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UK: Destiny 2 is year's biggest retail launch, but retail down 58% from Destiny 1

Last year IW's launch week sales sales were down 48.8% compared to BO3. At 328K sold.



Agreed but impressive numbers by what standards. D2 has the best debut of the year, yet it is still down at retail.

Impressive numbers taking into account the context surrounding each game.

Horizon Zero Dawn debuted to 115k. Which is more than Destiny 2 PS4 did but of course, it's bested given that it is 1 platform vs. 2.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy a few weeks ago did about 70-75k. The same as Destiny 2 XB1. That's a $40 DLC turned expansion. Again, 1 platform vs. 2.

Stuff like For Honor pulled impressive numbers despite being a new IP and that sports a fairly unusual playstyle.

You go back a year and you can find more games that pulled impressive numbers. D2 is down in retail significantly. I think we'll have to wait a bit to find out why though.
 

ethomaz

Banned
There are a lot of anti-Destiny fans out there. Obvious reason for that. As that spreads and people want to play game with their friends, they move to other games.

"you playing Destiny tonight?"

No man I am playing X

"hey, you playing Destiny tonight"

No way I skipped 2 and am playing X

At some point you stop asking if your friends are playing, and just move to another game.
Most probably the opposite happening...

"You playing X tonight?"

"No man I am playing Destiny"
 

FyreWulff

Member
We get it. Some of you guys really like Destiny and that's fine. But this data isn't "worthless". The physical sales in the UK have dropped significantly. That's all this says. No need for dismissing facts like this.

It's also been 3 years since the last game came out, two platforms have been dropped, and is on two consoles that are heavily digital, and almost everyone I know that plays Destiny casually went digital this time because they don't want to have to put in a disc for an online-only game.


Since we're in launch window, we can compare to Destiny 1's launch window. Activision has stated that Destiny 2 has more preorders than Destiny 1 - so comparing directly across, Destiny 2 is more successful in launch window than Destiny 1. Activision made this statement to their shareholders, and they would get in tons of trouble if they lied in a shareholder report. Furthermore, there's now a third platform (PC) where it's preorders won't be redeemed for another month or so, in a region that has historically favored by PC by such a significant margin that PC versions of games often are only printed for retail over there and are digital-only here.
 
Guarantee he still buys it.
Perhaps if they make the game worthwhile, but I didn't spent a single dime or second on the game after the initial purchase and realizing that I have been screwed over when the season pass content hit, and the first worthwhile expansion was out of the season pass (and worse, there were modes I couldn't play without the latest expansion).

If they have a change of heart and handle the expansions for the second better, why not? But until them I'm not giving them a cent more.
 

Matt

Member
It's also been 3 years since the last game came out, two platforms have been dropped, and is on two consoles that are heavily digital, and almost everyone I know that plays Destiny casually went digital this time because they don't want to have to put in a disc for an online-only game.


Since we're in launch window, we can compare to Destiny 1's launch window. Activision has stated that Destiny 2 has more preorders than Destiny 1 - so comparing directly across, Destiny 2 is more successful in launch window than Destiny 1. Activision made this statement to their shareholders, and they would get in tons of trouble if they lied in a shareholder report. Furthermore, there's now a third platform (PC) where it's preorders won't be redeemed for another month or so.
This data still has value, and it's not great for Destiny.
 

Jindrael

Banned
I for once got burned by Destiny 1 and all I saw from Destiny 2 looks like more of the same.
Pretty much my whole gaming friends circle is the same, we all bought Destiny 1 on launch but only 1 out of those people actually bought D2.

So I can see D2 falling behind the massive hype that D1 had going for it

Also I really doubt that massive difference can be made up solely by digital sales, UK and most of EU digital prices are way too high still
 

oti

Banned
It's also been 3 years since the last game came out, two platforms have been dropped, and is on two consoles that are heavily digital, and almost everyone I know that plays Destiny casually went digital this time because they don't want to have to put in a disc for an online-only game.


Since we're in launch window, we can compare to Destiny 1's launch window. Activision has stated that Destiny 2 has more preorders than Destiny 1 - so comparing directly across, Destiny 2 is more successful in launch window than Destiny 1. Activision made this statement to their shareholders, and they would get in tons of trouble if they lied in a shareholder report. Furthermore, there's now a third platform (PC) where it's preorders won't be redeemed for another month or so.

I'd say this. If we don't get some sort of official congratulatory statement by Activision in the very near future, it's save to assume the launch was worse than Destiny 1. Otherwise they'd blast the sales numbers out on every social media channel they've got.
 
Since I already wanted to go all digital this gen, yeah, I was fine with the DRM, as it would be a better than any other digital only stores.

If it were up we would have heard by now. Act boasted about beta and pre-order numbers being higher, boasted about concurrent users... I doubt they wouldn't do it for launch if they were too.

And yes, a think a game that fucks their customers not meeting sales expectations is a win, and hope that next time they learn not to fuck with their fans.


Yes. One is purposely fucking the users. The other is bad but it's improving.

