Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire is a freemium massively multiplayer online strategy game developed by Epic Action and published by MZ.

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire
Developer(s)Epic Action
Publisher(s)MZ
SeriesFinal Fantasy
Platform(s)Android, iOS, iPadOS
ReleaseJune 29, 2017
Genre(s)Strategy
Mode(s)Multiplayer

The game is based on the 2016 action role-playing game Final Fantasy XV, and features its characters and soundtrack.[1] The game's marketing campaign featured American model Alexis Ren. As of January 2019, game received more than 51 million downloads and has grossed more than $518 million.[2]

Gameplay

The game plays as a strategy video game with city-building elements.[3] Players build a base and upgrade their structures by mining resources. They train armies to defend against attacking players and can set wall defenses. The game employs a guild system as its social component. Upon joining a guild, players can accumulate Loyalty that is used to purchase special items. Guild members can help each other complete building projects to upgrade their structures faster. Guilds also have their own quests, or timed progress bars, that reward players further. As a free-to-play title, the game contains in-app purchases.

Development and release

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire was developed by MZ through a subsidiary company called Epic Action LLC.[4] Square Enix provided a "crash course" on art direction for the game to developers from MZ.[5] Reviewers have remarked on the similarity of A New Empire to Game of War: Fire Age, another game developed by MZ, with some calling it "a blatant clone" of the latter.[6][7]

Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire was released worldwide on June 28, 2017.[5] The game's marketing campaign featured American model Alexis Ren.[8][9]

Reception

Overall, the app elicited a variety of responses from reviewers that critiqued the game's use of the Final Fantasy XV franchise, the base-building gameplay, and the marketing of purchasable add-ons. Jennifer Allen of Gamezebo criticized the gameplay as "soullessly exploitative" and "repetitive to the extreme".[10] Ryan Whitwam of Android Police called the game "pay to win junk", calling it a "generic city builder with on-the-rails combat dressed up like a Final Fantasy title".[6] Additionally, critics expressed frustration over the game's tutorial, as it focused primarily on the mechanics to build a base and detracted from other core gameplay elements.

Other media outlets viewed the game's interpretation of the Final Fantasy universe to be poor, at the expense of MZ better reaching its intended audience. Edgar Cervantes of Android Authority offered: "We must take into consideration that this was probably an attempt to expand from the usual" in order to appeal to "casual mobile gamers".[7]

Similarly, Polygon's Allegra Frank compared the differences in App Store ratings between Final Fantasy fans and Mobile Strike players: "There's little in common between A New Empire and the game it's based on. That's fine, in theory; they're on vastly different platforms, and MZ and Square Enix are clear about A New Empire's difference from the standard Final Fantasy XV".[11]

Downloads and revenue

By October 2017, the game received more than 20 million downloads and was the 14th top-grossing game on the American App Store.[12] In its first year, by June 2018, the game received more than 45 million downloads on the App Store and Google Play. The United States accounts for 32% of the game's downloads, while Japan accounts for 5% of its downloads.[13]

By January 2018 it was the month's ninth highest-grossing game on the Google Play Store, where it grossed $14.27 million.[14] In one year, by June, the game had grossed more than $380 million. The United States accounted for $138 million of the game's revenue, while Japan accounted for $116 million of its revenue.[13] As of November 2018, the game has grossed more than $485 million worldwide.[15] By January 2019, total downloads reached 51 million and the game has grossed more than $518 million in revenue.[2]

References
  1. "Machine Zone and Square Enix Announce Partnership to Develop FINAL FANTASY XV Mobile MMO Game". www.businesswire.com. November 7, 2016. Archived from the original on July 18, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  2. Nelson, Randy (January 11, 2019). "Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire Made $375 Million in 2018". Sensor Tower. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  3. "Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire Guide - Build a Big Empire". Prima Games. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  4. "Machine Zone's Final Fantasy XV mobile game revealed to be Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire". Gematsu. March 31, 2018. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  5. Webster, Andrew (June 28, 2017). "Final Fantasy XV's mobile strategy spinoff launches today". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  6. Whitwam, Ryan (June 29, 2017). "Final Fantasy XV mobile spin-off 'A New Empire' is more pay-to-win junk". Android Police. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  7. "Is Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire the mobile MMORPG we were hoping for?". Android Authority. June 28, 2017. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  8. Chapple, Craig (August 25, 2017). "MZ recruits influencer and model Alexis Ren as the face of Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire ad campaign". pocketgamer.biz. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  9. Friederich, Brandon (August 28, 2017). "Alexis Ren Joins Kate Upton As Latest Super Hottie to Promote Mobile Video Game". Maxim. Archived from the original on September 2, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  10. "Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire Review - Yet Another Game of War". Gamezebo. July 7, 2017. Archived from the original on July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  11. Frank, Allegra (June 29, 2017). "There's a new Final Fantasy 15 mobile game, and it's bad". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 29, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  12. "MZ's Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire surpasses 20 million downloads". Pocket Gamer. October 19, 2017.
  13. "MZ's Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire rakes in $380m in one year". Pocket Gamer. August 8, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  14. "Leading mobile gaming app titles in the Google Play Store worldwide as of January 2018, by revenue (in million U.S. dollars)". Statista. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  15. "Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire Revenue Broke $1 Million Per Day Last Month". Sensor Tower. December 3, 2018. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
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