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NPD Sales Results for March 2016

Mr Moose

Member
To be fair most Sony AAA exclusives title aside from uncharted 4 (come on) and bloodborne has failed miserably financially imo. I think Microsoft exclusives are doing better.

Are you telling me there was only The Order 1886 then? Didn't Quantum Break sell less than The Order 1886 in the UK in its first week? Wasn't QB their best selling new IP published by MS in the UK the first week? Or am I missing something.
 
Mediocre or disappointing sales can be rationalized or analyzed through smaller factors. Street Fighter V was such a complete disaster that there is only one conceivable explanation: regardless of quality, no one wanted the product.

As for the performance of the Wii U titles, if Sony or Microsoft had only a few titles period for their platform in a calendar year, I bet they would sell fantastic, too.

This. I honestly believe that even if SFV had a robust amount of singleplayer content it would've still performed poorly. I refuse to believe that bad word of mouth from internet forums tanked it, but there's no way to ever know. I mean CoD gets shat on by the general gaming community yearly yet it still sells like there's no tomorrow.
 

kyser73

Member
I agree with you that causal voice win this time when it comes to the sfv hate bandwagon but I wonder why vocal minority failed to stop battlefront suceess. Is it because star wars?

Basically yeah, SWBF is a really casual friendly game both locally and online. SFV just seems to be so concentrated at being aimed at hardcore fighting fans there's nothing there for anyone else.

But mainly Star Wars at Xmas on the back of a new SW movie - I don't think you can begin to compare the two in terms of brand.
 

kyser73

Member
Mediocre or disappointing sales can be rationalized or analyzed through smaller factors. Street Fighter V was such a complete disaster that there is only one conceivable explanation: regardless of quality, no one wanted the product.

As for the performance of the Wii U titles, if Sony or Microsoft had only a few titles period for their platform in a calendar year, I bet they would sell fantastic, too.

Yeah, I had a look at Metacritic for all the WiiU games this month, and Pokken, TPHD, Mutant Mudds & Shantae are the only games to actually get enough reviews for a score (oh and Steel Rivals which has an MC of 19).

Is it any great surprise that on a platform starved of content that two core Ninty brands both manage to crack the top 10? WiiU owners have plenty of time to save up to buy their games...
 
I know The Division was bundled with various PC graphics cards.
Was Far Cry as well, or no?

If they were, and if they were counted, and with Twilight Princess HD being #3 and Pokken #4 on the SKU list, I'm guessing the top 4 of the SKU list look like:

1) Tom Clancy's The Division (PC)
2) Far Cry: Primal (PC)
3) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)
4) Pokken Tournament (Wii U)

Which would mean nothing from PS4 or XBox One in the Top 4 by SKU.
(Again, assumptions on my part)

1 and 2 are ps4 versions of those games. Platform is listed in order of best selling.

Bundled sales dont count, especially digital copies as NPD only tracks retail.
 
I really regret buying Street Fighter 5. I don't know if I can say that about any other game purchase I've made in the last few years.

I knew the content would be limited at the start but THIS limited? Ugh. Hopefully the big June (or whenever) update will win back some of the people who already bought the game. Unfortunately, it might be too late for to get everyone else on board. And I can't blame those people.

I regret buying it too. I haven't touched the game since launch week. The way this game released put a really bad taste in my mouth. So much so that I haven't had any desire to go back, even though there's new content available.

I think I'm gonna' pick up the complete Killer Instinct package on XB1 tonight. I want to support that team and what little I've played of KI has been great.
 
Yeah, I had a look at Metacritic for all the WiiU games this month, and Pokken, TPHD, Mutant Mudds & Shantae are the only games to actually get enough reviews for a score (oh and Steel Rivals which has an MC of 19).

Is it any great surprise that on a platform starved of content that two core Ninty brands both manage to crack the top 10? WiiU owners have plenty of time to save up to buy their games...

I wouldn't pin it on this. Judging by their hardware numbers, most people seem to have platforms other than the Wii u. It's easy to rationalize something when seen in a vacuum, but good numbers are good numbers
 

QaaQer

Member
This. I honestly believe that even if SFV had a robust amount of singleplayer content it would've still performed poorly. I refuse to believe that bad word of mouth from internet forums tanked it, but there's no way to ever know. I mean CoD gets shat on by the general gaming community yearly yet it still sells like there's no tomorrow.

.

SFV art and characters are unappealing in 2016; and very few people care about how finely tuned a competitive fighting game is. MKX is way more comercially appealing.
 

bachikarn

Member
Mediocre or disappointing sales can be rationalized or analyzed through smaller factors. Street Fighter V was such a complete disaster that there is only one conceivable explanation: regardless of quality, no one wanted the product.

