Africa's Toto
Banned
It seems that a game breaks sales records every other month these days. And I don't mean just free-to-play, early access or multiplayer games.
It just seems that way, as it isn't something that's easily verified.
Still, light research shows:
- GOW 2018 and Spiderman PS4 consecutively broke Sony's sales records in the same year
- GTA V has gone on to become the fastest-selling entertainment product in history(at least it was in 2018), but even its launch day (excluding GTA:O) was insane
- Borderlands 3 is the fastest-selling game recorded in 2K's history. All without the game receiving significant critical acclaim (and launching exclusive to one PC storefront for a significant period of time)
- Resident Evil 7 and Monster Hunter World were each the best-selling games in their respective franchises (with MHW being the best-selling Capcom game ever)
- Valhalla is the best-selling AC
And so on.
I chose pre-pandemic games because the lockdown makes the numbers get even more insane, but it's also a little more obvious where the surge comes from in that case
And of course release window, competing titles at launch, release medium(digital/physical), marketing, ubiquity of multi-platform releases in the modern industry, etc. are factors that vary and ultimately decide a game's sales
Yes, the streamlining of design in the industry and the application of past experience in 'what works, what sells, and how best to sell it' helps a lot
Yes, the fact that the industry is larger than it's ever been in almost every sense probably helps too
Yes, this isn't true for many franchises (best-selling need for speed was released back in 2005 with a lifetime 16 million units, best-selling COD is 2010's black ops with roughly 31 million units sold)
Still, I keep thinking the base sales numbers for games has just shot up, without much changing in the games themselves.
tldr: Seems like games break sales records more frequently than in the past.
What do you think? If you agree, what do you think is the biggest contributor?
It just seems that way, as it isn't something that's easily verified.
Still, light research shows:
- GOW 2018 and Spiderman PS4 consecutively broke Sony's sales records in the same year
- GTA V has gone on to become the fastest-selling entertainment product in history(at least it was in 2018), but even its launch day (excluding GTA:O) was insane
- Borderlands 3 is the fastest-selling game recorded in 2K's history. All without the game receiving significant critical acclaim (and launching exclusive to one PC storefront for a significant period of time)
- Resident Evil 7 and Monster Hunter World were each the best-selling games in their respective franchises (with MHW being the best-selling Capcom game ever)
- Valhalla is the best-selling AC
And so on.
I chose pre-pandemic games because the lockdown makes the numbers get even more insane, but it's also a little more obvious where the surge comes from in that case
And of course release window, competing titles at launch, release medium(digital/physical), marketing, ubiquity of multi-platform releases in the modern industry, etc. are factors that vary and ultimately decide a game's sales
Yes, the streamlining of design in the industry and the application of past experience in 'what works, what sells, and how best to sell it' helps a lot
Yes, the fact that the industry is larger than it's ever been in almost every sense probably helps too
Yes, this isn't true for many franchises (best-selling need for speed was released back in 2005 with a lifetime 16 million units, best-selling COD is 2010's black ops with roughly 31 million units sold)
Still, I keep thinking the base sales numbers for games has just shot up, without much changing in the games themselves.
tldr: Seems like games break sales records more frequently than in the past.
What do you think? If you agree, what do you think is the biggest contributor?