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[4Tran]

In this thread seems some guys have forgot the PC version more likely sold the majority of the copies in DD, and the DD are the 50% of the revenue.
Also it's pretty obvious two platforms sold better than one. The point is the PC is now a proper contender in sales, not like 10 years ago which it was really almost dead.

Appearances aside, the PC was always a viable platform for PC-centric titles. The biggest disconnect is that AAA games are by far the largest chunk of console game sales, but they generally have a lot less appeal on PC.

On the other hand, the same has yet to be demonstrated for smaller, more focused titles. In that regard, it will be interesting to see how the platform splits for Divinity:OS or Wasteland 2 work out (if we get that information). We know (or rather, we can infer) what happened with XCOM.

I suspect that these titles won't go over very well on console, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if they do perform. If these CRPGs have a broader audience than previously thought, then we'll get more to enjoy.

 

[LiquidSolid]

Yeah, if you are selling an "AAA" game with broad appeal you'd be stupid not to release it on as many platforms as possible without compromising the basic design. And Witcher 3 clearly is that kind of game.

On the other hand, the same has yet to be demonstrated for smaller, more focused titles. In that regard, it will be interesting to see how the platform splits for Divinity:OS or Wasteland 2 work out (if we get that information). We know (or rather, we can infer) what happened with XCOM.

I'm not really sure what counts as a "smaller, more focused title" here. There are plenty of indie games that've done well on consoles, for example.

As for Divinity OS and Wasteland 2, they've already been out on PC for over a year, don't seem to have any marketing for their console releases and are launching in the most hectic time of the year. I'd be surprised if they do well on consoles and it has nothing to do with whether they're viable platforms for those games. Just look at the 360 release of Witcher 2.

Me? Are you serious?

The complete lack of self awareness is kind of amazing.

 

[DeadTrees]

Annd that's why you expand to consoles.

I didn't expect this sort of childish platform war argument from you.

the current market reality which is that you need to target as many platforms as possible

"X is true."

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT X IS TRUE, YOU MANGE-RIDDEN CUR. Also, I need to point out that X is true."

 

[MikeE21286]

Wow that bodes well for digital

 

[Kinthalis]

Well you sure did play your part perfectly.

All he did was poitn it out. The derailing was done by... the usual suspects.

Which is to say Keyser Soze. That bastard!

 

[jmga]

So we can say PC has been most profitable platform for Witcher 3.

 

[zonezeus]

The best news I think is that 80% of marketing costs were covered by distributors, because that means even higher profit margin than previously suspected, which in turn means possibly higher budget for CP2077.

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

It's been over four months and I still need to finish Witcher 2, someday I will and finally get to Witcher 3. I think I feel less pressure to play it since I got it with my 970.

There's something kind of funny about the best selling version being on the only platform W3 released on that had no prior connection to the franchise.

Well, to be fair a lot of those who probably bought the games on the XB360 are probably now PS4 owners. Plus there's still the new generation freshness that new games can benefit from.

 

[FATALITY]

Well you sure did play your part perfectly.

yep

 

[FATALITY]

All he did was poitn it out. The derailing was done by... the usual suspects.

Which is to say Keyser Soze. That bastard!

lol this is so funny coming from you

 

[Silent Chief]

So essentially, one digital sale is worth three retail sales on average

Their cost vary a lot by countries, discounted sales, platforms and whatnot.

If every sales was for $60 and they kept 85% of online sales, that would have only made about $22 per retail sale.

I remember Naughty claiming to keep $30 on PS1 sales back in the day. Clearly there's a lot of money in increasing your console percentage.

The online side will have longer legs, unless there's a greatest hits lineup at some point.

 

[Silent Chief]

Tell that Crytek,

They are dead after expanding to consoles. or Egosoft, they tried to consolify the X Franchise.

Going to Console worked here but it is no statement that should be made for every Situation.

The Far Cry franchise is doing great on console, no?

 

[Silent Chief]

Agree absolutely with this. Its not just about expanding to console. Its also the other way around. That's why you expand to PC. Look at games like MGSV for example which has already sold 650k copies on PC. Any of the 3 major platforms are too big to ignore

There's more update on the PC side though.
From PC to console you can easily double your sales.
From console to PC you can get maybe 20-30% more and you might be cannibalizing your console sales.

