I agree, the next Titan Fall should be on both next gen consoles...but I have a funny feeling it won't.( I hope I'm wrong,) but I just don't see Microsoft and EA letting that happen.
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Titanfall sells nearly 1M in the US during first 3 weeks.
- Thread starter fasTRapid
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I agree, the next Titan Fall should be on both next gen consoles...but I have a funny feeling it won't.( I hope I'm wrong,) but I just don't see Microsoft and EA letting that happen.
The Faceless Master
Member
anyone else get a TitanFall survey email from EA?
2nd page was just asking what platform you own the games on that you own from page 1. sadly, they used radio buttons there, not checkboxes and if you happen to own a particular game *coBuFg4h* on more than one platform, you can only pick one.
Qn: What else, if anything, is holding you back from getting Titanfall?
Ans: You.
Anyone else find it funny they are basically asking the same question twice? It is almost like they cannot believe you are not buying the game.
It is good but not outrageously good, I think that is the consensus.
I don't think anyone said the game didn't do well, it just didn't do what MS and to a lesser extent EA, wanted it to do.
Mike Works
Member
Evaluating Titanfall and its first month sales essentially boils down to what lens you're observing them under.
1. From a pure "new IP and nothing else" POV, it sold absolutely incredible. If you factor in all of the marketing costs (and I mean all of them; website hype, commercials, etc.) it still sold very well as a piece of software.
2. From a Call of Duty killer standpoint, it sold under what it should have, but it was kind of put into a position to sell under what it should have, given its console-exclusivity. I'd say it was also set up to fail from a software standpoint given the lack of single player campaign. But still, it didn't have to immediately kill of COD on its first go-round (an impossible task), and the fact is it still sold quite well.
3. As a system seller? It definitely was one, but it's quite difficult to discern how much of one it was. For the month of its release, the XB1 coming in second in the NPD charts is seemingly damning, given the hype and marketing and whatnot. However, is it arguable that numerous XB1 owners who bought the system in the months prior were buying it primarily for Titanfall? Definitely. Which leads us to...
4. Titanfall's performance as a killer app. Given those NPD numbers and the money Microsoft has sunk into it, Titanfall's performance has to be deemed disappointing - at least in terms of pushing XB1's. Is that the game's fault? Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps Halo 5 couldn't have pushed the system into first place last month. Who knows. But in terms of what Microsoft was expecting out of the game in terms of pushing systems, it failed. And I think that's where you're getting people saying "oh, this new IP that's online-only only sold a bit over a million in four weeks, what shit!" In terms of raw numbers, the game did pretty much all it could on the XB1's userbase. The 360 numbers were probably hampered due to the two week delay (and perceived inferiority), and who knows how it did on PC.
So how did Titanfall perform? Terrific and terrible. Simple as that.
1. From a pure "new IP and nothing else" POV, it sold absolutely incredible. If you factor in all of the marketing costs (and I mean all of them; website hype, commercials, etc.) it still sold very well as a piece of software.
2. From a Call of Duty killer standpoint, it sold under what it should have, but it was kind of put into a position to sell under what it should have, given its console-exclusivity. I'd say it was also set up to fail from a software standpoint given the lack of single player campaign. But still, it didn't have to immediately kill of COD on its first go-round (an impossible task), and the fact is it still sold quite well.
3. As a system seller? It definitely was one, but it's quite difficult to discern how much of one it was. For the month of its release, the XB1 coming in second in the NPD charts is seemingly damning, given the hype and marketing and whatnot. However, is it arguable that numerous XB1 owners who bought the system in the months prior were buying it primarily for Titanfall? Definitely. Which leads us to...
4. Titanfall's performance as a killer app. Given those NPD numbers and the money Microsoft has sunk into it, Titanfall's performance has to be deemed disappointing - at least in terms of pushing XB1's. Is that the game's fault? Perhaps, perhaps not. Perhaps Halo 5 couldn't have pushed the system into first place last month. Who knows. But in terms of what Microsoft was expecting out of the game in terms of pushing systems, it failed. And I think that's where you're getting people saying "oh, this new IP that's online-only only sold a bit over a million in four weeks, what shit!" In terms of raw numbers, the game did pretty much all it could on the XB1's userbase. The 360 numbers were probably hampered due to the two week delay (and perceived inferiority), and who knows how it did on PC.
