The danger of making a new video game IP is that you’ll never know how well it’ll do or be received until it’s out in the wild. Sure, you can make guesses based on how other titles like yours have done, but nothing is ever certain in the gaming space. When Square Enix decided to “go back to its roots” with making old-school-style RPGs, they knew they were putting themselves at risk. Plus, the title that would help embody that would have a unique art style all its own. Yet, Octopath Traveler has proven to be a fan favorite series, and its latest milestone is being celebrated by its team.
As you’ll see below, multiple members of Square Enix and Team Asano thanked fans for getting the franchise over six million units sold, continuing to ask for their support in the future:
Considering that there are only three games in the franchise, technically, that’s a big deal. Granted, you could argue that the games should have even more sales than that, but the fact that it got to that number at all is impressive, especially considering that the series is in the HD-2D style.
Don’t forget that the original Octopath Traveler pioneered that style, and when it was received well by fans and critics, Square Enix ran with it, creating a whole new branch of titles that would be rooted in this style. In fact, they used it to create remakes of the original Dragon Quest titles, both of which were huge successes.
The latest title to come out was a mixture of the mobile game that was around for a while, mixed with all-new characters and content, giving easily the most robust roster and adventure the series has done so far.
In truth, the real question might be what happens with the franchise now. While it has crossed six million units, a vast majority of those sales came from the first game. Just as important, when the franchise went multi-platform, it failed to sell the numbers it had when it was exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. With the Switch 2 out now, you have to wonder if Square Enix might go back to timed exclusives to ensure fast sales before branching out again.
As for Team Asano, its next adventure is coming out this year and will be completely different from the turn-based RPGs of its past. We’ll see how well it works when it drops.
