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

"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..."

[h0mebas3]

Very well worded. Square Should be much further ahead of the game with this title than they currently are...

[iamtehpwn]

Is to completely get rid of subscription, release it with an expansion. This will cause a huge stimulation in Sales. And then go "Guild Wars route" of making money through expansions.

Also, with the expansion, the game can be re-reviewed and of course, knowing N4G will see articles getting posted "Is now the time to play Final Fantasy XIV?"

[Archdemon]

Isn't this still in BETA? You shouldn't be paying for a BETA in the first place.

SQUARE's greed screwed over thier fans by having them pay for an unfinished product. Now they get what is rightfully coming to them. Shit storm 3000.

If they released this and made you pay after the PS3 release this would have never happend.

[Reibooi]

So let me get this straight.

SE announces that the next patch or 2 will fix EVERY problem with the game and then in good faith gives everyone another free month and people still complain? Really?

I don't care what anyone says the game is doing great. During the launch SE needed to make new servers to keep up with the amount of players and at least on my server players are not leaving. It's been the same steady number since the 30th of September.

Lets also not forget the real test is when the PS3 version comes out. It will be a different game by then and will not have the bad reviews to go along with it(and if it does then it's proof that reviewers just copy and pasted the PC version review and never played it since all the recent updates)

And GOD I HATE THE HYPOCRISY. When some random useless blog trashes a popular game or something everyone complains saying it should NEVER get approved and blah blah blah but when it's ALSO bashing something that everyone loves to bash it gets approved in a second.

[kindi_boy]

Doing great my ass...

Week 1 Sales: 247,112
Week 2 Sales: 61,316
Week 3 Sales: 25,483

[Reibooi]

Not every MMO is WoW. Anyone who think so is retarded. The game is doing well enough considering it's only on 1 of it's 2 intended platforms right now. 3 if they can get MS working with them for the 360 version that is currently on hold.

Any idiot who thinks a new MMO should OFF THE BAT have WoW numbers should be shot. That is why games like Warhammer didn't fare so well. They thought they would have MASSIVE numbers and nearly every server was a ghost town and even now after tons of servers being merged the game is still somewhat of a ghost town.

It's better to have less servers and build into more like WoW itself did and Final Fantasy XIV is doing that way the company doesn't waste massive amounts of money on servers they will never use.

I'm so sick of people using WoW as the comparison for if a MMO does well or not. It's retarded. No MMO will ever do as good in terms of sheer numbers. Even Blizzards next MMO probably won't come close to what WoW did. Comparing a game with 10s of millions to other games when the MMO genre never sees those numbers outside of WoW is retarded. A few 100k maybe is what a really good MMO can hope for and MAYBE a million or 2 if they are REALLY lucky. Final Fantasy XIV is on track with the sales of Final Fantasy XI which is one of the most profitable games SE had/has.

[iamtehpwn]

LOL. calm down dude.

[mittwaffen]

Hes been on every FFXIV thread backing it up, why? He likely doesnt want to be running around alone in an empty server.

Damage control, the games sold <350,000 the game is going to die.

[Reibooi]

Yes because 3000+ people running around with me is empty.... god how are so many trolls allowed on this site?

And yes I'm obviously a SE employee sent out to the interweb to do "Damage Control"......

It's called defending a decent game that is getting unjustly bashed by reviewers and fan boys alike(many of which have no did not and never will play the game nor did they intend to). I back up what I say with facts not that the does anything to the insane illusion of a world the people on this site seem to live in.

[radphil]

"It's called defending a decent game that is getting unjustly bashed by reviewers and fan boys alike(many of which have no did not and never will play the game nor did they intend to)"

In all honesty it's not unjustly. I got the game and was anxious as much as the next person, but we have to be serious here. They pretty much made the PC users into a paying beta testing crowd.

Now when the PS3 version comes out, chances are that it'll be a whole new ball game and much better than the state that it's in, but reviewers should generally review a game of WHAT IT IS not WHAT IT WILL BECOME.

