According to a study looking at American figures for the video game industry in February, FF7 Rebirth did not quite have the expected success. In any case, it was beaten by another game published by PlayStation.
These figures come to us from Circana, which generally displays a rather positive financial landscape for the video game industry. Although they mainly concern North America, we can bet that similar results can be found elsewhere in the world. In any case, FF7 Rebirth was obviously a success, but not as much as expected by PlayStation and Square Enix given its scale.
FF7 Rebirth in competition with democracy
FF7 Rebirth is probably the biggest PS5 exclusive we’ll see for a while, with the possible exception of Stellar Blade. The Japanese giant and Square Enix had high hopes for it. We saw it recently, but the game has not conquered the Japanese market as much as hoped. Fortunately, things seem to be going better in the West, and particularly in North America.
According to the analysis group Circana, it would occupy second place among the best-selling games in February. Given its powerful aura and its critical and commercial reception, however, we would have expected to see it in first place. Especially since the published study focuses on February, but also includes the first days of March. But no, FF7 Rebirth was snatched the gold medal by a total outsider, also published by PlayStation: Helldivers 2! The excellent co-op game from Arrowhead Games clearly had the effect of an orbital bombardment in this first quarter of 2024. It even represents the 7th biggest launch in its history for PlayStation. Democracy once again proves its superiority.
Reassuring figures for the video game industry
While recent developments paint a very sad picture for the video game industry, things don’t seem so dramatic. In February, American players spent a total of $4.7 billion on games, DLC and hardware. That is a small but positive increase of 2% compared to February 2023. The sale of hardware, however, took a hit, with a drop of 30% compared to the same month last year. The PS5 is in first place in terms of models sold, followed by the indisputable Nintendo Switch.
When it comes to games, Helldivers 2 and FF7 Rebirth therefore occupy the first two places on the podium, to the great pleasure of PlayStation. The third step is occupied by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. In the top 10 of February sales, we then find the following titles:
Circana also allows us to establish a top 10 games for 2024, once again in North America:
- Helldiverse 2
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
- Tekken 8
- FF7 Rebirth
- Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
- Madden NFL 24
- Persona 3 Reload
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Skull and Bones
- EA Sports FC 24
With a few changes, this American top 10 should be quite similar on our side of the Atlantic. The video game industry therefore seems to be doing well. Unfortunately, the twenty thousand or so developers and others working on their creation who have lost their jobs are clearly not celebrating. Let’s hope that things will go well in the future regarding these people who allow us every day to marvel at this media that we love.