FFXIII sells 5.5m units for Square Enix

By Robert Purchese Published 18 May, 2010

DQIX, Batman help make record results.

Final Fantasy XIII and Dragon Quest IX have driven Square Enix sales through the roof.

The Japanese company today revealed a 42 per cent rise in revenue and a 50 per cent rise net income for the financial year ended 31st March 2010. Accountants were so pleased they used colour in the annual report.

Final Fantasy XIII - released early March 2010 - was the company's best performer. The role-playing game sold 5.55m units worldwide.

But Dragon Quest IX recorded the most individual sales, amassing a whopping total of 4.26m in Japan alone. DQIX will be released in Europe this summer.

Square Enix's acquisition of Eidos in March 2009 also paid dividends. Batman: Arkham Asylum sold 3.24m units globally and Just Cause 2 sold 1.19m.

Other games of note were Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (1.49m), Dragon Quest VI (1.29m) Dissidia: Final Fantasy (1.81m) and Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (760,000).

Square Enix highlighted calendar 2010 big-hitters as Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (27th August), Final Fantasy XIV Online (2010) and Front Mission Evolved (2010).

The company also plans to "strengthen own IPs" as well as "create new AAA brands". Among those mentioned in colourful circles were Deus Ex, Tomb Raider and Hitman.

But it's not all smiles, as Square Enix revealed that around 400 staff were laid off during the year [This sentence has been edited -Ed].

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Tomo #1 2 years ago

    Good bit of business for Squeenix that Eidos acquisition.

  • karooo #2 2 years ago

    It would have been 7 million had it gotten better reviews.

  • DoctorZoidberg #3 2 years ago

    I remember a lot of people saying how stupid it was buying Eidos. Don't hear them now do you!

    Also, Did I see Hitman in that story? I'd love a new hitman, I've played the last one to death.

  • menage #4 2 years ago

    Ugh, 5,5 for that piece of non interactivity, Bleh.

    I'll admit I was one of them, but I also didn't expect it to be sooooo boring. My dishwasher has more interactivity then that blasted game. I wouldn't even call it that anymore. Just a great looking game simulator.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/10 @ 14:23

  • uglygamer #5 2 years ago

    So who here fell for the hype?

    +1 if you did

    -1 if you didnt

  • darc #6 2 years ago

    I'm w/ menage on this one. I sold back my copy of FF XIII after about 10 hrs of play, for about half what I paid. In all honesty, I'd have taken much less.

  • icematt12 #7 2 years ago

    No mention of Batman Arkham Asylum 2? Did think a 2010 release may have been pushing it.

    As the first Final Fantasy game I really put the time in, I'm enjoying XIII. The things that may put the faithful off seemed to have interested me eg.linear. It's Just Cause 2 I'm unsure about. Still, they have some good brands and hopefully will continue to have positive financial reports. I wouldn't mind seeing a sci-fi FF someday, show Bioware how to do a RPG.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/10 @ 14:40

  • geeza2020 #8 2 years ago

    Well i didnt bother with FFXIII after all the reviews i read said that all the best parts of the games had been removed (exploration, discovery, tactics in battles etc) so they didnt get one of those 5.5m from me.

    Quite worried about the lack of batman AA 2 as well, the first was an awesome little game, although im more worried about how much they are going to fuck up Deus Ex. Fingers crossed, eh?

  • alcides #9 2 years ago

    FF13?

    Sometimes, they're not even trying to hide their laziness. Like the area made up of branching rooms, with the exact same monsters you have already hunted. Boooooring!!

    FF13 is an insult! Anyone who found it remotely entertaining, well, good on you that's perfectly fine with me. I thought boss battles were hectic, if and only if it's the first time you do them and you had your characters maxed up so you don't inevitably die. That was "remotely" enjoyable. My mind was blown by the attack of the "mother ship" on the balcony, GREAT!

    Otherwise? Inanition. Corridors. Boringness.

    I don't know what you guys thought of FF12, but I thought FF13 was a logical continuation of it. The kind of robotic logic only idiots with no understanding of what makes an RPG enjoyable could come up with. Rationalize, standardize, cut the fat!

