Square Enix must surely be happy with Octopath Traveler. It has received great reviews and Octopath Traveler sales have been great. Too great, apparently. Indeed, Square Enix has had to issue an apology over the lack of Octopath Traveler copies. Octopath Traveler has sold far better than Square Enix was anticipating.
Octopath Traveler has burned through its initial shipment. Here in America, we cannot order the game from sites such as Amazon. We are greeted with an unfriendly “Usually ships within 1 to 2 months” message on the game’s page. Ouch. Back in Japan, Square Enix took to Twitter to issue an official apology over the lack of stock across the country:
３連休で一部品切れのお店が出ているようで申し訳ございません！
DL版や、ローソンさんで販売中のダウンロードカードもご検討いただければと思います！#オクトパストラベラー— オクトパストラベラー公式 (@OCTOPATH_PR) July 14, 2018
Roughly translated, the above message apologizes for Octopath Traveler being out of stock in many shops throughout Japan. Recommending that people may consider buying the game digitally on the Switch eShop, or via download cards in shops. It turns out that the throwback Switch exclusive JRPG is big business for Square Enix and Nintendo. Octopath Traveler sales are too much to handle.
While it is definitely a good problem to have, Square Enix does have a problem on its hands. People are clamoring to buy and play Octopath Traveler, but they can’t pick up a physical version. The company needs to sort out the issue before it gets any worse. Surely Square Enix would have known what to expect sales-wise from Octopath Traveler. That’s what early pre-orders and online buzz are all about.
Indeed, anticipating its success, we have written several Octopath Traveler guides. Highlighting the likes of the game’s length, character choice, and classes. While the hype around the game might seem questionable to some, the retro art and classic JRPG gameplay provide serious nostalgia hits for many. There’s not another game quite like it on the Switch, so it makes sense that Octopath Traveler has sold through its initial shipment rather quickly.
Have you managed to buy a copy of Octopath Traveler? What do you think of the SNES-inspired JRPG? Let us know in the comments.
