Final Fantasy XIV Sales Sink; Square-Enix Forced to Give Free Playtime

 

After roughly five years in development, Final Fantasy XIV released for the PC only weeks ago. While a select few have been enjoying the game, the general consensus is that the game feels archaic in both design and presentation. Many have recalled the release of Square-Enix's last attempt at the MMORPG genre with Final Fantasy XI which also had an agonizing start, but the game has managed to entertain hundreds of thousands of players for over nine years. Can Final Fantasy XIV follow suit?

Following three weeks of bad reception including the lowest scores ever given to a Final Fantasy game along with forum chaos, Square-Enix announced some upcoming changes along with a particularly alarming move - an extra month of free playtime. While the free playtime is a kind gesture to players, any subscription-based online game in good faith would squawk at the thought of a free month despite the servers being stable. Just a day after those announcements came, VGChartz posted an accurate assessment of the three weeks of sales which the game has accumulated, which are also alarming. Listed below are the estimates:

Week 1 Sales: 247,112

Week 2 Sales: 61,316

Week 3 Sales: 25,483

Given the fact that Square-Enix had five years to prepare for the release of Final Fantasy XIV, it is hard to tell what stunted the title. Some users are saying that the game is currently in "pay to play beta" and that the PlayStation 3 release next year will mark the "real launch" for the title. Whatever the case, if the last month of Final Fantasy XIV is any indication of its future, the game might not be around long enough to see the end of its predecessors lifespan.