FFX-2 sales top 3m worldwide

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy X-2, the first direct sequel in the long-running RPG series, has sold over one million copies in North America since its November release date.

FFX-2, which follows the course of Final Fantasy X heroine Yuna after the defeat of Sin, has also reportedly sold more than two million units in Japan since its 13th March release date last year.

Meanwhile, European gamers are still waiting patiently to get their hands on the adventure, which will be distributed by EA in PAL territories on February 20th according to the publisher's latest estimate, almost a year after its Japanese debut.

Given the massive success of the original Final Fantasy X (which is an odd thing to write), which sold around 6.6 million copies worldwide, the forthcoming European release should help the X line of Final Fantasy games top ten million units worldwide, if it hasn't done so on the back of US and Japanese sales in the meantime.

Square Enix USA's CEO and president Jun Iwasaki said "Hitting this milestone reinforces the high review scores and widespread recognition Final Fantasy X-2 has received for its storyline, gameplay and graphics," before adding that "It also shows that fans of Final Fantasy X were waiting to continue the journey in this sequel. We are pleased with the wonderful response that Final Fantasy X-2 has received from the public and at retail."

Given the success of the game, don't be too surprised if Square Enix diversifies to extend more of the Final Fantasy series from now on, although it's worth restating that FFX was something of a unique opportunity, with technology and team already more or less in place. Revisiting an older chapter, like the seminal Final Fantasy V or VI, would be an altogether different undertaking, which perhaps explains the developer/publisher's use of a CGi movie to revisit chapter VII.