Also people don't damager control because of the stupid "they're paid by the company"....People damage control because generally they paid for something and don't want to be told that it's crap. Hell when I bought Age of Conan a while back, I tried to stay optimistic about it, but from the bottom line is that Funcom screwed people on the release of that game..

However I'm actually glad that SE put it to 2 months instead of one. They could have just chosen the complete greed route, and just went on their business.

Instead they're AT LEAST trying to pull some redemption out of the mess that has become of the situation.

I will say this, I lothe the mindset of people thinking that every MMO should be on par with WoW. You DO realize that every Tom, Joe, and Larry can pick up in that game, and get to max with barely any effort. I should know this because that is the ONLY mmo my parents have been able to get into. It doesn't mean the game is horrible...but what it means is that it's Casual Friendly.

[Reibooi]

That's exactly why I hate reviews of MMO's. No MMO no matter what it is stays the way it does when it launches and is often even weeks later a very different game yet those reviews do damage to the game in some cases.

For example as you mention by the time the PS3 version of FFXIV comes out it will be a totally different game yet if someone goes and reads a review for it that happens to be from the PC version they will think the game is trash based on a review that was inaccurate the day it was published.

Hell most of the reviews were rushed reviews for the game(clearly in most cases) When SE had already announced a patch to help certain things and those things did indeed help and they were implemented a day or 2 after the majority of the reviews hit the web. Is it perfect? No but the patch did help and with the future patches will get MUCH better.

In my eyes a MMO review should either be updated with every patch the game receives or not be done at all because all it is is a disservice to the readers and the creators of a game that do their best to make the game a enjoyable experience.

And let me clear up a bit what I meant by unjustly. The game 100% deserved to be trashed for having the market system it did at launch. But it didn't take that much away from the game. People over stated the negative and understated the positive. The leveling system in Final Fantasy XIV is one of the best in all off MMO's and will get even better as they add more jobs and raise the level cap. Yet the reviews often mention the leveling system only in passing and then have massive sections complaining about the market system. It just made no sense to me. I've never attempted to say the game is perfect. All I say is that it was better then what it got. Maybe around a 6-7 instead of the 2's and 4's it got and with the new stuff coming in a month I would bump that up to a 8-9 as all the issues people have will be fixed.

Honestly do you think the FFXIV haters or SE haters would have trashed it any less if the game got 6-7's? Nope they would have still said it sucked and all that. But the fact would be people who looked for a review that was honest would find one.

[kindi_boy]

Week 1 Sales: 247,112
Week 2 Sales: 61,316
Week 3 Sales: 25,483

[radphil]

@kindi_boy

Please just stop with that. A game's sales =/= quality. Look at GTA4 and MW2....

[mittwaffen]

Sales = quality generally speaking, people dont like to buy shit that isnt worth money. While GTA4, MW did not have glaring terrible issues, which made it more valuable for their money, FFXIV is far from comparable to them, they were finished products, this is sub-beta level quality.

You people are delusional fans, meta-critic is all i need to say one of the lowest rated MMO's ever released.

[radphil]

@mittwaffen

You missed the point I was putting towards him.
Not only that, but did you read the post I said? -_-

All the complaints towards it are 100% valid.

[Silly gameAr]

In my opinion, SE is forgotten. I'm not looking forward to any of their future releases, including VS. I couldn't care less.

[NJShadow]

Square Enix really needs to focus on bringing fresh concepts, the old formula just isn't holding up anymore. That, or get to re-releasing Final Fantasy VII. =)

[CimmerianDrake]

WHAT old formula? Every single time SE makes a game, someone is telling them to come up with new stuff and that the old stuff doesn't work. Judging from the sales of the older stuff, it's pretty clear that it DOES work. FFXIII is an example of the new stuff SE have tried, and it stank up the place something fierce. Same with this new MMORPG.

