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Mass Effect: Andromeda is the 3rd biggest UK launch of the year

AHA-Lambda

Member
How did it do relative to previous titles? That's probably a better indicator.

I'd be surprised if it bested ME3 tbh

Edit:
Andromeda has the 3rd best week 1 for the Mass Effect franchise in terms of physical sales
3rd best?

K, that doesn't sound great when you consider how the market has grown, and that ME1 launched on 1 platform and ME2 launched on 2 vs this being on 3

I'm assuming the week 1's are:
ME3
ME2
MEA
ME1
?
 
Sales figures for the series as a whole are hard to come by, but it looks like Mass 1 and Mass 3 both sold around 3 million each in total, with Mass 2 in the lead with over 4 million (sourced from unreliable and banned site though, so take with many grains of salt). Mass 1 had a very slow start, so it's no surprise that Andromeda outsold it in its opening week, but great word of mouth and strong reviews lead to Mass 1 having a solid pair of legs. We don't know any accurate sales figures, but we do know that all 3 entries sold pretty damn well.

Andromeda on course to become the lowest selling entry in the series?
 

Steroyd

Member
Well, I thought the game did decently on brand name when I saw it was the 3rd best selling game of the year so far... Then I saw it was the third "best" ME game in a 4 part series, and oh dear.

Although to give a bit of leeway Horizon did release on Tuesday.
 

Toki767

Member
Sales figures for the series as a whole are hard to come by, but it looks like Mass 1 and Mass 3 both sold around 3 million each in total, with Mass 2 in the lead with over 4 million (sourced from unreliable and banned site though, so take with many grains of salt). Mass 1 had a very slow start, so it's no surprise that Andromeda outsold it in its opening week, but great word of mouth and strong reviews lead to Mass 1 having a solid pair of legs. We don't know any accurate sales figures, but we do know that all 3 entries sold pretty damn well.

Andromeda on course to become the lowest selling entry in the series?

I'd imagine EA will heavily price cut the game if they feel like sales are not meeting expectations.

Just like what they did with Titanfall 2.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
I've really enjoyed what I've played of it so far, but I'm not too shocked by the (seemingly) low sales. Andromeda has had some of the worst marketing I have seen for a AAA game.

The marketing has been very deliberate from EA, they knew a long time ago that they had a turd on their hands, that's why they tried to hide as much of the game as possible until the weeks before launch.
 
I'd imagine EA will heavily price cut the game if they feel like sales are not meeting expectations.

Just like what they did with Titanfall 2.

Yep, will certainly be interesting to see how EA themselves price the game. Andromeda has already been on sale for 20%+ off at some places though.
 
Andromeda on course to become the lowest selling entry in the series?

I think so, it sold less then 3 opening and i expect sales to fall off a cliff after the reception.

Even after people have had their hands on it for a weekend, there doesn't seem to be a swell of opinion that its a great game hidden under the meme fodder errors, and thats what it would need to reverse the sales.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Both Horizon and Ghost Recon had great launches that 90% of third parties only dream of having.

Being down in sales is concerning of course, but Horizon and GR opened extremely well, so it's not like it bombed.
 
Andromeda is a giant disappointment and I wouldn't want another Mass Effect game from Bioware without a massive restructuring that puts the best talent they have on that franchise.

Essentially all of the lead talent involved with making the first two great have moved on and left the series in the hands of people far less capable. It shows.

This game is going to get the sales it deserves. I expect the legs on this game will almost not exist and it will plummet off the charts.
 

RexNovis

Banned
Even with all of the negative coverage surrounding the game's release I would never have guessed it would debut lower than Horizon. That is not good for a multiplat franchise of that caliber. I guess even the name of Mass Effect couldn't offset the negative WOM.
 
Both Horizon and Ghost Recon had great launches that 90% of third parties only dream of having.

Being down in sales is concerning of course, but Horizon and GR opened extremely well, so it's not like it bombed.
The concerning part is not being 3rd in launch for this year, it is being 3rd in week 1 sales for the whole franchise.

Try harder to come up with jokes next time bud. Your joke makes zero sense in this context.
Your hotlinked title also makes zero sense in the context here. I am not even sure if you were being sarcastic.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Lower than a single console exclusive, that is good??

People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive. Only the GTAs, FIFAs, and CoDs of the world sell better.
 

Rellik

Member
Horizon had a huge ad campaign in the UK, there's barely any Mass Effects ad around, I wouldn't say it's that bad

Although not as large as the Horizon ad campaign, its definitely not "barely any Mass Effect ads around" when they were on TV daily.

Right? I primarily play on PC and having IRL friends who game on PC, a badly executed game, often just gets skipped regardless IP( I skipped and I love ME) It is regarded as a meme game right now, some people, myself included, might pick it up for cheap later this year if it is tuned up.