As for the performance of the Wii U titles, if Sony or Microsoft had only a few titles period for their platform in a calendar year, I bet they would sell fantastic, too.

But the Wii U also has a considerably smaller fanbase.
 

dt2

Banned
Are you telling me there was only The Order 1886 then? Didn't Quantum Break sell less than The Order 1886 in the UK in its first week? Wasn't QB their best selling new IP published by MS in the UK the first week? Or am I missing something.
Quantum Break was the best selling game overall in the UK during it's first week (which estimates peg it at ~28k). Here's the official blurb from Microsoft:
Today, we are excited to share that Quantum Break was the #1 best-selling Xbox game around the world last week, and is now officially the biggest-selling new Microsoft Studios published IP this generation. In addition, last week Quantum Break was the #1 most played new game on Xbox, worldwide.

Curious to know what actual sales numbers are.
 

kyser73

Member
I always thought that wasn't the case.
But, I could be wrong, which would toss that idea out the window.

It's always been the case in reported charts, NPD and the PAL chart threads.

For NPD bundles don't count either, which is why Xbone BLOPSIII always appears higher than PS4 and possibly why The Division is higher for PS4 (although it definitely seems that PS4 is ahead generally on that even counting Xbone bundles).
 

Mr Moose

Member
Quantum Break was the best selling game overall in the UK during it's first week (which estimates peg it at ~28k). Here's the official blurb from Microsoft:


Curious to know what actual sales numbers are.

Next month will be interesting™

As for the performance of the Wii U titles, if Sony or Microsoft had only a few titles period for their platform in a calendar year, I bet they would sell fantastic, too.

But the Wii U also has a considerably smaller fanbase.

I think that's their point. If you get fewer games, you'll want to buy those games. No AAA multiplats recently that I know of.
 

jbluzb

Member
Far Cry Primal #2 - WOW! did not expect that at all; Hoping for Ratchet and Clank to chart in April NPD!

Congrats Ubisoft.
 
I know The Division was bundled with various PC graphics cards.
On checking, Far Cry was as well.

If those bundles were counted as "PC SKU sales," and with Twilight Princess HD being #3 and Pokken #4 on the SKU list, I'm guessing the top 4 of the SKU list look like:

1) Tom Clancy's The Division (PC)
2) Far Cry: Primal (PC)
3) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)
4) Pokken Tournament (Wii U)

Which would mean nothing from PS4 or XBox One in the Top 4 by SKU.
(Again, assumptions on my part)
That isn't how NPD works. This is physical only retail. No bundles and no digital.

Those graphic card promos aren't counted at all for NPD
 

Sterok

Member
All the endless repetitive Street Fighter talk is fascinating and all, but I think there are other matters that could be discussed. First, with the success of Destiny and The Division, are online loot shooters poised to be this gen's defining genre alongside open-worlds? And two, why is Ubisoft seemingly so much better at launching new IPs than basically everyone else?
 
Cream, where are you at?

This SFV talk is tiring and done to death. Literally just a repeat of what's already been done, brought up because some people thought a bomb would chart in its second month.
 

Menitta

Member
All the endless repetitive Street Fighter talk is fascinating and all, but I think there are other matters that could be discussed. First, with the success of Destiny and The Division, are online loot shooters poised to be this gen's defining genre alongside open-worlds? And two, why is Ubisoft seemingly so much better at launching new IPs than basically everyone else?

Would the Division be considered a new IP? It's under the Tom Clancy brand. Initially, I thought it wouldn't be, but now I'm not so sure.

Edit: NVM. I guess so.
 
I wonder why even after all the sfv hate why can't other FGs come even close to it when it comes competitive interest. Sfv breaking evo records....and don't say it's the money because NRS now investing 500k in their own league and can't even get 1/4th of the interest. I guess gameplay triumph over casual filler modes when it comes to tournament interest.....who knows....
Only smash bros somewhat comes close but that's a n64 or GameCube version?
 

wapplew

Member
Don't know why a game release on Feb get the most post in March NPD.
Hardware down YOY, which one holding back?
 
All the endless repetitive Street Fighter talk is fascinating and all, but I think there are other matters that could be discussed. First, with the success of Destiny and The Division, are online loot shooters poised to be this gen's defining genre alongside open-worlds? And two, why is Ubisoft seemingly so much better at launching new IPs than basically everyone else?

God, I hope they improve in quality if that's the case. I'm a huge grind nut and these games are 0/2.

I feel the first game in the genre that has the gameplay polish of Destiny with a ton of content, especially endgame, is gonna do bonkers.
 
