The Game Census
LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII cover art

LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII

Square Enix · 2015-12-10

SteamXboxAmazonMicrosoft Store

RPG

Franchise: Final Fantasy · Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Third person

Releases: Feb 11, 2014 (PlayStation 3), Dec 10, 2015 (PC (Microsoft Windows)), Nov 21, 2013 (Xbox 360)

Lightning Returns is the concluding chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII saga and series heroine Lightning's final battle. The grand finale of the trilogy brings a world reborn as well as free character customization and stunning action based battles.

LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is a $19.99 RPG released in 2015, with an estimated 200,000 .. 500,000 owners and Mostly Positive (79% of 4834 reviews).

49
playing now
79%
positive of 4.8k reviews
Mostly Positive
steam's rating (official)
200,000–500,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
70/100
critic score (13 outlets, IGDB)
71/100
IGDB user rating (104 ratings)
34
Nexus mods (34k downloads)
40h
to beat · rushed 25h · completionist 70h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Playable
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$19.99
steam price (US)

49 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 12:00 UTC (census sample)

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is a 2013 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. A sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2, it concludes the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII and forms part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. It was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in North America and the PAL regions. It was ported to Windows in 2015 and Android and iOS via cloud gaming in 2016 in Japan. Lightning Returns employs a highly revamped version of the gameplay system from the previous two games, with an action-oriented battle system, the ability to customize the player character's outfits, and a time limit the player must extend by completing story missions and side quests.

Trailer

LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII trailer thumbnail

LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII - E3 Trailer

≈963 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 49 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 202 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~25/week).
  • · Review velocity up 12% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 7% of 13,902 RPG games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-28

Estimated sales: 121k–290k copies

Review-multiple estimate from 4,834 total reviews — how this is computed.

All-time low: $5.99 at Humble Store (2025-09-18)via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $19.99 · on sale 18 of 34 observed days (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
454520182026Week of 2018-01-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2018-01-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2018-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-03-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 28 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 32 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 6 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 4 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 45 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 14 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 34 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 26 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 35 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 23 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 25 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 1 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 15 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 16 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 9 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 11 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 11 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 4 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 24 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 10 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 22 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 19 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 7 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 14 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 2 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 12 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 8 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 21 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 3 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 20 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 17 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 5 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 6 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 13 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 9 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 10 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 18 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 6 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

90302026-09-15 13:00 — 38 players2026-09-16 22:00 — 45 players2026-09-18 05:00 — 34 players2026-09-19 13:00 — 54 players2026-09-20 20:00 — 81 players2026-09-22 04:00 — 60 players2026-09-23 11:00 — 48 players2026-09-24 19:00 — 51 players2026-09-26 02:00 — 49 players2026-09-27 10:00 — 76 players2026-09-28 17:00 — 58 players2026-09-30 01:00 — 49 players2026-10-01 08:00 — 38 players2026-10-02 16:00 — 43 players2026-10-04 00:00 — 61 players2026-10-05 08:00 — 40 players2026-10-06 15:00 — 52 players2026-10-07 23:00 — 41 players2026-10-09 06:00 — 40 players2026-10-10 14:00 — 90 players2026-10-11 21:00 — 69 players2026-10-13 05:00 — 38 players2026-10-14 12:00 — 49 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
1.1k35Dec 2015Aug 2026Dec 2015 — avg 1,055 · peak 2,475Apr 2016 — avg 198 · peak 471Aug 2016 — avg 126 · peak 231Dec 2016 — avg 147 · peak 393Apr 2017 — avg 77 · peak 141Aug 2017 — avg 71 · peak 133Dec 2017 — avg 70 · peak 163Apr 2018 — avg 62 · peak 123Aug 2018 — avg 57 · peak 106Dec 2018 — avg 62 · peak 122Apr 2019 — avg 47 · peak 94Aug 2019 — avg 48 · peak 88Dec 2019 — avg 45 · peak 98Apr 2020 — avg 86 · peak 158Aug 2020 — avg 55 · peak 104Dec 2020 — avg 51 · peak 106Apr 2021 — avg 74 · peak 147Aug 2021 — avg 58 · peak 108Dec 2021 — avg 54 · peak 109Apr 2022 — avg 55 · peak 104Aug 2022 — avg 48 · peak 88Dec 2022 — avg 52 · peak 102Apr 2023 — avg 57 · peak 121Aug 2023 — avg 43 · peak 77Dec 2023 — avg 50 · peak 104Apr 2024 — avg 55 · peak 105Aug 2024 — avg 48 · peak 89Dec 2024 — avg 50 · peak 85Apr 2025 — avg 48 · peak 88Aug 2025 — avg 54 · peak 92Dec 2025 — avg 51 · peak 84Apr 2026 — avg 57 · peak 102Aug 2026 — avg 63 · peak 112
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Price history

