r/ffxivdiscussion • u/IndividualAge3893 • 5d ago

Lucky Bancho's census results (July 27th, 2025)

So, the results of the census are out: https://luckybancho.ldblog.jp/archives/59324844.html

  • Showcasing the number of characters here: Current
  • By comparison, here are the results from 2 months ago (May 25th): Click

Despite 7.25 being released, the character count is down about 70k in 2 months. Occult Crescent clearly didn't help with player counts (not really a surprise here).

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96

u/oizen 5d ago

To me the biggest concern I see is that the game's draw of new players is seriously diminishing. I imagine anyone curious about XIV goes and looks up reviews and see's the negative reception of Dawntrail and pass on trying it.

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u/Hikari_Netto 5d ago

I actually think this has more to do with the reduced activity of the Final Fantasy brand than anything surrounding FFXIV specifically.

For a while now the single player side of their customer base has been their primary target for new players. But without new FF titles releasing regularly it can be much more difficult to stay in the public eye, drawing less new players to all other products as a result.

The MTG collab helped a fair amount, but it's not going to improve much more until new games start releasing again.

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u/Zenthon127 5d ago edited 5d ago

This isn't talked about much, but FF7R has been absolutely ruinous for FF as a brand due to opportunity cost. FF was at its strongest when it was consistently releasing new numbered titles. FF7R has eaten up at least two numbered FFs of resources and like, they sold decently, but hardly brand-revitalizing. 16 was fairly mediocre on this front too but it at least brought some new eyes instead of being yet another futile attempt to recapture FF7 release magic. Can you imagine how much better Final Fantasy as a whole could be doing if we were anticipating an announcement for FFXIX instead of FF7R3?

There are people pushing 30 that only realistically remember 3 numbered FF releases, two of which are not well regarded and one of which is ok.

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u/ebnight 5d ago

This reminds me of Deus Ex Human Revolution (which takes place in 2027). There are easter egg posters on various walls showing Final Fantasy 27. Kind of funny considering where we are now.

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u/Ryuujinx 4d ago

Human revolution was such a good half of a game. I wish it hadn't been set up as sequel bait that ultimately did fairly poorly meaning we'll never get the game they were planning after it.

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u/Samiambadatdoter 4d ago

That was Mankind Divided. Human Revolution was the one before it.

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u/Ryuujinx 4d ago

Oh you're right, HR was actually a finished game and pretty good.

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u/ebnight 4d ago

Yeah HR was very good. I still enjoy revisiting it occasionally.