Final Fantasy Resonance Sales Renew Calls for a Turn-Based Mainline Future

Final Fantasy Resonance has opened strongly enough to reignite one of the longest-running discussions around Square Enix's flagship role-playing series: whether a future numbered Final Fantasy could return to fully turn-based combat.

The new HD-2D RPG launched last week and quickly surpassed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to reach the highest concurrent-player peak on Steam among the series' single-player releases. That early PC result has been paired with an encouraging commercial estimate. Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott says Final Fantasy Resonance has sold roughly 400,000 copies across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, generating about $20 million in revenue. Those figures do not include the game's performance on Nintendo Switch 2.

For Elliott, the response is another sign that turn-based JRPGs remain far from a niche concern. In combination with the breakout success of Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 last year, he argues that Square Enix has evidence of a large audience that has not been fully served by Final Fantasy's recent pivot toward more action-focused combat.

A strong start for Final Fantasy Resonance

Resonance's Steam peak is notable not simply because it passed a major recent Final Fantasy release, but because it did so as a single-player, turn-based game built with a deliberately stylized HD-2D presentation. The format is materially different from the cinematic, technically ambitious direction taken by the modern mainline entries and the Final Fantasy VII remake project.

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That does not make the comparison a straightforward verdict on either approach. Different releases arrive under different conditions, have distinct budgets, appear on different combinations of platforms, and pursue very different audiences. Steam concurrent users also represent only one piece of a game's overall performance. Still, Resonance's early momentum gives Square Enix a useful data point: players are willing to show up in large numbers for a Final Fantasy experience that embraces command-based battles and a classic visual language.

The estimated 400,000 sales across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S reinforce that point. The reported $20 million revenue total is substantial for a newly launched title, particularly before counting Nintendo Switch 2 sales. It also arrives as Square Enix has been working to broaden the availability of its games after a period in which high-profile Final Fantasy releases were often associated with timed PlayStation exclusivity.

Resonance therefore fits several important parts of Square Enix's current strategy at once: it expands across platforms, gives the publisher another use for its HD-2D approach, and connects with players who have wanted a more traditionally structured Final Fantasy battle system.

The Clair Obscur comparison

Much of the renewed conversation stems from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the turn-based RPG from Sandfall Interactive that gained exceptional traction last year. Elliott says the game is tracking considerably better than recent Final Fantasy titles and points to its Game of the Year win at The Game Awards as evidence of the scale of its impact.

Its success has often been interpreted as proof that players still have a deep appetite for party-based, strategic RPG combat, provided the game presents that foundation with confidence and modern production values. Expedition 33 is not a traditional Final Fantasy clone, nor is its turn-based structure identical to older Square Enix designs. But its reception has strengthened a wider argument: a contemporary RPG does not have to abandon command-driven systems to achieve cultural relevance or major commercial results.

Elliott's view is that Square Enix's move toward action-oriented Final Fantasy games left a meaningful group of JRPG fans looking elsewhere. He argues that while Square Enix pursued trends associated with Western action games, a Western studio delivered a turn-based RPG that spoke directly to an audience that had been waiting for that kind of experience.

"There's still a gap for a turn-based JRPG big-budget Final Fantasy," Elliott said, adding that the available signals point Square Enix in that direction eventually.

That conclusion should not be mistaken for a claim that Resonance was developed as a reaction to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The Square Enix game was in development well before Sandfall Interactive revealed its project, much less before it launched and became a major success. The overlap is instead about timing and market visibility. Two prominent turn-based RPGs have now attracted considerable attention in close succession, creating a difficult trend for any major publisher in the genre to ignore.

Action Final Fantasy is not necessarily going away

A potential turn-based mainline Final Fantasy would not automatically mean Square Enix needs to discard the action-heavy direction of recent releases. The company has spent years building teams, technology, and design expertise around large-scale real-time combat. Its recent mainline games have also built their own audiences, and Final Fantasy's long history includes constant reinvention rather than one permanent template.

That history may be the strongest reason to expect variety rather than a total reversal. Final Fantasy has shifted repeatedly between battle systems, world structures, art styles, and narrative formats. Even older entries that are commonly grouped together as turn-based games vary considerably in pace and mechanics. The series has always changed, often dramatically.

Elliott anticipates a future with several parallel paths rather than a single new formula. He sees Square Enix balancing its ongoing massively multiplayer work, high-fidelity remakes, major mainline Final Fantasy projects, HD-2D original games, and HD-2D remakes. That portfolio approach would allow the publisher to serve different sections of its audience without requiring every release to carry the same expectations.

Under that model, Resonance could be more than a one-off experiment. It could demonstrate the value of smaller-scale original releases that are quicker to produce than the biggest blockbuster Final Fantasy games while still benefiting from the brand's history and the appeal of turn-based design. Meanwhile, a future numbered entry could potentially choose between action, turn-based systems, or a hybrid structure depending on the creative goals of its development team.

Multiplatform plans could shape the next step

Square Enix has already outlined a plan to pursue fuller multiplatform releases, moving away from its earlier approach to timed PlayStation exclusivity. That decision matters in this discussion because platform reach can heavily influence perceptions of a game's performance and long-term audience.

Resonance is available across PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, although Elliott's sales estimate cited only the first three platforms. Reaching several ecosystems from the start offers more opportunities to find players who may be especially receptive to traditional JRPG systems. It also provides a broader base for evaluating whether an individual concept has genuine global appeal.

For Final Fantasy in particular, multiplatform launches may help Square Enix avoid tying the series' momentum too tightly to any one hardware audience. PC has become increasingly important to the company's releases, while Xbox availability has been a frequent request from fans during periods when major entries skipped the platform. Nintendo hardware, meanwhile, has a long association with RPG audiences and with Square Enix's HD-2D output.

A large-scale turn-based Final Fantasy released across those platforms would be a major undertaking, but it could also have a clearer chance to reach the dispersed audience that current sales trends suggest exists.

Lessons from Capcom's recent momentum

Elliott also believes Square Enix could learn from Capcom's handling of both established properties and newer ideas. He pointed to a particularly strong year that included Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Together, those games represent a mixture of legacy franchises and fresh IP, while also underlining Capcom's ability to treat PC as a major part of its business.

The comparison is not about copying Capcom's genres or release slate. Instead, it is about maintaining a flexible portfolio, reviving familiar series in ways that meet current expectations, and using multiplatform distribution to maximize reach. Square Enix has its own distinct challenges and opportunities, especially with a franchise as broad and closely scrutinized as Final Fantasy. But the principle of supporting several types of games at different scales is directly relevant.

For now, there is no announced big-budget, turn-based numbered Final Fantasy. Elliott's forecast remains an interpretation of the market rather than confirmation of a project in development. Yet Resonance's early results, alongside the enormous attention received by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, have made the possibility more plausible than it appeared only a few years ago.

The immediate takeaway is not that Final Fantasy must choose between action and turn-based combat. It is that the audience for turn-based JRPGs has made itself unusually visible. With Resonance establishing a fast start, Square Enix now has one more reminder that a modern Final Fantasy can find enthusiastic players by looking toward the series' command-driven past as well as its action-focused present.