Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth "underperforming", says industry analyst
"It's selling about half of what Remake sold in the same timeframe."
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Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has reportedly sold "about half" the sales of its predecessor Remake in the same timeframe.
That's according to industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, who confirmed earlier today that the highly-anticipated RPG is "underperforming sales-wise".
"Not to be that guy, but Rebirth is underperforming sales-wise," Ahmad – who is director of research and insights at Niko Partners – said on Twitter/X.
When asked to justify his statement, Ahmad added: "It's selling about half of what Remake sold in the same timeframe and looks like it'll have a weaker tail (prior to any PS+-like release).
When then pressed for a source, Ahmad confirmed that the sales data comes from "equities research reports, who are getting the data from the usual trackers".
As some fans have pointed out, the two releases aren't strictly comparable, as Remake was released when most of the world was in lockdown at the started of the covid-19 pandemic. Remake's release in April 2020 also predates the current cost of living crisis, and at the end of the PS4's lifespan, whereas Rebirth is currently only playable on PS5.
It's also possible that the remake of one of gaming's most seminal titles likely attracted a lot of players intitally, but some may have not enjoyed it as much as the original and therefore chose not to pick up Rebirth.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was released on 29th February to critical acclaim. Ed described it as an "overstuffed but lovable re-imagining" of the original game in his Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review.
Shortly after the 1.020 patch was rolled out at the end of March, players who bought the game digitally discovered that they could not platinum the game due to a bug in one of the game's final side quests, Can't Stop, Won't Stop. Only players who could uninstall and then reinstall from the disc without reconnecting to the internet could secure the trophy.
Square Enix addressed the issue in the 1.030 patch, which was deployed on Thursday (11th April).