How well have Final Fantasy games been selling in Japan in recent years?  (physical sales)

Recently revealed sales figures for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in Japan have been causing concern about the new game’s performance and drawing comparisons to the sales of previous titles, but how well have entries in the Final Fantasy series been selling in Japan in recent years? We take a look at past records of physical sales. 

On March 7, Famitsu reported that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second installment of Square Enix’s FFVII remake trilogy, has topped physical sales charts in Japan in its first week, selling an estimated total of 262,656 copies between February 26 and March 3 (accounting for four days of sales). 

Despite the game topping the sales chart, these figures have drawn comparisons to past FF title releases, which achieved notably higher sales upon release. For example, Final Fantasy VII Remake, the first entry to the trilogy, also ranked in at #1 as soon as it launched, however, it reportedly sold 702,853 copies within three days of release. These impressive sales figures are speculated to have partly been the result of increased demand for video games during the Covid19 pandemic. 

Final Fantasy XVI, which launched to high acclaim worldwide in 2023, reportedly sold an estimate of 336,027 units in total within four days of its release, which is closer to, but still well above FFVII Rebirth’s results so far. This might have been due to the standalone FFXVI being more likely to be purchased by new players than Rebirth, which is a direct sequel to FFVII Remake. 

The 2022 spin-off title Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, which was developed by Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja and published by Square Enix, likewise debuted as a best-seller, but was estimated to have sold a total of 46,849 units (including both the PS4 and PS5 versions) in its first six days. The same year saw the release of the remake title Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, which sold 156,530 units within six days of release across all platforms.  

The Final Fantasy series has maintained a strong position in Japan’s market over the years, and the massively successful release of Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020 set the bar particularly high for following releases. While the initial gap in performance between the first and latest installment of the FFVII remake trilogy is causing concern, the community is curious to see how FFVII Rebirth will fare, given its widely praised quality. Another point to note are Rebirth’s digital sales, which could reveal a stronger commercial performance than is currently being perceived.