Video Game Sales Thread

[the-pi-guy]

probably just a case of only looking at the data that supports the view they want to be true.   the sales ratio of recent games heavily favors playstation if far excess to console sales ratio.  it's a clear indications to me of games sales being depressed on xbox.    ...but maybe they are deciding that its just playstation is having "excessive" sales and somehow gamepass is the reason.  

i don't see any logical arguments here but far too many analysts use data to support their view instead of forming their view based on the data.

What data is there in the first place that supports their view?

Maybe people with gamepass are buying the PS4/5 version for multiplayer games.  Whereas before they had to make a choice between the two, which friends to play with, now they know they are getting the one version, so they buy the other version.

Maybe people are buying games they like at a discount after they leave gamepass.

There are some logical explanations that would go with the data that we've seen.

Yeah I'd love to see the data that proves this. A statement alone on the matter means nothing if the data isn't presented

Gears 5 bombed and was on GP day 1, thats one big case. Recent UK sales split suggest GP is hurting day 1 sales of games on xbox.

I've gotten the impression that Gears 5 wouldn't have done well regardless of gamepass.  4 did a lot better, but I haven't seen much excitement for Gears since Epic left.

[BananaKing]

Gears 5 sales are bad - it is also the most successful launch in series history | PCGamesN

I forgot solid sales and data. But a quick Google search shows this. Of course MS did the usual spin.

[Xevross]

Still no sign that Game Pass cannibalizes sales volume. Still signs that Game Pass may increase sales volume due to networking effect. The debates continue...

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) May 27, 2021

Are PS sales making up for it?
Do Xbox games have better legs?  (Ie people are buying games as they go off service)

Most interesting. He has access to way more data than us, he won't be basing it off PS making up for it. Xbox games must still be selling very well.

The only data we have access to for platform splits is physical only sales for a single market much smaller than the US.

[BananaKing]

Most interesting. He has access to way more data than us, he won't be basing it off PS making up for it. Xbox games must still be selling very well.

The only data we have access to for platform splits is physical only sales for a single market much smaller than the US.

He has more data absolutely. My point is that I really need to see the data, or at least how he is interpreting it to agree with his claim or not.

Until then we are going to have to continue to monitor splits like we started in the UK. We should probably do a thread and gather the data in it. Would be cool

[kitler53]

Gears 5 sales are bad - it is also the most successful launch in series history | PCGamesN

I forgot solid sales and data. But a quick Google search shows this. Of course MS did the usual spin.

biggest "player engagement" ever and also 4.5 times less sales then it's previous game's launch.   how is that not evidence of gamepass "cannibalizing" sales?!?!?

[Xevross]

biggest "player engagement" ever and also 4.5 times less sales then it's previous game's launch.   how is that not evidence of gamepass "cannibalizing" sales?!?!?

Well, digital rapidly expanded in that time so it was probably more like 1/2 the previous game launch, and that's just one country. Still, not great.

But Gears 5 is the biggest concrete example we have of this, its pretty much the only clear-cut example we have though, so not indicative of game pass on the whole.

If you were to ask me I'd be quite shocked if game pass is actually boosting sales of big games, but we can't say for sure. I think its affect on smaller games is positive, the increased exposure helps a lot when sales would have been very small anyways. Big games though, idk how it can boost sales.

Like here's an example of a big game that launched on game pass, outriders. On xbox its #6 for April NPD, behind It Takes Two, COD MW and MK 11. On playstation its at #4 for April NPD, ahead of those three aforementioned games. Its not a concrete 1:1 comparison but it sure looks like Outriders is selling a lot better on Playstation.

[Xevross]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/cd-projekts-q1-net-profit-missed-market-expectations-will-begin-high-budget-developments-in-parallel-in-2022.434270/

Cyberpunk has terrible legs

TLDR: 13.7M sales in December, ~1M sales in the following 5 months combined. Way below expectations, CDPR are massively missing their financial targets.

People in the thread are throwing this chart around, not too sure on the reliability of the source, but it won't be far off:

[Xevross]

NPD for April 2021:

Switch < 543k
164k < PS5 < 204k
163k < XBS < 167k

Slow month.

[Xevross]

It is the 2nd biggest PS5 game launch so far (boxed sales), ahead of Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Resident Evil Village. Spider-Man: Miles Morales remains No.1, which is made by the same developer. Insomniac is responsible for the two biggest PS5 launches in the UK so far (GfK) pic.twitter.com/3098pYV8vM

— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) June 14, 2021

Ratchet is the second biggest PS5 launch in the UK. Insomniac responsible for the first and second biggest game launches on PS5.

It's the second biggest R&C game launch ever, 2016 remake was 29% bigger. By revenue it's the biggest R&C launch.

All of that with digital sales excluded.

In terms of raw number, it's about 28k physical launch week.

[Legend]

Hmm, I think this studio knows what they are doing!

Time for Resistance 4!

[the-pi-guy]

Hmm, I think this studio knows what they are doing!

Time for Resistance 4!

Supposedly Sony didn't want Resistance 4, because they have so many post apocalyptic games now.

[BananaKing]

28k physical aint that much. But there isn't much PS5s out there yet. Also this is just physical, and around 1/5th or 1/4th of PS5 owners can't get it physical since they have a PS5 DE.

If it did around 50k-60k with digital id consider that pretty good. Specially with the higher price. Is it 70 pounds in the UK?

I wonder if the price hike is worth it so far for Sony, I can imagine sales declined a bit due to it. But is the extra money making up for it?

[Xevross]

28k physical aint that much. But there isn't much PS5s out there yet. Also this is just physical, and around 1/5th or 1/4th of PS5 owners can't get it physical since they have a PS5 DE.

If it did around 50k-60k with digital id consider that pretty good. Specially with the higher price. Is it 70 pounds in the UK?

I wonder if the price hike is worth it so far for Sony, I can imagine sales declined a bit due to it. But is the extra money making up for it?

Yeah its not huge. I'd say ~50k with digital would be about right given PS5 digital ratios so far. Which is good for R&C but compared to other big PS exclusive launches its not big. ~75k physical (where GoT debuted) is the benchmark for being good, with no context, for me. The lack of PS5 install base is the context here, also as Chris points out it was the Euros kick-off weekend and the best weekend of the year for weather so far, which will certainly harm sales in the UK. The legs will need to be good to show that these things were an impact though.

It is £70, hence why its the biggest launch by revenue for the series by a decent chunk with only physical counted.

Here's the top 5 launches on PS5 so far (physical only):

• Miles : 58.6k
• Ratchet : 28-29k
• Valhalla : ~ 27k
• RE Village : 25.5k
• Cold War : 22.3k

And here's some of Sony's physical debuts in the UK (as of the TLOU2 launch date):

[Xevross]

Remarkably, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart sold better in its second week than its first in the UK (up 2% in boxed sales). This is a very rare thing to see. It only tends to happen with casual games like Just Dance. I am guessing it might be PS5 hardware bundle related. Great result

— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) June 20, 2021

Oh wow, incredible second week for R&C in the UK. Must have been lots of PS5 stock arriving.

[BananaKing]

Thats crazy. So that puts it at 66-68k?  That's pretty good now. Hopefully it can continue to have legs.

I do think they should do something else though, give ratchet a break and then come back to it.