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Final Fantasy XV may have topped the latest Japanese software charts, but there's no escaping the fact that it has suffered the worst Japanese debut of any mainline single player Final Fantasy title since Final Fantasy V. From Final Fantasy VII to Final Fantasy XIII, every numbered single player release has shifted at least 1.5 million copies at launch. Final Fantasy XV managed just 690,000. That tells you everything you need to know about the current state of the Japanese home console market.

If you've been keeping up with the Japanese charts over the last few years, though, you'll know that these sales figures don't exactly come as a surprise. This generation has been full of disappointing numbers for supposed blockbusters, and the few titles that do perform well during their opening week are usually very quick to fall down the charts. The simple truth is that Japan isn't anywhere near as interested in home consoles as it used to be. There are countless factors that feed into this conclusion - like the constantly expanding mobile market - but exploring them all here would take a few thousand words and more time than we can afford.

Still, it's worth noting that Final Fantasy XV's 690,000 sales aren't that bad when you stop and look at how well other big franchises have fared since the launch of the PlayStation 4. In fact, breaking the 500,000 mark in Japan in a week is a rarity these days, so in that sense, Final Fantasy XV can still be considered a blockbuster release - it's just that the term 'blockbuster' doesn't mean as much as it used to.

[source neogaf.com]