Square Enix Allegedly 'Slightly Panicking' About Final Fantasy 16 PS5 Pre-Orders

Square Enix and being disappointed in sales/pre-order numbers
Name a more iconic duo

Hopefully it means people have stopped pre ordering in general. There's no reason to pre order this early in the digital era. I can understand a day or two before to pre load or after the reviews are out, but weeks/months ahead? What's the point?

Typical Square

I would bet once the reviews are out this will change. 15 was disappointing and some people aren't super sold on the action combat direction 16 is taking, so I feel a few more people than normal might feel a bit reserved about it.

I think it's going to be a great but I honestly might wait. This month is crazy.

I mean, I'll buy it when it's released (or just after) and we know what state it's in. I'm sure most people will be. No need for the squeenix shareholders to start crying about it.

I believe that burned fans are taking a wait and see approach, but i do believe the reception to XV poisoned this entry. Still i am sure it will be good.

Unless you want one of the big special editions I don't know why you'd bother preordering a game, even if your digital only I don't get why you'd do it more than a few days early when it's ready to preload.

Haha I know I definitely won't be contributing to those numbers. That franchise is wayyy over saturated in my opinion. It's like the Call of Duty of JRPGs.

I have zero interest in FF games. I have tried first part of FFVII remake and even thought i was able to finish it i wasn't really satisfied. It was supposed to be videogame legend.

I haven't preordered but I'm 100% getting it. Unless it bombs hard

Pre-ordering is always dumb. Also, doesn't Final Fantasy 16 cost more than Final Fantasy 15? I'm no economist, but I did ace all my economics classes. As price goes up, demand decreases.

"If you buy a game at launch, you are paying the most amount of money for the worst version of a game." -TotalBiscuit

Hopefully they reconsider exclusivity going forward.

I just preordered the deluxe edition today and I would give them more money if collector's edition wasn't sold out

Who exactly is panicking even a little when according to Yoship, they've taken into account all the factors that work against XVI right now such as launching on 1 platform and that he's not looking at short term sales. Coupled with him getting the budget and everything he needed to make XVI from the higher ups with a "yea do your best"

I don't think it's going to be a problem. It's just a very busy month at the moment is all with SF6 and Diablo 4. I got my copy pre-ordered already. Looking forward to it!

it is releasing as a ps5 exclusive. seeing as there are only 40m ps5's available, what were their pre-order estimates? even 5m (or 15% of the ps5 market) would be stretching it. under these circumstance, i would say 1m+ pre-orders would be reasonable.

also, let's not forget about the damage ff xv caused amongst the ff community. s-e needs to earn its trust of the fanbase back before people blindly throw their money at another ff game. many people are on the fence about ff xvi and will take a wait and see approach. s-e should be the first one to understand this.

Well first of all Final Fantasy 15 was Multi Platform day one, and secondly 15 had a much higher potential playerbase to sell to on playstation 4 to compared to what 16 does on playstation 5.

Also I bet there's way less people pre ordering games these days due to the bad state of some AAA releases on release over the last few years.

While the game itself will probably be great, a lot of Final Fantasy fans are concerned about the direction it’s taking with combat. Who knows, it might end up losing some die hard FF fans while gaining some action gamers.

I would have to go back and look but I would not be surprised if at the launch of XV, the PS4 had way bigger install base than the PS5 has at this point.

As for the “even accounting for fewer platforms” bit, I dare bet they over-estimated how many Xbox and PC users would simply not buy the game instead of running out to get a PS5.

As for FF7Remake 2, good luck. The game is a sequel, it’s most likely going to sell less than it’s predecessor, not more, unless they somehow give players the option to buy a cheap bundle that is just $15 more and includes FFR Intergrade.

There's also the fact that people are waiting for the demo before hitting that pre-order button.

As others have said, perhaps people learning that everyone loves releasing broken AF games these days.

I almost always do not pre order until reviews are in. Only exceptions in the last 2-3 years have been Elden Ring and TOTK.

Having said that, this game has allegedly been more or less ready for a long time, I can't imagine they would say that if the game doesn't run well.

Pre-ordering is bad. Period.
Also lower numbers then 15 could also be because people were burned over 15.. Or maybe people have been burnt before by pre-ordering so they learned their lesson?
There can be so many reasons for this.
But yeah. It's SE. Its most likely a failure in their eyes already. (It's not gonna be a failure though)

I think pre-ordering is less common now in general.

