IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

Square Enix Ships 1 Million Copies of Final Fantasy XIII

Posted December 15, 2009 by James Brightman

Similar to Square Enix's other major RPG franchise Dragon Quest, the launch of a new Final Fantasy is an event unto itself in Japan. On December 17, the much anticipated Final Fantasy XIII will hit store shelves in the land of the rising sun, and Square Enix has already shipped 1 million copies in preparation [thanks Kotaku]. 

The PS3-exclusive title will see another 150,000 copies shipped after the initial million, followed by yet another 150,000 for the following weekend. The net result is that Square Enix will have shipped a total of 1.3 million for the game's first week on sale in Japan. By comparison, Square Enix shipped 2 million copies of Final Fantasy XII on PS2 for its launch, but the PS2's installed base was substantially larger of course. 

Final Fantasy XIII was recently confirmed for a North American and European launch on March 9, 2010. Unlike Japan, it will be released on Xbox 360 here as well.

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.