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[Bullet Club]

World War Z passes 1 million copies sold in a week

Zombie games can still bring in big sales, as publisher Focus Home Interactive and developer Saber Interactive announced today that their co-op shooter World War Z has passed more than 1 million copies sold since its April 16 launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It accomplished this despite not being on Steam — it’s an Epic Games Store exclusive for PC. This is a fantastic showing for Saber, the New Jersey-based studio that put out Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 last year.

Saber Interactive Matthew Karch said that World War Z is better than he’d thought it would outside the U.S. and that at its peak, World War Z had 70,000 concurrent players during launch week. Our Dean Takahashi thinks it could appeal to fans who enjoy games like Left 4 Dead and other co-op shooting experiences.

“Overall the U.S. and EU have been equally strong in sales. We have had 70,000 people playing at once across all platforms, with very similar distribution among PC (Epic Games Store), PS4 and Xbox. What surprises us is the fact that sales outside of the US on the Epic Store have been so strong, with the US being only one quarter of sales.”

World War Z is a third-person co-op shooter. In the campaign mode, up to four people can work together to take on the hordes of zombies. Multiplayer has what Saber calls “PvPvZ” which is players-vs.players-vs.-zombies. Your squad takes on another group of players while both hold off rampaging zombies. And remember: These are the fast-moving zombies of the film, which can move about in great herds, and not the slower walking dead of the original novel.

Earlier this month, Focus Home and Saber Interactive strengthened their relationship. The excellent performance of World War Z shows Focus Home’s faith in Saber was justified.

Source: Venture Beat

 

[odhin]

Is it any good?
(been out of the loop)

The movie was really shite imo

 

[Bullet Club]

Is it any good?
(been out of the loop)

The movie was really shite imo

​

Apparently it's pretty good fun. It's getting average reviews though.

 

[Gamezone]

Doesn't look like people care if it's EGS exclusive or not.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Is it any good?
(been out of the loop)

The movie was really shite imo

Id post a link to the thread but I can’t find it at the moment.

Many of us enjoying it, here on GAF, based on thread.

For 35 bucks it’s a fun time. Needs a little polish and I’m sure there’s future content in the pipeline.

On the two hardest difficulties, where friendly fire is actually a danger, I’ve encountered a lot of trolls. That’s my only gripe but that’s just gaming, can’t blame the game, really

 

[demigod]

1 million sold, but people were saying zombie games are done to death now in the Day's Gone thread. I'm not touching EGS so i'll quietly wait for a sale for PS4.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

its better than Days gone?

 

[NickFire]

Is this the zombie game that was coming out soon for several years while in early access, or is this an entirely different game?

 

[LaughingStock]

its better than Days gone?

It's a completely different genre. WWZ is like Left 4 Dead.
You fight hordes of zombies while progressing through the level.

 

[Saber]

The movie is a total trash that only gets attention because of "world war" apology in the name, which for me cries desperate for attention.

So for me its kinda surprising to see the game selling well. Must be solid.

 

[Mista]

Definitely didn’t see this coming. The game is average but it’s so much fun with friends

 

[cryptoadam]

Its decent fun, don't bother with easy/normal modes, hard and above is where its at.

Though I do think they went overboard with the class's/leveling. You get lots of XP but with the amount of levels and classes its going to take forever to max each one out. And each level grants you good perks so its one of those games where going back and leveling another class puts you at a disadvantage because you start at 0.

Hopefully the big sales mean some DLC in the future. Wouldn't mind a new map or two.

 

[Elenchus]

1 million sold, but people were saying zombie games are done to death now in the Day's Gone thread. I'm not touching EGS so i'll quietly wait for a sale for PS4.

Completely different appeal. Days Gone is a solo zombie survival game. People do seem to be tired of those. WWZ is basically a Left for Dead sequel under a different name and people have been wanting that. And WWZ selling that much this close to Days Gone’s release is probably not good news but we’ll see.

 

[SirKicksalot]

Happy for Saber. Timeshift and Inversion were super fun and deserved more success.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

The movie is a total trash that only gets attention because of "world war" apology in the name, which for me cries desperate for attention.