Between frequent delays and games releasing broken I have more or less stopped pre-ordering games.

A lot of my friends have not pre ordered because it’s £60. It’s so much more expensive than a ps4 game at launch. So they are waiting for it to go down in price

I’m definitely not pre ordering, I want to see that demo first. It’ll be interesting to see how those figures change after Thursday

@Somebody Yeah because the 10 copies they'd sell on Xbox will really be a massive loss

What's more worrying is that people actually preorder digital games that never run out of stock. I'm pretty sure even physical games don't run out of stock these days.

This isn't the 90's anymore where preordering was needed because game stores were each given 20 copies of a game at launch.

Don’t know if I’ll be getting this one tbh. 15 was utter rubbish I thought. All I remember is dialogue going on and on and on and on in that Japanese way . Unbearable

@Keyblade-Dan I'm trying to play it on PC/steam deck.

Seems like a manufactured problem to lock out players then panick about pre order numbers.

They should have done turn based combat 😆

But in all seriousness, this game will sell well. I’m pretty sure I’ll buy day one even with my huge misgivings.

One can only hope the game will sell like hotcakes, as a giant middle finger to the perceived importance of preorders.

I love pre ordering games. It makes me feel alive!

I wouldn't be judging any games sales numbers before it actually comes out but launching on one platform is obviously going to mean this game won't have the reach it could have done. For my part I won't be getting it at launch, I found FFVII a little disappointing and after Zelda I don't really want to be playing another long game anytime soon

Probably because some people have moved on to pc gaming. And since a pc version is inevitable in 6 months to a year. They don't mind waiting.

Interesting section about reviews at the bottom there. Personally I’m really hoping XVI reviews well and either sits in between SF6 with its 92 and TOTK with it’s 95 or surpasses TOTK and lands with like a 96 or something. That would be super awesome and alongside titles like RE4 would really solidify this first half of the year as like one of the greatest years of gaming ever.

@Somebody I mean even PC barely makes up 20% of overall copies whenever a big Square game comes out so again they won't miss much not to mention this isn't even a statement made by Square themselves just a journo saying he said she said so it might not even be true

@AdamNovice FF15 also had an anime series and had it's own in game food served at all of Jamie Olivers Restaurants for a limited time. The marketing for that game was probably the biggest I've seen ever for a game.

Never finished Final Fantasy XV and to be honest I've never been hyped for the new game plus I don't like the look of the combat.No doubt I'll buy it but I'm not preordering it.Much more excited for Final Fantasy Rebirth.

@Darth_Stofi FF7 is legend. FF7R is... well... too much reworked, so it lost it's feel...

There is no true fan of FF series, who want it digitaly. Final Fantasy has its worth on disc. So I expect disc versions will sell perfect ... ... ...in a few months, because now is time for Diablo 4 and that is another level.

I'm waiting for push square review before I decide to buy or not, never let me down before

I have been really curious to see how this sells for a while now. I'm bit mystified by the direction of this game
1) Doubling down on gigantic boss battles why?
2) Faux open world again why?
3) Limiting the game to only PS5,
I cant believe the lesson they learned from FFXV was that the boss battles need to be the entire game and that the world needs to be less open.

They're launching in the wake of 2 huge entries in other storied franchises in Street Fighter and Diablo. What the hell did they expect? Consumers only have so much time and money.

Release the demo, people will preorder.

I hope they adjust their expectations. I for one will definitely buy FF XVI, but not at launch because i don't have the time or money to dedicate to this game right now.

Pre-ordering is like the opposite of a take and bake pizza place. Instead of selling you an uncooked pizza at a discount, they sell it full price, but if you wait a bit, they'll bake it for you and slash the price.

It doesn't make a...slice of sense 😏. Also, pizza freaking rules.

@AdamNovice FF15 even had an anime!

@AdamNovice You've also got the situation that FFXVI is the first M/18+ rated FF game. That would probably decrease the potential audience somewhat.

Are they even ever satisfied at square-enix about anything.

@Constable_What Pretty much why I've only ever pre ordered collector's editions such as Yakuza 6 and Ghost of Tsushima.

I mean what did they expect? Did they really think the overmarketing would work even after that failure in strategy with Forspoken?

When you make such a dramatic shift in terms of combat, gear system, and other mechanics, People are going to be cautious and wait for reviews or at the very least a demo if it comes.

