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Watch Dogs 2 launch massively down from WD1 in UK.

O

Obliterator

Member
There seems to be a bit of a worrying trend forming around some titles released recently being far below the performance of their predecessors, and Watch Dogs 2 seems to be continuing the trend.

COD Defends Crown

21/Nov/2016
It’s a close battle at the Top as Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’ (-46%) remains No1 for a third week.

It narrowly fends off the challenge from new-entry ‘WatchDogs 2’ from Ubisoft for PS4 and Xbox One.
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http://www.chart-track.co.uk/?i=2558&s=1111

Going by the data and math we have I belive that would put WD2 launching around 80k units. For perspective Watch Dogs 1 sold 380k in its opening. It is a colossal drop to put it mildly.
 
R

Ray Down

Banned
nuclear-atom-bomg-explosion-animated-gif-4.gif


Giant Bomb.
 
M

madmackem

Member
It's no surprise the first one was so hyped and pretty much the first real next gen game we all saw, it was a let down from the hype and people felt burned. Add in all the other games out you can see why it's bombed compared to the first.
 
X

Xater

Member
Well getting burned on the first one probably didn't help the sales.

Good for ne though, probably means there will be sales soon.
 
O

Obliterator

Member
madmackem said:
It's no surprise the first one was so hyped and pretty much the first real next gen game we all saw, it was a let down from the hype and people felt burned. Add in all the other games out you can see why it's bombed compared to the first.
Click to expand...

No doubt and many of us were expecting it to be way down. But this isn't even 1/4th the sales the original had. It's a pretty catastrophic launch comparatively speaking
 
L

Litri

Member
Genre is saturated... and even if the game is good, people are starting to get bored I think.
Digital should be ok but with this drop compared to the first one, I'm not sure Ubisoft should be happy.
 
Welfare

Welfare

Member
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
 
M

Mushroomer25

Member
The first game overperformed (no real competition, one of the first 'next-gen' franchises) while underdelivering, and the sequel hit in a very busy month. This isn't shocking, but is still a shame. Watch_Dogs 2 does a lot of stuff right. It deserves better.
 
R

Ray Down

Banned
Welfare said:
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
Click to expand...

Haven't both Taken King and Rise of Iron shown to be successes.

I don't think Destiny 2 will have a drop like those franchises.
 
N

Nightengale

Member
Welfare said:
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
Click to expand...

I have high expectations of Destiny 2.

Despite the critical disappointment, the retention and awareness of Destiny remains very strong despite lack of a HUGE major leap forward update. I think it's probably the only one in the Class of 2014 Disappointments that came out weak but didn't lose its player base and managed to retained the core audience it built.

If marketed well, I think it can sell better than Destiny 1 which sold gangbusters.
 
U

UnluckyKate

Member
Welfare said:
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
Click to expand...

Destiny 2 will be fine look how well the extension are doing
 
panda-zebra

panda-zebra

Member
The original was all kinds of disappointing and seemed to be heavily discounted earlier than expected. £12 bargain bin is where this game ends up on the backlog pile.
 
K

KHlover

Banned
Damn, all I'm reading lately is X down, Y down, Z down. This gen started promising, but right now it seems that too few games really wow people. Everything feels so safe, maybe too safe.
 
M

madmackem

Member
Obliterator said:
No doubt and many of us were expecting it to be way down. But this isn't even 1/4th the sales the original had. It's a pretty catastrophic launch comparatively speaking
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Yeah no doubt but if Ubisoft thought the got out Scott free from the cluster fuck of wd1 they were mistaken. It's a trend though over here ATM bar the odd few titles most are trending downwards. I do wonder if it's the general games buying public becoming more wise, deals on games are kicking in within weeks now, cod for example can be had at Tesco etc for £29.99 now. If you cut games prices so quickly people will start to cotton on and wait.
 
N

NateDrake

Member
Welfare said:
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
Click to expand...

Titanfall was considered a disappointed when it released? I thought TF1 was well received and enjoyed. I could see the Titanfall 2 beta having soured people a bit with the changes it made from the original.

Watch Dogs was a letdown (much like Red Steel), and fans got burned by the games. Red Steel 2 was a much better game than the first, but no one was willing to give Ubisoft a second chance. Seems WD2 is suffering the same fate.

KHlover said:
Damn, all I'm reading lately is X down, Y down, Z down. This gen started promising, but right now it seems that too few games really wow people. Everything feels so safe, maybe too safe.
Click to expand...
This gen has felt like a simple continuation from the previous generation. Some innovated new IP here and there, but largely we have seen new installments to the same franchises. It lacks excitement.
 
