Final Fantasy XIV saw smashing success in the latter months of 2021 with its release of the highly anticipated Endwalker expansion, and a Square Enix sales report shows the MMO was the main reason for an increase in net sales that year, despite the fact that the company halted the sale of it to reduce queue times.
The report shows that Final Fantasy XIV subscribers, and the sale of its newest expansion, is a large part of the reason why Square Enix had a large increase in year-over-year net sales. While the HD games category was slightly lacking in 2021 compared to 2020, it’s mostly due to major titles being released in 2020. But the MMO sector made up for that.
“Net sales rose YoY in the MMO sub-segment thanks not only to substantial growth in paying subscriber numbers or ‘Final Fantasy XIV‘ but also the successful launch of an expansion pack for the title,” the report reads.
In fact, Endwalker was so successful that developers stopped the sales of any version of the game shortly after its release and also suspended the creation of new trial accounts, which gives players the ability to play Final Fantasy XIV up until level 60 and includes the critically acclaimed Heavensward expansion.
This isn’t the first time the company has suspended purchases of new games, either. Last July, game sales were suspended after World of Warcraft streamer Asmongold started playing the game.
Sales of the base game and expansion packs have resumed on the Square Enix website and the trial account pause was lifted today, which means that Square Enix can expect sales to continue to rise, especially since the developers are hard at work making patch content for the lead-up to 7.0.