That aside, pre ordering has increasingly become a gamble. An exercise in "how much is the developer lying and how finished will it release." It's pretty bad when even pundits on mainstream gaming sites are telling you to stop pre-ordering games. We have all been burnt a great Many times and the rate of deceptive, technically unfinished, and feature incomplete releases is increasing. This year has had a ton of them already.

In this climate it's a smart move to wait. With Ff16 in particular, it has the other caution inducing factors to only exacerbate that hesitation.

@TrickyDicky99 being unable to to find a physical copy of a game in week one is depressingly common actually, suppliers underestimate the popularity quite often.

As a black gamer, I did not like the response given about lack of diversity with characters. Its a fantasy game, with the word fantasy in the title. I will puchase when it goes on sale or is a PSN free game

I did not preorder because then I would pay a discounted price. I only pay full price to support small developers like Square Enix

@Jeanniegold In Canada PSN is doing a lousy job of actually sticking to MSRP, even with the price hike this gen to $89.99. Variable price points across the board. Some are hitting that price with several at FF16’s $93.49, going as high as $98 for Dead Island. It’s all relative though - I haven’t looked at recent price points for Aussies 😬

Tougher year

Asked this on a previous thread, asking again now.

Those of you who pre-ordered....

Did you think it would "sell out" or something? No? Why pre-order then?

Why commit your cash before reviews and tech analysis?

I'd ask that question in any random year, but this is 2023 and coming off a string of completely broken titles, with millions of gamers ripped off....

Remember, you are paying the highest price the game will ever sell for it, and getting the game in the worst condition it will ever be.

@Nepp67 this is a pretty disgusting response man.

Maybe preorders are a thing of the past? Seriously. If such a high percentage of gamers buy digitally anymore, why preorder a digital game? There are infinite copies of it.

Did I just read an article where a journalist just quoted another journalist?

I'm not sure if that actually qualifies as news...

They should’ve punted this to September or something. Releasing this close to Diablo is suicide. They can’t see that?

So essentially some people aren't buying this game because it's about white people. This confuses me, as I would never purchase/not purchase any form of media based on the race, gender etc of the characters or content. If a game looks good, I buy it.

@JackMiller43 a spokesperson gave a super cringe reason a while ago about how even fantasy games need a level of reality or people won't believe it.

Will be buying it around launch. But honestly I prefer to wait to see it’s actual launch state because too many release with issues.

Preordering and giving Devs money for a game that may be released in a terrible state shows that a lot of gamers do not have common sense. The more people pre order the more it encourages devs to release unfinished games (red fall and Gollum within a few weeks)

Although I do believe FF will be in a good state upon release.

@JackMiller43 also the director’s response was very explanatory Imho

@KaijuKaiser I was only going by some of the comments on here. I have no doubt it will sell well (I've pre-ordered mine, been a FF fan from the very first). I am also fully aware of the ridiculous expectations Square Enix have when it comes to units sold in a short time frame.

@Ryne-Gaia. I think the chances of Final Fantasy XVI scoring higher than Tears of the Kingdom are about as likely as the chances of Ryne and Gaia being straight.

I'm pretty hard on this game, but, in this case I'm assuming it's a mix of one platform, and the shift to digital where preorder culture is hopefully dying fast. Plus the high prices of games pushing people to wait for sales. I'm sure launch sales will be fine and long tail sales will be fine.

That said I do kind of hope this is another square game that "fails to meet expectations" because I really want them to learn that chasing trends doesn't mean success, budget accordingly to realistic expectations, and in cases like this make ff games of whatever budget to appeal to actual ff fans even if niche and make a game like this to appeal to whatever audience it's meant to appeal to with an appropriate budget for that rather than one game to capture all markets budget be darned.

@mariomaster96
Video game iconic duos from the top of my head:
EA/micro transactions
Activision/Lootboxes
Nintendo/DMCA
Bethesda/Broken games that are never patched
Sony/Awful firmware at launch (at least for TV and consoles)
Preorder/disappointment

Honestly, aside from everything else mentioned, gamers just don't have the disposable income they once did. I know I don't preorder anything anymore because I can't afford to part with cash early for anything.

There are enough half finished games released as it is. Why would anyone support this trend? Release a good, playable game, and I will buy it (once it’s on sale for at least 30% off).

If the game is crap overhype (which I know it is) some people will think for themselves, not everyone will buy day one over a final fantasy N01000 title 🙄🙄

Another woman's points of thought....