A good part of PC gamers really care about technical quality , console gamers implicitly do not care as much due to hardware choices. Not good or bad , just a thing and perhaps that is why the %s fell that way. I am glad it sold well so Bioware can get another crack at it and do a better job hopefully.

If you primarily play on PC then you'd know retail for PC games is dead. It's all digital, hence the 4%
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
Not to mention that Mass Effect Andromeda mudt have been the most poorly markedet game from EA in a while.
 

Maledict

Member
As others have said, retail PC basically doesn't exist in the UK. Whilst there are a few GAME shops that still carry it, it's usually full of extremely out of date products - or just a gift card selection and some Blizzard boxes.

And this is disappointing, no two ways about it. Whilst I'm sure that PC digital sales make up a much larger % of sales than Horizons digital sales, it's still not a good result by any means.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Even with all of the negative coverage surrounding the game's release I would never have guessed it would debut lower than Horizon. That is not good for a multiplat franchise of that caliber. I guess even the name of Mass Effect couldn't offset the negative WOM.

It's not like the bugs and shoddy writing are the only issues. It's also launching 5 years after the last game, one which was very divisive itself. ME3 did a lot of damage to this franchise and they needed to really hit Andromeda out of the park if they wanted the franchise to recover.

You can't enrage half of the series fans, wait half a decade and then shit out a half-baked product from a team that normally makes map packs. Probably this will be the end of the franchise. A product this shoddy belongs in 2006, not 2017.
 
Last time a new entry of an established EA IP with high sales expectations sold markedly worse than the predecessor was Dead Space 3.
We know what happened to the franchise.

Andromeda is underperforming both ME2 and ME3 (or in other words both Mass Effect games that were actually paid for and published by EA after they bought Bioware), after 5 years of what was likely development hell.
Angry EA Execs are probably banging their desks right now.
 
People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive.
Both are established IPs that sell in millions. Horizon is a new IP. Ghost Recon and Mass Effect are not a new IP.
 

AHA-Lambda

Member
The concerning part is not being 3rd in launch for this year, it is being 3rd in week 1 sales for the whole franchise.


Your hotlinked title also makes zero sense in the context here. I am not even sure if you were being sarcastic.

Yeah the bigger issue is how it performed relative to the franchise.

Less than 90k, given how the industry and install bases have grown vs a game that launched in 2010 on 2 platforms is shocking :/

Ps: Wildland's success is still just baffling :/

Pps: and people kept defending EA's horrendous pre launch month marketing for this
It'll be fine they said
No of course it's not a concern we've barely seen anything of the game they said >_>
 

bombshell

Member
People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive.

No matter how impressive Horizon's launch was doesn't change the fact that it's a new IP and Mass Effect is an established IP, one that is now declining badly.
 

Conduit

Banned
3rd best launch for ME:A?
landscape-1489773501-andromeda.gif
 

Toki767

Member
People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive.

Yeah but Mass Effect was one of the most well received franchises last gen.

A new IP exclusive to a platform outselling the next installment to that doesn't look good no matter how you try to spin it.
 

ArmGunar

Member
People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive. Only the GTAs, FIFAs, and CoDs of the world sell better.

Mario and Gran Turismo are the exceptions
A new IP like Horizon sells better than Mass Effect is bad for MEA
 
People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive.

Should also keep in mind that it's only March though, and a series like Mass Effect should be making big waves. It's had worse week 1 sales than Mass 2 and 3, and doesn't have great reviews and word of mouth to fall back on like Mass 1 did to secure strong sales going forwards. If Wildlands and a console exclusive new IP can outsell Mass Effect in week 1... chances are many games will be outselling Mass Effect this year.
 

jabuseika

Member
People should stop assuming exclusive = sell less. Mario Kart and Gran Turismo are two of the biggest video game franchises in the world, both are exclusive. Only the GTAs, FIFAs, and CoDs of the world sell better.

You just countered your own argument.

GT and Mario Kart are established IPs, Horizon Zero Dawn is not.

I would (before this game) have put the Mass Effect franchise on the same level as GTA and CoD, or at least on a similar budget+production level.

Mass Effect is not some random RPG, this is Bioware we are talking about.
 
Eurogamer with the more sensible title

Mass Effect Andromeda physical launch sales down on ME3

Mass Effect Andromeda sold fewer physical copies than Mass Effect 3 during its first week on sale in the UK.

That's despite an extra day to rack sales up, as well. Andromeda launched here in the UK last Thursday. Mass Effect 3 launched on a Friday, back in March 2012.

So extra day of sale yet sold worse than ME 2-3. Very good news for the franchise indeed.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
I would (before this game) have put the Mass Effect franchise on the same level as GTA and CoD, or at least on the similar budget level.

Come on, that's not realistic. Mass Effect is a big franchise but it's nowhere near the level of GTA and CoD, not even close. It's probably in the same bracket as Gears of War and Uncharted.
 

