Isn't that 1 day versus a whole week?
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GI.biz Op-Ed: Titanfall 2 a "commercial failure," "a victim of chest-beating pride."
- Thread starter chubigans
- Start date
Isn't that 1 day versus a whole week?
excaliburps
Press - MP1st.com
And from what I know, doesn't count digital, no?
EA's latest financials did say that TF2 PC sales were OK, right? Again, I don't doubt that its sales could be better, but writing it off just a week after launch, and with Black Friday and Christmas around the corner, is kinda a bit too extreme. Most people within the industry I've talked to say that Black Friday, Christmas sales make up for whatever Q1 can do. Not saying it's 100 percent correct, but it's a common thought process that I believe has been studied by publishers.
The good thing is, TF2 player population seems to have settled and isn't shrinking, which is the primary concern of many. It won't hit BF1, CoD numbers, but a franchise's first multi-platform release and its only second-ever title? Yeah, not bad. BF and CoD have been in the market and minds of people for what? Over a decade now.
I would say the same thing with just about any game, but that doesn't stop people from saying things like "CoD is going to die this year!" every single year. So by the internet's definition, Titanfall 2 is already dead.
🤷 🤷 ¯_(ツ
_/¯
Boss Mog
Member
Calling a game that just came out a week ago a commercial failure is stupid , especially when the holiday season is almost here and so many people wait to get good deals. Also I feel that a lot of people wanted to wait for the reviews, myself included, to find out if the campaign was actually any good or if it was just tacked on. The reviews for the game have been stellar (90 on Metacritic) and with word of mouth I have no doubt that Titanfall 2 will sell well over the holidays.
TheSpoiler
Member
It's a failure compared to the pervious game's sales though. We should probably wait for US sales but the fact that they lowered projections isn't exactly comforting. (Unless I'm missing something)
Does that mean the game is an actual commercial failure? Depends on the player base and the sales count after a month's time. But compared to the previous game the latter isn't looking great.
Does that mean the game is an actual commercial failure? Depends on the player base and the sales count after a month's time. But compared to the previous game the latter isn't looking great.
No it's Friday + Saturday for both.
Titanfall 1 and 2 both launched on a Friday.
Anyways, I think the hardest part for Titanfall 2 is over with now. The player base stayed steady and didn't lose players going off the player counters with CoD's launch yesterday. CoD was the real test IMO now it just needs to work on getting people to buy the game through free trials and getting the free DLC out there.
Fuck starwars and bond, not even close to having anything as cool as mechs in titanfall 2.
Coulomb_Barrier
Member
Wasn't everyone saying that making the first game exclusive to the lowest selling console would do long-term damage to the series? It will never sell the numbers EA wants it to.
It is worth noting that UK data does not include digital salesand that digital adoption is likely more prevalent now than it was in 2014.
Dash_Riprock
Member
Titanfall 1 would never have gotten the push it did without MS' exclusivity marketing machine behind it. Being multiplat back then might have made it sell worse.
Katana_Strikes
Member
Even if it's 30% extra with digital, we are still only looking at a measly 40k in the UK week 1. Which is still comically bad.
Even if the franchise returns, we won't ever be seeing it go up against the big hitters again. It'll need an early in the year launch and some good marketing and absolute mind blowing reviews to turn it back round even just to get where it launched originally. Which EA would absolute kill for right now.
TitanFall 2 didn't have a full week in the charts like the first game. The time difference doesn't make up the lost sales (not even close) but it's definitely a factor.
Katana_Strikes
Member
It was apparently Mar 14 release in the U.K. So that was a Friday as well. But besides it wouldn't have made much difference either. It's not going to make up nearly 100k difference with stronger digital and a few extra days.
It's really not.Boss★Moogle;223092883 said:
That doesn't mean that games can't have an abnormally long tail or strong catalog sales, or that an occasional aberration does not happen, but you can tell A LOT about a game's sales (most especially a AAA game) after only a few days.
True. The holidays could indeed lead to a large influx of new users.