@lacerz people still need to acknowledge that buying day one and thinking their loyalty is going to mean something to Devs (spoiler alert it won't) is going to get a rude awaking, this still happens even tho this series is well over an decade old is this formula still valid in 2023, current times? I'm curious to see if people who are hyped over this game can answer that 😏😏

It could be the best game ever and I still won't buy it. I want turn based RPGs, not action fight dodge roll parry games.

@huyi for overhyped crap you sure care LOL

@Keyblade-Dan yeah I'm not keen on believing what "Insiders" say is happening behind closed doors. No one was concerned about this before this report, it was being praised for sticking g to one platform and being optimized. Now I'm seeing comments about "they should have released on PS4 too" or "this is what happens when you sign exclusivity deals" 🙄🙄🙄

@GymratAmarillo meh, I'm not the one who is gonna pay 70 quid for this, the ambitious people are...

@ATaco at least you think for yourself at this point...

@lacerz They've literally spent an entire year just polishing and optimizing the game and have stated it won't even have a day 1 patch because they're confident it won't need one so I'm not sure why you're implying this game will be broken and unfinished?

@3Above Tell me about it, it's ridiculous 🫤

@3Above you are mixing up crowds. I’m sure the people saying “this what happens when you signs exclusivity deals” are not the same people that were praising them for sticking to a single platform before. In fact, I recognize some of the names, and those I recognize are being as consistent as always.

Either way, the game is coming to PC, it was basically confirmed in an interview recently that they started work on the port. I expect the 6 month exclusivity claim to hold up, though.

@TheCollector316 If it's a complete game that works and is good I'll pay full price. But if it's bad it's better to wait it's a thing to look at for game to game basis for me. But Square-Enix needs to remember they dropped quite a few terrible games lately and people will remember that.

@huyi I don't know if the game is overhyped maybe it will be great assuming something is bad is just as stupid.

Maybe wait until the reviews are done before burning down a game. It's quite bad and stupidif you burn down a game that is good and make it sell less for no reason.

How about waiting for a review before going into a entitled rage just wait and see would be a more normal response.

@ManifoldCuriosity I wanted to play FF7R and I really wanted to play a full remake but it takes so so long for the game to fully release I lost interest.

But I think you should atleast wait until a release before disliking a game like some people tend to do. It's a pity that that good games might get buried for no reason.

@KundaliniRising333 No it isn't buddy and nor is it inappropriate. A video game should be played to have fun not because your race or ethnicity isn't represented. I'm part filipino and you don't see me whining and complaining because the game doesn't have filipino people in the game.

@Nepp67 You are missing the point, again. It's okay for someone to have a different opinion than you and share it in a comment section Without You attacking the person and not adding any meaningful discussion points. It's also okay for that person to share that they felt a certain way regarding a response to a lack of racial representation in the video game and do so without having to worry about individuals choosing to put them down for doing so.

There is this trend in responses from several ppl that always seems to include some version of "you are whining, you are negative, you are complaining, get over it,.."
It just lacks any meaningful substance and really didn't even need to be said. One could offer a counter point or opinion without resorting to shallow name calling and put downs (actual negativity).

@Somebody
Not likely. Xbox gamers buy significantly fewer games and the games that do sell are western. That's before Microsoft started training their fans to stop buying games, too. It's likely Square-Enix has data that shows they are not missing much forgoing Xbox.

@Tharsman TBF I was more referring to Twitter comments and no so much PushSquare but I didnt really make that clear.

@Flaming_Kaiser it will be a very long time till this game is affordable and the sale price is reasonable, long way to go but that is what plus extra is for 😉😉

Backlogs are still a thing 😀😂

@Flaming_Kaiser I think the situation with FF7 remake was a cool announcement at the time but leaving the remake on "disc 1" which older people will only understand is a crime, and honestly this reminds me of waiting for the shenmue series to have a conclusion in the same manner smh 😂😂

I don't understand how people can go all out crapping on a game they had no intention of playing anyway 🙃

@KundaliniRising333 How hypocritical coming from you considering people gave you legitimate criticism on your constant negativity in a recent article of Spiderman only to call them children. Get out of here.

I am glad to hear that early impressions of this game have been very positive, as this game’s imminent release is the reason I still haven’t purchased Tears of the Kingdom, Street Fighter 6, or Diablo IV.

I think consumers are just getting smarter. So many recent big games have launched in broken states and required updates. Who wants to pay money to be a game tester? Also, everyone knows todays $80 game is going to be at least down to $50 within three months, so you're paying extra to play a poorer version of the game.

