December 9, 1999 - Square Electronic Arts announced today that Final Fantasy VIII for the Sony PlayStation game console has experienced sales that have surpassed the million unit mark in North America. The record-breaking sales of FF8, which was released in the U.S. in September of this year, help cement the franchise's supremacy in role-playing genre.

"FINAL FANTASY VIII has grossed more than $50 million in revenue in only 13 weeks of sales in North America," said Jun Iwasaki, president of Square Electronic Arts. "With the holidays still ahead, we anticipate that FINAL FANTASY VIII will continue to break sales records."

"FINAL FANTASY VIII is one of those rare titles that just gets bigger and bigger in terms of anticipation and demand," said Doreen McKenzie, director of merchandising, video games for Babbage's Etc. "There is usually a lot of hype and excitement in the air around the release of a new game such as FINAL FANTASY. The difference with this franchise, however, is that it maintains a frenzied sales pace over a long period of time. FINAL FANTASY VIII is the type of game that will get a huge boost in sales through the holidays and remain a strong seller thereafter. It is one of the few titles whose value to consumers maintains through the holiday season, and will most likely continue until its sequel is released."

In addition to surpassing the million-unit mark in North America, FF8 has sold over six million units worldwide including Japan, Europe, and the United States. Up till now, the popular franchise has sold more than 25 million units, making the series one of the top-selling games across all platforms in the history of videogames.