I think it will come down to the holiday pricing + the Black Friday competition. If they can get the price down to $29.99 then it could do very well, and if the COD and BF1 deals sell out then I can see people opting for TF2.
Psychoward
Banned
Idiots, EA cannibalized their own game by releasing it a week after their own AAA mp fps.
AnthonypUK
Member
Stop Parroting this, Both games launched on a Friday in the UK.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Perhaps it's been pointed out already, but it's kind of hard to take an article about Respawn seriously if they think Jason West still works there.
Triggerhappytel
Member
Finally read the article,and I have a few issues. For one, as other people noted, he refers to Titanfall 2 as the first failure for West and Zampella, which makes it sound like he doesn't know West is no longer part of Respawn. Then he refers to Titanfall as an Xbox One exclusive, which was never the case. And then he says that Titanfall 1 was somewhat overshadowed by Destiny, which I don't really agree with. I mean, they launched about 6 months apart and I remember Titanfall having plenty of time in the limelight. Then of course there's the whole idea of calling the game a flop based only on the UK sales (which may be true, but I think we need to wait for more information), and saying it's likely the end of the franchise, which was never likely to happen.
I've never really liked Rob Fahey's articles like this. There's always something I find rather smug and presumptuous about them.
I've never really liked Rob Fahey's articles like this. There's always something I find rather smug and presumptuous about them.
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Huh? People didn't come back because that Beta showed fans of the original that Respawn didn't actually know what made the original great in the first place.
Seems to happen a lot. The most frustrating part is that Respawn actually did fix everything we asked for from 1 to 2. But then they kept on changing stuff that should have remained unchanged.
Shame too because by all accounts the campaign is great.
0ptimusPayne
Member
I plan on getting TF2 sometime, but ultimately I haven't gotten it because it came out in the middle of so many other damn games this holiday season. I really wish there was a spring(march) release date like the first one honestly.
For me Titan Fall 2 should of gone straight to Origin/EA access as a persistent entry and funded it ongoing with Micro transactions.
It will be dead in a few months as it stands.
The reason I've gone back to playing BF4 is it's on access along with Hardline and all the DLCS that go with it, when they put Star Wars on there I will play that too.
These multiplayer heavy titles need to move past the $60/$110 BTP models, especially those backed by the big publishers.
For £4 a month it's going to take me 2 years to pay what they are asking for BF4 premium on its own, which I would never of bought.
A gamebiz editor wouldn't get advanced notice of sales trends? Yeah ok. Keep dreaming that. It's like saying the Wall Street Journal doesn't get heads up on sales projections. This is their wheelhouse.
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
They played themselves.
Are you not allowed to buy a game a month+ after release? Titanfall 2 is strong, while COD this year is weak as ever. I think it has more to do with the first Titanfall being a really weak offering and that spoiling the party for the sequel.
The industry really needs to move away from the fixation on first month sales and more towards a sustained community.
The industry really needs to move away from the fixation on first month sales and more towards a sustained community.
excaliburps
Press - MP1st.com
Really? I've been working in games media for more than half a decade now and I haven't seen any outlet get exclusive sales data. Those aren't the things usually tied up by embargo.
An op-ed is sometimes just that, an op-ed.
Krappadizzle
Member
It's release window is what stopped me from getting it. I just picked up BF1 and have been looking forward to Dishonored 2 since I beat the first that I just don't care to play another shooter between those two.
If it had come out in January or February I'd be on board as I enjoyed the first one enough and it seems like they addressed the issues I had with the first one. As it is, I'll just wait until I've exhausted the games I have and pick up TF2 some time in the future and hope the community is still their.
If it had come out in January or February I'd be on board as I enjoyed the first one enough and it seems like they addressed the issues I had with the first one. As it is, I'll just wait until I've exhausted the games I have and pick up TF2 some time in the future and hope the community is still their.
It would be nice if he quoted more concrete numbers than just those of one region (a region where a lot of big games haven't been doing well in this year) and didn't have as many factual errors in the article.
BoosterDuck
Banned
No, the game is fine for being a full priced title.