All the endless repetitive Street Fighter talk is fascinating and all, but I think there are other matters that could be discussed. First, with the success of Destiny and The Division, are online loot shooters poised to be this gen's defining genre alongside open-worlds? And two, why is Ubisoft seemingly so much better at launching new IPs than basically everyone else?

This is a really great post with good questions.

My opinions

1. Yeah if I'm a major publisher right not looking to green light a major AAA game it's either open world or an online based loot shooter. I expect we'll see more Destiny's and Divisions in the pipeline from pubs soon.

2. This is something really truly incredible. Ubisoft really are pretty much the best Publisher in the world at releasing new AAA IP. They have 3 of the top 4 best selling new IP in history that's incredible. Personally I think a big part of that is marketing. Ubisoft are really strong at that and they also do a pretty stellar job of reading the market and also of being out front in supporting new hardware in case it takes off.
 

truth411

Member
My Gosh @ GTAV, it's going on 3 years since the initial release, it's still being sold at full price point and constantly in the top ten every month. Unbelievable!!! They got to be past 50 million units sold, what's the record for a disc/cartridge base retail game?
 
Don't know why a game release on Feb get the most post in March NPD.
Hardware down YOY, which one holding back?

Revenue is down not units. At least in regards to Xbone and PS4 and this is because of price cuts

Would the Division be considered a new IP? It's under the Tom Clancy brand. Initially, I thought it wouldn't be, but now I'm not so sure.

Edit: NVM. I guess so.

Sure is. It may have Tom Clancy's in the name but the game itself isn't like anything else Ubisoft has ever done and the name The Division is brand new.
 
Congratulations to LoZ:Twilight Princess HD. It is a very well done remaster.

Pokken charted, but its sales don't seem particularly impressive. I would have expected a game like this to do better especially given the Wii U fanbase and the buzz surrounding it. I didn't follow the game too closely, so perhaps it actually wasn't broadly advertised. It appears to be a quality game, but that sadly didn't help most Wii U games sell. The trend just continues with this title.

Street Fighter V is certainly not a big hit, but it is a great product for hardcore fighting game players. I am definitely excited to watch SF V gameplay at EVO!

It's no surprise that the Division is #1, and the other slots are filled by the usual suspects.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Nope. Infamous Second Son, Driveclub, Knack and Killzone have all done well. I think over 2 million each. And right now Ratchet and Clank seems to be doing well over expectations.
And I think Until Dawn sold beyond Sony's expectations as well. Enough to prompt a VR (sort of) sequel.
Rush of Blood must've been in development from well before Until Dawn's release for it to leak when it did.

I think PS4/XB1 sales have been front-loaded compared to the 360/PS3 generation.
Uhuh.

Finally got to update launch aligned graphs.

Firstly sold through vs shipped data for PS4:

m8um9.jpg


Rare case that we have both and the sold through numbers are actually newer. As you can see, the lines are pretty close, so Sony is not overshipping, but also seems not to be supply limited either. Healthy business overall.

And, since we will not have official Q4 shipped data until February, I think, I've put the sold through PS4 data on the graph with shipped numbers for other consoles (launch aligned):

nbuvb.jpg


The shipped points will be slightly higher when we get them, but not significantly so.

Phenomenal Wii pulls clearly ahead now, having sold ~9M more at the point in time than PS4.

During 2015 many here predicted that this holiday PS4 will fall behind PS2, but very good holiday sales will push that moment to summer 2016 at least. Currenly PS4 lead on PS2 is ~6M units. The crossing is inevitable though, note the straight line of the PS2 sales, which is characteristic for the supply limited situation (i.e. they were selling everything they could make and they were not able to make more).
 
Didn't realize this was SF5's second month, doh.

With that said, do we have #'s for Dead Rising 3's 1st and 2nd months of NPD release that we can compare to SF5's 1st and 2nd month? I am wondering if DR3 actually sold more on a much smaller install base then SF5 did.
 

Kusagari

Member
I can't believe so many are surprised at Zelda and Pokken.

Nintendo's big franchises sell in America. It doesn't matter the user base size.
 

MK_768

Member
I think that's their point. If you get fewer games, you'll want to buy those games. No AAA multiplats recently that I know of.

I mean I can understand the argument but I dont think that's really true. Maybe for the Wii U only owners but how many of them are there really haha? I have a Wii U bu I ain't desperate for Pokken Tournament or a game I have on my Wii lol.
 
SF5 dear lord how did this happen? Sony $100,000 tourney support, ads in movie theatres and tv, full fgc compliance in switching from SF4

then i see the 'ragequit solution coming in April' thread on the same page and it all becomes clear
 
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