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BloodBorne Sales Expectations : What are yours? What Could Sony's be ?

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Eh? where did you get that idea. I said nothing of the sort.

It will sell just fine lifetime, likely to a different audience. But suggesting nothing will ever pass 4 million sales Call of Duty on Ps4 just because it has "call of duty" in the title is just silly.

Bloodborne will likely sell in line with high profile PS3 exclusive games (which i called out) which hit 3-4 million fairly easily on a platform that didn't sell anywhere near as well.



This ignores the fact that games tend to be pretty frontloaded. In a few months infamous was drowned out by the next big thing and off to the bargain bins.

Bloodborne is starting out the gate with triple the potential audience second son had, better reviews, and less competition. It'll outsell it.

Sorry, I still don't understand where you're coming from.
Motorstorm sold thru 525k units at retail in the US on PS3, so yes, I do think Bloodborne will eventually outsell that. Not that I really understand the comparison. But I'll play along.

I'm simply too close to selling games to really mesh well with passionate people throwing out their two cents, I suppose. It never ends well.
 
Infamous did a million in 9 days. That would be an awesome result. This game will have longer legs too.

given how it appears to be sold out everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if BB hits that million WW this week (including digital downloads, of course)

Sorry, I still don't understand where you're coming from.
Motorstorm sold thru 525k units at retail in the US on PS3, so yes, I do think Bloodborne will eventually outsell that. Not that I really understand the comparison. But I'll play along.

I'm simply too close to selling games to really mesh well with passionate people throwing out their two cents, I suppose. It never ends well.

That's fine, I can explain further.

I wasn't talking about "units at retail in the US." I was talking worldwide lifetime sales, including bundles and GOTY reissues. Motorstorm sold 3 million units globally within about a year of launch despite average reviews and being an original IP on a more expensive system with a smaller userbase than the PS4 has.

I also cited heavy rain and little big planet- all three were over 3 million units lifetime on a weaker system (the PS3), despite again being "original IP" in niche genres.
 

Boke1879

Member
Are you suggesting that the market for Bloodborne is the same as COD? I think Bloodborne will do really well but it will be behind Hardline in sales but probably ahead of FF Type-0.

I can easily see Bloodborne doing 4 million lifetime sales.

Clearly this sort of game isn't for everyone but right now it had a lot of factors working for it right now. The next major release is MKX on April 14th. Sony will no doubt advertise this game even harder now just like they've been doing.

Also Word of mouth will do this game wonders. I'd even suggest it's already working. Amazon has sold out and is now selling from 3rd party outlets. The game is reviewing well and it's all over twitch right now.

Technically this is a new IP and it's launching fairly early into the PS4's life when people are looking for good quality games.
 
I really can't see that at all considering how much its predecessors sold over two console platforms and PC.

You talk as if it impossible for a series get more popular. Those previous games never got this treatment pre-launch or got this much attention post-launch.
 
i hope Sony can persuade Miyazaki-san to work on a sequel for this Game. Sony needs their own Core Franchise.
Without Miyazaki tough its not the same.
 

vpance

Member
2700 people are currently broadcasting the game according to the Live app on PS4. I only ever saw GTAV put up numbers like that. I think it's safe to say it's selling extremely well.
 

Jomjom

Banned
Sorry, I still don't understand where you're coming from.
Motorstorm sold thru 525k units at retail in the US on PS3, so yes, I do think Bloodborne will eventually outsell that. Not that I really understand the comparison. But I'll play along.

I'm simply too close to selling games to really mesh well with passionate people throwing out their two cents, I suppose. It never ends well.

Isn't pretty much everyone in this thread talking about global sales, not US sales? Kinda pointless to just talk about US sales when there are people all over the world on GAF.

I've seen you keep posting throughout the thread subtly mocking people's estimates, but the majority of people are predicting like 1 mil to 2 mil worldwide. I think that's pretty reasonable. But hey who knows I'm definitely NOT someone who's too close to selling games, so what do I know.
 

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Isn't pretty much everyone in this thread talking about global sales, not US sales? Kinda pointless to just talk about US sales when there are people all over the world on GAF.

I've seen you keep posting throughout the thread subtly mocking people's estimates, but the majority of people are predicting like 1 mil to 2 mil worldwide. I think that's pretty reasonable. But hey who knows I'm definitely NOT someone who's too close to selling games, so what do I know.

Doesn't look like the majority to me... Most are way higher :).