So for me its kinda surprising to see the game selling well. Must be solid.

Isn’t it based on a pretty popular book?

 

[Codes 208]

Doesn't look like people care if it's EGS exclusive or not.

I’m pretty sure PC gamers care. But I bet the console gamers that likely make up atleast 70% of sales don’t.

The movie is a total trash that only gets attention because of "world war" apology in the name, which for me cries desperate for attention.

Or maybe because it’s based on a multi-million selling book by Max Brooks that released during the peak of the zombie fad? Just a possibility.

 

[manfestival]

1 million sold, but people were saying zombie games are done to death now in the Day's Gone thread. I'm not touching EGS so i'll quietly wait for a sale for PS4.

lol why are you bringing days gone into this thread? You really love that game

Anyways, I do not care for the EGS but... ACG did give the game a "Buy" recommendation. That actually surprised me. His argument that the game was a good value for the pricepoint. ACG is one of the best and most trust worthy sources for reviews IMO. I would consider it but I do not want to dl the EGS. The game does look interesting and seems to scratch that left 4 dead itch that valve has people just sitting on.

 

[Gamezone]

250,000 units of World War Z so far on the EGS according to their Twitter.

 

[demigod]

Completely different appeal. Days Gone is a solo zombie survival game. People do seem to be tired of those. WWZ is basically a Left for Dead sequel under a different name and people have been wanting that. And WWZ selling that much this close to Days Gone’s release is probably not good news but we’ll see.

They are both zombie survival games, only one is multiplayer and the other isn't. It doesn't change the fact that people aren't tired of it.

lol why are you bringing days gone into this thread? You really love that game

Anyways, I do not care for the EGS but... ACG did give the game a "Buy" recommendation. That actually surprised me. His argument that the game was a good value for the pricepoint. ACG is one of the best and most trust worthy sources for reviews IMO. I would consider it but I do not want to dl the EGS. The game does look interesting and seems to scratch that left 4 dead itch that valve has people just sitting on.

Looks like Days Gone has you triggered.

 

[Codes 208]

250,000 units of World War Z so far on the EGS according to their Twitter.

So around 25% of sales. That’s actually a bit better than I expected.

I will admit if I had on pc I would prefer it on steam myself however just because I could see this getting the same kind of amazing mod support L4D2 got

 

[Stitch]

Isn’t it based on a pretty popular book?

Yes, but it only took the name and the zombies from the book. Everything else is completely different. The zombies in the book aren't even fast.

 

[manfestival]

Looks like Days Gone has you triggered.

Lol believe that if that makes you feel better. Your obsession is pretty obvious.

 

[Saber]

Or maybe because it’s based on a multi-million selling book by Max Brooks that released during the peak of the zombie fad? Just a possibility.

So according to you as long the game its based on the book it gonna sell regardless, ok lol

 

[cryptoadam]

Isn’t it based on a pretty popular book?

"based on" sure if you mean it took the title of the book.

The book is actually totally different, the Zombies are Romero style. Its a really good read, or you can get the audio book I think its read by Henry Rollinsm, Alan Alda, and Mark Hamill (and more!). If you like Zombie fiction its a ton of fun.

The movie itself has nothing to do with the book. It took a few settings from the book and just used those to create its own story.

 

[cryptoadam]

Can someone tell me is there a Katana in this game? I don't melee much so I don't have the unlocks showing. I hope there is a Katana, you can't have a Zombie video game without a Katana.

 

[DeepEnigma]

“Zombie games are overdone, it’s tired” I hear for select games as the goal posts shift around.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Yes, but it only took the name and the zombies from the book. Everything else is completely different. The zombies in the book aren't even fast.

"based on" sure if you mean it took the title of the book.

The book is actually totally different, the Zombies are Romero style. Its a really good read, or you can get the audio book I think its read by Henry Rollinsm, Alan Alda, and Mark Hamill (and more!). If you like Zombie fiction its a ton of fun.

The movie itself has nothing to do with the book. It took a few settings from the boand just used those to create its own story.

In fairness, the post I was replying to seemed to be criticizing the title of the movie. So yeah, I was only referring to the title it borrowed. It’s from a popular book.