T

toddhunter

Member
Obliterator said:
There seems to be a bit of a worrying trend forming around some titles released recently being far below the performance of their predecessors, and Watch Dogs 2 seems to be continuing the trend.



http://www.chart-track.co.uk/?i=2558&s=1111

Going by the data and math we have I belive that would put WD2 launching around 80k units. For perspective Watch Dogs 1 sold 380k in its opening. It is a colossal drop to put it mildly.
Click to expand...

In what way is it a worrying trend? A followup to a game like WD struggling gives me great optimism for the future of gaming.
 
C

Chumley

Banned
Titanfall 2 went to $30 at places like Best Buy and elsewhere within 2 fucking weeks. Watch Dogs 2 could go the same way.
 
O

Opus Angelorum

Member
Shame as the vast majority of reviews and impressions are excellent. I imagine word of mouth will help a lot, although it will likely have been reduced to £20/25 by then.
 
O

Obliterator

Member
KHlover said:
Damn, all I'm reading lately is X down, Y down, Z down. This gen started promising, but right now it seems that too few games really wow people. Everything feels so safe, maybe too safe.
Click to expand...

It's a bit worrying certainly. In terms of recent games alone Dishonored 2, Deus Ex, Gears 4, Watch Dogs 2, Call of Duty, and Titanfall 2 have all failed to launch better or on par than their predecessors
 
C

CoffeeExpress

Member
This is what happens when you try to create a yearly franchise out of a bland game. It didn't help that the wd1 downgrade left a bad taste.
 
A

Arkanius

Member
I'm not touching WD2 any time soon after the disapointment that WD1 was.
Anyway, every game is tracking badly in UK
 
P

Poimandres

Member
Welfare said:
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
Click to expand...

Destiny 2 is going to slay the charts. Mark my words.

Everybody forgot about Watch Dogs a month after it launched. All that was left was a lingering sense of disappointment. Destiny on the other hand has a large and active fanbase and continues to sell well. Easy to see coming sequel flops would be things like Shadow or Mordor 2, or The Division 2.
 
O

oti

Banned
Have we an idea about the budget of WD2? Budgets riding while sales decline sounds like a bad combination for the industry as a whole.
 
O

Octacamo

Member
so vivendi deal is going to happen it seems.... these all are not helping ubi at all it seems also steeps is not that good from what i am hearing...
 
O

OléGunner

Member
Patrick Young said:
I'd like to think download sales are way up.
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Even with downloads at 30-40% of retail (and I'm being generous at 40) the drop in sales is quite enormous.

People were soured imo after WD1, Ubi didn't have the benefit of being the first hyped next gen open world title to sell the game like in 2014.

Welfare said:
Watch Dogs and Titanfall probably saw huge sales because they were new IP and hyped to hell and back. Both also were regarded as very disappointing so it seems like the sequels are taking hits because of it. Word of mouth is going to have to be very good.

Also just thinking of how Destiny 2 is going to perform.
Click to expand...

You've hit the nail on the head.
Disappointing first entry's for hyped games have tarnished the sales potential (at least in UK) for their respective sequels.

WD1 was largely considered a poor mans GTA by mainstream and TF1 had the lack of content to deal with.

Destiny 2 might buck this trend and only be slightly down compared to Destiny 1 launch because it has a really devoted and large player base.
 
T

thesonovabeach

Member
Well when Watch Dogs 1 got out we were not tired to play open world games yet. I mean, between WD 1 and 2 we got MGS V, Shadow of Mordor, 2 Assassin's Creed (I believe), Mafia 3, The Witcher 3, Mad Max, Just Cause 3...

So many little dots to go to, so tired of doing it...
 
M

Mr.Fletcher

Member
Is a sequel selling worse than it's predecessor in the UK really news anymore? (Not to disparage the OP).

Sales over here are down in general. It's a huge drop off though, no doubt about it.
 
M

Mezoly

Member
Obliterator said:
It's a bit worrying certainly. In terms of recent games alone Dishonored 2, Deus Ex, Gears 4, Watch Dogs 2, Call of Duty, and Titanfall 2 have all failed to launch better or on par than their predecessors
Click to expand...

I wonder if it's just the UK or are these down everywhere else?
Or was it a crowded fall that caused the drops?
 
H

hesido

Member
There was 0 hype in me for the second one. The first one, although I didn't buy it, was something that I followed (and it didn't turn out as well as previously shown).
 
F

flaxknuckles

Member
There goes Watch Dogs 3's happy-go-lucky tone. I expect them to switch gears to try to get back the crowd who liked what the first game promised.
 
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