Square Enix has said that it is “pleased” with Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s initial shipment of 3.5 million units, especially since the publisher produced fewer physical copies due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
In his financial presentation for the fiscal year ended March 31, president Yosuke Matsuda said that physical sales were below expectations due to the pandemic, but they were offset by a spike in digital sales. This works out in Square Enix’s favor because it’ll lead to a better gross margin.
When asked if the publisher plans to release Final Fantasy VII Remake on other platforms, Matsuda said that he will refrain from commenting “for now.” However, Square Enix believes that capturing new players is “key,” and revealed that it has plans for “initiatives to capture players throughout the year.”
“I also note that we will not engage in any marketing strategy that relies solely on pricing,” Matsuda added.
Elsewhere in the presentation, Square Enix said that unlike other companies, it won’t be hosting its own digital event in lieu of the cancelled E3 2020. Matsuda noted that the pandemic is preventing the publisher from assembling required material for a digital event so it’ll unveil new titles on a case-by-case basis at an appropriate time.
Despite the ongoing challenges, Final Fantasy VII Remake has managed to break franchise records both digitally and physically, according to recent reports by the NPD Group and SuperData. In the United States, it was the best-selling game of April 2020.
[Source: Square Enix]
