The game has been out now (up and running and available for purchase) for a month.  So where does it stand?

I thought it'd be a reasonable time to look at how the game has done, sales-wise.  I'd also like to know if there's any reasonable figures for the current population although I know it's too early to see any true information about player retention due to the free 60 days now.  In spite of that, it should be easy to see any trends that have developed since launch and perhaps get an idea of what retention may be like as players finish their free time.

Source: VGChartz Final Fantasy XIV Online (PC) Sales

While I find it a bit odd that the numbers for Japan still aren't listed - and if anyone has an alternate source for those that'd be great - VGChartz is showing a fairly sharp decline in sales from pre-order to launch.  Following the two prior links, and watching the game's trends from one month to release, you can see steady growth until launch ranging from 8k~ pre-orders to over 23k~ the week of pre-release for America.  Given there was no worldwide pre-order chart, tracking the worldwide numbers from launch to now shows that sales have fallen from over 61k~ in the game's first week down to barely 18k~ in the past week, with this week's numbers soon to update this weekend.

If there was a reasonably reliable estimate on the current active population, it'd be fairly easy to get an idea of retention rates thus far which would give a better overall picture of how people are receiving the game.

^{Disclaimer: For anyone wondering why; out of curiousity and interest, not for troll's sake.}

In related news, only 12 topics have been posted to in this forum in the last 24 hours.

Thanks OP, its interesting and useful to see the actual data plotted.  To make this plot more meaningful, perhaps you could plot this with similar data for other games during their launch, I would be very curious to see how they compare.  If you do the comparisons, just compare total sales for each game, dont break it down by region.

tl;dr  Compare data with the other big name MMOs  during their launch please. 

Originally posted by Shiymmas

The game has been out now (up and running and available for purchase) for a month.  So where does it stand?

 

I thought it'd be a reasonable time to look at how the game has done, sales-wise.  I'd also like to know if there's any reasonable figures for the current population although I know it's too early to see any true information about player retention due to the free 60 days now.  In spite of that, it should be easy to see any trends that have developed since launch and perhaps get an idea of what retention may be like as players finish their free time.

 

 

Week	Americas	Japan	EMEAA	Worldwide	Running Total
1	223,194	N/A	23,918	247,112	247,112
2	50,897	N/A	10,419	61,316	308,428
3	20,547	N/A	4,936	25,483	333,911
4	15,998	N/A	2,158	18,156	352,067
Ten Week Totals:	310,636	0	41,431	352,067
Lifetime Totals:	310,636	0	41,431	352,067

 

Source: VGChartz Final Fantasy XIV Online (PC) Sales

While I find it a bit odd that the numbers for Japan still aren't listed - and if anyone has an alternate source for those that'd be great - VGChartz is showing a fairly sharp decline in sales from pre-order to launch.  Following the two prior links, and watching the game's trends from one month to release, you can see steady growth until launch ranging from 8k~ pre-orders to over 23k~ the week of pre-release for America.  Given there was no worldwide pre-order chart, tracking the worldwide numbers from launch to now shows that sales have fallen from over 61k~ in the game's first week down to barely 18k~ in the past week, with this week's numbers soon to update this weekend.

 

If there was a reasonably reliable estimate on the current active population, it'd be fairly easy to get an idea of retention rates thus far which would give a better overall picture of how people are receiving the game.

 

^{Disclaimer: For anyone wondering why; out of curiousity and interest, not for troll's sake.}

Those numbers are correct but for accuracy purposes you need to put them in context with the week dates. The first week shown ends on September 25th (3 days after CE launch), which is all preorder sales. The second week shown ends on October 2nd (1 day after Standard Launch), and again is all prelaunch for the general public (not CE). The last two weeks shown are the only ones that show the actual trend after launch.

Yes, we do have 4 weeks of data there, but it is not four 4 weeks of data for after public launch yet, only the last 2 weeks show sales AFTER launch. If you look at those two alone you see 25k and 18k increases - still a ~25% decrease, but there arent' enough data points to determine any type of trend. If the report that comes out tomorrow (10/23) shows an additional ~25% decline in sales then we might be able to show a start of a trend. But you can't really look at only two data points and call it a trend yet. Also, you have to take into account that there are 60 days of free play on this game, plus all the buddy keys (and extensions on those) to take into account as well.

This is good data yes, just a bit early to call anything on. Give it at least two more weeks of data to get a better idea, six to eight weeks if you want an accurate picture without buddy keys and free/trial time included. And I also would love to see JP numbers included in this.

It would be interesting to see Japan's influence.  At the same time, another AAA mmorpg within the past 6 years that still can't boast that their doing any better than the others in the past 6 years, save Aion.  And still doesnt have enough umph to show that a well made AAA pve-centric mmo can do any better than a pvevp-centric mmo by an Indie studio like CCP. 