At any rate, I don't have a console game I could bring to PC.
I hear Phil Spencer has a few.

 

[yurinka]

That console vs PC sales split is crazy considering how PC oriented the franchise has been and that this is the first one ever for Playstation.

Also publishers covered 80% of marketing. Thats a huge chunk of the cost of a game. Combine that with a 25% digital distribution and this must have been massively successful for CD Projekt Red financially

It depends, these percentages are the average of a multiplatform AAA game.

If we're talking about 15 million copies sold at full price, yes it's successful. If we're talking about 2 Million copies sold it may have been a huge flop depending on how big the full budget was.

 

[Denton]

It depends, these percentages are the average of a multiplatform AAA game.

If we're talking about 15 million copies sold at full price, yes it's successful. If we're talking about 2 Million copies sold it may have been a huge flop depending on how big the full budget was.

The game sold 6 million in first 6 weeks. It paid for itself on preorders. It was a success.

 

[Grief.exe]

There's more update on the PC side though.
From PC to console you can easily double your sales.
From console to PC you can get maybe 20-30% more and you might be cannibalizing your console sales.

At any rate, I don't have a console game I could bring to PC.
I hear Phil Spencer has a few.

You are committing the fallacy that both the Xbox One and PS4 are one entity. Your numbers work out roughly the same when you split it up per platform.

 

[GhostTrick]

There's more update on the PC side though.
From PC to console you can easily double your sales.
From console to PC you can get maybe 20-30% more and you might be cannibalizing your console sales.

At any rate, I don't have a console game I could bring to PC.
I hear Phil Spencer has a few.

I always found funny how "console" is considered as a whole platform. Also how is PC cannibalizing your console sales, aka less sales according to you but not the opposite ?

I agree though that expanding to other platforms seems to work well for most publishers.

 

[Mad Season]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

 

[Beerman462]

This thread

 

[Chobel]

So roughly 30/30/40 split between the platforms, fairly even.

PS4 sales should be more than double of XB1 sales, so it should be like 30/47/23

 

[GhostTrick]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

Why not ? I dont see how this is bad news to be honest. It will likely lead to more money and budget for their next titles. This is a win win situation.

 

[Denton]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

It is a great sign for both PC and console users, actually.

 

[Grief.exe]

PS4 sales should be more than double of XB1 sales, so it should be like 30/47/23

I kept seeing the 65% figure tossed around, I rounded to make the math easier in my head.

Why not ? I dont see how this is bad news to be honest. It will likely lead to more money and budget for their next titles. This is a win win situation.

He's likely not doing the math, not seeing the revenue generated from digital copies, or both.

 

[moffattron9000]

That console vs PC sales split is crazy considering how PC oriented the franchise has been and that this is the first one ever for Playstation.

Also publishers covered 80% of marketing. Thats a huge chunk of the cost of a game. Combine that with a 25% digital distribution and this must have been massively successful for CD Projekt Red financially

This game had a ton of hype behind it, with it being the first announced full-scale RPG for the new consoles. Combine that with the clever decision to market it as The Witcher: Wild Hunt, and not The Witcher 3, and it was able to get around the fact that it was a sequel.

 

[HeelPower]

Will we ever get Witcher 2 remastered for PS4/XBO ?

Please..I was really hoping for an announcement at gamescom.

I bet the majority of Witcher 3 players didn't try it.

 

[Chobel]

I kept seeing the 65% figure tossed around, I rounded to make the math easier in my head.

My point is the sales aren't fairly even, at least units sold wise.

 

[Kinthalis]

lol this is so funny coming from you

Pathetic. Crawl back into your hole please.

 

[Kinthalis]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

Hmmm.. that the PC brought in more revenue than a leading console platform, comparable revenue to THE leading console platform, and that very likely it is the MOST PROFITABLE platform (if not now, surely in the near future)... is a bad thing?

I guess on GAF the PC only matters if it brings 100% of the profit or something nonsensical like that.

PC - still dying, ever since 1980.

 

[RoboPlato]

Really good to see a studio like CDPR get so much mainstream success and profitability on such an ambitious title. Bodes well for their future games.