Definitely in a wait and see for reviews, it looks to have a decent combat system but I need to be sold on the characters, story and world. FF has been hit and miss for a while now and I wasn't overly impressed with what I saw of FF7 Remake even with its praise.

Square-Enix does realize that FF15 had a Xbox One and PC release alongside PS4; whereas this time it’s only PS5. I mean of course the preorder numbers are going to be smaller.

Maybe there abysmally low even for one console, but their sales expectations have always been impractical or seems.

@Bleswona i will cancel my preorder if game, or any company put any forced diversity in their games.

Cant wait for this anti-woke game. Been preordering since it first appeared on PsStore.

@SgtTruth because i have money and i want to support the series?

I want to play it but I need to buy a 600 console with no other exclusive games on it to do so. Gonna wait for pc release

@oricalcos

1) Have you ever heard of Shadow of the Collosus, one of the most legendary games ever? Only big boss battles.
It's not an issue, it's how it's executed.

2) Faux open world? Not sure what you mean with this term as it can be used in any number of ways. XV was faux open world too. It was 2 big maps. Most of the world was missing as cut content. See? I can use it too.
FF12, is it faux open world? 🤔 What makes an open world game? Maybe you need to give it some thought and get back to us.

Having an interconnected world is what makes the world feel expansive. Towns with bustling activities. Large terrain expanses by themselves are boring to traverse and are awful for telling good stories, which is one of the cornerstones of this series. Having smaller expanses with activities and keep the pace good is a huge plus for me.
Open world is not synonym with quality. Most open world are incredibly boring and only a few developers know how to make good ones. Even then, those games always suffer from bad pacing and bad storytelling due to their nature of letting the player go off on their random way. A fine crafted experience is not something open world games offer.

3) Most FF games were on only one system. It allows them to focus on the game quality. Most legendary FF's were only one system. Actually i can only think of XIII and XV not being at launch. Notably 2 of the worst entries.

So... all this discussion over Imran Khan saying something about SE.

I'm a huge single player FF fan, but since ff10 (which is great) my hype has dwindled with each release. 12 was good but lacked the urgency and thought provoking story. 13 was boring and terribly paced. 15 I personally enjoyed but looking back, it has no redeemable features other than the cooking.

I know FF games are known for moving with the times. But it's lost all focus. Like Doom becoming a point and click adventure or Megaman becoming a god sim. I don't know what final fantasy is anymore. And have even less reason to care.

Do any of you know if it will be region locked? my pre-order status depends on that 😅

@KundaliniRising333 indeed. Like calling others "children". But it's always the other person who's wrong. Never us. Right?

@KaijuKaiser as a fellow liberal, I couldn't agree more.

I still pre-order stuff, but most people don't.

There's also the problem that FF15 sucked hard and I suspect people are being more careful with their money.

SquareEnix need to wind their neck in and focus on releasing a solid run of strong games. They're a long way off being a publisher that offers day one games for me, mainly cause I've learnt that there will be multiple releases of every game they make and I know I'm better off waiting to get a definitive, compete copy for much cheaper a year or so down the line.

The market is saturated and hopefully publishers will learn that if they want to stand out they need to treat the fan base with a bit more respect. This unfortunately means that a few great games have to suffer lower sales while they get people back on side. If a company takes the pi$$ for long enough they start to smell of it.

Final fantasy xv sold 5 million copies at launch so I'm not really worried

Oh, Square Enix. You should have made a new Deus Ex instead.

Most people know that a preorder is largely a waste of time unless you're ordering from a website that will historically ship it to you a few days early.

I'd much rather have a new Dragon Quest.

People just becoming more thoughtful towards pre orders these days, it's not like much people.have money to just buy a game they kinda might like, economy doesn't allow it anymore for most, so most just wait for an overall review first on the " I kinda want to play" games

@number1024 even worse than that is they’ve hired the voice actor from the Dacia adverts, with the lowest decibel voice you’ve ever heard in your life!

I'm not surprised about ff7 remake sales; releasing It in ps+ subscription was a bad move. Why would you need to buy if you get free on ps+, not only thst but releasing sub par games for £70. I rarely preorder games anymore with rare exceptions like the trails series , I didn't buy disblo 4 as beta left Abad taste in my mouth; it felt so much like destiny

@Uromastryx Nah. God of War, Hogwarts, Zelda, Elden Ring all broke records left and right. People still preorder for some reason.

