Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata claims that in order for Square Enix to recoup its investment in the game, it needs to sell 10 million copies worldwide.

No one needs to tell Final Fantasy fans that Final Fantasy XV has been an expensive venture for Square Enix. It was originally announced a decade ago as Final Fantasy Versus XIII, before it was eventually retooled into Final Fantasy XV. This long development cycle coupled with the game's ambitious graphics and features means that Final Fantasy XV will have to sell 10 million copies just to break even.

This is according to Final Fantasy XV's game director Hajime Tabata. To put this lofty sales goal in perspective, the most popular game in the series, Final Fantasy VII, has sold just over 11 million units so far. That number includes the game's many re-releases over the years, with the exception of the recent Final Fantasy VII PS4 port.

It is highly unlikely that Final Fantasy XV will reach that sales goal by the end of the year, but it is certainly possible for the game to hit it over time. As long as it launches to a positive response from fans and earns high marks from critics, Final Fantasy XV could have the momentum needed to propel itself to being one of the strongest selling games in the series to date.

Furthermore, the game's potential to be ported to other platforms in the future will help it reach the 10 million copies sold sales goal. For example, Final Fantasy XV could come to PC, as rumored, which would no doubt result in a surge of sales for the game. Another possibility is that Final Fantasy XV could makes its way to the Nintendo NX, which could also make the game available to another demographic of gamers.

Looking farther down the road, Final Fantasy XV may have a complete edition released that collects the game with any DLC that releases for it after launch. We could even see the game remastered at some point for future console generations, as we've seen Square Enix do many times with previous Final Fantasy titles. In short, there are many ways that Final Fantasy XV could possibly meet the 10 million copies sold sales goal, but it probably just won't do so right off the bat.

However, what might be even more important to Square Enix than the game's sales is how it is received by fans. The Final Fantasy series has lost some of its reputation, thanks to the lukewarm reception to Final Fantasy XIII and its spin-offs, as well as the initial debacle that was Final Fantasy XIV. Square Enix has worked hard to repair the franchise's image with the Final Fantasy XIV relaunch, and it needs Final Fantasy XV to be a home run if it wants gamers to still look at the series as one of the top-tier franchises in video gaming.

Gamers can download the Final Fantasy XV Platinum Demo right now to see if the game is shaping up to be a high quality experience. In the meantime, the full version of Final Fantasy XV will be available later this year, and it will be very interesting to see how fans react, and how fan response influences the game's sales numbers.

Final Fantasy XV will be available on September 30th, 2016 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Source: Game Informer