Capitalism is weird. In terms of creativity and quality, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is without a doubt one of the best games of the 2020s. It might even be a top 10 contender of the entire Millennium (so far).

Almost halfway through 2024, it’s the highest ranked game of the year on Metacritic with a metascore of 92. It enjoyed widespread critical acclaim upon its launch in February on a level that no game in the Final Fantasy series has in a very long time. (Final Fantasy IX from 2000 has the highest metascore of all games in the series with 94, while no less than six different titles share the runner-up title with a metascore of 92: the Gameboy Advance version of Final Fantasy VI from 2007, the original Final Fantasy VII from 1997, Final Fantasy X from 2001, Final Fantasy XII from 2006, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker from 2021, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.)

And yet, all of the praise — and the incredible craftsmanship that continues to awe players, old Final Fantasy loyalists and newcomers alike — doesn’t seem to translate to commercial success.

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing exactly how many copies Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has sold until its publisher Square Enix decides to tell us, but that…