@naruball oh yeah of course but i mean god of war elden ring etc they are huge games and there was never any doubt they would be a massive hit, hence even the review embargo on GoW and elden ring were lifted more than a week earlier because of the the developers confidence,
As for FF 16 and say AC mirage I feel those games will.have repetition which the devs will try to hide. Granted SQE and Ubisoft are huge companies but they've had a few stinkers
So that mixed with other things I think will have an effect on pre orders. But as you said thousands still keeping throwing their money in.

@number1024 "Josh, you are?!"

I wouldn't say 'good' British accents 😆 and we never even found out what Josh is. Come on, Clive, tell us.

@Triumph741 you won the Comnents section this weekend 🤣🤣

I dont often pre order games any more. But Ive seen enough of this title and heard enough from people I trust whove played it to know I want this, and its likely to be a very polished release.
Ive had this months money, so with no cencerns on quality of release its helps me to make purchases that are definate, early in the month.
As long as you buy psn credit via shopto, you can get 15% reduction in price, which helps with digital pricing a bit.

I dont think squeenix have been happy with sales of any kind, for any game, for a very long time. They need to adjust their expectations and get a bit more 'real'..

I'm over hyped for this game but I've stopped pre-ordering games a long time ago I'm sure I'm not the only one

To be honest, after watching the last trailer, I was let down! I definitely disliked those summons battles. It’s not what a Final Fantasy game is about.
Also, they should provide a demo as soon as possible.
I was super hyped and loved FF15…. Watched all episodes and movie related and after playing the demo I knew I had to pre order.
For FF16 I’m not getting the same vibe.

And finally, I believe that many people are more hyped with the FF7 continuation than FF16.

Zelda may another factor!!
I’m playing it every single day.. and I’m far from ending… It wouldn’t make sense to buy another game in pre release if I’m not going to play on day 1.

People might be waiting for a PC release or for other platforms. I'm waiting for FF7 remake part 2.

FF 13 all the way

@Keyblade-Dan
I love your trust in corporations. Hope you enjoyed Cyberpunk and Redfall Day One.

@Darth_Stofi To be fair, you played 1/3 of a game. So you haven’t seen the story play out.

@lacerz I didn't buy or play either of those pieces of trash but most games from Square's internal teams are usually always well polished and complete on release so yeah I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in that regard especially probably their best and most talented team that happens to be the one developing FF XVI.

@Uromastryx to be honest, I know very little about Elden Ring, but didn't its massive success come as a surprise to pretty much everyone? I thought Souls games were seen as niche before it.

@naruball No not so much Soulsborne games had already become a phenomenon before Elden Ring came out hence why Elden Ring's release was like a big event to a lot of people I think the Bloodborne, DS 3 and Sekiro triple knock out was what pushed the series out of niche territory. I mean remember Sekiro sold a fair few million copies and won GOTY in 2019 it was a pretty big game

@Keyblade-Dan Naughty Dog is also an exceptional studio. They still releases garbage for TLoU on PC. You can buy day one. I choose not to based on current trends.

Square Enix has to learn not every game sells as much as Call of Duty and this is happening since it’s only on PS5.

When I heard some countries banned it I was concerned it will have certain content I am not a fan of. I was surprised to learn a few others I talked to did the same. We are waiting for reviews to see if that content is in there.

Considering the horrid state of the AAA industry over the past few years (broken, buggy games galore) I suspect people are not pre-ordering as much as they used to.

Millions of people got burned on Cyberpunk. And I’m thinking people are just genuinely trying to be more cautious now. Especially since this generation saw a price hike and if anyone has noticed game prices on the biggest AAA games aren’t falling as fast as they used to, at least here in the states.

Then you got the launch period of June which is just stacked. I’m still trying to decide whether to get SF6, FFXVI, or Diablo. I’m only allowing myself one game at full price since I’m still playing Zelda. I suspect a bunch of people are in my boat. Being financially conservative with all of the inflation going on right now.

@Keyblade-Dan true, but didn't Elden Ring eclipse its lifetime sales in just a week?

@naruball Yeah it did because as I said it was seen as a big event when Elden Ring released obviously Elden Ring did attract many people who hadn't played a Soulsborne game before but they weren't a tiny niche thing anymore

It seems to me that many people are very excited about this game so I dont see why Square Enix should be so worried. Not least becuse its such big IP.

