Is there trouble going on in Final Fantasy 16 and Square Enix? Maybe, as this latest rumour has surfaced.

Square Enix is presumably not getting enough pre-orders of upcoming RPG Final Fantasy 16 and are “slightly panicking” over it according to game journalist Imran Khan. The game’s preorders, which are “potential Day One sales” and aren’t “guaranteed” sales, are lagging behind the last mothership title Final Fantasy 15. These numbers are seen as low even when taking into account the game’s exclusivity on PlayStation 5. This does lend the theory that there have been recent marketing pushes for the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which is a sequel to the hit “remake” title Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

Why Are They Considered Low?

Many factors could be leading to these low pre-order numbers.

• Square Enix’s recent track record with triple-A games -Forspoken- made people reluctant to shell out US$70 pre-launch.
• The past mothership game in the series, Final Fantasy 15, underwhelmed a lot of fans and RPG players. Thus, they’re hesitant in pre-ordering part 16 despite it looking promising and being under the helm of Naoki Yoshida, the man who brought Final Fantasy 14 back from the brink of death and failure.

Whether Square Enix is just “kan cheong” remains to be seen, but the aforementioned factors are enough to justifiably make publishers a bit more wary. Do stay tuned for our eventual review and thoughts on Final Fantasy 16 later this month of June.