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[Jocchan]

Well deserved sales. Congrats

 

[Zoe]

I supouse this doesn't include the bundled copies, or aren't worldwide copies. In the Gamespot feed says worldwide, but... As I remember this holydays almost every PS3 had a LBP bundled copy (at least in Europe).

And if 2.1 million PSN accounts were added last month, I can't see the numbers.

No LBP bundles in America.

And I wouldn't find it hard to believe that a good portion of those new PSN accounts were secondary household accounts.

 

[Private Hoffman]

Quick. Someone bump the LittleBigAgendas thread and inform CowGirl of this news.

Anyway, this doesn't surprise me. LittleBigPlanet has been doing really well in December for Europe.

This was never a game that was going to instantly sell millions on day 1 since it was not a known franchise and it's not something the gaming public has much experience with. Luckily, the game seems to have really great legs. Well deserved, MediaMolecule.

 

[Oblivion]

Can we please just celebrate this game selling 1.3 million copies, instead of fighting over shipped vs. sold? I tried to avoid this. I figured if I put shipped in, the "is this shipped?" people wouldn't start a fight, but instead all I've done is reverse the course and have people ask, "is this sold?"

It's shipped, every single time. They always report shipped. To the publisher, "shipped" is "sold" because their customer is the retail chain, who then turns around and sells it to the customer. The end.

I don't see the point in celebrating if we don't have accurate info, tho. That's why the whole shipped argument comes up, because you have cases like Fallout 3 or SCIV that supposedly sold millions of units, but didn't do super spectacular when NPDs were released (maybe Fallout did, I might be confusing it with another game). And Sony of course is notorious for inflating their numbers.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Go LBP!

 

[WinFonda]

Good news. I'm sure they'll probably create a north american bundle when the sales slow down. 2+ million seems a given. Go, go LBP!

 

[Zophar]

I love people that bitch about the difference of shipped to retailers versus sold to customers when the difference is at worst a couple hundred thousand units. It's like they think these retail chains are just sitting on millions of copies of something in backrooms. :lol

 

[belvedere]

It deserves it, even the tards who badmouth it despite having never played it can admit that.

 

[andycapps]

No LBP bundles in America.

And I wouldn't find it hard to believe that a good portion of those new PSN accounts were secondary household accounts.

But then you also have to take into account how many people never even take their consoles online. I remember MS bragging about the percentage of 360 owners that took their consoles online, and wasn't it somewhere around 50%? I would think PS3 users would be a lower percentage.

 

[Zoe]

But then you also have to take into account how many people never even take their consoles online. I remember MS bragging about the percentage of 360 owners that took their consoles online, and wasn't it somewhere around 50%? I would think PS3 users would be a lower percentage.

Yeah. I guess the question is which is larger. The number of secondary accounts or the number of people who never created accounts?

 

[Gaborn]

How many copies are that?

Impossible to determine for sure without hard European numbers but I'd guess Japan + US is around, what, <600k? If that's about right, I DON'T think there's any way they sold more than 700k units in Europe and the rest of the world. Let's say it's even close to a million world wide with Europe included - 300k units on the shelves is a LOT for software. Software is bought by retailers based on the expectation you're going to sell it. Do you see retailers running particularly low on LBP stock?

 

[UntoldDreams]

I don't see the point in celebrating if we don't have accurate info, tho. That's why the whole shipped argument comes up, because you have cases like Fallout 3 or SCIV that supposedly sold millions of units, but didn't do super spectacular when NPDs were released (maybe Fallout did, I might be confusing it with another game). And Sony of course is notorious for inflating their numbers.

How many boxes of unsold product could possibly be inside warehouses and on shelves?

If Sony has sold 1.3 million to retailers how much do you really think is stuck in a Walmart warehouse?

Its not like Walmart (they have to pay the money for the product up front so they can resell it) would actually WANT to store up much inventory you realize, right?

 

[iceatcs]

Now I'm confusing.

Kotaku said sold
Opiate from OP said shipped
IGN said playing

But otherway it is still great for MM

 

[westical]

Quick. Someone bump the LittleBigAgendas thread and inform CowGirl of this news.

Anyway, this doesn't surprise me. LittleBigPlanet has been doing really well in December for Europe.

This was never a game that was going to instantly sell millions on day 1 since it was not a known franchise and it's not something the gaming public has much experience with. Luckily, the game seems to have really great legs. Well deserved, MediaMolecule.

How does this prove LBP has really great legs? I hear they shipped lots of ET cartridges too.

 

[andycapps]

Yeah. I guess the question is which is larger. The number of secondary accounts or the number of people who never created accounts?

I'm guessing the latter. So many people that pick up any console don't even take them online, much less know they could create more than one account. That's despite it clearly saying add new user on XMB. Some people are perfectly content to play offline I guess..

 

[Zoe]

Do you see retailers running particularly low on LBP stock?

According to anecdotes, yes.

 

[Y2Kev]

Title should be "LittleBigPlanet fails to ship 1.4 million"

 

[Zombie James]

How does this prove LBP has really great legs? I hear they shipped lots of ET cartridges too.

An ET comparison? Really?