    JRPGs are stupid, bland, tasteless, empty, unfun, robotic. Square (square!) found the "essence" of JRPGs: what people like in them. In the end, there is nothing. Although it used to work. It still worked for me with Chrono Cross 2 years ago. So... square succeded.

    Bravo Square!

  • iamian #10 2 years ago

    No mention of Batman 2 as it's not a Square Enix game. Publishing has gone back to Warner Bros...

  • roquey Verified Lead Quality Assurance Tester and Compliance Specialist, Universally Speaking #11 2 years ago

    Squenix have gone down hill with their 'RPG's of late. Im not rating Neir either. however i am pondering XIV.

  • menage #12 2 years ago

    @ alcides

    Hey now, Lost Odyssey was pretty decent.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/10 @ 14:57

  • alcides #13 2 years ago

    oh hum

    Maybe it had the special something Square is missing... you know.. talent with a sexy mustache.
    I'm not saying the whole genre is bad, I'm only saying it's a very hard genre to tackle, because, deep down, it's ultra boring if unbalanced.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #14 2 years ago

    Batman AA2 is under Warner Bros now, since SE kind of stupidly sold Rock Steady to Warner. You'd have thought they'd want to keep Rock Steady, especially with B:AA2 on the cards, but alas no. I really hope they can come up with something similar, now they don't have the Batman license.

    There's still a lot of good western talent under the Eidos banner though, and now their product is more diverse than before. I hope both Deus Ex and Front Mission Evolved turn out well. And while I'm not a Lara Croft fan, I hope the can do something positive with that IP.

    What, I'd like to see from SEE, is less FF, but I know that's not going to happen.

  • miiiguel #15 2 years ago

    I like FF13, I'm loving the hunts over Pulse. I also enjoyed the "on-rails jrpg" (briliant inovation, ehehe!). Then again, I don't get bored easily.

  • jag10 #16 2 years ago

    maybe now they'll get working on versus. hopefully it will be released in 2011.

  • Retro_ #17 2 years ago

    Am i the only one who really enjoyed FFXIII? btw, I also loved Demon's souls so be kind to me !!

  • menage #18 2 years ago

    You're lucky, that just balanced out right there;D

  • Goodfella #19 2 years ago

    I'm a big fan of the FF series and I liked FFXIII to start with then it soon became apparent that the first 10 hours I played was how it was going to be to the very end. Boring. Terrible story, terrible script, terrible voice acting. L'Cie this, Fal'cie that, L'Cie, L'Cie, L'Cie blah blah blah that's all you ever heard.

    Somehow I managed to finish it though and sold it on Amazon to some mug (sorry whoever you are) for only £3 less than I paid for it.

    Whoever mentioend Nier, I took a risk and bought it the other week and completed it, I enjoyed almost every minute of it despite it's shortcomings. Superb story and characters and a nice combat system. Way more enjoyable than FFXIII.

  • Tuffty #20 2 years ago

    Why do I get the feeling that even with Versus' promise of having an open world, people will complain about it not being innovating enough?

  • menage #21 2 years ago

    It didn't need innovation, It needed me actually using more buttons and not having that stupid switch stance thing all the freaking time. Ridiculous concept of changing your stance to the same fucking one just to fill up your meter. Looked stupid.

    It also needed a better story, less Cie, and more variety. A LOT MORE!
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/10 @ 15:32

  • GamesConnoisseur #22 2 years ago

    Finished FFXIII, but WONT be replaying it and also not bothered enough to do hunts. Had reasonably good fun but just too linear and predictable. New area, fights, fights, items, fights, story cut scene etc etc.

    What is very telling is among group of five mates. I was only one to get to end and two other chosen to trade in less than half way in. Two more are still aiming to finish sometimes 'soon'.

    The most successful FF to date? Andecotes speak for themselves as well as critical reviews.

  • JDFreeman #23 2 years ago

    The worst thing is even is Squeenix learned from the mistakes of FFXIII and decide to make a game with Content over style, how long would we have to wait?