I think that’s fair to point out, never said it was a faithful adaptation.

Same situation as I, Robot

 

[cryptoadam]

In fairness, the post I was replying to seemed to be criticizing the title of the movie. So yeah, I was only referring to the title it borrowed. It’s from a popular book.

I think that’s fair to point out, never said it was a faithful adaptation.

Same situation as I, Robot

Or Patch Adams, or the Green Book, or Bohemian Rhapsody, or a multitude of other movies that are "based on" something LOL.

Did you ever read the book? If you like Zombies its a great read. I highly suggest it. Also you can check out the survival guide to the zombie apocolypse which was the first book in the series.

 

[Breakfast at Noon]

Isn’t it based on a pretty popular book?

Insult to the book.

 

[Saber]

“Zombie games are overdone, it’s tired” I hear for select games as the goal posts shift around.

Its an excuse to basically everything nowadays. People are better spamming excuses than playing games.

 

[Kadayi]

Isn’t it based on a pretty popular book?

Popular for sure. Not necessarily that good though. Basically full of some of the most predictably cliched stereotypical characters ever committed to a page, with the good ole US of A coming to the rescue and saving the world at the end. The film thankfully skipped on that, though it had its issues also.

The game looks kind of neat but it's basically L4D3 in third person.

 

[somerset]

Well done that company! Wasn't they previously a budget operation? Like seeing 'The Surge' also 'level up' a dev.

I'd image the thing that did it for World War Z was the 'mountain of zombies' mechanism- the kind of effect Nvidia's Gameworks *falsely* claimed it would bring to gaming, yet was designed to have the exact opposite outcome (doing physics on the GPU is the worst idea in the world- and actually set physics back in games many many years).

Another thread here speculated about innovation leading to 'new' gaming genres- which is very hard. But this is innovation adding an exciting new feature to a well establsihed genre- which is much easier to do.

I remember years ago playing the superb 'Painkiller' (made by the same devs who actually did all the core dev on Fortnite- People can Fly). Not the dreadful remake in the Unreal engine that Epic forced on the original devs- but the original game on their own engine. Anyway one of its core features was the excellent CPU physics thanks to Havok (which later, sadly, got bought by Intel- which is why Nvidia got away with pushing its far inferior PhysX solution). With Havok one CPU core, and physics could still play a brilliant part in Painkiller boss battles.

Anyway at least we are now back on track, as WWZ proves. Physics is a very good use of a CPU core when one has >4 cores available. And simulation physics for gameplay elements has been pretty much non-existent since the rise of Nvidia's PhysX.

Of course gamers want 'exciting' physics and 'amazing' physics- not the cold weather horse 'shrinkage' from Red Dead Redemption 2.

Shadows die Twice also had a great reception from gamers because of how good simulation allowed a lot of gameplay sophistication and options in the melee combat system. For too long shooters and smashers have had dumbed down trivial dull-witted control systems with nothing to learn and nothing to engage the brain.

The CPUs (thanks to AMD) of the coming consoles are fantastic. And because of the dev cost vs likely return issue for major devs, almost all games today are console led. So here's to a switch back to code led design, after a very long period of graphics led design that has given us pretty but sterile game worlds.

 

[Codes 208]

So according to you as long the game its based on the book it gonna sell regardless, ok lol

I wasn’t talking about the game. The game is more or less being sold by word of mouth for things like “it’s like L4D” and “holy shit look how many zombies there are!”

I was talking about the movie though. The movie was popularized because of the book it was based on (which as Jarebear already has mentioned it wasn’t a faithful adaptation and imo was just another run of the mill disaster movie.) However to say it was only popular due it’s title is a disservice to its source material.

 

[JoeyWestSide]

This game came out? Apparently generation zero did as well. Talk about soft launches.

 

[Saber]

I wasn’t talking about the game. The game is more or less being sold by word of mouth for things like “it’s like L4D” and “holy shit look how many zombies there are!”

I was talking about the movie though. The movie was popularized because of the book it was based on (which as Jarebear already has mentioned it wasn’t a faithful adaptation and imo was just another run of the mill disaster movie.) However to say it was only popular due it’s title is a disservice to its source material.

