Claim: Final Fantasy XII was released before Final Fantasy XIII.

is a science fiction role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for the Microsoft Windows operating system . Released in Japan in December 2009 and worldwide in March 2010 , it is the thirteenth title in the mainline Final Fantasy series . The game includes fast-paced combat , a new system for the series for determining which abilities are developed for the characters called `` Crystarium '' , and a customizable `` Paradigm '' system to control which abilities are used by the characters . Final Fantasy XIII includes elements from the previous games in the series , such as summoned monsters , chocobos , and airships .   The game takes place in the fictional floating world of Cocoon , whose government , the Sanctum , is ordering a purge of civilians who have supposedly come into contact with Pulse , the much-feared world below . The former soldier Lightning begins her fight against the government in order to save her sister who has been branded as an unwilling servant to a god-like being from Pulse , making her an enemy of Cocoon . Lightning is soon joined by a band of allies , and together the group also become marked by the same Pulse creature . They rally against the Sanctum while trying to discover their assigned task and whether they can avoid being turned into monsters or crystals at the completion .   Development began in 2004 , and the game was first announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo -LRB- E3 -RRB- 2006 . Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of Final Fantasy games and is the first game to use Square Enix 's Crystal Tools engine . Final Fantasy XIII received mostly positive reviews from video game publications , which praised the game 's graphics , presentation , and battle system . The game 's story received a mixed response from reviewers , and its linearity compared to previous games in the series was mostly criticized . Selling 1.7 million copies in Japan in 2009 , Final Fantasy XIII became the fastest-selling title in the history of the series . As of January 2013 , the game has sold over 6.6 million copies worldwide . The Microsoft Windows version has sold over 700,000 copies according to SteamSpy . A sequel , titled Final Fantasy XIII-2 , was released in December 2011 in Japan and in February 2012 in North America and PAL regions . A second sequel , titled Lightning Returns : Final Fantasy XIII , which concludes Lightning 's story and the Final Fantasy XIII saga , was released in November 2013 in Japan and in February 2014 in North America and PAL regions . In September 2014 , Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy XIII series has been widely successful and has shipped over 11 million copies worldwide .