Octopath Traveler restock sells out in just three hours

Last week Square Enix’s Japanese Twitter account issued an apology to fans who couldn’t secure any copies of Octopath Traveler. And it seems like it will be the first apology of many.

Last week Square Enix’s Japanese Twitter account issued an apology to fans who couldn’t secure any copies of Octopath Traveler. And it seems like it will be the first apology of many.

After huge demand there was a brief restock at retailer Yodobashi Camera, one of Japan’s biggest video game and electronics stores. The restock of Square Enix’s dark horse Switch hit ended up selling out in just three hours. 

And so this prompted another apology tweet from Square Enix, stating that additional games will indeed be shipped out whenever it’s possible. The publisher states that fans can simply download the game via the Nintendo Switch eShop if they want to play immediately, but it’s any wonder that a game that appeals to people’s SNES-era sentiments would drive the desire for some of that new-cartridge-smell.

The game debuted on Friday, July 13 on the Switch, and since then it’s managed to sell off 90 percent of its initial shipment numbers to Japanese audiences. The stock shortage isn’t exclusive to Japan, either. The game drought applies to the west as, remaining on back order on Amazon just as recently as last week.

Nintendo had routine stock issues on their last console, the Nintendo Wii U. games like Super Smash Bros. being more popular than the console itself and high immediate demand caught the company off guard. The Switch has been one of Nintendo’s biggest success stories in some time, and it’s interesting to see which games availability test even its limits.