For a game that spent almost ten years in development (and began life as a different project entirely), one can only imagine how much money Square Enix ultimately poured into Final Fantasy XV during that period in order to get it out the door and into the hands of fans. We’ll probably never know the exact figure that the JRPG guzzled up in order to reach completion, but according to what director Hajime Tabata told DualShockers, Final Fantasy XV‘s sales on its first day of release were enough to see it break even.
That’s no easy feat at the best of times, and one that’s made all the more impressive given the title’s extremely protracted development cycle. Last we heard, shipped copies of Final Fantasy XV had totalled six million back in January, so we can only assume that it’s already made a profit for Square Enix since launch last year, but this isn’t the end of the road for Noctis or his comrades. Far from it.
A large amount of DLC – both free and paid-for – is currently in the works for the most recent entry in the series, including story expansions for each of Noctis’ companions, improvements to existing content and brand new features, including online multiplayer. The first of these, Episode Gladio, will be out in March and sees Gladiolus come up against series villain Gilgamesh in what’s sure to be a contest of who has the bigger sword rather than one of wit. Square plans to fill the gaps between each episode with more bite-sized pieces of content, too, including new costumes for each hero, as well as making the Regalia able to drive anywhere, rather than be restrained to an on-road only vehicle.
Story episodes for Ignis and Prompto are expected to arrive later this year, so stay tuned for Square Enix to share more details for each outing over the coming months.