It seems that the love for Cloud Strife and his friends is just as strong now as it was in the '90s, as Final Fantasy 7 Remake may have had the third biggest launch of any PlayStation 4 exclusive ever. The PlayStation 4 is the best-selling home console brand of all time and this was helped by a line-up of killer exclusives throughout its lifespan.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has had a tumultuous release period. After five years in development, the game was set to be released in March 2020. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was delayed by a month, causing it to be pushed back to April 2020. This new release date pushed the game into the center of the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis, causing concerns that it would be delayed again. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was released early in some regions, which led to fans in Australia and different parts of Europe receiving the game at the start of April, which in turn saw Final Fantasy 7 Remake spoilers being posted online.

Related: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts Voice Actor Keiji Fujiwara Dies At 55

It seems that the chaotic circumstances surrounding Final Fantasy 7 Remake's release did little to diminish the enthusiasm for the game, however. According to Gamstat, Final Fantasy 7 Remake saw the player base surge to 2.3 million players during its release window. If these numbers are accurate, then Final Fantasy 7 Remake has had the third-best launch of any PlayStation 4 exclusive game, which (according to Wccftech) puts it behind God of War's 2.4 million players and Marvel's Spider-Man's 3 million players.

It bears mentioning that Final Fantasy 7 Remake is only a timed exclusive for the PlayStation 4 and will be available on other systems in the future. The initial delay caused Final Fantasy 7 Remake's exclusivity to be extended to April 10, 2021. Once this date is reached, it's expected that Final Fantasy 7 Remake will come to PC and Xbox One, with a possibility of ports for the upcoming next-generation consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

The PlayStation 4 dominated the current console generation with its amazing exclusives, as gamers lined-up to play titles like Persona 5 Royal and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. It was a smart move for Sony to secure timed exclusivity for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, as it's one of the most highly-anticipated games of this generation. The only question now is whether the other prominent PlayStation 4 exclusives, like Ghost of Tsushima or The Last of Us Part II, can compete with the new adventures of Cloud Strife and his friends in terms of sales.

Next: Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s NPC Dialogue Does a Lot For World-Building

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available now for PlayStation 4. The game will be available on other systems after April 10, 2021.

Sources: Gamstat, Wccftech

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Scott Baird (2597 Articles Published)

Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz. A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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