Originally posted by Kaocan

Those numbers are correct but for accuracy purposes you need to put them in context with the week dates. The first week shown ends on September 25th (3 days after CE launch), which is all preorder sales. The second week shown ends on October 2nd (1 day after Standard Launch), and again is all prelaunch for the general public (not CE). The last two weeks shown are the only ones that show the actual trend after launch.

Yes, we do have 4 weeks of data there, but it is not four 4 weeks of data for after public launch yet, only the last 2 weeks show sales AFTER launch. If you look at those two alone you see 25k and 18k increases - still a ~25% decrease, but there arent' enough data points to determine any type of trend. If the report that comes out tomorrow (10/23) shows an additional ~25% decline in sales then we might be able to show a start of a trend. But you can't really look at only two data points and call it a trend yet. Also, you have to take into account that there are 60 days of free play on this game, plus all the buddy keys (and extensions on those) to take into account as well.

This is good data yes, just a bit early to call anything on. Give it at least two more weeks of data to get a better idea, six to eight weeks if you want an accurate picture without buddy keys and free/trial time included. And I also would love to see JP numbers included in this.

Yeah, I guess I should've been clearer that the 8k-23k per week numbers were for pre-order, but it's mentioned in there nevertheless.  The chart itself merely shows that from the week of release to the second week (after the full release) the game sold more than 61k units.  The following week after release saw a pretty large dip from that 61k~ to 25.5k, or about a 45%~ drop.  Pre-orders included in those numbers or not; that's a pretty steep decline in interest from the week before launch to post-release.

As I said in the post, I was wanting to compare the sales numbers so far against a reliable active player count estimate.  The biggest problem with gaining any degree of accuracy with those would be the buddy keys, which you mentioned.

That said, I figure that there could still be some estimations made about how good their retention is, in spite of the 60 free days.  People that were going to quit would likely still quit, regardless of free time given.  Either way, this week's numbers should be up in the next couple days, and in the meantime, we still need an accurate player count.

On top of that, I'm not really concerned with whether or not people are still buying the game.  The point of the thread is to determine how many folks stay after they buy the box.  It'd be nice to have the numbers to see not only how many people remain interested, but how well retention goes over time which would illustrate how good of a job SE is doing to fix the problems players have with the game.  If we had that kind of info, new people or those interested would be more capable of making an informed decision on when (and if) they should buy the game.  So don't worry Kaocan, no underlying attempts to diss FFXIV here. :P

Oh, and I tried to find another MMO release to compare to, but I can't seem to find any that have been tracked by VGChartz.  In fact, going back on their sales chart by a year shows no PC games listed at all, so I'd assume they've only recently (the past few months or more) begun tracking PC games.  In fact, PC isn't even listed under their hardware tools.  Not sure on other reliable sales tracking sites, but anyone's welcome to link other resources, should they have any.

Looks similar to numbers posted a few weeks ago after the standard edition was launched. Anyways its all well and good. We all knew initial sales would do all right, but the numbers I am curious about are the resubs. But we wont see those til Dec possibly Jan.

There is nothing remarkable about this, most games sell propotionately more copies in the first week than the subsiquent following weeks.

Well here's something interesting I've just found. The FF XIV Server Population over the month of October. Need I say more:

Well the Numbers say this far, that is does have a typical fall in numbers after start for a MMORPG. Consider the Freeplaycards and other stuff. I guess really useful numbers are first tehre after the 60 days now.

Aside of that  I have maybe  overlooked this  but are these numbers taken at a certain daypoint or are this the numbers about how many people logged in at the statistical middle from all over the day?

It is mainly curiosity in that acse since I know that Besaid does have low times with only 1400 people around and than others that are higher than this. Not to mention that over different timezones different people play.

Interesting from all accounts I was lead to believe it was doing terribly. Hmm I actually want to pick this up since I played FFXI.

Originally posted by Master10K

Well here's something interesting I've just found. The FF XIV Server Population over the month of October. Need I say more:

Lindblum -1 (I just canceled my account)

In general... It's sad to see a big-time corp like SE make a product that's sold in such low numbers, and see the population decline so fast as well. Each char lost per server is a canceled account, since the new SE account system cancels your whole account immediately (I can't play anymore though I have till december 15th for my free 60-days - not that I do care...).

Lets be honest. You sell only 435K copies of a game, and within a month 70K players (more than 15%) has canceled their account already. I think the rest of the players will wait till their 2nd month is over before they make the choice to stick with it or cancel as well.

IMO, SE messed up big-time with their new FF game :(

Most likely believed their brand was so fabulous that the gaming public will take anything w/ the Final Fantasy stamp.  Unlike other MMO which have been FAIL upon release, this company was not in threat of going under.  They could've easily delayed launch.

These numbers are fine. Every game goes through this trend. First is the initial surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch, where theres a sudden surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch. See a pattern?