I have no problem talkin WW sales, I tend to specify where appropriate if I'm referencing Us only or WW retail sales
 

dofry

That's "Dr." dofry to you.
Can't estimate how many copies this will sell but I bet this will sell the console really well. I have three friends that get the console and they waited years to get a PS3. Now suddenly Bloodborne tipped the scale for them and they weren't that interested in a PS4 before
 

Boke1879

Member
i hope Sony can persuade Miyazaki-san to work on a sequel for this Game. Sony needs their own Core Franchise.
Without Miyazaki tough its not the same.

I'm sure they can contract him on a sequel provided this sells well. Which it will. But it's something I want them to take time with. Release a sequel in about 3-4 years.
 
Doesn't look like the majority to me... Most are way higher :).

I have no problem talkin WW sales, I tend to specify where appropriate if I'm referencing Us only or WW retail sales

pretty sure we cleared that up pretty quickly when you flat out asked if I was talking worldwide figures.

you are completely ignoring market realities.
and over estimating the appeal of the genre Bloodborn is set in, and that it's a new IP.

You're saying it's going to outsell nearly every SKU on PS4 at retail to date world wide?
Up there with matching CoD's 4MM?

how does that enter the world of sanity.
 

Vena

Member
You talk as if it impossible for a series get more popular. Those previous games never got this treatment pre-launch or got this much attention post-launch.

Dark Souls 2 had a pre/post-launch campaign, and was pretty hyped for the type of game that this is and was even with DS2. And that was coming off of the recent "exposure high" that DS1 was receiving from its growing popularity.

I just don't see it going that high with a limited base and the cut-out of the whole PC base. But that's just my opinion on the matter.
 

oneils

Member
2 million copies sold is what a 10% attach rate? Maybe something like that. I would be really surprised if it did more than 3m. Happy for the devs, but a little surprised. Good luck from software.

Demons souls did 1m, but on system that had like 35 million consoles in the wild when the game was released. I guess the hype for blood borne is pretty strong though.
 

Jomjom

Banned
Doesn't look like the majority to me... Most are way higher :).

I have no problem talkin WW sales, I tend to specify where appropriate if I'm referencing Us only or WW retail sales

Lol I hope you weren't taking Verendus's 15 million or whatever seriously. I just looked through the posts on the first two pages (200 posts), yeah the majority is 1 mil to 2 mil with a sprinkling of 4 mil lifetime once in a while. I mean for lifetime who knows, once the game is bargain binned, not that those sales would really mean anything to the publisher or developer.
 

Koh

Member
Bought mine and I've never played a souls game. I believe quite a few people are in my boat.

My guess is 3.5 mil by the end of the year WW.

(Pure guess based on nothing material)
 

Kill3r7

Member
I wouldn't know about that but I what I do know is that I've seen wayyyy more hype for bloodborne than iss.

Look at sales figures for Infamous which is a PS exclusive series and then compare it to Souls series (sans Demon's it has been multi platform). Enough said.
 
Look at sales figures for Infamous which is a PS exclusive series and then compare it to Souls series (sans Demon's it has been multi platform). Enough said.
shouldn't you also consider the fact that, as someone else said, the install base is almost triple what it was when infamous was released?
 

Kill3r7

Member
shouldn't you also consider the fact that, as someone else said, the install base is almost triple what it was when infamous was released?

Both series started on the PS3. Based on the sales figures Infamous appears to be the more popular series (especially when you consider that is a PS exclusive). I think ISS like numbers would be really good for Bloodborne. Anything above that and we are talking about a bonafide hit. Just my opinion.
 
I've never played a souls game (despite having Demons souls on psplus) and bought this day 1. IT just looked so fun.

I think it will easily clear 1.5 million when all is said and done.
 
Both series started on the PS3. Based on the sales figures Infamous appears to be the more popular series (especially when you consider that is a PS exclusive). I think ISS like numbers would be really good for Bloodborne. Anything above that and we are talking about a bonafide hit. Just my opinion.

Eh, Infamous 1's sales numbers aren't all that high. Wiki says just under 3 million as of 2014, which is probably good as a lifetime figure. Keep in mind Sony promoted, bundled, and discounted the bejeezus out of that game as they do with nearly all of their first party titles. (This also has more than a little to do with why Motorstorm 1 and LBP 1 ALSO have 3 million+ sales figures)

I honestly can't find any real numbers on infamous 2 past the first week or so, but plenty of anecdotal data that says sales fell pretty hard after that. If it ever passed the sales of the first game, Sony is being very, very quiet about it.