I guess high pre-order numbers = high day one sales. I'm not a business major but I guess it's important to companies to have strong day one sales because especially on consoles the sales numbers drop off over time, and with this being a multiplatform franchise being made exclusive to one platform I can see them being at least nervous.

Also they've been marketing the living daylights out of this game especially in Japan and that's gotta cost a pretty penny

@nepp67
I spend my money on what I like. I never said I wasnt playing/buying due to lack of representation. My race is mostly represented in SPORTS games and rarely in other genres (shout outs to Forespoken, Prototype 2 etc.). What I said was I did not like/appreciate the REASON given by a representative of the game for their lack of representation. There is a distinct difference. All in all, I will play when it's on sale or free 🤷🏿

@Master_Rid and that is your god given right.

Not here to argue lol, nor does my comment have anything to do with being woke lmao.

I simply did not like what he said, so therfore I did not pre-order. No need to reach or make up anything other than what was clearly stated...

I haven’t played a Final Fantasy game since the SNES days. This does look really good. Can’t decide whether to buy it???

@SlySnake0407

I’m sorry to hear that you lost your job. That sucks.

Hopefully you’ll land another one quickly.

I’m loving Tears of the Kingdom but I understand it’s a game that isn’t for everyone. My buddy doesn’t like TOTK or BOTW and after listening to his opinion I finally understood why the new Zelda formula doesn’t click with everyone. It’s Freeform adventure to the point of aimlessness. And that can be very boring for a lot of people.

For me I just love seeing a modern game with a great physics system to play with. Most modern games have physics simulation similar to 6th generation console games. Aka barely any at all. The 7th Gen (360 and PS3) are still the kings of neat physics based gameplay and new Zelda reminds me of that.

@__jamiie

They’re working on it.

Dragon Quest XII got announced last year.

Chances are we won’t see it till next year at the earliest though.

@KaijuKaiser

I’m half black and I fully agree with this.

It’s honestly kind of condescending sometimes.

I would rather see developers create unique black characters and tell unique black stories over just trying to throw people of color into a diversity algorithm.

Like I would love to see a developer create a US Civil War game based on the experiences of a US Colored Unit fighting Confederates in North Carolina and Virginia. Or perhaps another stab at a Spawn video game since he is among the best written black characters in comic books with a huge lore surrounding him.

Square: Disappointing sales numbers even for a platform that's only 2-3 years old with 30 million (no PC either) but have dumb expectations. People should be excited to pre-order we have a demo coming, we pushed the marketing as much as possible people clearly have to have made up their minds by now or we are reaching our newcomer western audience interested in a game for this time of the year where that is large gaps (until other showcases happen and change that).

Fans: You got your Sony money deal what are you complaining about. Some are interested in the western appeal, some are not interested in the western direction and enjoyed the way they used to be from however many entries ago or being more Japanese focus that western fans enjoy as much as Japanese fans.

So your relying on long term fans besides newcomers obviously and expecting long time fans to care when it's so different which is hilarious a publisher doesn't think that far outside the box of how the product appeals to customers and that it's more than the Final Fantasy name or newcomers and if newcomers even care enough or not to buy into it.

Some aren't interested in the DMC/hack n slash combat while others are.

It's not on PS4/Xbox One or Xbox Series consoles and you expect a PS5 exclusive (no PC yet) to offer 10milion or so to make up a 1/3 of the console sales or more then your joking. All these factors are valid for us fans to care and you expect it to sell because of Final Fantasy name and a different take on the series and you expect people to just be ok with buying it. Yes you are completely missing the point Square.

All valid factors it can't only be FF branding to save the game if the direction is different from past entries Square!!!!!

Myself: Is it looking interesting in some ways yes, do I like the DMC combat yes, do I care for the western appeal no I buy so many Japanese games because of how different gameplay/vibes they give off and most western IPs don't interest me unless their Indies or AA really most of the time.

But western appealing Japanese games of the past like Binary Domain, Vanquish from Sega, or Capcom's transition for western audience appeal or other games and studios over the years (Konami doing so with Silent Hill, Castlevania, Metal Gear and niche IPs like Coded Arms) and more never stopped me.

