly this.

still, i really hope this doesn't detract them from continuing ff 13 versus, from what i have seen on THAT game i REALLY REALLY liked it and was super interested in it.

if they took final fantasy back to it's roots, but just with updated graphics and more vibrant worlds, i would toss them trunk loads of cash
 

twistedheat15

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Sep 29, 2010
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While thats a huge decline Im kinda surprised it sold that much its first week. While it duxs to see how bad a favored game company has declined, Im kinda glad it happened. SE got way too comfy with its name.
 

CM156_v1legacy

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Mar 23, 2011
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Andy of Comix Inc said:
For some reason, I read this headline, smiled, and sighed with relief.

I think I'm a bad person. All I could think was YEAH FUCK YOU FINAL FANTASY XIII. God I hated FFXIII. I'm so happy to see it failing. I have never been this vindictive with any game series, ever. Even if Call of Duty - a series I despise - announced it sold badly, I'd feel slightly let down, and sorry for the devs.

This news? This news cheered me up...
You aren't the only one, my friend. I was burned so badly by FFXIII. Only by getting it out of my house could I let the healing begin. Without hyperbole, it was a game that felt painful to play. And it's one of a few games I haven't finished, and likely never will.

OT: Not shocked by this news, mind you.
 

remnant_phoenix

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Apr 4, 2011
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Andy of Comix Inc said:
For some reason, I read this headline, smiled, and sighed with relief.

I think I'm a bad person. All I could think was YEAH FUCK YOU FINAL FANTASY XIII. God I hated FFXIII. I'm so happy to see it failing. I have never been this vindictive with any game series, ever. Even if Call of Duty - a series I despise - announced it sold badly, I'd feel slightly let down, and sorry for the devs.

This news? This news cheered me up...
I feel the same way. : )

Long-time fan of the series. HATED FFXIII. Smile when I see that FFXIII-2 didn't sell well (by Final Fantasy standards).

Maybe this will actually take Squeenix down a peg and make them get a reality check on what they've done with the franchise in the past ten years, rather than insisting that we are the ones who "don't understand."

"After release, director Motomu Toriyama felt that the lower-than-expected review scores for a main Final Fantasy series game came from reviewers who approached the game from a Western point of view." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_fantasy_xiii)

No Toriyama, when I wrote my review I only compared the game to previous entries in the series and other games in the niche JRPG genre. That isn't even a truly fair way to review a game but that's what I went with because that's how I and most fans are going to approach it. Even without a "western point of view" (whatever that is), I still thought it sucked. Maybe you should be open to the possibility that you dropped the freakin' ball!

Hell hath no fury like a Final Fantasy fan scorned, eh?
 

remnant_phoenix

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CM156 said:
Andy of Comix Inc said:
For some reason, I read this headline, smiled, and sighed with relief.

I think I'm a bad person. All I could think was YEAH FUCK YOU FINAL FANTASY XIII. God I hated FFXIII. I'm so happy to see it failing. I have never been this vindictive with any game series, ever. Even if Call of Duty - a series I despise - announced it sold badly, I'd feel slightly let down, and sorry for the devs.

This news? This news cheered me up...
You aren't the only one, my friend. I was burned so badly by FFXIII. Only by getting it out of my house could I let the healing begin. Without hyperbole, it was a game that felt painful to play. And it's one of a few games I haven't finished, and likely never will.

OT: Not shocked by this news, mind you.
We should make a recovery/support group.
 

remnant_phoenix

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Not a shred of sympathy or defense for Squeenix on this thread so far.

There's got to be a hint of a message in that.
 

Baresark

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Dec 19, 2010
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I'm not surprised. FFXIII sold on the basis of it being a Final Fantasy game. The cast of characters was annoyingly mediocre and uninteresting. The battle system, while better than a tradition JRPG, involved very little player interaction. And the days where you look forward to a "cool" cutscene are behind us. I know I won't be playing this one. I'm not surprised considering this is the same people who made FFX and FFX-2, both mediocre at best games. I have defended them in the past, but not on the basis of this game.