14 DAY TRIAL // Square Enix is saying that Final Fantasy XIII, the latest installment in the long running Japanese role playing game series, has managed to sell more than 1 million copies in its first day on sales on the Japanese market.
The game is selling for the equivalent of about 100 dollars in Yen and Square Enix has shipped about 2 million copies to retailers before the launch date; thus, it is now saying it will supplement them.
Final Fantasy XIII will certainly top the sales chart in Japan when the figures comes out and Square Enix is stating that it could sell more than 3 million units in one month on shelves. The release seems to be as big as that of Final Fantasy XII, the last game in the franchise that arrived on the PlayStation 2, which is a good sign considering that the install base for the older generation console was bigger than that of the PS3.
Final Fantasy XIII is set to be outed on Western markets in March, on the PlayStation 3 but also on the Xbox 360, and Square Enix is certainly hoping that the launch day performance will be as good as in Japan. The publisher has opened up a game space for the JRPG experience in the Home social area, where virtual goods and accessories can be bought. Square Enix is also taking applications from gamers for the beta stage of Final Fantasy XIV, which is set to be a MMO and might arrive in late 2010 in Japan.
The publisher announced earlier in 2009 that it plans to expand into the Western games markets, a fact clearly exemplified by the acquisition of Eidos, just as the importance of the Japanese market diminishes. Final Fantasy XIII is part of this expansion strategy and its release will be closely watched.