What EA should've done is delay the game by ~4 months and in that time Respawn could've added an arcade mode to the story and tweaked the multiplayer including its maps and Attrition mode.
EA fucked up hard here and the only way to make up for it is giving Respawn all the time and moneys to make Titanfall 3 and adding more promo skins from like Wendy's or 7-11 because they look so cool
Jason West left not long after they announced Titanfall 1 citing family problems. The writer of this article missed that, I guess.
EA should have just let TitanFall own the spring.
It got amazing reviews, but it's still a new franchise and can't compete with COD. Reading the investors call, it sounds like EA though TF could steal CODs thunder as this seasons futuristic shooter.
I see people trying to rationalize these poor results. This title, released across PC, PS4, and Xb1, has failed to garner as much as it's predecessors xb1 offering when it's all added up.
Sequels are supposed to bring growth. This franchise has contracted.
I loved TF1. Haven't bought this yet, because the tech test turned me off, then the release date further complicated matters.
It got amazing reviews, but it's still a new franchise and can't compete with COD. Reading the investors call, it sounds like EA though TF could steal CODs thunder as this seasons futuristic shooter.
I see people trying to rationalize these poor results. This title, released across PC, PS4, and Xb1, has failed to garner as much as it's predecessors xb1 offering when it's all added up.
Sequels are supposed to bring growth. This franchise has contracted.
I loved TF1. Haven't bought this yet, because the tech test turned me off, then the release date further complicated matters.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
I think the lack of post-sale monetization features in the game speaks volumes about what EA expected it to perform like. If they anticipated a big response, I kinda think they'd have leaned harder on it.
I suspect at some point through development they basically concluded that as a franchise it really didn't have a future, and that IW as an asset would be far better employed working on something that would sell better. "Chest-beating pride" had nothing to do with it.
I suspect at some point through development they basically concluded that as a franchise it really didn't have a future, and that IW as an asset would be far better employed working on something that would sell better. "Chest-beating pride" had nothing to do with it.
I dream of a world where 'stories' as terrible as what these people are responsible for get laughed out of existence instead of hamstringing otherwise commendable work.
thepenguin55
Member
Either way, it wouldn't have had the stigma of being a "Xbox shooter". Often when deals like this are made people who own the platform a game isn't on turn on blinders to that series even when that series eventually comes to their platform. Sometimes this is the result of misguided brand loyalty (on both sides) but sometimes its not. Anecdotal evidence of people turning on blinders to this game are in some of the comments in some of the Titanfall 2 threads here on Neogaf where people have commented that they had no idea Titanfall 2 was even coming to PS4.
Having said that, there isn't just one reason why Titanfall 2 has sold less than expected. It's a combination of things. It's a victim of it's release date, a (unwarranted) mostly negative reaction to the beta, a brand association problem and misguided brand loyalty are all reasons why it hasn't sold super well.
jabberwocker
Banned
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GKGVI8U/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Wow it must be a commercial failure. The regular edition is out of stock on Amazon for both Xbox one and PS4. How does that happen if no one's buying it?
Wow it must be a commercial failure. The regular edition is out of stock on Amazon for both Xbox one and PS4. How does that happen if no one's buying it?
I literally just bought a copy for my friend yesterday. I must have gotten one of the last ones.
I'm not sure where that believe comes from to be honest...there are countless critically acclaimed games, movies, shows nobody doubts the quality of that didn't sell.
I am hoping for a Rainbow Six: Siege situation here, too, though.
jabberwocker
Banned
I've convinced five people to buy it that I know and play online with this week. It sounds like others are doing the same. I've said it already this game is going to have a slowburn but it's going to do well.
Lots of ways.
MasterMongoose
Member
I loved TF1. Thought it was the most fun I've had in a shooter in years (and then Overwatch got that title soon after). I'm so sad that I mostly ignored it because it was such an obvious bomba being released when it was. The game practically screamed for like a March/April release. Now it will die and be forgotten
This is one step removed from Amazon chart positions in terms of desperate grasping.