 

[westical]

An ET comparison? Really?

An extreme example, but my question stands.

 

[gkryhewy]

Solid numbers. What's the US LTD again?

Title should be "LittleBigPlanet fails to ship 1.4 million"

LBP sales defense force eeyores unite! :lol

 

[UntoldDreams]

How does this prove LBP has really great legs? I hear they shipped lots of ET cartridges too.

If you really wish to compare this game to ET by all means proceed.
You will be placed on many ignore lists.

 

[westical]

If you really wish to compare this game to ET by all means proceed.
You will be placed on many ignore lists.

I'm talking sales here, not the quality of either game.

 

[test_account]

I don't see the point in celebrating if we don't have accurate info, tho. That's why the whole shipped argument comes up, because you have cases like Fallout 3 or SCIV that supposedly sold millions of units, but didn't do super spectacular when NPDs were released (maybe Fallout did, I might be confusing it with another game). And Sony of course is notorious for inflating their numbers.

I think it was Soul Calibur 4:

http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=30200

I dont know about Fallout 3 though.


Regarding the LBP numbers, the numbers we know for sure is:

USA: 356k (NPD) (215k in October and 141k in November)
UK: atleast 200k (ELSPA/Chart Track (i think so at least))
Japan: 71,873 (Famitsu) (based on 3 weeks of sales)

That is a total of 627,873.

These numbers does not include any numbers from the rest of Europe, not the numbers for the December NPD for USA, not the numbers for Canada, Australia and for the rest of the world. Little Big Planet has been out for about 2 months now. LBP hasnt exactly lighted up the sales charts in these territories as far as i know, but i would think that it is a relatively safe bet to say that something around 400k has been sold in the territories that i just mentioned since LBP was launched. That would make LBP sales somewhere around 1 million copies sold to consumers

 

[UntoldDreams]

An extreme example, but my question stands.

As an online enabled, community based game which is fairly well received all around... It stands to reason that:

#1) People are more likely to want to keep their game (cutting the used game market size down) because they can play with others
#2) Online enabled games do tend to have longer tails due to the community
#3) LBP is more community oriented than most other games in that it has both play and create and then "play what others created"

Logically, it would stand that it will have longer legs.

If you want definitive proof we can quote you and revisit the topic in 6 months when more facts are known.

 

[Private Hoffman]

An extreme example, but my question stands.

I dunno, the fact that LBP has basically been up there with Gears of War 2 in the UK for the value charts and individual rank for most of December, while previously being in the 20s.

I'd say so far it's received a great bump. We'll see if it's done decently in December in the US (if it maintains 140-200k sales for December, that will bring the total in the US to over 500k, most games fail to do that well in their third month, especially in this niche genre).

 

[Balb]

Let's just all agree that sales-wise, LBP is no where close to a flop, but hasn't sold nearly as well as Sony could have hoped as of now.

 

[Liabe Brave]

And Sony of course is notorious for inflating their numbers.

Please provide a news source where any of the three platform holders have been caught providing incorrect sales numbers.

All of them selectively cherry-pick the stats that put their product in the best light, but finessing which figures to provide isn't the same as deliberately distorting the ones you do provide.

 

[Orlics]

I was one of those 1.3 million buyers.

Although, I haven't touched the game for a while. I got bored halfway through the campaign and couldn't find any REALLY good levels online. Maybe I haven't been looking hard enough, I dunno.

 

[Kujo]

Title should be "LittleBigPlanet fails to ship 1.4 million"

:lol

Anyway 1 million sold is a given, considering it's around 750k for US, Japan and UK alone (not including December numbers for US either and if the leaked UK numbers were correct).

 

[Meier]

$1,000,000 in 2 weeks with barely any content.

Is Home available worldwide or is it just in the US? That $1 million figure would obviously be much easier to reach if a lot of people are buying things in Euros or Pounds.

 

[test_account]

Impossible to determine for sure without hard European numbers but I'd guess Japan + US is around, what, <600k? If that's about right, I DON'T think there's any way they sold more than 700k units in Europe and the rest of the world. Let's say it's even close to a million world wide with Europe included - 300k units on the shelves is a LOT for software. Software is bought by retailers based on the expectation you're going to sell it. Do you see retailers running particularly low on LBP stock?

Japan + US + UK is at 627,873 to be exact if i am not mistaken. I dont think we know any other numbers. The only updated numbers we have is from the UK. We are still missing the sales for December in the US, and all of Europe (except for the UK), Canada, Australia and in the rest of the world. I do agree that it might not have sold 700k in those territories by now, but around 400-500k, maybe?

But as you say, it is impossible to determaine for sure, so i am not saying that there arent many unsold LBP copies in the stores, but personally i think the sales of LBP will go at least "ok" in the near future, so i dont think that the retailers will end up with alot of unsold stocks of LBP, but time will tell

EDIT: Unfortunately i have no idea if retailers are running low on LBP stocks. I havnt checked too many stores myself, but i have seen LBP in stock in some store at least. That doesnt necessarily tells how it is on the bigger picture though :\

 

[charlequin]

This is definitely a huge success for Media Molecule. I'm very curious to see what approach they'll take with their next project now.

