It's criminal that Sleepydogs sold less than Tomb Raider and Hitman. Absolutely criminal.
And Tomb Raider is not even out for a month. What were their expectations? Given the state at which the budgets are rising. Lets hope we don't see a repeat of the infamous crash.
Eurogamer's take on this:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-26-tomb-raider-has-sold-3-4-million-copies-failed-to-hit-expectations
Tomb Raider has sold 3.4 million copies, failed to hit expectations
"3.4 million copies of Tomb Raider have been sold in four weeks, publisher Square Enix has revealed, which is not enough to hit the game's sales target.
Fellow Square Enix title Hitman Absolution sold 3.6 million units since its launch in November last year, while Sleeping Dogs sold 1.75 million since last August.
There's no mention of what the company's internal sales expectations were for the trio, just that all three missed their respective marks.
Square Enix expected 14.9 million retail game sales from North America and Europe combined in its six-monthly forecast last September. Considering the fact that Tomb Raider, Hitman Absolution and Sleeping Dogs were the only big releases for these regions and accounted for a combined 8.75 million sales worldwide, it's clear that their targets were a good deal higher.
Today's numbers, published in Square Enix's latest financial report, do not count digital sales.
The figures are predicted totals for the current financial year. With five more days to go, they're unlikely to change very much unless you personally go out and buy 500,000 copies of Tomb Raider right now.
The business' North American sales momentum was singled out as being particularly "ineffective". The continent recorded just two thirds of Europe's sales. Back in September, Square Enix had forecast that North American sales would be higher than Europe's.
Price protection - where a publisher is forced to compensate retailers for any games shifted at cut cost - added to Square Enix's woes.
The company revealed earlier this morning that its net sales and total profits would be significantly lower than expected for the current financial year.
In large part this is due to a restructuring of its games business, a measure necessary due to lacklustre sales of its console game portfolio. Company president Yoichi Wada has also been replaced."
At this point in the market, I'm starting to believe they're excluding digital sales as a tool to mask and justify other problems.
Eurogamer doesn't know how to read those slides. It isn't clear if those are shipped or targets, I'm on the side that those are the targeted numbers and not actual.
The IP is too big to leave and die. My prediction: Crystal Dynamics will be allowed to make one more attempt with this new Tomb Raider universe. Then the sequel will underperform unless any significant changes are made to the gameplay formula (aping Uncharted only gets you so far).
Then the series will either get rebooted again or SE will leave the series to rot.
Eurogamer doesn't know how to read those slides. It isn't clear if those are shipped or targets, I'm on the side that those are the targeted numbers and not actual.
I mean it's essentially a new IP since they didn't use the True Crime name. I think it did pretty well and the amount of DLC they've been churning out, I can't believe they didn't make money off of it.
Wow.. and some companies are STILL complaining? Seriously?
They either complain about pirates, poor sales, or being "forced" to increase budgets. This is just ridiculous.
They, the very companies that keep pushing up budget prices, are usually the ones that complain about having to increase budgets. But I'm pretty sure they can make more niche titles that will easily cover the budgets most of the time.
Pretty much every single "AAA" game has been mediocre anyhow -- the only spectacular thing about them are the budgets and polish.
I don't think Demon's Souls, or Dark Souls could be classified as "AAA" titles, even though they are far superior in quality, they didn't have anywhere near the marketing or, presumably, the budget of AAA titles. The fact that Dark Souls is getting a sequel implies that it must have made some money.
It's just annoying that the studios keep pushing up the budget for games and marketing while pushing down the quality, and then expect to be rewarded for it.
I was actually debating with a buddy the other day on if DS could be considered AAA.. i was on the fence but he was pretty adamant it was. I dont think we ever came to a consensus lol
Wondering how things will be next-gen when budgets go up but sales don't pickup comparatively.
Sleeping Dogs was supposed to be a True Crime game?
Well it's a matter of budget, so you just need to know how much it cost to produce.
For Tomb Raider it's probably alienating the original TR fanbase. I wonder how many dudebros bought it because of Uncharted action and how much less TR fans bought it because of that. I mean I was a 100% Tomb Raider fan till this game. And I'm really sure that I will never buy it at all. Even at 10pounds or less.
Wow, it's sad when sales of 3m+ are considered weak, albeit with publishers having to pay retailers more money under the price protection regulation.
All the more reason for publishers to encourage Digital distribution where giving a discount of say $10 does not entail the publisher having to shell out that same amount to compensate the middleman.
NA being 2/3 of EU sales is especially bad given NA is by far the larger HD console market.
I notice DQX isn't mentioned anywhere in the reasons for the extraordinary loss? What happened with that MSN article?
They have to be shipped numbers. Actual Tomb Raider sales are far below the mentioned 3.4 million (according to NPD and Chart Track numbers plus estimates for mainland Europe).Eurogamer doesn't know how to read those slides. It isn't clear if those are shipped or targets, I'm on the side that those are the targeted numbers and not actual.
Either way, these are clearly part of the reason why Wada resigned.
They have to be shipped numbers. Actual Tomb Raider sales are far below the mentioned 3.4 million (according to NPD and Chart Track numbers plus estimates for mainland Europe).
what when did wada leave resign?? someone give a link to the thread.
The important thing I thought was the specfic calling out of the NA sales force being "ineffective" by only producing sales 2/3 that of their EU counterparts.
I wonder what this means in terms of revenue by platform, given 360's dominance in the NA market compared to PS3 in Europe. Would it really be so unlikely that PS3 and 360 owners' tastes are actually less similar than we tend to think?
It's criminal that Sleepydogs sold less than Tomb Raider and Hitman. Absolutely criminal.
Oh wait, figures don't include downloads. They were practically giving the best version away merely two months after release, so I imagine that's a large chunk missing from the actual numbers.
thats what i always though, but he was going more off of scope/quality.
THQ's business was build off of licensed properties for a decade or so, and when they tried to transition to new, publisher-owned IPs they failed to compete. Square Enix has the best catalogue of IP in Japan outside of Nintendo. They have just really been dropping the ball when it comes to taking advantage of their IP.
Maybe this will be a wake up call for SE and Eidos. Stop ruining old franchises for the sake of the casual crowd that doesn't exist anymore and keep your budgets in check. Deus Ex and Hitman fans don't need bleeding edge graphics to buy the game, Tomb Raider fans just want puzzles and actual Tombs.
Would be a shame, since its fucktons better than UnderworldIt'd be cosmic justice if the TR reboot winds up selling less than Underworld. Highly doubt it but it would be hilarious nonetheless.
If "fucktons better" is code for "generic trash" then sure.Would be a shame, since its fucktons better than Underworld
It'd be cosmic justice if the TR reboot winds up selling less than Underworld. Highly doubt it but it would be hilarious nonetheless.
If "fucktons better" is code for "generic trash" then sure.
At this point Eidios Montreal seem the only people within Square who have a clue. Put them in charge, they may just get somewhere.
It's amazing that so many game reviewers hold such importance, especially when considering the fact that the vast majority of these reviewers are incompetent at properly analyzing and critically reflecting on the games they are supposed to assess.