Ever since its release, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been potentially underperforming in many facets, and there are plenty of reasons for it. It has the roughest sales-wise time, which was completely unexpected from a Final Fantasy title. But it is not as surprising since we have seen quite a few commercial disappointments from Square Enix recently.
Key Takeaways
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth seems to be underperforming in sales compared to Remake, as reported by industrial analyst Daniel Ahmad.
- There could be a lot of factors that contribute to its failure in the sales department, with its PlayStation 5 exclusivity being a major one.
- Other factors involve tough competition, blurred story execution, and little to no marketing.
Tough Competition
The source comes from a very credible industrial analyst, Daniel Ahmad, who is the director of research and insights at the Niko partners. Taking it to X, he said that Rebirth is underperforming sales-wise and is selling about half of what Remake sold in a similar period.
Comparing Rebirth to the sales of Remake, there are a lot of different factors that might be because the former did not perform well sales-wise. However, I would also like to state that Square Enix has not provided official numbers regarding Rebirth sales.
Rebirth Is A PS5 Exclusive
I believe the leading factor is the fact that it is PS5 exclusive, which only has around 54 million base units sold worldwide as compared to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which was released on PS4 and has sold over 100 million units.
Another factor that might be contributing to its lower sales is the fact that FF7 Remake was released during the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone had a lot of free time on their hands. This was a booming time for the gaming industry, so high sales were expected, especially from a Final Fantasy title.
Also, we cannot ultimately ignore the fact that Square Enix has still not released an official sales figure, as it usually releases the report around this period post-launch. Considering the economic circumstances, not many can afford PS5, so its exclusivity might be a big factor in its low sales.
Story And Technical Issues
Undoubtedly, it might be a factor that being a PS5 exclusive led to Rebirth not being able to sell out much, but we cannot ignore the fact that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom managed to sell over 20 million copies despite it being only switched exclusive. This is because Final Fantasy was much more popular than Zelda. So, there are definitely other factors at play here as well. Marketing and the storyline played a role as well in its sales.
Many fans did not quite like the ending of Remake and its storyline as a whole. This can also be one of the reasons it did not do well in sales. Also, Rebirth is a sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and to truly enjoy it, you will have to play and finish Remake.
There were a lot of technical issues as well, which gave the title a bad overall look. There were a lot of expectations for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and not many people received it as much as the original, which might also have led to fans not giving Rebirth a chance at all.
Commercial Disappointments
Besides Final Fantasy Rebirth, there is not much going on for Square Enix when it comes to its other titles as well. For instance, Forespoken, Neo: The World Ends with You, and several other recent titles failed to do well financially. Even Foamstars did not do well and have lost around 94% of its players post-release. Now, it feels like Rebirth is just another addition to Square Enix’s commercial failures.
Even with all odds against it, I highly believe that just proper marketing and releasing it on other platforms might save Rebirth. We are still waiting for any official reports from Square Enix and its plan to salvage Rebirth.
Good job! Please give your positive feedback 😏
How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 💡
Meet Ayesha, a business student and a Game Guides writer whose passion for gaming knows no bounds. With a keen interest in simulation and RPG genres like Disney Dreamlight Valley, Starfield, and Final Fantasy Series, she’s been sharing her expertise at VeryAli Gaming for a year now, enhancing the gaming experience for players worldwide. Check out what Ayesha likes to play on her Steam.
