Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Has Exceeded Expectations From Developer

The Xenoblade Chronicles saga on Nintendo platforms hasn’t been the most straightforward when it comes to releases. The original Xenoblade Chronicles was made for the Nintendo Wii, but only for Japan. Fans rallied and got it ported to the West, and Shulk became a part of Super Smash Bros as a result. Then, Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U had a much more mysterious and secretive marketing campaign. Finally, with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, all that changed, and Monolith Soft went all out to promote their title.

And it worked, because within weeks, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had crossed over a million in sales. True, sales slowed after that, and as of June it’s only sold about 1.5 million copies, but that’s still more than any game in the franchise before that. The Executive Director of Monolith Soft, Tetsuya Takahashi, talked with US Gamer and noted how this was a great feeling:

“From a sales perspective, I have to say Xenoblade Chronicles 2 exceeded my expectations. We really saw more people pick the game up and experience it in the North American and European territories than we thought would do so. It’s still early days for the Torna DLC, but from what we’ve seen in Japan, the sales of the Torna DLC are exceeding our expectations as well.”

“Torna” is Torna – The Golden Country, which is a prequel/standalone game that adds to the story of Xenoblade Chronicles 2. And if sales of that does well, the possibility of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is all but assured. But what would it be like? The original game and 2 were decisively more fantasy based, while X was full on Sci-Fi, so what’s the next path for the franchise?

“I’m someone who gets bored of whatever it was I did last. If the [Xenoblade Chronicles] series continues, you just might see it take a third option. It might go down a path it hasn’t gone down before.”

Very interesting.