https://twistedvoxel.com/final-fantasy-xvi-xbox-launch-weak-sales-performance/

Not even top 20 on Xbox

I just finished the game along with both DLC (put 100ish hours into it), while the graphics are good, the story is good, the music is good. Imo, FF16 has the worst battle system out of all FF games, and I have played and beaten all the mainline FF games. I am currently playing rebirth, and it is night and day different from 16. Maybe its just my taste in FF games, but rebirth is the best FF post PS1.

FF16 with a Clair Obscur Expedition 33 style battle system would have been peak. It's a prime example, for me at least, of an RPG that I complete in spite of it's battle system. I found the world and characters interesting. Ben Starr's performance as Clive was exceptional. 

I wonder how long Microsoft intends to pay money to get JRPG games no one cares about on their platform. They aren't getting JRPG fans to buy Xbox no matter how many games they pay to get on it.

Couldn't have said it better! Spot on!!!

I agree wholeheartedily. I love the dialouge, acting, score, graphics in FF16, but the gameplay is subpar.

In contrast FF7 Rebirth's battle system where everyone is playable with action elements and building up ATB bars to use magic and abilities makes the gameplay feel fun. I really do feel like the game suffered from being locked into Clive for the whole game.

I don't really want new turn based Final Fantasy's as I want the FF7Remake/Rebirth battle system as the new standard for the series due to it's balance. I haven't played the Expedition 33 yet, and maybe it will change my mind.

Square ported the PC version of FF16 to the Xbox Series consoles which probably greately reduced their development costs. And they still probably wont recoup the dev costs associated with porting it to Xbox. While its true that Sony has had some deals with Square for exclusivity, there is absolutely 0 incentives for Square to put their games on Xbox. In fact, legend has it that it was Square who approached Sony for the FF16 deal.... when you think about it, they probably made more money on the deal with Sony then they would by releasing it on Xbox. I think Square is more sly than we give them credit for. THEY are the ones who were seeking exclusivity because they already have done the math and they know its in their best interest.

They don't have to do that so much going forward now that they can ship on Switch 2 as well. Stil expect PlayStation to get the first go at FF7R:3.

It typically would be in the 6 digit to lower 7 digit range to port a game to another platform depending on the complexity of the game. And with the $70 Complete Edition of FFXVI hovering near the top 10 for a week now on Xbox, it'll easily surpass porting costs. They're just trying to squeeze every last sale they can now on the game.

I would drop the thought of SE being more sly than we give them credit for though lol. That's a bit of a revisionist take. They were the ones that were losing money left and right for years to the point they couldn't afford to have games exclusive anymore. An exclusivity contract on a AAA game will be good to at least cover a good chunk of development costs, but not all of it. The second their current CEO, Takashi Kiryu, took over, he immediately started changing how the company operated, starting with getting rid of exclusivity for their games because they were losing money for too long. Although I wouldn't be surprised if there's still several upcoming games that are exclusive based on existing contracts that were signed prior to his tenure (Such as FF7R Part 3), but the long term, Square will be fully multiplat.

Outside of a handful of exceptions, exclusivity doesn't work the way it used to for third parties.

Yeah it also made it on the top 10 in South Korea

I finished the game last week. I understand that sites like Easy Allies loved the game , they are friends with the director, voice actor etc it helps that friends make a game but I am surprised that their are gamers who love this and gave it 10/10.

Persona 5 royal, Clair Obscur a 10/10....sure , personally they are not perfect and can be annoying if you don't like some kind of gameplay but I don't understand it with FFXVI nothing is great about it and the only thing I personally like is the hub, I like main hubs that improve or get upgraded but anything else felt at best lacking.

Fetch quests were annoying and they added a 'complete quest fast travel' option but it doesn't solve the fact that they are rather annoying.

The RPG element is almost non existant, element attacks are gone and hitting with ice attacks on fire enemies seem to have no effect...so it becomes just press X or Square over and over again in sometimes very long cinematic fights.

The visuals are stunning but also make the game feel 'slow' running from A to B always felt it needed a sprint button. (One of the popular mods is a sprint button)

The narrative feels a bit influenced by Game Of Thrones but I personally don't like it, I prefer Fantasy, give me moogles,unique villages, airships etc instead and more fantasy characters.

After finishing this game I kind of hope that FFXVII's main platform is Switch 2 and that they are not pushing the graphics but the 'fun' part.