 

[derExperte]

So we can say PC has been most profitable platform for Witcher 3.

It will sooner or later have generated over 50% of the revenue. Probably sooner than later. Which with the first add-on coming soon btw makes me wonder how well those and season passes in general are selling on specific platforms. The divide between PC and consoles should get bigger there because PC gamers can't sell their W3s while most console sales are on disc, you won't find the add-ons in stores (unless they release a complete edition) and I suspect many have already moved on. I hope CDPR will release detailed figures for that too, don't think anyone else ever did.

 

[poodaddy]

So excited for Cyberpunk. We know it's got a hell of a budget now at least.

 

[Kinthalis]

So excited for Cyberpunk. We know it's got a hell of a budget now at least.

Yep, and apparently a decent amount of dev time.

It's going to be great!

 

[Lingitiz]

Yeah, I still don't understand all the vitriol that thread about CDPR saying that current TW3 wouldn't exist without consoles created. Cyberpunk 2077 wouldn't either.

No third party AAA can afford platform exclusivity these days, be it PS4, Xbone or PC.

I'd that very few developers/pubs even on the platform exclusive side of things can afford to create a game the size and scale of TW3 or something like a Fallout 4. The only games I see coming from there that truly feel like massive budget efforts on this scale are Halo 5 and Uncharted 4: two games in iconic and established franchises made by the premiere studio of each first party. I'm talking strictly about the type of AAA game that feels like an event release and is in kind of a different tier when it comes to mass appeal and attention.

Games this year in that same stratosphere are MGSV, SW Battlefront, and CoD. Nintendo also rarely touches this same kind of space save for the big games like Smash and MK, which is right for the kind of games they make. Again not really a quality statement but one of budget.,

We don't know enough about Horizon yet to determine if it's really on that same level in terms of budget and scale. Same goes for Quantum Break, although if we follow the kind of scale that Alan Wake set then it's definitely not comparable in budget and production values.

 

[RoboPlato]

So excited for Cyberpunk. We know it's got a hell of a budget now at least.

I can't wait to see some neon lighting in a rain soaked cyberpunk setting.

 

[Felix Lighter]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

What? 30% of the total sales and likely the sku with the highest profit margin? I don't see CD Projekt abandoning the PC platform anytime soon.

 

[poodaddy]

Yep, and apparently a decent amount of dev time.

It's going to be great!

I dare say I think it might even be better than Witcher 3. And that's being said with the Witcher series being one of my favorites of all time, but I can't wait to see what CD Projekt Red does with a series that has a slight bit less of an established lore and character arc. I think they're really going to be able to spread their wings from a narrative perspective. I'm incredibly stoked.

I can't wait to see some neon lighting in a rain soaked cyberpunk setting.

Can you imagine how beautiful that game's going to be? I mean Red Engine's already incredible for The Witcher 3, but now they have the time and the budget to mod the engine to near perfection for a futuristic setting. I can't even explain how excited I am for Cyberpunk. The only real competition they have in my mind is themselves, as the game they really need to top is The Witcher 3. That's gonna be rough, but I'm convinced they'll do it.

 

[Alo0oy]

Agree absolutely with this. Its not just about expanding to console. Its also the other way around. That's why you expand to PC. Look at games like MGSV for example which has already sold 650k copies on PC. Any of the 3 major platforms are too big to ignore

That's not always the case. See Civilization/Counterstrike on PC, or Halo/Uncharted/Gran Turismo on consoles, they sell better than 90% of multiplatform games out there.

 

[Kinthalis]

That's not always the case. See Civilization/Counterstrike on PC, or Halo/Uncharted/Gran Turismo on consoles, they sell better than 90% of multiplatform games out there.

Sure, but they'd only sell more if they embraced more platforms... well, mabe not Civ - atleast nto a direct port.

Civ Rev was a good call. It expanded it's sales to consoles without having to compromise on the gameplay/UI/controls.

Some games truly do belong on a particular platform - but it usually comes down to contorl issues or, much more rarely, lack of an audience.

 

[Alo0oy]

Sure, but they'd only sell more if they embraced more platforms... well, mabe not Civ - atleast nto a direct port.

