The Japanese Final Fantasy Twitter account, manned today by Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata himself, suggests the Ultimate Collector's Edition might go on sale again.
Tabata sent out a series of messages earlier today that were translated by Siliconera, where the man behind the revival of Final Fantasy 15 apologized to fans who were disappointed about the scarcity of the Final Fantasy 15 Ultimate Collector's Edition. The $270 collection of memorabilia and exclusive items sold out of the Square Enix store in less than a half hour once it was made available after the Final Fantasy 15 Uncovered event that took place five days ago. Tabata addressed the lightning-fast sales as follows:
"[T]he preorders for the Ultimate Collector's Edition vanished in a flash, and we've received plenty of voices from those that weren't able to acquire it...we are terribly sorry about that. At the moment, we're continuing with internal coordination to see if we can somehow increase its production."
Although it seems even Tabata is surprised by how quickly the Ultimate Collector's Edition sold out, there were only 30,000 copies available for preorder and Final Fantasy 15 is one of the most anticipated titles in recent gaming history. The exclusive collection includes the game, a hardcover art book, a Play Art Kai statue of Noctis, a soundtrack, and a special steelbook case for both the main game and the Final Fantasy 15 Brotherhood anime that was announced around the same time as the Ultimate Collector's Edition.
Of course, once gamers were informed of just how rare the Ultimate Collector's Edition would be, fans flocked to the Square Enix store to try to score their own copy. Square Enix also making the Final Fantasy 15 Platinum Demo available at the same time wasn't even enough to slow collectors down, despite the fact that the demo showed off some of the game's graphics engine and allowed gamers to get their first hands-on experience with the new magic combat system.
Unfortunately, however, some people are trying to take advantage of Final Fantasy fans, and resellers appeared shortly after the Ultimate Collector's Edition was sold out, listing the game on eBay at over double the initial price. Tabata acknowledged that Square Enix might be looking into discouraging or preventing resale from happening however, stating:
"I'd like to let you know that we will follow protocol to handle what appears to be unusual orders that may seem like they were made for resale purposes."
Whether or not Tabata and Square Enix are able to prevent resellers from making a tidy profit off of what's meant to be a celebration of the new Final Fantasy title, the small setback is unlikely to quell the fervent fan response after Final Fantasy 15's newest trailer and release date announcement. That continued hype surrounding the game will be an important factor for Square Enix moving forward, as it has been reported that Final Fantasy 15 will need to sell 10 million copies to recuperate the amount of money the publisher has sunk into it. Perhaps Tabata and Square's hope is that more Ultimate Collector's Editions being made available will help make that figure more reasonable.
What do you think about the exclusive Ultimate Collector's Edition getting more copies made, despite the initial promise of only 30,000 copies being available? Is it fair for the fans who missed out, unfair to those who already ordered, or somewhere in between? Let us know in the comments below.
Final Fantasy 15 will be available on September 30, 2016 for PS4 and Xbox One.