Square Enix is a famously hard master to please, and eagle-eyed fans interested in industry analytics will have noted that despite launching over a month ago on 29th February, exclusively on PS5, hard sales figures for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are yet to be released. Considering it took just three days for the firm to trumpet Remake's success during a similar period and six days for Final Fantasy XVI, it should be no huge surprise that the sequel is underperforming in some sense.
With Square Enix radio silent, we've been forced to rely upon industry analysts with access to expensive and esoteric analytics. According to Ampere, Rebirth has sold some 2 million copies in over a month on the market, a significant step back from Remake, which sold 3.5 million in just three days. For further comparison, mainline entry XVI managed to hit 3 million in just six days (and even that was thought soft by SE), and like Remake, Square Enix was extremely quick to boast of the feat, making its silence even more notable.
According to Daniel Ahmad (thanks Eurogamer), director of research and insights at Niko Partners, it seems that Final Fantasy fans have suddenly become sequel-shy: "Not to be that guy, but Rebirth is underperforming sales-wise." Ahmad responded to a ridiculous Twitter thread that falsely claimed the game was only selling due to the sex appeal of some of its characters, and when pressed, replied that sales data was received via "equities research reports, who are getting the data from the usual trackers".
Now, it is worth noting that Remake was released on PS4 (larger install base) during the COVID-19 pandemic (captive audience), which no doubt accounted for increased sales. What is worth keeping in mind is the inflationary environment in which Rebirth was released, meaning Square Enix will likely need to sell more copies of its latest to reach the same place as Remake, and that's before considering budgetary differences.