The Game of the Year nominees atThe Game Awardsare almost always the subject of controversy each year, and 2024 has been no different. When Geoff Keighley announced the six candidates for GOTY on November 18, the news generated a lot of discourse within the gaming community. Many gamers were upset over the inclusion of two ofThe Game Awardsnominees:Elden Ring: Shadow of the ErdtreeandBalatro. Although both titles were widely well-received by fans and critics alike, some believed that they shouldn’t be eligible for GOTY.Shadow of the Erdtreewas, after all, an expansion for an RPG that originally came out in 2022, whileBalatrowas a card game that lacked mainstream appeal.
However, if there was one GOTY nominee whose inclusion wasn’t criticized, it wasFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. The second installment in the plannedFF7Remaketrilogy was met with universal acclaim upon its release in February 2024, and it was largely regarded as an improvement over its predecessor. On review aggregator OpenCritic, the game earned a 93/100 Top Critic Average, with an astounding 99% critic approval rating and a 9/10 score from players. Given the heaps of praise it received, it should come as no surprise thatFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthwas selected asa candidate for Game of the Year. However, it seems like this GOTY nomination has surprisingly benefited the game in more than one way.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s GOTY Nomination May Be Benefiting It In Multiple Ways
Several Game Awards Nominees, Including FF7 Rebirth, Have Received Big Boosts in Sales
Earlier this week, GamesIndustry.biz head Christopher Dring revealed in a post on Twitter thatseveral acclaimed games from 2024 received significant boosts in salesacross Europe shortly after being nominated at The Game Awards. According to data collected by GSD, Sony Interactive Entertainment’sAstro Bot(which garnered 7 nods at the TGAs) enjoyed a 61% sales increase. The fellow GOTY contendersElden RingandMetaphor: ReFantazio, meanwhile, received 38% and 172% spikes in sales, respectively. Even Bloober Team’sSilent Hill 2remake (which wasn’t nominated for GOTY, but still earned 5 nominations at The Game Awards), had a 43% uptick in sales.
Perhaps the most interesting information here pertains toFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth. In Europe,Square Enix’s critically acclaimedFF7 Rebirthhad a whopping 268% week-on-week increase in sales. For a game that’s almost a year old, that’s pretty impressive. Although Dring notes that sales boosts like these are to be expected during the holiday seasons, the fact thatFF7 Rebirthexperienced such a dramatic improvement in sales compared to all the other previously mentioned games suggests that it’s currently doing exceptionally well. If that is the case, then this sales spike is exactly what the hit JRPG needed.
FF7 Rebirth Was a Commercial Disappointment, So This Sales Boost is Just What It Needs
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthmay be a critical darling, but it wasn’t exactly a runaway commercial success. The game has notoriously struggled to move the needle for Square Enix from a financial perspective, despite being such a major release for the publisher. Although it topped the sales charts in Japan in the first week after its release,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthhad one of the worst launches for a mainlineFFgame in the country, behind even recent titles likeFinal Fantasy 16.Square Enix didn’t provide official sales data forFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but it confirmed in May 2024 that it had failed to meet its commercial expectations.
Many industry pundits attributedFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s disappointing commercial performance to, among other things, its PS5 exclusivity. The game only being available on one console likely hindered its sales potential by quite a bit. Despite all that,FF7 Rebirth’s GOTY nomination at The Game Awards appears to have boosted its sales considerably. While it may not be enough to make up for the loss in revenue from the game not being sold on PC and Xbox at launch, it may give a sizable boost to Square Enix’s profits.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
WHERE TO PLAY
Discover a vibrant and vast world in this standalone entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, which retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. Iconic heroes Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII have escaped from the dystopian city Midgar and are now in pursuit of Sephiroth, the vengeful swordsman from Cloud’s past who was thought to be dead. This new adventure can be enjoyed by all players, even those who have yet to play Final Fantasy VII Remake or the PlayStation original. Expect a new standard of cinematic storytelling, fast-paced combat and rich exploration across a vast world.