Originally posted by birdycephon

These numbers are fine. Every game goes through this trend. First is the initial surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch, where theres a sudden surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch. See a pattern?

Seconded.

A game's biggest sales happen before launch day, you can look up most games on VGChartz and see a similar pattern, even amongst blockbusters.

As for the declining server populations, it's quite natural for people who buy a game to get bored of it and move on after awhile, and this applies even to MMORPGs, despite their retention mechanics.

If anything, I'm rather encouraged at the numbers I see here.  The game is still selling, well after the initial release-day hype, and retention has been higher than I'd expect to see from a game that nobody enjoys.

Originally posted by geldonyetich

Originally posted by birdycephon

These numbers are fine. Every game goes through this trend. First is the initial surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch, where theres a sudden surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch. See a pattern?

Seconded.

A game's biggest sales happen before launch day, you can look up most games on VGChartz and see a similar pattern, even amongst blockbusters.

As for the declining server populations, it's quite natural for people who buy a game to get bored of it and move on after awhile, and this applies even to MMORPGs, despite their retention mechanics.

If anything, I'm rather encouraged at the numbers I see here.  The game is still selling, well after the initial release-day hype, and retention has been higher than I'd expect to see from a game that nobody enjoys.

WoW did not.

EVE did not.

Lineage did not.

....Tired of people making excuses for poorly managed MMOs.  How many more charts, reviews, threads, blogs,  or other forms of evidence has to be linked before they admit that the game should be dropped and either put back in development or cancelled all together.

Originally posted by Clocksimus

Originally posted by geldonyetich

Originally posted by birdycephon

These numbers are fine. Every game goes through this trend. First is the initial surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch, where theres a sudden surge, and then a steady decline until the next big patch. See a pattern?

Seconded.

A game's biggest sales happen before launch day, you can look up most games on VGChartz and see a similar pattern, even amongst blockbusters.

As for the declining server populations, it's quite natural for people who buy a game to get bored of it and move on after awhile, and this applies even to MMORPGs, despite their retention mechanics.

If anything, I'm rather encouraged at the numbers I see here.  The game is still selling, well after the initial release-day hype, and retention has been higher than I'd expect to see from a game that nobody enjoys.

WoW did not.

EVE did not.

Lineage did not.

You need to be more specific.

WoW was a runaway blockbuster that no one has been able to replicate, comparing any other game to it is ridiculous.

EVE Online most certainly was at least as dismal as Final Fantasy XIV at release, largely being panned as lousy "spreadsheets in space."  It didn't really catch on until years after release, and then largely amongst a rather peculiar crowd.

Lineage... seriously, you're holding up that 1998 grind as a sign of what a good MMORPG looks like?  It wasn't even released here until several years after it was in South Korea and outlying areas, and much of its subscription numbers are bolstered by cyber-cafe subscriptions.

Basically, you've completely lost sight of the details behind every instance of what you mentioned here.

right now all those numbers are basically buy-to-play. when payment cycles begin hitting, the numbers will take a big nosedive. If I were SE right now I'd delay subscription until console launch.

they simply don't have a product worth monthly billing on. If they want to make money, they need a popular and quality product first. If they charge now they kill all hope.

Originally posted by Robokapp

right now all those numbers are basically buy-to-play. when payment cycles begin hitting, the numbers will take a big nosedive. If I were SE right now I'd delay subscription until console launch.

 

they simply don't have a product worth monthly billing on. If they want to make money, they need a popular and quality product first. If they charge now they kill all hope.

Interesting point & it's definitely a more significant number.  Once the "free time" runs out & all playing players must be on a subscription .... those numbers would be more indicative of where the game stands.

Originally posted by geldonyetich

Originally posted by Clocksimus

WoW did not.

EVE did not.

Lineage did not.

You need to be more specific.

WoW was a runaway blockbuster that no one has been able to replicate, comparing any other game to it is ridiculous.

EVE Online most certainly was at least as dismal as Final Fantasy XIV at release, largely being panned as lousy "spreadsheets in space."  It didn't really catch on until years after release, and then largely amongst a rather peculiar crowd.

Lineage... seriously, you're holding up that 1998 grind as a sign of what a good MMORPG looks like?  It wasn't even released here until several years after it was in South Korea and outlying areas, and much of its subscription numbers are bolstered by cyber-cafe subscriptions.

Basically, you've completely lost sight of the details behind every instance of what you mentioned here.

What exactly  is the content in FFXIV besides going out in the world and grinding mobs to rank up or grinding nodes to  level your crafting? FFXIV is just as much a grind if not far greater than Lineage  was.  Now you will go on to tell me about guildleves and the storyline arc.... I had more fun in AoC on tortage... Enough said.

As for EVE yes it was not popular and it still is not popular it is just a solid MMO and arguable the most well maintained.