Final Fantasy XIII-2 Bombing in Japan?

[weber_dubois22]

When Final Fantasy XIII-2 made its Japanese retail debut on December 15, it did so in lackluster fashion. For 99% of games coming out, having a first-week Japanese sales total of over half a million would be a triumph -- huge success. But Final Fantasy XIII-2's 524,000 performance (PS3 version) is a mere one-third the size of the original Final fantasy XIII, and even stands distantly in the shadow of Final Fantasy's first direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, which also sold over 1.5 million right out of the gate. For a Final Fantasy title, XIII-2 is performing far below expectations.

Things get worse for Square Enix when one considers that XIII-2 is supposed to be a game kept interesting in the long term with frequent DLC updates. This does not stop people from trading the sucker in, even a mere two or three weeks after its launch, however. Getting back from my Christmas vacation, something really stuck out at me as I made my rounds in the game shops: there are a lot of used copies of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Above, I am holding one small store's hearty supply of five used copies of the barely three-week-old Final Fantasy XIII-2, selling for 4,980 yen each. The game launched with a price closer to 7,000 yen for new copies, but has already plummeted to 5,500 in most stores.

Sales were well under half of what Square Enix expected, the price has fallen like a rock, and trade-ins are rampant. From the looks of things, Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't the comeback S-E was hoping for. [SOURCE]

What Will Square Enix Do If FFXIII-2 Is A Sales Failure?

You know, this is a very, very interesting question. Most indications are that Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't selling well in Japan; at least, nowhere near as well as its predecessor. Furthermore, we have often wondered if the Japanese industry's assessment of the Western gaming audience is exaggerated and flawed.

Square Enix changed Final Fantasy to "keep up," so-to-speak. We don't need to go into any further detail; the long-time fans know exactly what we're talking about. Square Enix was shocked when they asked if everyone was actually interested in a FFVII remake and the publisher's Twitter page exploded. Other Japanese developers have weighed in with their views on the current state of the industry, and they really seem to think everybody in the West wants only fast action. I.e., watered down RPG Lite adventures for the sake of casual/mainstream accessibility.

So they quickly churned out a sequel - it's what the Western pubs do, right? - and it isn't even selling well in their home country. Chances are, it won't do anywhere near as well as FFXIII in North America or Europe, either. So if FFXIII-2 can eventually be considered a sales failure from the lofty standpoint of the franchise, what is Square Enix going to do? They thought they were doing the right thing. But now what? Are they just so confused that all the top executives are going to sit around the boardroom, staring at each other with wide eyes and baffled faces?

And won't it be exceedingly hilarious if Final Fantasy X HD sells more than FFXIII-2? It probably won't but even if it gets close, wouldn't that cause Square Enix to blow some sort of gasket? Does...not...compute. Right? Of course, it would probably compute for everyone else, but whatever. As the next generation looms large and Western designers continue to dominate, it'll be interesting to see how companies like Square Enix alter their approach...maybe it's time to change back. [SOURCE]