  • miiiguel #24 2 years ago

    My only complaint story-wise is that the characters needed a bit more depth, some sort of background (charisma?). Pulse is a beautifull world, and has all the exploration and "openness" I need/expected. All in all I think the semi-core FF fans were heavily influenced by the reviews (which, tbf, are bullshit when it comes to +80 hour games - writers simply don't have the time to make an educated opinion of these).
    Hardcore (who I am not, btw) love the game, at least it's what it seems when I read papers describing the combat system, or crafting guides around the net - it's almost surreal the dedication/love of some users.
    To me, heads and shoulders above average, well worth the money and a fine collection item of popular digital culture.

  • galerian86 #25 2 years ago

    Not a mention of FF Versus 13.

    Who wanna beat that it will be canned?

  • menage #26 2 years ago

    Shame it took 30 freaking hours to remotely get involving though. What kind of game design is that?

    Like the Games TM review claiming it all comes together halfway through. FUCK THAT. I have a job, a GF, a life, I don't waste 30 hours on crap. Maybe if you're a games journalist you have plenty of time ti fuck around with it, but what kind of twat are you if you don't actually think about your readers and who plays games besides them at all and say fuck you internet, you have it wrong,

    Any game that takes 30 hours to get good is a massive failure in my book. And I finished plenty of JRPG with 80 on the clock.

  • Vice.Destroyer #27 2 years ago

    @menage To be honest, Lost Odyssey was terrible. Blue Dragon was awesome.

    :)

  • menage #28 2 years ago

    It;s all personal preference of course. :p.

    Still, LO rules!

  • miiiguel #29 2 years ago

    @menage : hey, chill, don't need to get angry. It's kinda strange to read ppl getting all defensive with the usual speech "I have a life" when it comes to a bit more demanding video-games. Nowdays there are games for everyone. So this is not for you, that's should be ok, you have a life and all :)

  • davisorle #30 2 years ago

    Ofc Squenix would make most of their profit now with specially FF tittle out of the door. Nothing unexpected. What is unexpected is the poor sales of it. Considering that it's released on both PS3 & 360 Id expect way WAY higher sale numbers from it. Not sure if it's cause it wasn't as much of a good ( gameplaywise cause graphically it's great ) FF tittle or another factor.

    As for Hitman they better refress it in the way Splinter Cell did ( I think it needs it ).
    About Tomb Raider I hate the fact they made it arcadish but im glad it has a very aplaudable pricing on XBLA.
    Now... About Deus Ex, Enix I'm talking to you! You better not let s down and revive apropriately that IP cause if you ruin it i'll hate your guts.

  • UGhost #31 2 years ago

    @SpaceMonkey77 - not quite; the owners of Rocksteady sold their stake (ie the bit that wasn't owned by Square Enix) to Warners.

  • menage #32 2 years ago

    @mili

    Sorry:), wasn't ranting at anyone here.

    Also "demanding" isn't the word I would use with FFXIII, not by a long shot. :D I wish it was demanding, then I wouldn't be ranting.
    Edited by 2 at 18/05/10 @ 16:47

  • miiiguel #33 2 years ago

    ^ +1.

    Demanding is ambiguous, it does "demand" some patience and "sense of mission" (aka wasting time, to some)

    :)

  • geeza2020 #34 2 years ago

    Menage - Lost Odyssey was great, i agree. Well until the fourth disc anyway, when constant random crashes ruined the game and prevented me from playing it. I heard many people had this problem, which is a shame really.

  • miiiguel #35 2 years ago

    4th disc had a problem in many copies. I had to buy a 2nd LO, my 360 simply couldn't read the 4th disc. Between LO and BD I like the later most (although LO is also very good), but it has a big problem - waaaay too easy.
    LO DLC on the other hand has one of the hardest bosses (imo) to ever spawn in a jrpg. Lovely fight. One to remember.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/10 @ 17:12

  • funkateer #36 2 years ago

    I completely understand the complaints of FFXIII, but I personally found it strangely compelling and addictive and so far it's one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen.