SE need to stick with what works and merely make innovations in depth, not complete re-hauls of combat mechanics, or anything like that. The REAL fans like turn-base. The REAL fans like open-worlds with airship travel. That kind of thing WORKS for god's sake. That's what SE needs to do. Stuff the "trying new things" up where the sun don't shine and stick to what really works until they have the skill to do something GOOD with something new.

I guarantee that people would buy an FF game if it had old-school style with up-to-date tech.

[Ravage27]

FF13 didn't exactly bring anything new to the table. Its 'new' formula is merely using FF10 as a template and stripping key content (towns,minigames,sidequests) away.

But i agree. In their current position, SE should first focus on stuff that WORKS before going after new audiences.

@Weather
yup congrats on being the first idiot to say that. You xbots need to come up with something new imo.

[Weather]

. . .oh wait. I'm sure we can find a way to somehow blame microsoft though

[Asuka]

you sir, are the reason why nothing on this site can be taken seriously anymore -.- That was unnecessary.

OT: Im still holding out on VS. i have been waiting for that game for years now. might as well see it through. But i am disappointed on how XIV turned out.

[Apotheosize]

Its just a bad game bro

[WoshJills]

I have accepted the fact that my favorite videogame franchise is dead. Final Fantasy died when SquareSoft became SquareEnix.

The last true Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy IX.

Now SquareEnix decides to make random ass RPGs and slap FINAL FANTASY on it so it will sell simply because of brand recognition.

I want Final Fantasy Versus to come out, and then I want to franchise to go away. Enough is enough.

[bustamove]

No one mentioned the 360 and you were the first one who mentioned it. Good going!

Square made some stupid decisions. That's it, end of story.

[shammgod]

college football is on. i will go back to watching that. oh, and for the record, the title of this article is ridiculous

[kagon01]

WA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!

Yup, if they don't listen to gamers, they're ****ed for good...

[PickAShoe]

free to play! finger cross

[WoshJills]

Free? Nope. Still won't play. If I wanted to play World of Warcraft I would.
For online Square should just let players create 4 warriors, have them bet EXP, GIL, and ITEMS, then compete one on one for the wages.

1 classic turn-based Final Fantasy combat system
1 freshly designed card game

Online should also have stores, synthesis shops, and jobs as well.

edit:
or maybe just a collection of minigames with a friend leaderboard.

[kasasensei]

The funny part is : i lost a bubble severals weeks ago, saying this game will sucks and must be free to play. lmao

[Tapewurm]

I for one really enjoyed and still am enjoying FFXIII on my PS3....not really sure why people are hating on this title. As for FFXVI...I have to agree that I wish enix would have stayed out of the square equation from the get go and based on what I have seen and heard from friends playing it, I will not be playing it, but I thought XIII was a nice game and really think people need to focus on something else.

[Coolmanrico]

According to some FF fans. Others fans like me enjoyed it. I get they didn't like the linear aspects of it, but after pointless roaming around in XII I was relieve. Everything else they complain about I just roll my eyes at.

[Knightofelemia]

Lets see why it tanked the fact Squaresoft became SquareEnix. Any Final Fantasy game after FF10 was pure crap. There are fans of FF12 out there but I did not like the game. Crisis Core did pritty good. And was it not long ago on N4G Square wanted to put a timer on FF14 to limit how long a player could play for when paying a subscription fee. And if it is true no wonder the sales suck for the game.

[MaideninBlack]

If FFXIV sold 247,112 in it's first week then why was the game absent from NPD's top ten where KH:BBS sold 225k on the PSP and Dead Rising sold over 300k across the PS3/360/PC?

VGCHARTS IS UNRELIABLE.

That being said, FFXIV in NA sold less than GH: WoR which was 86k.

[ALICE666]

Title should be.

"Final Fantasy XIV Sales Sink; Wada Forced to Resign."

But damn if only.

[mittwaffen]

They outsourced programmers for cheap, they got what they payed for.

Enix is profit driven, not quality.

[tweet75]

for the xbox and ps3 or Square enix risks loosing a good majority of its fanbase