Final Fantasy XIII Sells 1.5M, Gets 35% Attach Rate

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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Final Fantasy XIII Sells 1.5M, Gets 35% Attach Rate



Unsurprisingly, Square-Enix's Final Fantasy XIII has been a huge hit in its native Japan, selling 1.5 million copies in its first week - and putting the game in the hands of one-third of all Japanese PS3 owners.

If there was anyone in our audience who was honestly not expecting Final Fantasy XIII to do well, raise your hand. Now lower your hand and (with said hand) slap yourself across the face for being a ninny. As the first proper Final Fantasy in almost 5 years, the game was unsurprisingly an instant hit (one might even say, a lightning hit) when it launched last week in Japan, and uber-game-mag Famitsu confirmed a weekly sales figure of 1,516,532 units for the game's launch.

That's a respectable number, to be sure - but it's even more respectable when you figure that this was for the week ending on December 20th, and FF13 came out on the 17th - so that isn't even a full week of sales, and in the smaller Japanese market no less.

But that isn't even the most impressive number here: Another Famitsu report claims that Final Fantasy XIII caused a spike in PS3 sales, with the console moving 250,000 units in concert with the game's launch (that's more than just last week [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94525-PS3-Sales-Soar-With-Release-of-the-Slim], let's assume that all of these PS3s are in the hands of unique individuals and that there's a total install base of 4,250,000 Japanese PS3 owners. Some quick math gives us a Final Fantasy XIII attach rate of 35%.

In other words, a third of all Japanese PS3 owners bought Final Fantasy XIII in less than a week. That's a staggering attach rate, and one that most games would be incredibly lucky to ever achieve.

To be fair, the game is unlikely to sell that many more copies after its first week, as new software (that isn't on the Wii) almost always faces a precipitous drop-off, but that's still a very, very strong performance from Square-Enix. Talk about Greased Lightning, huh?

Mmm, greased Lightning...

(Via VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/12/21/japanese-ffxiii-sells-over-1-5-million-in-week-one/])

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Nimbus

Token Irish Guy
Oct 22, 2008
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A new Final Fantasy game sells well in Japan? I never would have guessed.
 

Korten12

Now I want ma...!
Aug 26, 2009
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Nimbus said:
A new Final Fantasy game sells well in Japan? I never would have guessed.
yeah I know seriosuly. though I cant wait to play it.
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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that's 500,000 copies a day, likely about 1.25 million on launch day, actually.

Because it was only out for 3 bloody days.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
8,946
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Mmm, greased Lightning...
I'd hit it like the Hammer of Thor.

I'm not really sure how to respond to this. On the one hand I actually expected it to be closer to 50%, but it's still very impressive. I doubt the EU/NA sales will be quite as incredible, but they should still be impressive. I know I'm buying a copy (for my 360 because I don't own a PS3 ;<) when it hits shelves.

Sigh, 2010 looks to be a good year for gaming so far. I hope my wallet can handle it.
 

Frankydee

New member
Mar 25, 2009
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Unsurprising.

Still, I probably won't ever get around to playing it myself come the US launch. I have little patience for FF games.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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lol, well not surprised by that at all.

Hopefully will sell just as well here.
 

Lullabye

New member
Oct 23, 2008
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wait, so in just 3 days it sold 1.5 mill? holy crap, thats pretty damn good. Personaly though, im looking forward to Versus more so than Agito
 

The DSM

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Apr 18, 2009
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The Execs at square will be swimming in money.

On regards to the game, Im skeptical, its been in freefall since 10, but we will see.
 

Ninjamedic

New member
Dec 8, 2009
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The DSM said:
The Execs at square will be swimming in money.

On regards to the game, Im skeptical, its been in freefall since 10, but we will see.
If it repairs the combat from XII ill consider it.
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
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The DSM said:
The Execs at square will be swimming in money.

On regards to the game, Im skeptical, its been in freefall since 10, but we will see.
TBQH, 10 was my favorite of the series, hands down. 12 was a bit of a letdown, though.
 

Georgeman

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Mar 2, 2009
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All that remains to see is whether the game will reach the 6 million mark worldwide that Square wants. Final Fantasy XII sold 5.6 millions on the crazy PS2 installbase. Can they surpass that? Will the Xbox owners contribute well to the West? I wonder.
 

Jory

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Dec 16, 2009
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Can't wait to play it. Psyched.

"If there was anyone in our audience who was honestly not expecting Final Fantasy XIII to do well, raise your hand. Now lower your hand and (with said hand) slap yourself across the face for being a ninny"

made me laugh :)
 

Jandau

Smug Platypus
Dec 19, 2008
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Glad to hear it, especially since the general consensus so far is that the game is good (although linear as heck). Also, I remember reading some articles that a PC version is in the works, so here's hoping that this success finally brings a proper FF game to the PC (FF8 was a VERY bad port...)
 

justcallmeslow

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Dec 18, 2009
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That's pretty freakin' impressive. I think I'll probably buy it soon after it comes out over here. I doubt it'll do anywhere near as well though...
 

Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
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The DSM said:
The Execs at square will be swimming in money.

On regards to the game, Im skeptical, its been in freefall since 10, but we will see.
I'm replaying 10 right now, and I agree with you, after this the main series turned sour, but this looks promising.
 

bjj hero

New member
Feb 4, 2009
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No surprises then. I'm sure it will be a success globally but I'm opting out. I actually enjoyed 12 but I've just played the same JRPG once to often.

Ive played all of the proper FFs from about 4 onwards (7 about 5 times). Add a hand full of fantasy stars, a couple of star oceans, grandia, a couple of dragon quests, breath of fires, and plenty of generic ones for the psx/ps2 I've forgotten the titles of and I've played what is essentially the same title for far too long. Maybe I've out grown them, or I've just burnt out.

I'm sticking with western RPGs for a while until I see something innovative come out of a JRPG.
 

Inverse Skies

New member
Feb 3, 2009
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Wow, to reach 1/3 of the total PS3 owning audience is a simply amazing acheivment. I've been looking forward to this game for quite some time and despite the time commitment I'll have to put into it (not good when you're studying medicine) I'll have to play it. I hope it doesn't end up being over-hyped and a letdown...