    But then again, I also really liked FFXII with its Gambit system and I never really cared that much for FFVII and FFVIII so I'm probably not a good example of a 'true' FF fan :-)

  • craziii #37 2 years ago

    am I the only one who hate the grind in jrpgs? I get bore out of my mind playing it.

  • Hunam #38 2 years ago

    That is a lot of million+ sellers close together. Shame the rest of their year looks a bit weaker than I'd like.

  • Wyrm #39 2 years ago

    I have pretty much given in to the fact that FFXIII is a bad game. I went back and played FFVII recently for a short while as I bought it on PSN a short while ago and I enjoyed that experience ten-fold more than a single second of FFXIII.

  • sfp_noodle #40 2 years ago

    FFXIII deserves its criticisms because in all honesty, the game played itself. Even the battles seemed to be automated and I hated the whole 'only one controllable character' rubbish. I'm not against linear game design as long as it is fun. This game had no fun. People call the Metal Gear Solid games interactive movies but FFXIII is what I would call an interactive movie. The only buttons I used for the 10 hours i wasted on it were the analogue stick and the X button. Terrible terrible game.

    It also didn't help that it had the most annoying character in video game history. I wish they put Vanille in Dissidia just so I could batter her.

    Over and over again.

  • darc #41 2 years ago

    "FF13 is an insult!"

    Exactly how I felt. Patronizing. For instance, looking at the minimap and seeing a straight line pretty much all the time, then every so often the predictable little wart of an optional path, which EVERY SINGLE TIME would be a 10 foot detour to a dead end with that little IDENTICAL orb of loot bouncing in a corner. In the back of my head I would hear a voice say, "Good dog, here's your biscuit. Now be a good boy press your X button some more." (The game never made me care enough to find out what all the little crap in the orbs was for anyway. Maybe if I saved up enough of them I could buy an... orb.) I actually stopped playing this game because I was afraid it was going to kill my X button sooner or later. Well, there were a dozen reasons to stop playing it, but the fact that actually crossed my mind bears mentioning.

    It's a beautiful, beautiful game to look at, but in every other regard it is a turd. Right down to the script and that god-awful Titanic-wannabe theme song. It might turn to gold after 30 hours but that doesn't even begin to change my mind. If anything it seals the case *against* the game.

    P.S. Forgot to mention how utterly non-intuitive/ off-putting the character advancement (as in, you know, "RPG";) mechanic was. Weirdest, least informative UI, ever.
    Edited by 1 at 18/05/10 @ 19:11

  • Feanor #42 2 years ago

    "The only buttons I used for the 10 hours i wasted on it were the analogue stick and the X button."

    So you never looked in the menu? Retard.

  • Wolverfrog #43 2 years ago

    I love Final Fantasy XIII. And yes, I've played previous Final Fantasies, so that's not just me being a newbie to the franchise.

  • TRUTH #44 2 years ago

    I lost interest in FF games ages ago, so overrated and have annoying characters with silly looks...Fallout, Oblivion, Mass Effect, Fable, Demon's Souls are now my joy of quality rpg/adv gaming. I now find FF games over hyped, and too overrated, over produced, silly with to much FMV.

    There are so many better games that surpass FF, but simply don't get the reconciliation they deserve.

  • Bluetooth #45 2 years ago

    I only played FFXIII til the end because I thought Vanille and Fang were going to get together in the end. Turns out they did, in a way.

  • Pwnsweet #46 2 years ago

    If SquareEnix wanted to make money they'd remake FFVII...

  • nasanu #47 2 years ago

    I really like FFXIII. It's amazing but hardly surprising that people bitch about such stupid things like aimlessly wondering around towns. What if RPGs never had towns and FXIII introduced them? Then there would be something to complain about.

    Imagine it. WTF is this? I have to wonder all over this stupid town checking every identical room and every identical house just to find some granny hiding in an attic so I can advance the story?! There would be an outrage. Hunting through towns is BORING, and why is it an accepted norm that you should be allowed into peoples houses so you can interrogate them and steal their stuff?