Dark Souls on the other hand we know sold at least 2.3 million copies in it's two year period, and though the jury is still out on DS2 (especially with SOTFS due out soon), the press on that game is that it managed to sell 1.2 million copies in three weeks, plus another million copies on steam through 2014. It pretty much has to have passed DS1 by a decent margin by now.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that DS and DS2 are about as popular or more popular than infamous is.
 

RexNovis

Banned
I think it will likely sell in the range Shadow Of Mordor's first month on PS4 (480k in NPD). So I'm expecting about 1.3 million WW sales opening month. First year legs will heavily depend on potential price cuts for PS4 as I'd imagine it would be a game people waiting for a substantial price cut will want to snatch up. My guess by end of year 2015:

W/ $299 Price drop: 3.1 million worldwide
W/O Price drop: 2.2 million worldwide
First month WW sales: ~1.3 million
First Month NPD: ~550k
 
So I've never played a Souls game before and decided to pick this up afterall... And both gamestops I stopped at after work were sold out...

I think it will do better than the powers that be are expecting.
 
Both series started on the PS3. Based on the sales figures Infamous appears to be the more popular series (especially when you consider that is a PS exclusive). I think ISS like numbers would be really good for Bloodborne. Anything above that and we are talking about a bonafide hit. Just my opinion.
I dunno how accurate it is for us to continue talking about bloodborne as if it is a continuation of the souls series. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but The fact is that it is a new IP and bears several similarities to the souls series. so that's that, and as I've stated I've seen a lot more anticipation behind bloodborne than iss.
 
When I went to Gamestop to pick up my Majora's Mask 3DS the guy told me this when I asked how Bloodborne's release went.

"If they would have released it on Xbox One in addition to PS4 they would have easily sold a couple million copys, but without XB1 or a PC release I bet they'll barely hit 1 million".

To which I asked "Really? What about the large user base of Playstation 4 owners that are still looking for a killer game? Don't you think that should move at least a 10% share of the current user base? What about potential clients on the edge that are long time Souls fans, wouldn't they be more inclined to jump into a system now, especially with the current results from reviews and looking at the upcoming fiscal year don't you think the trend is going up? Surely they could manage 2 million plus sales with those figures?"

He stared at me like a deer in headlights and said "Oh man, do you like, you know, do this stuff?"

I'm a financial Risk Analyst, I love hearing other people tell me their analysis sometimes, this was not one of those times. Bloodborne: Gamestop Financial Analyst edition... Reminds me of Michael Pachter.

***EDIT*** I would say based on the consoles sold through and projections by EOM Bloodborne hits 3 million WW by August with lifetime sales of 4 million putting it at a 18.6% attach rate to user base by E3.
 
When I went to Gamestop to pick up my Majora's Mask 3DS the guy told me this when I asked how Bloodborne's release went.

"If they would have released it on Xbox One in addition to PS4 they would have easily sold a couple million copys, but without XB1 or a PC release I bet they'll barely hit 1 million".

To which I asked "Really? What about the large user base of Playstation 4 owners that are still looking for a killer game? Don't you think that should move at least a 10% share of the current user base? What about potential clients on the edge that are long time Souls fans, wouldn't they be more inclined to jump into a system now, especially with the current results from reviews and looking at the upcoming fiscal year don't you think the trend is going up? Surely they could manage 2 million plus sales with those figures?"

He stared at me like a deer in headlights and said "Oh man, do you like, you know, do this stuff?"

I'm a financial Risk Analyst, I love hearing other people tell me their analysis sometimes, this was not one of those times. Bloodborne: Gamestop Financial Analyst edition... Reminds me of Michael Pachter.

To be fair, if his analysis skills were any good, he wouldn't be working at a gamestop
 

Boke1879

Member
So I've never played a Souls game before and decided to pick this up afterall... And both gamestops I stopped at after work were sold out...

I think it will do better than the powers that be are expecting.

I went to my Gamestop this morning on my break from work to pick it up. They said they got 40 copies total and 6 of those weren't reserves.

I think it's going to be interesting. I don't think Sony undershipped but maybe they shipped what they thought would be enough.

Either way if you can't find it in stores most people should be able to download it.

Hell amazon is already bundling the game with the PS4 for $435
 
I went to my Gamestop this morning on my break from work to pick it up. They said they got 40 copies total and 6 of those weren't reserves.

