Stock worries? What stock worries? The Final Fantasy VII Remake has sold gangbusters in its opening weekend.
Square Enix was concerned that distribution of the Final Fantasy VII Remake would be impacted by COVID-19. In some instances, that meant players wouldn’t get a physical copy in any sort of sensible timeframe. In others, that meant players got it as much as a week early, particularly in Australasia and Europe.
That let to some players frantically shopping around retailers (like ShopTo) who are known to ship early. That did completely wipe out pre-order stock in parts of the world. Elsewhere, where physical copies were likely to be delayed past the release date of April 10, players in North America were cancelling physical pre-orders and re-purchasing the game digitally, instead.
But however you bought it, you all bought it in vast numbers. Square Enix has today announced that the Final Fantasy VII Remake sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide in just three days.
https://twitter.com/finalfantasyvii/status/1252583111390408706?s=20
That sales figure of 3.5 million includes both physical and digital sales, so it’s likely those who cancelled physical to go digital were covered either way. What makes that figure even more impressive is that – currently – the Final Fantasy VII Remake is single-platform.
The game is currently only available on PlayStation 4. But when that exclusivity ends in – we’re guessing – 12 months, it will also become available on PC and Xbox One. By that time, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will also be available, so we might see players who are holding out for the next generation of consoles picking it up then. (Universal backwards compatibility for the win, Xbox Series X.)
When that happens, the sales of the Final Fantasy VII Remake will get another massive shot in the (gun) arm. But don’t expect them to die off any time soon. The critical reception, combined with a lot of noise on social media, shows just how popular a remake of a 23-year old game can be. (Sorry, Resident Evil 3.)
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