Toki767

Member
Come on, that's not realistic. Mass Effect is a big franchise but it's nowhere near the level of GTA and CoD, not even close. It's probably in the same bracket as Gears of War and Uncharted.

Mass Effect as a franchise I don't think has even hit 20 million sales.

Uncharted hit 28 million before Uncharted 4 even came out.

So it's definitely not a huge franchise. Just very well received by those who played it.
 

Maledict

Member
Not to mention that Mass Effect Andromeda mudt have been the most poorly markedet game from EA in a while.

Yeah, I have to say that in central London on the tube and transport networks there are adverts for Horizon *everywhere* - you can't go into a tube station without seeing a picture of Aloy fighting a giant robot T-Rex.

But I haven't seen a single advert for Horizon. Not one.

EA sent this game to die basically.
 

Gamezone

Gold Member
Fewer physical copies than Mass Effect 3? Wasn't ME3 released when physical games was more popular, and when digital games didn't launch day one on consoles?
 

BigTnaples

Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Good. I'm enjoying it, but it's definitely rough.


Don't want it to kill one of my favorite IPs though. Hopefully it makes a good amount of profit.
 

Alo0oy

Banned
Mass Effect was never a CoD type juggernaut that fell off behind an exclusive new IP, it was always relatively small, it sold less than Halo, Gears, GT, Uncharted, and God of War last gen.

Mass Effect was always a 5m seller.

I'm not going to downplay the decline in sales, but ME was never a juggernaut, the decline isn't as steep as many would think.
 

jonno394

Member
Come on, that's not realistic. Mass Effect is a big franchise but it's nowhere near the level of GTA and CoD, not even close. It's probably in the same bracket as Gears of War and Uncharted.

I wouldn't even group Gears with Uncharted any more.
 
How did it do relative to previous titles? That's probably a better indicator.

I'd be surprised if it bested ME3 tbh

Edit:

3rd best?

K, that doesn't sound great when you consider how the market has grown, and that ME1 launched on 1 platform and ME2 launched on 2 vs this being on 3

I'm assuming the week 1's are:
ME3
ME2
MEA
ME1
?

Going back to my post from the previous page:

I'm not sure I'd call this "good news for the game".

For context from the other UK sales topic:

As a reference

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=19907572&postcount=48

UK Monthly Chart, January 2010 (Chart-Track):

01 (__) [WII] Just Dance - 184,000
02 (02) [WII] Wii Fit Plus - 111,000
03 (01) [WII] Wii Sports Resort - 90,000
04 (__) [360] Mass Effect 2 - 90,000
05 (04) [360] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 61,000
06 (03) [WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii - 57,000
07 (07) [PS3] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 56,000
08 (__) [WII] Mario Kart Wii - 45,000
09 (10) [360] Forza Motor Sports 3 - 39,000
10 (__) [360] Army of Two: The 40th Day - 37,000

Source: Enterbrain/Famitsu (found on 2ch)

ME2 released on January 29th, 2010; this means that the monthly charts should just count ME2's first week.

This means (assuming this data is correct) that Andromeda opened at less than 90k retail sales in the UK.

Sales figures for the series as a whole are hard to come by, but it looks like Mass 1 and Mass 3 both sold around 3 million each in total, with Mass 2 in the lead with over 4 million (sourced from unreliable and banned site though, so take with many grains of salt). Mass 1 had a very slow start, so it's no surprise that Andromeda outsold it in its opening week, but great word of mouth and strong reviews lead to Mass 1 having a solid pair of legs. We don't know any accurate sales figures, but we do know that all 3 entries sold pretty damn well.

Andromeda on course to become the lowest selling entry in the series?

I wouldn't trust that site at all unless they have links to back their information up? I think ME3 sold more like 4 million, but I'm not sure where I read that.

Question. Did Horizon have a bigger marketing campaign than Mass Effect?

Anecdotally I saw a lot more Horizon marketing than I did for Wildlands, but I don't really watch regular telly so I don't know if either of them received adverts.

Wasn't EA's sales expectations 3 million first two weeks and 6 life time or something like that?

I think they'll be lucky to get 2 million initial sales, including digital. Do you have a link to where they said that?

Come on, that's not realistic. Mass Effect is a big franchise but it's nowhere near the level of GTA and CoD, not even close. It's probably in the same bracket as Gears of War and Uncharted.

Uncharted is far bigger than Mass Effect has ever been. Uncharted 4 probably sold 2-3x the number of copies of Gears 4.
 

patapuf

Member
You just countered your own argument.

GT and Mario Kart are established IPs, Horizon Zero Dawn is not.

I would (before this game) have put the Mass Effect franchise on the same level as GTA and CoD, or at least on a similar budget+production level.

Mass Effect is not some random RPG, this is Bioware we are talking about.

Despite critical acclaim, ME has actually not been a sales juggernaut. Even if you limit it to RPG's.

Dragon Age is the bigger franchise iirc.
 
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