Square Enix Releases Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest Sales Data

Author: by David Jenkins, Kris Graft

Tokyo-based Square Enix just completed its full acquisition of U.K. game maker Eidos this week, and has now revealed the latest sales figures in its arsenal of multi-million-selling titles. Dragon Quest, which will see its ninth numbered sequel this year in Japan, has so far sold 47 million units. The great majority of these sales have been in Japan -- several entries in the series were not released in North America. Also, the first Dragon Quest game to be released in Europe was Dragon Quest VIII in 2006. Disney crossover franchise Kingdom Hearts, which so far comprises only two numbered games and one spin-off, has sold 12 million units. Two new portable spin-offs, for the Nintendo DS and PSP, are expected this year. Square Enix also said that its flagship franchise, Final Fantasy, has sold over 85 million units to date, a figure that the company confirmed as far back as July 2008. The series debuted over 20 years ago. The first Final Fantasy game was released for the Famicom (NES) in 1987 and the role-playing series has gone on to spawn twelve numbered sequels and a host of spin-offs. Although Dragon Quest is more popular in Japan, Final Fantasy has long proven the most popular Japanese role-playing series in the West. Eidos Sales Eidos' franchises such as Tomb Raider and Hitman are now under the Square Enix umbrella. The firm said the Tomb Raider franchise has sold over 30 million units across its 12 years, while Hitman launched in 2000, has sold over 8 million. Slides in Square Enix's presentation also showed that 2007's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men has sold over 1.5 million units; 2000's Deus Ex, 2003's Deus Ex: Invisible War and 2006's Just Cause have sold over 1 million units each.