So how did Titanfall perform? Terrific and terrible. Simple as that.
You are likely underestimating the costs of marketing. Think about the GTA 5 marketing campaign. They were on a blackout until relatively close to release as opposed to Titanfalls which ran for months. I think most would say GTA5's marketing campaign, even when it did hit, was somewhat more modest than Titanfall's. The marketing costs for GTA 5 have been estimated at $150million. Titanfall's campaign was also packed with random publicity events like hiring professionals to parkour around in the UK dressed in full on pilot replica gear, building that 10 meter robotic monstrosity that was shipped around the world, etc. This isn't even getting into the issue that Microsoft apparently had to kickstart the development as EA was about to can the project. Analysts put the cost of that at $50million alone.
It's going to be a big money loser (unless the 360 version goes gangbusters) but I'm sure Microsoft expected that all along. They likely viewed it as a loss leader which is why they were willing to literally give it away for free with new consoles. They were hoping to use it to drive sales of the XBone. Ostensibly it'd be practically a freeroll since Titanfall is online only which means it's locked behind a paywall.
BananaSprinkles
Banned
Outrageously good? No.
Canis lupus
Member
Not US numbers but worldwide it hit 1M in 9 days.
Is Infamous also an online-only MP-only/no-SP game?
Mike Works
Member
No, it's an offline-only SP-only/no-MP game.
Delusibeta
Banned
I'd imagine that EA's sales target would be in the five million region, which would make this an embarrassing failure in their eyes, hence why they're being cagey about sale figures. EA probably ate a loss on this one, Microsoft definitely did.
All formats, AFAIK.
All formats, AFAIK.
Neuromancer
Member
13 days from the release day to the press release
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/04/10/infamous-second-son-sales-surpass-1-million/
That was worldwide though.
TatteredHat
Member
Numbers aren't bad, they feel low when I consider the huge marketing push that came before its release.
Melchiah
Member
Exactly, and they still haven't released worldwide, digital and all platforms' sales figures. This is somewhat similar to how MS stopped talking about XB1 sales after the beginning of the year, and resorted to sold-in numbers, instead of sold-through like Sony does.
Melchiah
Member
BananaSprinkles
Banned
The Maverick
Member
Best post of the last couple pages.
And who played the game at the events? People willing to spend 1-4 hours in line for 15minutes of highly controlled play, the very definition of self-selection.
The beta gave a much better indication, and the response was mixed.
And? I doubt Titan fall sold much outside us and uk. I say try are tied.
I don't recall it mixed. It wasn't universal, nothing ever is, but it definitely wasn't 50/50. Most seemed to think it was very good.
Triggerhappytel
Member
What does this mean - did it sell badly on 360?
Mixed as in not 99% "OMGFFS greatest game ever" like post-e3 2013.
TechnicPuppet
Nothing! I said nothing!
How do you know how much its sold or what EAs expectations are?
And? Titanfall sold 950k in the US, boxes only, no bundles counted, no digital sales. And you think they're tied WW, cause you think it didn't sell well outside of the US/UK? Hell, Titanfall for Xbox One charted in Sweden, and the console isn't even released here.
And remember Titanfall released on PC and X360 as well, if infamous can beat that with 1 platform, I'll eat my hat.
Nah, I can't see it beating or tying Titanfall WW.
The only reason I see for EA/MS not going public with full numbers is cause they want to announce a big number at E3.
I don't believe EA are so deluded they think a brand new IP will sell five million within the first few months. Hell 5 million during the lifetime of Titanfall (1) would be overestimating it I think.
I don't know. I'm just pretty confident it hasn't been approaching Ghosts 360 numbers.
Melchiah
Member
The real question is, how the total sales of TF on XB1 compare to those of Infamous. It's no point to compare, say, COD sales on all platforms to KZ:SF.
The X1 specific numbers are only important to determine how happy MS is with the Titanfall situation. For EA and Respawn, they don't care which platform people purchase the game for, and EA specifically would probably rather all the sales went through Origin.
