When are we expecting news?

[Forsaken Shadow]

There's dozens of us, but we're obsessed.

I get that dozens is an exaggeration, but how does Square make money off KH if there really are so few of us? I read that KH3 sold 7ish million copies which is the same as FF7 remake. Even if that includes kinda-fans who didn't play the handheld titles and just jumped back on after KH2, the numbers would have had to be way lower for the handhelds if it was just the obsessed. How did they make a profit on those games, and if not what keeps them going?

 

[Chie]

I think KH is extremely widely known about, at the least. when a game called Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out, tons of people buy it because it's "the big new game i heard about" - but tons of people also return it, which is why there's so many dirt cheap used copies.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I get that dozens is an exaggeration, but how does Square make money off KH if there really are so few of us? I read that KH3 sold 7ish million copies which is the same as FF7 remake. Even if that includes kinda-fans who didn't play the handheld titles and just jumped back on after KH2, the numbers would have had to be way lower for the handhelds if it was just the obsessed. How did they make a profit on those games, and if not what keeps them going?

The older games cost way less to make than the current ones so selling 1m would be very good.

And for KH3, 7m is actually really good. I’m fairly certain KH3 was expensive but Daddy Disney is technically supporting it. And there were sponsorships that supported the costs, and KHUX money.

 

[Chaser]

I get that dozens is an exaggeration, but how does Square make money off KH if there really are so few of us?

Merchandise. There's always people who'd pay a lot of money for the Play Arts, Alba & Ater "chess" set, armchairs, clocks, car seat thing etc etc. It's the same with movies, create a popular franchise and you're set with the merchandise deals.

 

[Phoenix]

Incidentally, that's also the advantage with keeping video game costs low. You don't have to sell that much to make a profit. FF7R2 sold better than any KH title ever will, but SE might consider it to have underperformed, and KH3 to have overperformed. I hope they're able to keep the series (relatively) cheap to make, so that a small-ish community remains viable.

 

[MATGSY]

Merchandise. There's always people who'd pay a lot of money for the Play Arts, Alba & Ater "chess" set, armchairs, clocks, car seat thing etc etc. It's the same with movies, create a popular franchise and you're set with the merchandise deals.

"Merchandising, merchandising. Where the real money from the movie is made!"

 

[Darkspawn]

Incidentally, that's also the advantage with keeping video game costs low. You don't have to sell that much to make a profit. FF7R2 sold better than any KH title ever will, but SE might consider it to have underperformed, and KH3 to have overperformed. I hope they're able to keep the series (relatively) cheap to make, so that a small-ish community remains viable.

While we don’t have official numbers on Rebirth, multiple KH titles appear to have outsold it. It was reported by analysts that sales were likely only around 2-3 million copies, KH3 sold close to 7 million.

 

[Phoenix]

While we don’t have official numbers on Rebirth, multiple KH titles appear to have outsold it. It was reported by analysts that sales were likely only around 2-3 million copies, KH3 sold close to 7 million.

Holy shit, is that true? That's not good, that game cost a ton!

 

[Darkspawn]

Holy shit, is that true? That's not good, that game cost a ton!

I don’t think it cost nearly as much as Remake did. Lot of re-used assets and only three years of dev time. But it still isn’t good. FFXVI didn’t do much better either.

It would be interesting to see what happens with the franchise if KH4 actually outsells them.

 

[Squood!]

While we don’t have official numbers on Rebirth, multiple KH titles appear to have outsold it. It was reported by analysts that sales were likely only around 2-3 million copies, KH3 sold close to 7 million.

It's def cuz of PS5 exclusivity

 

[Chaser]

Yeah, I don't think it's really comparable to have Rebirth's sales as a PS5 exclusive compared against KH3's when the latter is on PS4 (and PS+), Xbox (and Gamespass), Switch, Epic Games Store, and Steam.

KH3's sales pretty much halted too. It got 5 million out the gate but then slowed down immensely, so much so that it took over 2 and a half years to hit the 6 million sales target (Sept 2021).

 

[Squood!]

Rebirth and XVI had the disadvantage of being on ONE console, with a smaller playerbase than the PS4 and the infamous PS3 reputation coming back with a vengeance. If they had released on more systems, they likely woulda had bigger sales numbers.

This isn't exactly the 90s and 00s anymore. Exclusives nowadays aren't exactly the best way of doin things unless you're Nintendo where your system is lower in price enough for everyone to have one.

And in the PS5's case it's the state of "why aren't these games on other platforms" and "ONE GAME I DON'T KNOW WHY"

 

[Phoenix]

On the other hand, we don't know how much money Sony gave SE to keep the games exclusive. Presumably, not enough to keep them exclusive going forward, but it wouldn't have been insignificant.

 

[xenosaga]

kingdom hearts is very big for JRPG franchise in terms of popularity and sales. However I do think it’s hugely a legacy thing and is hard to predict how it will be in the future. Even FF is declining (regardless of exclusive thing)

 

[the red monster]

square are looking too short term with the exclusivity deals. thankfully, it seems they finally starting to realize and maybe start doing day 1 release for PC at least as well. leaving PC out is the dumbest think devs can right now unless they're first party studio.

 

[Chaser]

Speaking of merchandise being where they make their money, I'd buy one of each please

https://twitter.com/x/status/1801442203157545125

 

[Darkspawn]

Speaking of merchandise being where they make their money, I'd buy one of each please

https://twitter.com/x/status/1801442203157545125

I wish they were releasing sooner as my dog chewed through my band and I’m need of a new one.

Seems like late September is going to be the next big round of new merch.

 

[Chaser]

Seems like late September is going to be the next big round of new merch.

The back of the bands will say "Pre-Register Now" but the campaign still won't be active.

And sorry that you lost a band to your dog! At least they're easily interchangeable if you get a KH one later down the road.

 

[Keyblade Knight 1st Class]

Going back to the topic of long waits for games these days, here's another one

Random: It's Now Been Seven Years Since Metroid Prime 4 Was Announced

Nintendo's Switch "successor" announcement nears

www.nintendolife.com

 

[olu]

Speaking of merchandise being where they make their money, I'd buy one of each please

https://twitter.com/x/status/1801442203157545125

Yeah, I need this asap.

kingdom hearts is very big for JRPG franchise in terms of popularity and sales. However I do think it’s hugely a legacy thing and is hard to predict how it will be in the future. Even FF is declining (regardless of exclusive thing)

You shoulda seen the shock in my face when I found out KH was SQENIX's third best selling IP. Literally no one I know in real life knows anything about it other than it has Disney characters in it.

In hindsight, KH being a massive money maker made those rumours about KH4's development being cancelled kinda ridiculous.

You can win a Steam Deck signed by Nomura :0

Real talk: has anyone ever won one of those Gleam.io competitions?