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Watch Dogs 2 launch massively down from WD1 in UK.
- Thread starter Obliterator
- Start date
Acquiescence
Member
Eeeeeek, why would you say this?! Now what're you gonna do when Watch Dogs 2 continues to bomb week after week. You've backed yourself into a corner Ubisoft.
Except Mafia 3 has sold better than Mafia 2.
Well, their stock will take a large beating if they don't see better long term sales and have to lower results in their Q3 report, which should be the appropriate time for Vivendi to launch their hostile takeover.
Daffy Duck
Member
Truly an iconic statement.
bananafactory
Banned
Disappointing, overall it's a much better game and actually one of the best open world titles I've played in some time
But I can't say I didn't expect this. Watch Dogs 1 was to many people the first game that felt 'next gen' at the time and now we are well into the console lifecycle with tons of other great games to choose from
Couple that with a busy holiday schedule and I think most could have seen this coming.
Also. Yes. There are people who actually do not want to play as a black character, or a woman, or anyone who they feel they can't project themselves on.
But I can't say I didn't expect this. Watch Dogs 1 was to many people the first game that felt 'next gen' at the time and now we are well into the console lifecycle with tons of other great games to choose from
Couple that with a busy holiday schedule and I think most could have seen this coming.
Also. Yes. There are people who actually do not want to play as a black character, or a woman, or anyone who they feel they can't project themselves on.
Calm waterfall
Banned
That's not a fair comparison since digital sales nowadays are much larger than before. You can't say there is a trend without having the full picture.
I mean, this thread is about retail sales.
It's possible the market is going very, very heavily digital and we're just seeing that this year, but we'd kind of need more publisher statements beyond 30% globally (which doesn't necessarily give us UK percentages).
Must be a nice post racism world you live in.
xrnzaaas
Member
I actually looked forward to the sequel, but my hype left when they made the announcement. For me the biggest problem with WD2 is the change in tone. A lot of my friends like this change and how consistent it is throughout the entire game, but I just don't dig it (I remember I didn't know whether to laugh or remain surprised when I found out that you acquire weapons using a 3D printer). I would so much prefer if they played it safe with the sequel and just focused on delivering a better world and not lying with the visuals.
Sorry I'm just a normal person and buy a game regardless of the character. Tomb Raider and San Andreas sold gang busters. Good games sell well. Of course the reason WD 2 is doing shite is because of racism, not because Ubisoft fucked everyone off with WD 1.
rockman zx
Member
They better be ready for Steep, For Honor and Wildlands, I don't think any of them is going to do specially good. For Honor is probably going to be a good game and get good reviews but I don't think is the type of game people outside us will buy.
Steep is going to sell about zero copies.
For Honor is in the style of games people actually buy today. I don't know if that's sufficient to sell at UK retail these days. Do we know how Rainbow Six did there?
Ghost Recon is sort of in between Watch Dogs and For Honor. It's a traditional open world title, but it also offers you four player co-op.
I take my time when considering a day 1 purchase now, too many games being released broken or incomplete so I wait a month or 2 hoping issues are addressed by which time they have also come down in price abit. Unless if I see a decent price at launch then I'll take the risk.
I enjoyed the first watch dogs so will pick this up eventually but I'm having a good time with what I already have so no rush.
I enjoyed the first watch dogs so will pick this up eventually but I'm having a good time with what I already have so no rush.
mercenar1e
Member
what are the odds that they push up the PC release?
Exploratory
Banned
Titanfall 1 was a great game it just didn't have enough content. Does a game have to be perfect on first try now to be successful?
hiphoptherobot
Member
One of the top suggestions when you Google wd2 is" watch dogs 2 white character". I have a feeling people are a lot more prejudiced than you think. I don't think that is the reason for the dismal sales though. I chalk it up to bad timing and lack of marketing.
I hope word of mouth helps it. WD2 was a nice surprise for me. I didn't think I would like the characters but they are actually pretty fun.