Comparison's with Infamous are pretty pointless overall, because Infamous on PS4, doesn't have any sales cannibalised by other platforms someone could by the game on. Plenty of people with an X1 still bought Titanfall on PC. That doesn't make Titanfall itself any less successful... it just sucks for MS.
Yeah, that'd be the only comparison I think would make them close WW, but we'll probably not get real numbers there, but lots of guesswork could do, since we sort of know first month Titanfall sales in the US and UK, and if we go by the same attach-ratio (about 1:4 in the UK iirc at launch), and say 4 million X1's out there, it'd be around 1 million Titanfalls on X1 WW, not including digital since the attach-ratio was calculated on boxed copies only
This is pure guesstimagic so don't go jumping on me for being so, so wrong please
Agreed, I'm also pretty confident there will be a sunny day, somewhere on earth tomorrow
"It is selling X amount on a console with an install base of Y million .therefore it is a success ."
I don't get this argument .
Neither Sony or MS is going to make or fund a game with the intention to market it to their current install base only .
Both of them hope that new people buy their console and increase said install base.
The last months before this game came out during which all the exposure this game was getting with a massive ad campaign should have made it quite clear what both EA and MS wanted out of this game :
EA wanted this game to be a new million (billion even ) dollar franchise .
MS wanted this game to be the catalyst that would make Xbox one hardware sales shoot through the roof and thereby increasing their install base massively .
I do not want to use the words "it failed " but i have no doubt that both of these objectives are not being met according to expectations by both company's .
I don't get this argument .
Neither Sony or MS is going to make or fund a game with the intention to market it to their current install base only .
Both of them hope that new people buy their console and increase said install base.
The last months before this game came out during which all the exposure this game was getting with a massive ad campaign should have made it quite clear what both EA and MS wanted out of this game :
EA wanted this game to be a new million (billion even ) dollar franchise .
MS wanted this game to be the catalyst that would make Xbox one hardware sales shoot through the roof and thereby increasing their install base massively .
I do not want to use the words "it failed " but i have no doubt that both of these objectives are not being met according to expectations by both company's .
Anyone seen this rumour?
http://www.gamepur.com/news/14562-insider-titanfall-going-multiplayer-build-already-running-ps4-it-titanfall-.html
I think it's fair to say that it was already running on PS3/PS4 but was then stopped due to MS exclusivity deal.
I had a silly theory that perhaps if Titanfall doesn't reach a set amount of copies on Xbox it may be allowed to release on PlayStation.
http://www.gamepur.com/news/14562-insider-titanfall-going-multiplayer-build-already-running-ps4-it-titanfall-.html
I think it's fair to say that it was already running on PS3/PS4 but was then stopped due to MS exclusivity deal.
I had a silly theory that perhaps if Titanfall doesn't reach a set amount of copies on Xbox it may be allowed to release on PlayStation.
The thing I find interesting about this game is that the beta had more than 2million users and like you say I think most of the feedback was generally positive. Yet fewer than half of those players actually deemed it worth purchasing. If we assume some people who did not play the beta actually purchased the game then that far fewer than half is going to end up being more like fewer than 1/4th ended up deciding it was worth a purchase.
My expectations for Titanfall were high because of the beta feedback and I'm typically very bearish on sales. Assume a decent majority of people who played the beta end up purchasing the game, some current XBone/PC owners who didn't play the beta end up purchasing it and finally assume some decent chunk of people buy a new XBone because of the game to play it and you get numbers approaching 3million pretty fast. I think the number I ended up predicting was 2.8million.
It'd be interesting to break it down into actual users as opposed to posts. It's reasonable to assume that people who were enthusiastic about the game posted far more than those who weren't so skimming all posts as a whole you'd get a disproportionate representation of positivity. Perhaps people who had felt negatively of the game decided to mostly keep it to themselves for a dislike of running against the grain too much? Lastly perhaps there were just a lot of people who thought it was a good game, but not worth $60 and longterm play? I guess it's the question EA is trying to answer right now with those surveys which essentially come down to why-didn't-you-buy-titanfall. Wonder what feedback they're getting.