I think it's going to be interesting. I don't think Sony undershipped but maybe they shipped what they thought would be enough.

Either way if you can't find it in stores most people should be able to download it.

yeah, I'm expecting digital download sales for this one to be pretty high. It's sold out everywhere and no one wants to wait.

Hell amazon is already bundling the game with the PS4 for $435

they're what?
 

Kill3r7

Member
Eh, Infamous 1's sales numbers aren't all that high. Wiki says just under 3 million as of 2014, which is probably good as a lifetime figure. Keep in mind Sony promoted, bundled, and discounted the bejeezus out of that game as they do with nearly all of their first party titles. (This also has more than a little to do with why Motorstorm 1 and LBP 1 ALSO have 3 million+ sales figures)

I honestly can't find any real numbers on infamous 2 past the first week or so, but plenty of anecdotal data that says sales fell pretty hard after that. If it ever passed the sales of the first game, Sony is being very, very quiet about it.

Dark Souls on the other hand we know sold at least 2.3 million copies in it's two year period, and though the jury is still out on DS2 (especially with SOTFS due out soon), the press on that game is that it managed to sell 1.2 million copies in three weeks, plus another million copies on steam through 2014. It pretty much has to have passed DS1 by a decent margin by now.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that DS and DS2 are about as popular or more popular than infamous is.

Infamous 1&2 were only available on the PS3 while DS and DS2 were multi platform games. Hey I'm all about Bloodborne selling a ton but at the same time we need to keep expectations realistic.
 

Boke1879

Member
yeah, I'm expecting digital download sales for this one to be pretty high. It's sold out everywhere and no one wants to wait.



they're what?

Yep. Don't have the link on hand but if you check Wario64's twitter he'll have it there. It's just not in stock yet. It says in stock March 27th
 
Infamous 1&2 were only available on the PS3 while DS and DS2 were multi platform games. Hey I'm all about Bloodborne selling a ton but at the same time we need to keep expectations realistic.

I'm not sure what you're arguing here.

First the argument was that infamous was "more popular based on sales", but the numbers don't bear that out. it looks like DS2 outsold infamous 2 by a fairly wide margin.

now it's "well, those were multi platform games." True, but multi platforms don't get marketed as aggressively, USUALLY don't get bundled, and certainly don't get discounted so far down that they are literally given away for free, as infamous was when sony got hacked. BB will have all of these things, and i wouldn't be shocked to see it turn up on PS+ in a couple of years either as demon's souls did.

Besides, this is an extremely well reviewed game (the best in the series, it looks like) targeted right at the core and hardcore gamer, who are more likely than others to have multiple systems. Since BB isn't available on PC or 360, those gamers will play it on PS4, or pick one up- make no mistake this will be moving systems for those on the fence.

i can't see a plausible scenario where it sells LESS than Dark Souls 2, especially since word of mouth on that game was terrible due to the downgrade.

Yep. Don't have the link on hand but if you check Wario64's twitter he'll have it there. It's just not in stock yet. It says in stock March 27th

That's going to be a killer bundle when it hits, damn
 
Dunno if it's been mentioned, but for a while today Bloodborne surpassed League of Legends in Twitch viewer count. For instance the last AAA game that came out, Evolve, was only first in the list as a 'Promotion'. I think the hype is real, and it'll easily do over a million the first month it's out. Maybe even more, it helps that theres no other major PS4 release for a while too.
 
***EDIT*** I would say based on the consoles sold through and projections by EOM Bloodborne hits 3 million WW by August with lifetime sales of 4 million putting it at a 18.6% attach rate to user base by E3.

While I do feel rather vindicated with my prediction, isn't an 18.6% attach rate rather high?


oh god and the last of us is still included. Microsoft is going to cry themselves to sleep all through the month of april.
 
While I do feel rather vindicated with my prediction, isn't an 18.6% attach rate rather high?



oh god and the last of us is still included. Microsoft is going to cry themselves to sleep all through the month of april.
Absurdly high for this type of game. On this forum it will be higher but the broader market, no chance
 
Dunno if it's been mentioned, but for a while today Bloodborne surpassed League of Legends in Twitch viewer count. For instance the last AAA game that came out, Evolve, was only first in the list as a 'Promotion'. I think the hype is real, and it'll easily do over a million the first month it's out. Maybe even more, it helps that theres no other major PS4 release for a while too.

Man, i hope casual gamers will enjoy it then Souls-like genre may become popular. I want more Souls-like games :)
 
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