Civ Rev was a good call. It expanded it's sales to consoles without having to compromise on the gameplay/UI/controls.

Some games truly do belong on a particular platform - but it usually comes down to contorl issues or, much more rarely, lack of an audience.

They'll definitely sell more with more platforms, those games sell 10+ million on one platform, so they could potentially sell 20m with all three platforms, but my point was that you can still spend 50-100 million on a game and be successful on one platform, it's not easy, but it's not mandatory either.

Let's not forget that any AAA game published by Valve/Sony/MS means that they get significantly higher profit margins, because they own the platform they release those games on.

 

[Obliterator]

Halo/Uncharted/Gran Turismo on consoles, they sell better than 90% of multiplatform games out there.

Those are all 1st party games.

If you are a AAA 3rd party developer there is no reason to not launch on PS4, Xbone, and PC unless a platform holder is making it rain on you

 

[Krejlooc]

I don't quiet get how digial can be only 25% of sales, but 50% of revenue. How many people are buying products more expensive when buying digital?

You make more money on a digital sale than you do on a physical sale of the same price, due to manufacturing cost, store take, licensing, etc.

One of my friends at a large development house said his publisher only sees $27 for every $60 sold at retail, or about $0.45 for every dollar sold. By contrast, online, they see $0.70 on every dollar sold.

And "dollars sold" at retail only count for new titles. If someone chooses to buy a used title at a discounted price, the publisher sees no money from that. By contrast, if someone buys the witcher 3 for $17 on, say, GMG during a sale, the publisher still sees $0.70 per dollar on that $17 sold.

 

[Alo0oy]

Those are all 1st party games.

If you are a AAA 3rd party developer there is no reason to not launch on PS4, Xbone, and PC unless a platform holder is making it rain on you

There are A LOT of Japanese third party exclusives on PS4 (EDIT: they're on PS3 also in Japan, but only on PS4 in the west) and Strategy third party exclusives on PC, in most cases it's not worth the opportunity cost to port them, but in a few rare occasions you'll see ports like Tales of Zestreia & Toukiden on PC or Type-0 on XB1 or Xcom on consoles.

That wasn't my point anyway, my point was that big budget isn't exclusive to multiplatform games. They can be extremely successful even if they're limited to one platform, sure it's easier on three platforms, but that doesn't mean a single platform can't support huge big budget games.

 

[Deleted member 325805]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

Huh? 30% is great, especially when you consider they're making bank off of GoG sales. I'm sure they were very pleased with how it sold on PC.

 

[Rocky85]

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

Naw it sold great.
This is a bad sign for the people with high end cards though. They targeted high end with Witcher 2, now CDprojekt has found their sweet spot in sales and it was with the entry level 750.

 

[pislit]

Why do we always combine consoles as one platform? Genuine question.

 

[Alo0oy]

Why do we always combine consoles as one platform? Genuine question.

Yeah, I don't know why most publishers do that, only Ubisoft & Konami split the sales per platform.

 

[Scott32020]

Naw it sold great.
This is a bad sign for the people with high end cards though. They targeted high end with Witcher 2, now CDprojekt has found their sweet spot in sales and it was with the entry level 750.

Where does it describe the graphics cards used by players? I don't see it in the OP

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Naw it sold great.
This is a bad sign for the people with high end cards though. They targeted high end with Witcher 2, now CDprojekt has found their sweet spot in sales and it was with the entry level 750.

I finished the Witcher 2 twice on a 2010 laptop, it wan't that high end.

 

[Usobuko]

Correct me if I'm wrong, the only AAA game this gen that hasn't gone to PC yet is Destiny and for reasons I am rather interested in. M/KB against controller issue? Hard to go against juggernauts CS and TF?

This isnt a good sign to us PC users for future CD Projekt games.

Nah, think of it as the developer you like getting much more money to make another game.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Naw it sold great.
This is a bad sign for the people with high end cards though. They targeted high end with Witcher 2, now CDprojekt has found their sweet spot in sales and it was with the entry level 750.

The Witcher 3 is one of the most demanding PC games on the market on max settings. It just scales very well. The Witcher 2 scales very well after a few patches as well.