Triggerhappytel
Member
That's not a silly theory - I don't know anything about video game contracts like this, but it strikes me as likely that there will be a clause that if the game doesn't sell X copies in X amount of time then the exclusivity agreement would be deemed null and void. For instance, if EA was expecting 4-5 million sales and it's tracking for 2-2.5 million, that's pretty fucking disastrous no matter the spin they put on it.
I think it's more likely that the contract for EA as well as Respawn is heavily in Microsoft's favor. EA was going to cancel Titanfall and just suck up the tens of millions they'd already dropped on it as well as taking at least a nominal PR hit. Microsoft showed up like a knight in silicon armor and offered to save the project for "free" and I do mean "free" in the most EA sense of the word. They likely received whatever they asked for which I'm sure keeping it off of Sony consoles indefinitely was long down on a list of conditions.
AHA-Lambda
Member
EA.wanted to cancel Titanfall? I didn't know that, where did this come from?
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
That's ridiculous. That would bes something close to an 80% attach rate.
I doubt 80% of sold Xbox ones are even connected to the internet, especially when you factor in cost of live, second console owners who are waiting for a killer app, and of course resellers.
New IP, not on playstation, requires Origin, hype turns some people off, no single player, etc...
Then there's the fact the game is very bare-bones and offers almost no customisation at all. Perks system, but no custom game modes or servers, and while the game is a lot of fun I don't find myself longing to play it. Speaking with the friends of mine who haven't bought it, they either all have PS4s, or don't like the look of the limitations on PC.
After a while you find the modes and maps and items you really enjoy using, and custom servers spring up that cater to specific tastes. I doubt I'd have played Halo CE as much as I did had I been forced to play some of the maps over and over again, same for TF2, CS, BF, etc...
All these things together make the numbers seem very good for what it is: a strong start to a new franchise that has potential to grow into something really great.
The hype was too much, the game is good but just doesn't have enough to it yet.
Figures should look ok to anyone who didn't buy into the hype blind.
Then there's the fact the game is very bare-bones and offers almost no customisation at all. Perks system, but no custom game modes or servers, and while the game is a lot of fun I don't find myself longing to play it. Speaking with the friends of mine who haven't bought it, they either all have PS4s, or don't like the look of the limitations on PC.
After a while you find the modes and maps and items you really enjoy using, and custom servers spring up that cater to specific tastes. I doubt I'd have played Halo CE as much as I did had I been forced to play some of the maps over and over again, same for TF2, CS, BF, etc...
All these things together make the numbers seem very good for what it is: a strong start to a new franchise that has potential to grow into something really great.
The hype was too much, the game is good but just doesn't have enough to it yet.
Figures should look ok to anyone who didn't buy into the hype blind.
He's kind of doing an insane twisting around of what's in The Final Hours of Titanfall.
After three years of producing very little and expecting EA to cancel their game, Respawn went to EA with a new plan of how to get the game done.
Essentially their plan was to cut down to one platform developed internally (along with PC) and make it a multiplayer only game, along with adding a year to their originally planned development cycle.
EA's CEO at the time said that this was going to cause financial issues for EA, and that they would need to sign an exclusivity agreement with a first party to help amortize the risk given that Respawn had produced almost nothing by this point, so EA went to Microsoft with the title and got a deal in place.
Respawn then went on a megacrunch with a new team structure designed by Vince Zampella after Jason West left and got the game done in a year, which is why the content is a bit threadbare.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Titanfall was once close to being cancelled?! Never heard that before. Got a link?
A) I'm speculating, B) it's on three platforms, so the your attach rate comment is meaningless and C) I said "in X amount of time".
can you blame them for asking though? given the almost universal approach "titanfall is not a console exclusive, I will get it on my PC",
one would expect that PC would dwarf the xbone version in sales.
so, did this happen?
Triggerhappytel
Member
No because Origin.
haha doesnt go like that.. everybody knew it would be on origin, it was hardly a surprise even for the least involved.
Melchiah
Member
Then why was the game a timed exclusive at first?
To my knowledge Mr. Mountain Dew himself, Geoff Keighley, first revealed it in his e-book. Google for titanfall cancelled (might want to add -"south africa" to the query) and you'll get plenty of sources.