Square Enix apologise for Octopath Traveler shortage (in Japan) again, restock sold out in 3 hrs

[Arthands]

Square Enix issued another apology for Octopath Traveler shortage in Japan on Friday, and warned that the restock there is going to be in limited supply


The restock sold out in 3 hours across all Yodabashi Camera outlets yesterday
http://itest.5ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1532151559/

 

[Kewlmyc]

Time to go digital, Japan.

 

[kami_sama]

God dammit, Japan is THIRSTY as fuck for Octopath.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

thats the power of word of mouth, something that bravely second was severely lacking

 

[Vic Damone Jr.]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

 

[Xita]

lolol

 

[KZXcellent]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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A fun portable JRPG with a classic feel and gorgeous visuals.

 

[Exentryk]

Again?!

Really keen to see worldwide sales figures for this.

 

[Ghostsonplanets]

YES!!! Let that exclusive shiny baby. Yay, i'm so happy for the sucess of Octopath. Hope just like Bravely Default, it change something in modern Square Enix.

 

[Zedark]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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Amazing combat system is the biggest thing, I think. Great artstyle and hugely varied enemies and bosses help a lot, too.

 

[Exentryk]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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I can tell you, but then I'll have to Octopus you.

 

[Zedark]

It should be noted that SE did say that restocks currently would have limited quantities until they start putting out much bigger shipments (presumably on August 6th), but this is still very impressive.

 

[WestEgg]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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[Pineconn]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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Nostalgia for a classic JRPG. The game also reviewed pretty well, which doesn't hurt.

However, I think the raw nostalgia is making people blinded to some flaws, like tepid level design.

 

[Deleted member 8674]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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I think SE had very low expectations.

 

[Comic Obsessed]

How much are you really shipping SE?

I mean, cool that the title is selling-out but at some point you really have to learn to ship enough copies to satisfy demand.

 

[shoptroll]

I think SE had very low expectations.

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Between Bravely Second's performance and the two RPG Factory games that seems understandable

 

[~Fake]

Please understand... again.

 

[Braaier]

Sequel better already be greenlit

And port the bravely games while you're at it

 

[1000% H]

I'd like to see the numbers for the initial release and restock, don't know how SE was pushing it over there.

 

[Oregano]

2m here we come!

1m is guaranteed(and might have already happened)

 

[Comic Obsessed]

Between Bravely Second's performance and the two RPG Factory games that seems understandable

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Bravely Second's peformance was just fine.

How could they expect anything from Tokyo RPG Factory if their games are poorly received by both critics and fans?

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

I love hearing about this awesome game selling out.

My bday was 2 days before release and my wife got me the game as a gift. She didn't have time to go in and pre-order it but gave me an "IOU" in my card and said she'd pick it up on her way home. She asked if I was worried about it selling out, and I said "I'll be stoked if it sells out, because it might encourage Square-Enix to make more classic JRPGs".

So.. uh... Make more classic, turn-based JRPGs, Squeenix!

 

[paulc]

It's a great game. Glad to see a third party game doing well on the Switch, deservedly so.

Even retailers here in Australia have been selling out which is really rare.

 

[Deleted member 7044]

Time to go digital, Japan.

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It's considerably more expensive to buy digital compared retail though.

(But it's still #1 on the eShop anyway)

 

[Deku]

I'd like to see the numbers for the initial release and restock, don't know how SE was pushing it over there.

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My guess, 115k-120k initial shipment with 10k restock. Not many people pre-ordered it seems, which threw off their prediction.

 

[Deleted member 8674]

How much are you really shipping SE?

I mean, cool that the title is selling-out but at some point you really have to learn how to ship enough copies to satisfy demand.

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Easier said than done believe me.

 

[KtotheRoc]

Glad to see this game doing so well. It's really good.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Wish SE would stop cockblocking their non-FF/DQ/KH rpg titles.
They keep repeating the same mistakes.

If a SoM Rom Collection can sell 40k a year ago how you dont have at least 150-200k copies ready for Octopath at launch ?

 

[sandboxgod]

That's kind of a good problem to have! It's better than underselling for sure

 

[Datajoy]

Digital sales are probably pretty huge

 

[Glio]

thats the power of word of mouth, something that bravely second was severely lacking

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The problem with Bravely Second was budget.

Considering how little they invested, they could not expect more.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

I think SE had very low expectations.

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they didn't, they shipped more than 100k of these FW.

 

[Spaltazar]

this and xb2 have made my generation so far. love that feeling of adventure

 

[Andri]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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Its a 2D JRPG with no combining Story that is not worth 60$ because of its artstyle.

Logical that it sells out instantly.

 

[Brazil]

Literally the same thing that happened with Bravely Default all those years ago.

They don't learn.

 

[Marukoban]

Its a 2D JRPG with no combining Story that is not worth 60$ because of its artstyle.

Logical that it sells out instantly.

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I also heard it looks like indie title and will fail at $60.

 

[Andri]

I also heard it looks like indie title and will fail at $60.

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Well, Square is an independant Company, and seeing at how demand is so high, clearly Price has to be adjusted to correct the supply/demand courve.

 

[Deleted member 8674]

they didn't, they shipped more than 100k of these FW.

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Then no reason to apologize.

 

[Nathan.exe]

And it's not only in Japan it seems. At least in France, it's been out of stock since the release on Amazon.

 

[Andri]

Then no reason to apologize.

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There is no reason yes, but words are free.

Them not apologising would do nothing, while this move will gain them some plus points with some people, and might even bring some people to indeed buy digital instead.

 

[Deleted member 32822]

Japan must really dislike digital copies, it seems.

 

[Deleted member 1589]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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Well it's a pretty great RPG.

One guess is a lot of adults are drawn to the Switch because it's such an adult friendly machine (portable, you can play it on and off the TV without a hitch or just set it on the table and play it with a controller) and they are most probably the target market for the game.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

Then no reason to apologize.

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Apologising is a pretty big thing in Japanese culture. As in, people get away with pretty significant crimes by making apologies.

 

[Deleted member 2791]

Then no reason to apologize.

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shipping not enough to meet the demand =/= having low expectations in the first place
apologizing is just part of the japanese culture

 

[RPGamer]

What's so great about this game that people are scrambling to purchase it?

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It's a good SE RPG, which doesn't happen as often these days.

 

[Pooroomoo]

Between Bravely Second's performance and the two RPG Factory games that seems understandable

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Not really - SE reported back in January that there were already over 1 million downloads for the demo, that should have already been a pretty good hint...

 

[fiendcode]

Wish SE would stop cockblocking their non-FF/DQ/KH rpg titles.
They keep repeating the same mistakes.

If a SoM Rom Collection can sell 40k a year ago how you dont have at least 150-200k copies ready for Octopath at launch ?

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Also, how about releasing that Mana Collection in the west?

 

[Kouriozan]

Square please, how could you mess this up.

 

[Gotdatmoney]

Wish SE would stop cockblocking their non-FF/DQ/KH rpg titles.
They keep repeating the same mistakes.

If a SoM Rom Collection can sell 40k a year ago how you dont have at least 150-200k copies ready for Octopath at launch ?

Click to shrink...

Lack of preorders definitely hurts. Retailers don't want to be sitting on a ton of copies. I suppose the hope is you make extra copies for restock but that still is risky. They shipped 120k units first week. That isn't bad.