    And the fighting. Sure the opening of the game takes you by the hand and all you have to do is press x. But come chapter 11 that wont get you very far. I was quite levelled up by that state but unless I was careful and used status effects and paradigm shifts I would see a game over screen fast. There is quite a lot of strategy there if you look.

    Personally I hope that RPGs don't go back to the 'wonder all over the map till you speak to the correct sequence of people to trigger the next event' style of play. FFXIII is a step in the right direction.

  • qwertymz #48 2 years ago

    I.. really enjoyed FFXIII. Clocked up more than 50 hours on it, and never felt it was "linear" or dragging. Loved the battles!

    Some things they could have really improved:
    - The story. After I finished the game, I was too confused to understand. End game FMV is just bizarre. Needed to look at it on YouTube and read wiki to understand what was going on.

    - New Game+ -- seriously, why not!

    - Chapter 13: All the red and floating stuff and... just no. Graphical disaster.

  • Goodfella #49 2 years ago

    @ nasanu

    I think you're over simplifying grievances there. Personally my main bone of contention is not the lack of towns, far from it, the game is just tedium personified. ALL you do is walk, fight, watch crap conversation about L'Cie.

    Games like FFVII deviated a lot, little things like the bike chase, the snowboarding, the part when your strapped to a chair being tortured and have to hammer a button, things like that really break it up. FFXIII does nothing! It's watered down beyond belief.
    Edited by 1 at 19/05/10 @ 09:25

  • geeza2020 #50 2 years ago

    nasanu -
    exploring towns is boring? get the fuck out. Thats one of the main staples of RPG's. Exploration. Go back to fucking MW, and GoW and leave the RPG's to people with more than one fucking braincell.

  • menage #51 2 years ago

    Linearity isn't the problem. It's doing the same freaking task over and over again. The game basically has one gameplay trick and spins it out over 60 hours. The rest of the game is just window dressing.

    One big example is the weapon upgrading. You get all these different items to enhance your weapons, but they all do the fucking same. You slap 5 dinowings on a weapon, and it's 25%+, but if you slap 5 chickenhooves on it, it's exactly the same. Totally pointless incorporating all these items at all (at least as far as I played, but that's 30 hours).

    The whole game is just a huge freaking lie. It let'[s you think it has deep systems, but they're either fake or computer controlled.

  • Bluetooth #52 2 years ago

    The biggest problem, besides the obvious linearity, cut and paste environments (each chapter was just a sea of brown rocks/glaciers etc.etc... is that it requires 25 HOURS of play before it "opens up"... people say it's great once you get past that stage, but seriously, what game, no, what activity are you willing to invest 25 hours of shit in before you get to the good part? If I told you you had to swim through piss for 25 hours before you get to have a sex orgy with all the women you fancy, is that acceptable?

    And no, after 25 hours FFXIII is nowhere near as good as that either.

  • nasanu #53 2 years ago

    @geeza2020

    Walk into town.
    loading...
    walk into house.
    loading.....
    talk to npc. press x. press x. press x. press x.
    follow every wall looking for something to interact with. walk up stairs.
    loading....
    follow every wall looking for something to interact with. walk down stairs.
    loading....
    walk outside
    loading....
    X12

    story wont advance...
    repeat process.

    You consider that to be fun, yet you say I and the brain dead one.

  • darc #54 2 years ago

    @nasanu - I understand where you're coming from, but my answer to what you've written is that perhaps your ideal game is not an RPG at all. By the time you strip an RPG of all of the things you seem to consider boring, you've turned the game into something that's better described as an action-adventure or what have you. RPG fans actually *like* all that boring exploration and decision-making. Weird, I know. (We're also not as obsessed with our X-buttons as FFXIII fans, so far as I can tell. ;)

    @Milky - Oh, so occasionally you use not one but TWO buttons!!! Well, obviously I overlooked the incredible depth of this game, then. :o
    Edited by 1 at 19/05/10 @ 18:36