$19.99$6.002015-11-192026-08-112015-11-19 — best price $19.992016-05-26 — best price $9.992016-10-27 — best price $9.992017-06-22 — best price $9.992018-01-18 — best price $9.992018-06-21 — best price $9.992018-11-27 — best price $19.992019-04-30 — best price $9.992019-09-12 — best price $9.992020-01-07 — best price $19.992020-03-17 — best price $10.002020-07-22 — best price $6.002021-01-05 — best price $19.992021-05-06 — best price $9.992021-10-12 — best price $19.992022-03-28 — best price $19.992022-06-30 — best price $9.992022-09-23 — best price $9.992023-01-27 — best price $19.992023-05-05 — best price $9.992023-08-04 — best price $19.992024-01-03 — best price $19.992024-03-14 — best price $7.992024-05-08 — best price $19.992024-09-16 — best price $7.992024-12-04 — best price $19.992025-02-05 — best price $19.992025-04-01 — best price $19.992025-07-23 — best price $19.992025-12-06 — best price $19.992026-02-23 — best price $19.992026-05-07 — best price $19.992026-08-11 — best price $19.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

4271262026-05-30 — 199 pageviews2026-06-03 — 151 pageviews2026-06-07 — 240 pageviews2026-06-11 — 291 pageviews2026-06-15 — 265 pageviews2026-06-19 — 241 pageviews2026-06-23 — 268 pageviews2026-06-27 — 268 pageviews2026-07-01 — 170 pageviews2026-07-05 — 284 pageviews2026-07-09 — 222 pageviews2026-07-13 — 226 pageviews2026-07-17 — 164 pageviews2026-07-21 — 212 pageviews2026-07-25 — 287 pageviews2026-07-29 — 234 pageviews2026-08-02 — 172 pageviews2026-08-06 — 182 pageviews2026-08-10 — 251 pageviews2026-08-14 — 185 pageviews2026-08-18 — 157 pageviews2026-08-22 — 203 pageviews2026-08-26 — 177 pageviews2026-08-30 — 197 pageviews2026-09-03 — 190 pageviews2026-09-07 — 244 pageviews2026-09-11 — 158 pageviews2026-09-15 — 197 pageviews2026-09-19 — 176 pageviews2026-09-23 — 204 pageviews2026-09-27 — 216 pageviews2026-10-01 — 156 pageviews2026-10-05 — 198 pageviews2026-10-08 — 126 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Completion

42
achievements tracked
70.8%
earned "The Savior's Descent"
16.2%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsSingle-playerSteam AchievementsSteam Trading CardsAdjustable Text SizeAdjustable DifficultyKeyboard Only OptionPlayable without Timed InputSave AnytimeStereo SoundSurround Sound2 DLC

7 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean

Post-launch support: 2 DLC released, first 2025-01-23 (Steam store data)

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

RPGJRPGAnimeActionFantasyAdventureAction RPGOpen WorldStory RichSingleplayer

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

FINAL FANTASY XIV OnlineDying LightPillars of EternityFINAL FANTASY® XIIIFINAL FANTASY® XIII-2Tales of Berseria™Beyond: Two SoulsDragon Age™ Inquisition

Similarity via IGDB.

Wikipedia ↗Official site ↗