I don't want Bungie to go out of business, I want them to treat consumers that supported them since the beginning with respect.

This is a you issue, nothing else. No o e got fucked over and d2 us a far better game
Lesson Learned lol.
 

timberger

Member
Waaaay more competition for D2 than there was for the first game so it's not that surprising to see a dip. Bet it'll still sell millions no probs though.

Also, lol at meltdowns itt. Someone bring me my smallest violin plz.
 
The ๖ۜBronx;248580665 said:
I mean yes, because you keep repeating that they fucked the fans in hyperbolic terms instead of just admitting that you're upset that it wasn't what you expected.

All the while secretly hoping the game will fail at the detriment of a lot of people just so you can feel better about yourself and your upset. Honestly, it's a childish position to take which is why I asked for clarification.
Insane logic, yet he will defend anything ms related to the death regardless if its bad it nor.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I'd say this. If we don't get some sort of official congratulatory statement by Activision in the very near future, it's save to assume the launch was worse than Destiny 1. Otherwise they'd blast the sales numbers out on every social media channel they've got.

You mean the one where they announced they had already pre-sold more copies of the game than the original release even though they had dropped from 4 to 3 platforms?


They rebuilt a lot of trust with Taken King and a lot more people have gone digital-only in the past 3 years, why would anyone be surprised?
 

otakukidd

Member
I can see this having a lot larger portion of people buying this game digitally than other games cause it being a online only game and it doesn't get replaced yearly like cod does.
 
Destiny 2 can have more pre orders than 1 and still sell less than 1 .
Even more so if we talking about 1 country .
All you can say about this data is Destiny 2 is down in the UK by a big amount retail wise .
Of course there DD but i don't think that will make up such a big drop .
 
I can see this having a lot larger portion of people buying this game digitally than other games cause it being a online only game and it doesn't get replaced yearly like cod does.
Would not be surprised if D2 has the biggest digital share to date. Not enough to offset 58 percent though in UK.
 
Everyone I know went physical for the first game and went digital for this one.

anecdotal I know, and I am not trying to protect the game or anything but digital numbers are going to be relevant.
 

Alienous

Member
I can see this having a lot larger portion of people buying this game digitally than other games cause it being a online only game and it doesn't get replaced yearly like cod does.

Even then this, as a best case scenario, seems to indicate series stagnation rather than growth.

Will need more data though.
 

oti

Banned
You mean the one where they announced they had already pre-sold more copies of the game than the original release even though they had dropped from 4 to 3 platforms?


They rebuilt a lot of trust with Taken King, why would anyone be surprised?

Come on. Pre-sold is not the same as sold. Or let me ask you this then, why haven't they come out after launch saying Destiny 2 has sold better than Destiny 1? You don't think they'd issue such a statement if that was the case?

I have no interest in this trust conversation or whether Destiny is good or not. I'm talking facts, here. Fact is physical sales in the UK have dropped significantly and there is no statement declaring Destiny 2 sales > Destiny 1 sales so far.

You can't deny the facts.
 

Vinc

Member
I assumed it wouldn't do as well as the first one based off the reception of the original game, the beta numbers, and the overall more low-key marketing and buzz surrounding it (it could just be me not being targeted or not looking in the right places, but I saw farrr more marketing materials for Destiny 1 at the time).

I'm sure it's still doing VERY well, but companies always want growth. However, I'm sure the franchise can recover if the quality keeps going up, as word of mouth will do its thing. I'm not worried about it.

I expect a similar situation with COD, though it may be up from last year due to having a stronger hook.

The one I'm unsure about is Battlefront 2, beta numbers will be telling. I feel like it's in a similar situation to Destiny, though I DID see quite a bit of marketing for it, and it seemed more specifically targeted at people who weren't too satisfied with the previous game. However, I feel like Star Wars in general is generating less momentum this year than it has in the previous 2, despite Episode 8 coming out. I'm sure the Disney marketing machine will kick in very soon, but it'll clearly be a shorter blitz, and it's not benefiting from the hunger people had for Star Wars in 2015, after being starved for so long.
 

Jira

Member
About what I expected really. Overall despite the 1.2 million users so far. Most people expected more. But it just didn't seem like the word of mouth was there. Especially with a lot of the beta impressions being along the lines of "This is destiny 1.5". Still it's good to see that overall it's doing well. Destiny 3 will probably be the big shake up.

1.2M CONCURRENT users, not total meaning 1.2m people playing at the same time. Very few games are able to say they have reached those numbers.
 
The game has 1.2 million concurrent players in less than a week. Obviously we dunno if it sold that WW, but it provides a sense of direction. In the UK we don't know the digital split, the figures are missing the first 24 hours of sales, and it's still the largest launch over there in 2017.

I think the game is gonna be fine.
 
The game has 1.2 million concurrent players in less than a week. Obviously we dunno if it sold that WW, but it provides a sense of direction. In the UK we don't know the digital split, the figures are missing the first 24 hours of sales, and it's still the largest launch over there in 2017.

