Final Fantasy 15 Director Clarifies 10 Million Sales Comments

Earlier this week, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata said the long-awaited RPG needed to sell 10 million copies for it to be a "success." However, at the time, it wasn't exactly clear if he meant a financial success or a success by some other measurement. Now, he's clarified his original comments.

In a statement to Famitsu, as reported by Final Fantasy fan site Novacrystallis, Tabata said the figure represents how many copies the team would like to see the game sell. It's not necessarily how many it needs to sell to turn a profit, however.

10 million is a big number and one that few games reach. Tabata acknowledged in his statement that it's a lofty goal, but said it represents the studio's ambitious outlook. "We've thought about what we need to do to achieve this number and tasked ourselves with this huge objective," Tabata said.

It is believed that Final Fantasy VII, released in 1997, is the best-selling game in the series, having tallied 11 million in sales across PlayStation, PSN, PC, and iOS, according to Siliconera.

Exactly how many copies Final Fantasy XV needs to sell to turn a profit is unknown. Publishers do not typically share this kind of information, though we may learn more about Square Enix's business expectations for the game in the coming months when Square Enix reports earnings next.

Given that Final Fantasy XV has been in development, in some form, for around a decade at least, it's likely that Square Enix's investment in the project has been significant. Plus, Square Enix is producing a full-length Final Fantasy XV movie as well as an anime series.

Final Fantasy XV launches in September 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A PC version could come later, but nothing has been decided. For more on all the announcements from this week's Uncovered event in Los Angeles, check out this roundup of stories and this collection of trailers.