Short answers, pulled from the story.
Final Fantasy XII was released in March 2006 for the PlayStation 2, developed and published by Square Enix. It later received an expanded Japanese version, a Nintendo DS sequel, and a high-definition remaster for PlayStation 4, Windows, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.
Final Fantasy XII sold more than 1,764,000 copies in its first week in Japan and over 2.38 million copies in Japan within two weeks of its the 16th of March 2006 release. Worldwide PlayStation 2 sales exceeded six million copies by November 2009, and the PlayStation 4 remaster shipped over one million copies by October 2017.
The gambit system lets players program each character's battle behavior using rules made up of a target, an action, and a priority order. For example, a gambit might direct a character to cast a healing spell on any ally whose hit points fall below 70%. Director Hiroyuki Ito drew inspiration from American football plays when designing it.
Final Fantasy XII was initially directed by Yasumi Matsuno, who also directed Final Fantasy Tactics, and Hiroyuki Ito, director of Final Fantasy IX. Matsuno left the project about a year before its 2006 release due to health concerns, after which Ito and Hiroshi Minagawa took over as directors and Akitoshi Kawazu became executive producer.
Development began in December 2000 and the game released in March 2006, a span of approximately five years. This development period once held a Guinness World Record for the longest production period in video game history.
Final Fantasy XII received a perfect score from Famitsu, making it only the sixth game to achieve that. Both Edge and Famitsu named it Game of the Year 2006, the Japan Game Awards 2006 gave it the Grand Award and Award for Excellence, and the PlayStation Awards 2006 awarded it the Double Platinum Prize.