It doesnt live to its name. Its a mediocre film that only gets attention because of its name. In no moment I was talking about the book that, although it share its name, doesnt come close to be a bad thing.

 

[HagglesworthMD]

Every review I've watched for the PC version says the online is dead

 

[CloudSolace]

Is this online multiplayer only? If it had local multiplayer/co-op I'd probably be interested.

 

[Saber]

Is this online multiplayer only? If it had local multiplayer/co-op I'd probably be interested.

Yeah, I got that question too.

After seeing a bunch of gameplay videos, the game seems to hold up both in gameplay and visually. I see now why its called a third person L4D.
But I still wonder if its only multiplayer only.

 

[Strider311]

This game is good. I hope it is successful enough to justify adding more content and giving it legs.

 

[HagglesworthMD]

Yeah, I got that question too.

After seeing a bunch of gameplay videos, the game seems to hold up both in gameplay and visually. I see now why its called a third person L4D.
But I still wonder if its only multiplayer only.

AFAIK if not match made into group you can play with bots. Though for what its worth, everyone I've seen has complained about not being able to match make with anyone as the player base on PC is either low or there are matchmaking issues.. Probably the former though going off Twitch numbers.

 

[Codes 208]

It doesnt live to its name. Its a mediocre film that only gets attention because of its name. In no moment I was talking about the book that, although it share its name, doesnt come close to be a bad thing.

I can agree with that.

Is this online multiplayer only? If it had local multiplayer/co-op I'd probably be interested.

The game doesn’t have local MP but you can play solo with bots if you’re looking to avoid online MP.

 

[pr0cs]

Popular for sure. Not necessarily that good though. Basically full of some of the most predictably cliched stereotypical characters ever committed to a page, with the good ole US of A coming to the rescue and saving the world at the end. The film thankfully skipped on that, though it had its issues also.

The game looks kind of neat but it's basically L4D3 in third person.

Maybe I read a different book but there were heros in there from lots of different nations, India, China et al.
Personally I really enjoyed the book, preferred the short story-esq nature though that did make it difficult to care about many of the characters.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Definitely didn’t see this coming. The game is average but it’s so much fun with friends

It is dumb good fun. Especially beyond the 2 easiest difficulties

 

[cryptoadam]

main problem with the game is the character control. Since there is no slide/jump and its 3rd person you can't really evade the Zombies much.

 

[wipeout364]

It’s one of the best co-op shooters I’ve played this gen. It’s certainly better than Rebellions games; the nazi zombie and strange brigade and earth fall. Vermintide is excellent but is melee based so feels quite different. The COD zombie stuff plays so differently I don’t really consider it part of this genre.

The guns have a good feel to them, the classes have interesting skill trees and the level design and overall story are pretty decent. It really a fun game with others. If you like co-op shooters like left for dead or vermintide I recommend it.

 

[CloudSolace]

I can agree with that.

The game doesn’t have local MP but you can play solo with bots if you’re looking to avoid online MP.

I wasn't looking to completely avoid online multiplayer, but I was hoping to play this on one single console with my friends. It seems games like that are a dying breed unfortunately.

 

[Kadayi]

Maybe I read a different book but there were heroes in there from lots of different nations, India, China et al.
Personally I really enjoyed the book, preferred the short story-esq nature though that did make it difficult to care about many of the characters.

The stereotypes were national in nature. Stuff like the blind monk and the katana-wielding Otaku, or the stiff upper lipped Brit all on about protecting the queen....the shit was eye rollingly bad.

 

[GenericUser]

Thats actually really good isn't it? Gratulations.

 

[mcz117chief]

Definitely didn’t see this coming. The game is average but it’s so much fun with friends

Throwing rocks into a lake with friends is also fun. Everything (almost) is better with friends. The question is if the GAME itself is any good.

 

[Mista]

Throwing rocks into a lake with friends is also fun. Everything (almost) is better with friends. The question is if the GAME itself is any good.

Nah not everything. If you have a boring ass friends then nothing is fun. As I said before many times, the game is average, nothing special yet very fun with friends