I like seeing how they tackle a western audience even if they are usually niche and don't sell well to a western audience because they just have something about them in execution or they aren't as big on western voice actors (compared to those that build themselves up of course that many of us are willing to take then the biggest ones in most of the big AAA games anyways actors or voice actors) as the biggest of western audience games or as hardcore military or silly but fun or serious and grounded or whatever than just 'oh Game of Thrones extent of the fantasy spectrum sure it will easily sell' as if that's the way to do things. XD

It needs more than that to sell people on it honestly.

But I don't care for FF16 myself as it's not an RPG style I care for (I care for Japanese tactics games these days tried but eh. FF16 kind of gives of a somewhat appealing than just 'deep' western appeal but I won't deny you could look at it and go yeah it's deep western appeal even besides the hardened Chocobos and so on odd Final Fantasy aspects in it even for however much we have seen so far) but know people that are interested in 16 but did play other entries.

@3Above

One of the main problems with that game.

You had to watch the anime to even understand half of what was going on in that game.

I didn’t watch so I was lost as hell.

Release it on more platforms simultaneously.
PS5 is still wildly expensive for me. I'll wait for the PC version.

@kungfumongoose XV was disapointing to you, not to me.

@KundaliniRising333 Stop whining. People need to learn the diffrence between reqality and games, movies etc. etc.

@OrtadragoonX Honestly it only help alittle and more for Prompto than they others. The Royal edition should have included the anime now that I think about it!

@OrtadragoonX the problem is that even then the anti-woke people would call the game woke and refuse to buy it.

I'm sure xvi is going to be great gameplay wise, perhaps even story wiss, but the trailer footage looks like it lacks any sort of charm or personality that vii or xv (and many other entries) had. Instead we get a bland and dark, European fantasy setting that's just bleh at first sight.

That's what happens when you make Final Fantasy game which has Devil May Cry combat..The Finlal Fantasy VII Remake had a good balance of the 2

@Singels
Good for you, I guess? You're certainly the outlier with that opinion though, if the internet is to be believed.

LOL I love how people want AAA games but also don't want these publishers to profit off of the AAA budgets they put into said game. Don't complain when the next showcase has 20 indie titles 🤣

I think a number of people are apprehensive due to the changes in combat.

Personally I have it pre-ordered already just to avoid spending the cash elsewhere, and I'm excited to play on day one.

@Buckeye4Life2015 There is no reason to pre-order a digital copy, for sure (I don't understand why this was ever a thing). But physical copies are still sold and stocked in limited batches.

To the topic at hand, I have loved FF since my first experience on the NES in the late 80s; and this is the first FF that I have no interest in. I do not want a FF action RPG; and except for the summons, I am not a fan of the visual style of this entry. Clearly I am not in the vocal majority on this; but I wonder if there are enough out there that feel the same, to impact pre-order sales?

@thedevilsjester for sure. Physical copies I totally understand.

For the all the long time Final Fantasy fans like you who are put off by this style, I wonder if that is countered equally by the non Final Fantasy fans who now want to play 16 because it Is an action game.

@Buckeye4Life2015 That might be the case; but I sincerely hope it isn't. I see these articles and it gives me a little hope that maybe there are enough with the same opinion that SE will notice and will rethink their direction for the next installment; but it might just be a simple matter of pre-order hesitancy.

Crazy that the former Pakistan PM is so into videogames

@huyi For me it's really disappointing it takes so long and I have to be honest all the buzz for my favorite RPG I would have loved to play a graphically updated game with the new gameplay would have been epic.

@CielloArc This is exactly why I have not pre-ordered it. I really want to feel the new action combat myself before committing to a $70 game.

@kungfumongoose Or the negative minority is very vocal, like the way the internet tends to be. Either way, I loved the game. Hated that they cancelled so much DLC.

I be pre ordering this on Friday I just wait closer for games to come out now days

"Source: Imran Khan." Hhahaha

They’ve released something close to 17 RPG’s in the last 12 months. Some of these games taking over a hundred hours to complete, how much time do they think we have. In my opinion they are stepping on their own feet with their release schedule.

I don't see the point of pre-ordering anymore when we can just download the day of unless you want the special items that comes along with pre-orders.

@Master_Rid do you have to hand over your money sight unseen to do that? If you grant your financial support after you’ve seen the product, that still supports the series?

Surely you only reward good iterations in the series and not the bad ones?

So the last thing you want to do is throw money at something unseen, and inadvertently cast a vote in favour of a direction you’d rather they didn’t go in?

@huyi Yeah I just don't feel like waiting ages to play a remake. The game is on the back burner for me even if it's one of my favorite RPGs of all time.