Since I'm not up on these things, did this game wind up getting bundled in EU before the holiday or not?

Impossible to determine for sure without hard European numbers but I'd guess Japan + US is around, what, <600k? If that's about right, I DON'T think there's any way they sold more than 700k units in Europe and the rest of the world. Let's say it's even close to a million world wide with Europe included - 300k units on the shelves is a LOT for software. Software is bought by retailers based on the expectation you're going to sell it. Do you see retailers running particularly low on LBP stock?

Can't back you up on this one. No evidence of price drops anywhere, no signs of abnormally high stocks of the title or whispers of a hard landing at retail anywhere that I've heard. I don't think it's unreasonable to believe that a large portion of those copies are yet unsold, but if they are, it's because retailers confidently reordered after initial copies moved well.

 

[Zoe]

Is Home available worldwide or is it just in the US? That $1 million figure would obviously be much easier to reach if a lot of people are buying things in Euros or Pounds.

It's running in at least the 3 big territories.

 

[womfalcs3]

Japan + US + UK is at 627,873 to be exact if i am not mistaken. I dont think we know any other numbers. The only updated numbers we have is from the UK. We are still missing the sales for December in the US, and all of Europe (except for the UK), Canada, Australia and in the rest of the world. I do agree that it might not have sold 700k in those territories by now, but around 400-500k, maybe?

But as you say, it is impossible to determaine for sure, so i am not saying that there arent many unsold LBP copies in the stores, but personally i think the sales of LBP will go at least "ok" in the near future, so i dont think that the retailers will end up with alot of unsold stocks of LBP, but time will tell

EDIT: Unfortunately i have no idea if retailers are running low on LBP stocks. I havnt checked too many stores myself, but i have seen LBP in stock in some store at least. That doesnt necessarily tells how it is on the bigger picture though :\

Well, you're also not incorporating December numbers for the US.

 

[Raist]

I though Kaz said that there was 1.3 million playing LBP on PSN during the keynote. Not 1.3 million sold/shipped.

Obviously they asked every store employees to play the game online to skew the numbers

 

[Kujo]

Well, you're also not incorporating December numbers for the US.

Yeah he mentioned that in his post.

Also the leaked UK numbers put it at now being ~309k.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Too Human has likely hit more than 1.3 million shipped worldwide. And that, and no other reason, is why LBP has bombed.

 

[Y2Kev]

Too Human has likely hit more than 1.3 million shipped worldwide. And that, and no other reason, is why LBP has bombed.

you are becoming my favorite joke poster :lol

 

[Raist]

Too Human has likely hit more than 1.3 million shipped worldwide. And that, and no other reason, is why LBP has bombed.

Wait I have actual numbers

Shipped: 1.564M
Sold through: 1.234M
Traded-in after 10mins: 1.233M

 

[CrushDance]

Is Home available worldwide or is it just in the US? That $1 million figure would obviously be much easier to reach if a lot of people are buying things in Euros or Pounds.

Worldwide.

 

[cjdunn]

How does this prove LBP has really great legs? I hear they shipped lots of ET cartridges too.

Wow. WOW. .......wow













wow

 

[Ploid 3.0]

I couldn't get LBP on the second launch (after the recall). Had to order it on amazon and got it Nov 11th.

 

[Fenderputty]

Too Human has likely hit more than 1.3 million shipped worldwide. And that, and no other reason, is why LBP has bombed.

Compare the budgets and the time in development and then make another post with some intelligence behind it.

Or you can continue to make Y2Kev laugh.

 

[DDayton]

Anyone have any idea what the initial shipments were?

 

[BLaZiN PRopHeT]

Compare the budgets and the time in development and then make another post with some intelligence behind it.

Or you can continue to make Y2Kev laugh.

So just wondering whats the budget for both games?

 

[mintylurb]

1.3 Mill? Dang, FirstInHell is not going to be happy about this.

 

[Kittonwy]

I don't see the point in celebrating if we don't have accurate info, tho. That's why the whole shipped argument comes up, because you have cases like Fallout 3 or SCIV that supposedly sold millions of units, but didn't do super spectacular when NPDs were released (maybe Fallout did, I might be confusing it with another game). And Sony of course is notorious for inflating their numbers.

The important thing is that you buy a copy of the LBP and show the game some love. Do you have copy? If not, go buy one. Best game on the PS3 in 2008.

 

[Kittonwy]

Title should be "LittleBigPlanet fails to ship 1.4 million"

*urge to kill risin...*

 

[KernelPanic]

Too Human has likely hit more than 1.3 million shipped worldwide. And that, and no other reason, is why LBP has bombed.

Well at least Alex Evans didn't call out LBP haters on GAF, not to mention suggesting that this forum be shut down because it's hurting society :lol

 

[BobsRevenge]

So just wondering whats the budget for both games?

I'd imagine LBP was pretty inexpensive. Small to mid-size dev team working on a game for a couple years and some decent ads and PR... I'd say it probably has a mid-range budget.

I'd say LBP is already a success, and if it isn't it will be. This game'll have legs (it has a pretty damn good community already) and it'll serve well as a bundle game at some point.