You said "Does anyone genuinely believe that anyone will look at a game and say "not buying it because the protagonist isn't white"? If you believe that you are probably the prejudiced one."
Do you really believe not a single person saw a black protagonist and said, "no" based on that? Because that's what you said.
I'm sure that isn't the reason for low sales, but let's not act like that doesn't happen.
You said "Does anyone genuinely believe that anyone will look at a game and say "not buying it because the protagonist isn't white"? If you believe that you are probably the prejudiced one."
Do you really believe not a single person saw a black protagonist and said, "no" based on that? Because that's what you said.
I'm sure that isn't the reason for low sales, but let's not act like that doesn't happen.
I'm wondering how much this plays in to it. I have trouble holding back and not getting things day one but for the past couple years the shit they (almost all publishers) churn out has gotten harder and harder to stomach when the game runs much better two months later and for half the price.
If you think that the fall of the pound is the only reason why people aren't buying all these sequels that all release in the same few weeks, and follow disappointing previous entries, I don't know what to say. There have been plenty of success stories this year, the consequences of the referendum hardly explain why Skyrim, FIFA, the NES classic (and probably Pokemon too) will end up selling well. It seems to be an AAA sequel thing rather than a consequence of the broader U.K. economy, particularly considering that Titanfall 2 didn't do well in the US either.
Still, it'll be interesting to see what numbers Watch Dogs 2 puts up in the US.
Slackbladder
Member
Was Watch Dogs both released on PC and console May 27th 2014? Watch Dogs 2 is out next week on PC. That said I doubt Watch Dogs 2 PC retail sales will have much of an impact overall. But if WD1 was all platforms and WD2 is just console then it's an inaccurate comparison.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Seems like Titanfall syndrome more than racism to me; first game arrives on a tide of hype and sells well, but fails to really cement itself as a franchise/create a loyal fanbase and as a result struggles to compete in this heavily contested period.
I'd also add that public perception of hackers has gotten a lot less positive over the last couple of years, so the core concept is to my mind somewhat suspect anyway.
I'd also add that public perception of hackers has gotten a lot less positive over the last couple of years, so the core concept is to my mind somewhat suspect anyway.
I can get why people prefer to play as an Italian American in a game called "mafia", but Watch_Dog 2? Nah I don't see the race has anything to do with the theme of the game. Plus let's be honest, it's not like WD2 bombing is that surprising, how many people actually asked for this game?
I feel like the PC version released a little later and had some performance problems.
gigantor21
Member
The retail PC sales will change nothing. Almost all of the PC sales will be digital.
But man...this trend of well received sequels doing poorly compared to previous entries is pretty depressing. It would be one thing if the games sucked, but reviews and impressions for this, TF2 and Dishonored 2 were all great. :/
sixteen-bit
Member
Watch Bomba
RichiRamjag
Member
It isnt depressing in the slightest. If you release a game that isn't great to begin with, then people will remember that. Maybe devs will put their best foot forward from here on out. TF2 was messed up because of that launch date in addition to that tech test though.
Slackbladder
Member
Yeah, I can't remember lol. Looking on Wikipedia it says world wide on all platforms. Is it fair to compare WD2 and WD1 when WD1 also included PC sales?
That's quite the drop.
This could be similar to what the movie industry has been going through this summer. They pushed sequels for movies that either weren't well received by audiences (e.g. TMNT2, Snow White & Huntsman2), looked too similar to previous movies (e.g. Star Trek, X-Men) or just tried to bank on name-recognition/nostalgia (e.g. ID4, Alice)
I think that even the AAA game audience is getting tired of playing the same games every year. And there's so many free alternatives to spend time on that less and less gamers are willing to spend $60 on a game that just looks like "more of the same". I also think that an increasing amount of people are no longer rushing out to the cinema/buying a game day1, but instead waiting for movies like Neighbors 2 to hit Netflix or games like Watchdogs 2 to drop to $20.
