An analyst who claimed Final Fantasy 16 had sold 3.5 million copies has apologised, insisting the figure was an estimate and not confirmed sales.
Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda has since revised the firm’s report to emphasise the figure derived from its own estimates and was not informed by Square Enix’s own numbers.
“Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda has apologised for his incorrect statement about Final Fantasy XVI sale figures!” explained Genki on Twitter/X (thanks, TheGamer).
“The original article stated that the number of copies Final Fantasy 16 [had sold] was stated by Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu during the financial results briefing, but this was based on Toyo Securities’ own estimate and was an incorrect statement by the author,” the Japanese-language report now reads, as translated by machine.
“We apologise and would like to correct this.”
Square Enix itself has been coy about Final Fantasy 16’s sales. Within a month of Final Fantasy 16’s June 2023 release, Square Enix claimed they had been “extremely strong”, but admitted one month later that sales did not meet expectations.
Last week, we learned the Final Fantasy series has now sold over 200m copies across the globe, cementing Final Fantasy as one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, even if sales have dipped in more recent years.
Square Enix shared the announcement on social media, along with the news the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series alone has sold over 5m copies worldwide.