Final Fantasy XVI has sold 3 million copies in less than a week since launching last week on June 23rd. The numbers come directly from Square Enix who posted the data directly on Twitter, stating the combined numbers include both digital and physical copies.
While FFXVI hasn’t broken records in terms of fastest-selling launch title— that award goes to FFXV which sold a record 5 million units in its first day alone— the high numbers for XVI indicate millions of players are eager to jump into the next mainline Final Fantasy title exclusively on the PlayStation 5. Comparatively, Final Fantasy VII Remake sold 3.5 million copies in three days when it released in April 2020 on the PlayStation 4.
There was reporting only just a few weeks ago that Square Enix was concerned of the pre-order numbers for XVI, as journalist Imran Khan reported Square was, “tracking behind FFXV” numbers. Surprisingly, Square Enix released demo for Final Fantasy XVI on June 12th, which gave players roughly 2 hours to play the beginning of the game. Moreover, progress played in the demo would be carried over to those who subsequently purchased the full priced title. It’s unclear if the demo had any impact on the current sales numbers, but the demo made waves across social media.
The news of a commercial success comes to no surprise after a huge global marketing campaign for the title, along with what Square Enix has purported that XVI was only possible on the PlayStation 5 hardware. Final Fantasy has also had huge resurgence in recent years, amongst the successful Final Fantasy VII Remake, along with the recent gameplay trailer for the sequel, Rebirth. There’s also been record shattering numbers for Square Enix’s MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which at one point was so popular digital copies were halted to handle the player count.