those numbers are so far off it is not funny....
Since mmo's are a subscription based game, the numbers are lower than normal, but then again you have to look at turnover and retention rates. to get rough BOXED sales...
MMORPG specific data site:
Quote:
Final Fantasy XI (Accuracy Rating: B)
FF XI was released in Japan on May 16, 2002, and then in North America on October 29, 2003. Square-Enix used to provide specific subscriber figures fairly regularly, but in recent years they’ve become much more reserved. They’ve also provided interesting census data figures in 2004, 2005, and 2006. However, the figures from these censuses do not always line up with other sources. For example, it’s unclear if FFXI passed 500K subscribers in January 2004 or April 2004. Recent documents from Square-Enix will only confirm “over 500,000 players”, but given the ratio of characters to subscribers in previous census, the true number could be closer to 700,000. For now, I’ve decided to go with 500,000 subscribers as the most reliable estimate, until I receive further guidance from the company.
You also have to think about retention and "churn" rate(churn= the ratio of active players canceling accounts vs new players buying the box and signing up). Retention Rate for a MMO this old is probably at about 30% or so over the life of the mmo. what that means, that of every person that has BOUGHT the game 30% are active subscribers.... so FFXI OVERALL in it's many releases (release ps2, xbox360, pc, releases of said with expansions) has probably sold AROUND 1.5 million units. or more.
the most SUCCESSFUL MMO to date is World of Warcraft, with currently 8.5 million active accounts. Box Sales are probably well in Excess of that number (excluding the expansion that came out in november)- cannot accurately judgebox sales for wow due to several regions having NO box to buy...( china for one -and ~3 to 4 million accounts are in the asian market)
