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Soundwave on 06 May 2025
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Kyuu said:
Soundwave said:

Except the sales on PC weren't poor? 

If anything the baseline on the PS5 being low means it's very easy for things like PC and Switch 2 ports to meaningfully boost the end LTD run for a game like FF7 Rebirth. That extra 500k+ or whatever they will get from PC + another 500k+ from Switch 2 boosts the overall sales of the game significantly, whereas something like say Witcher 3 on Switch 1 which was successful is still only like 1.15-2 million copies sold against like 50 million copies total. 

And I think 500k+ is a bit of a conservative estimate too, Remake and Rebirth ports on Switch 2 in particular will do well in light of there not being a new Zelda game early in the Switch 2's product cycle IMO. 

Timed exclusivity has nothing to do with FF's decline/stagnation (the vast majority of commercially relevant "full exclusives" and "console exclusives" are just generational exclusives, and are therefore also "timed" in a sense). If anything, there is plenty of evidence that timed exclusivity can be smarter than day 1 multiplatform. Crash N.Sane Trilogy, Monster Hunter World, and Persona 5 for instance seemingly benefited from it.

Timed exclusives are easier to optimize, quicker to release, they benefit from moneyhatting (even "double moneyhatting" through GamePass), extra marketing, and multi-dipping (PC for specs/mods/free-online, and Switch for portability). The truth is people only act all morally outraged when the exclusive is on less preferred platforms, and will completely ignore it when it's on a platform they love.

500k is definitely conservative. It could potentially sell over 2 million lifetime on Switch 2, many of them double/triple dippers. Naturally, Japanese games will have decent sales splits on Switch due to Playstation's slow death in Japan and relevance decline in Asia. I also think/hope the trilogy's conclusion might considerably boost the combined sales. They're great games.

PC sales for Rebirth and especially 16 certainly look poor. Because you would think PS versions underperforming might have been a sign that a lot of fans chose to wait for the PC versions. But alas, the Final Fantasy problem goes much deeper.

Hard disagree especially in the modern game landscape where post 2020 Switch and Steam have become far bigger factors and the Playstation/XBox being the center of everything has diminished. 

If FF7 Remake was releasing now and had the benefit of a Switch 2 day 1 release to go with PS5 + Steam day 1 ... it would sell more. Significantly more IMO. 

Sony is not growing their audience at all either, globally the PS5 is selling below the PS4 which already finished miles behind the PS2 LTD, they've basically hit a roof and their audience base is getting into some ugly age demographics too (lots of 40 and 50 year olds). XBox meanwhile is just in a free fall into nothingness as a brand, but even that should be concerning for the Playstation ... they should be absorbing that XBox audience, but they're clearly not growing. People are just peacing out on consoles period and going to PC or Switch. 

Monster Hunter Wilds just came out and 50%+ of its sales were on PC according to NPD charts ... that's concerning too if I'm Sony. So factoring in XBox too, the PS5 had like maybe a 35-40% cut of MH Wilds opening month sales? That's honestly a bit disappointing. 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 06 May 2025