This could be similar to what the movie industry has been going through this summer. They pushed sequels for movies that either weren't well received by audiences (e.g. TMNT2, Snow White & Huntsman2), looked too similar to previous movies (e.g. Star Trek, X-Men) or just tried to bank on name-recognition/nostalgia (e.g. ID4, Alice)
I think that even the AAA game audience is getting tired of playing the same games every year. And there's so many free alternatives to spend time on that less and less gamers are willing to spend $60 on a game that just looks like "more of the same". I also think that an increasing amount of people are no longer rushing out to the cinema/buying a game day1, but instead waiting for movies like Neighbors 2 to hit Netflix or games like Watchdogs 2 to drop to $20.
-source
NealMcCauley
Member
Honestly sounds like Ubi is expecting it to take off once it goes on sale. Personally I'm definitely interested in the game but not full price interested.
Not getting such results. Chalk it up to Google search engine filter. I probably never searched such things so it doesn't even pop up. Your search can be different thanks to how Google works. But sure there are going to be some people that inherently always refuse to play or watch or listen to anything including black people.
As gigantor21 said, I believe(assume) these are physical sales and almost no one buys physical on PC to the point that retail copies of PC games just have download codes in them.
icecold1983
Member
marvel movies continue to bank tho. ubi doesnt make good big budget games. their games are highly similar to those lousy movies when it comes to quality
EventHorizon
Member
Watch Dogs 2 will probably sell 'ok'. Ubisoft will just do what Microsoft does. They'll drop the bottom out of the price and then jump up and down about how many units they are selling.
Funny. I don't get "watch dogs 2 white character" as a suggestion when I Google "Watch Dogs 2". I have to type out "watch dogs 2 wh" to get that to come up and even then it is only the 6th suggestion.
You know Google personalizes your results. So what have you been Googling lately
After years on gamefaqs I can promise you those people are definitely out there
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
The first AC game was divisive as hell back then. It's not a good game when you look back on it but it got way better with 2. The only reason people stuck with it was cuz of the story and the promise of an AC game set in modern day. Watch Dogs didn't have that hook so people didn't feel compelled to come back.
Marvel have been making quality movies that fans&critics like and even if many follow the same blueprint, they constantly introduce new characters/worlds to keep things fresh. And they hype their movies up to a point where fans feel like they have to rush out and see it.
I don't think that sequels are a bad thing, but sequels that not enough people were asking for definitely are.
Ubi hyped up WD1 like the next AC, over-promised and under-delivered. They probably wanted to do the Assassins Creed 2 thing again, but they failed to get the message across that this game was different enough and I think that compared to 2007-2009, way less people are willing to give a franchise the benefit of the doubt after being burned by it once.
That has been Ubi's M.O. for about 8 years now. So that is nothing new.
But why? What has changed between last gen and now?
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Good games don't always sell well, and this game is another one in the list. It just seems like all that is selling in the UK is FIFA and B1. I also wouldn't be surprised if racism played a part in it.
Watch_Dogs was an unknown quantity that had a ton of hype and a concept that sounded like it had potential. Plus it was cross-generation, released when there were hardly any games for PS4 and XBone and launched in Q1 or early Q2.
Watch_Dogs 2 has none of these things going on. The advertising push is much smaller and tonally very different. I've not played the game, but the trailers are the most "How do you do, fellow kids?" stuff I've seen in quite some time.
Watch_Dogs 2 has none of these things going on. The advertising push is much smaller and tonally very different. I've not played the game, but the trailers are the most "How do you do, fellow kids?" stuff I've seen in quite some time.
Johnny Cage
Member
Of all my friends that bought watch dogs 1, not one said they were getting 2. First game killed it for people
The amount of alternatives you can spend your time and/or $60 on to be entertained.
edit: Or to put it differently, even normal people have a backlog now when it comes to movies/tv shows/games because of Netflix, FTP games and App Stores.
Fifa I think did even better than EA expected
icecold1983
Member
being better than watch dogs 1 doesnt quality it as good