I think the game is gonna be fine.

Missing the first 24 hours?
You mean the last 24 of first week sales compared to D1!?
 

Shredderi

Member
Even considering that more people go digital these days, that is indeed pretty massive, even if the launch itself is good in a vacuum.
 

Blam

Member
Well this is only physical and it makes sense the physical copies of the game weren't really worth buying so digital is really the way to go with this game.
 

FyreWulff

Member
1.2M CONCURRENT users, not total meaning 1.2m people playing at the same time. Very few games are able to say they have reached those numbers.

to put it in perspective

v9IvtH3.png


they have a higher concurrent than the most popular Steam game and have a higher concurrent than the #3 through #10 Steam games combined. Also note the vast, vast gap between even #1 and #10 on Steam.
 

Chris1

Member
to put it in perspective

v9IvtH3.png


they have a higher concurrent than the most popular Steam game and have a higher concurrent than the #3 through #10 Steam games combined
To be fair, they should have. It's 2 platforms vs 1 so it's not a fair comparison at all. Not to mention that 1.2M will be Destiny's peak for launch day, so it should be compared to 24 hour peak on those Steam charts not current (not sure what you were comparing to)

1.2M is still impressive obviously and even just PS4 which I would estimate to be around 700k concurrent is still really high on Steam top played but your post is misleading.
 

FyreWulff

Member
To be fair, they should have. It's 2 platforms vs 1 so it's not a fair comparison at all. Not to mention that 1.2M will be Destiny's peak for launch day, so it should be compared to 24 hour peak on those Steam charts not current (not sure what you were comparing to)

1.2M is still impressive obviously and even just PS4 which I would estimate to be around 700k concurrent is still really high on Steam top played but your post is misleading.

numbers on the right are in fact a 24 hour peak. left is the actual current peak. the right numbers are what I'm comparing to, and lines up with the historical population graph.
 
The data is far from "worthless," but I think a HEAVY caveat has to be put in any physical numbers of a Destiny game.

For those that enjoyed Destiny 1, it is basically the epitome of a game that is "better" as a digital game as you'll constantly be switching back to it for months/years on end if you are in to it. Anecdotally, the few of my friends that really dug Destiny 1 and bought a physical copy, later down the line traded in their physical copy for the ease of use of a digital copy.

Destiny being THE game that many likely plan on playing for an extended amount of time (and knowing more of what they are getting in to after Destiny 1) combined with the increased share of digital sales from 3 years ago make this kind of not surprising.

But also, 58% is sizeable to say the least, and i'm sure a great percentage of day 1 Destiny 1 buyers either were burned out/disappointed by the first game. Basically, I think the jury is still out.
 

N21

Member
I wonder if the XB1 version low numbers is due to the performance, lack of exclusive content or just general non interest?

For me personally, I wouldn't touch this game until the X arrives.
 

snap

Banned
It's not remotely surprising, at least to me. There's like a tenth of the hype this time around, I was a little surprised people were saying it was going to outsell CoD and Battlefront and all that jazz. The first Destiny was an event almost on the level of Halo 3, if not on that level. This time around sure you'll get the Destiny fanbase, those who stuck with the first game, but everyone else is skeptical after how that first game went.

I wonder if the XB1 version low numbers is due to the performance, lack of exclusive content or just general non interest?

For me personally, I wouldn't touch this game until the X arrives.

the ps4/xb1 split roughly mirrors the console distribution in the UK, afaik.
 

FyreWulff

Member
I wonder if the XB1 version low numbers is due to the performance, lack of exclusive content or just general non interest?

For me personally, I wouldn't touch this game until the X arrives.

PS4 has outsold Xbox One slightly twice over worldwide.
 
Doesn't surprise me. The group of 10 I run with went from all but two having the disc version for the first game to everyone being digital this time around.
 

katsais

Member
Im not quite surprised, frankly. I loved Destiny, despite it's flaws and the Bungie bullshit (biggest thing was the vehement denial of SBMM, blatantly lying in Y2). For Destiny 2, I am enjoying the PvE aspect of it 100%. However, I will have no tolerance for Bungie bullshit this time around, and I will never touch the garbage that is PvP (and Bungie better not force me with quests and shit). Still, most people do buy digital nowadays.

That's why the Destiny 2 PS4 Pro Bundle is is a fantastic deal. Get a new Pro, and the full edition of Destiny with expansion pass for essentially $50. I can always trade-in the game, if I have to, and get some money back.
 
A lot of people bought the first Destiny. A large portion did not like it. Hence not as many people bought Destiny 2.

It's not hard to work out guys.....

I think this pretty much sums it up.

However I did decide to purchase a copy only because I had it pre-ordered with Amazon and it was too late to cancel. Oh well. It's not bad.
 

Mooreberg

Member
I would not be surprised if the way the first game was handled has people waiting it out for "Destiny 2 The Collection". Digital would not account for a drop that large.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
Lots of people likely are waiting to see if it's better than d1 after getting burnt. To be expected. The game will have long legs though I bet.
 
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