Horizon Zero Down and Breath of The Wild coming the same week. Will Horizon suffers ?

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That's not really the main issue with his post. It's that he thinks Zelda will sell significantly less than that, which is funny.

Well to be fair people also think the new zelda will be significantly better than skyward sword or twilight princess or ww or mm ... which seems equally humorous.

Not that I expect Horizon to be any good, but at least it has a fresh chance.
 
Although the difference of the installed base is big I think they'll sale equal (mainly because zelda is the only big game for Switch at launch).
 
Really? I'm one.

I'll be shelving/not buying Horizon for about a month, whilst I play Zelda. I don't have the time for both.

So there's at least one of us.

Same here. Also Horizon will have had a price drop by the time I get to it, where as Zelda will stay full price as it'll be one of the few games out (and nintendo).
 
Skyward Sword sold 3.76 million units during its first six months of release.

Mea culpa; typing on a phone. Sales data on Wiki shows 3.4; I meant to type that.

Even if we call it 5m to 105m Wii's, is that the lowest attach rate for the highest install base for a Zelda?
 
As a new IP in need of every light it can gets, Switch & Zelda releasing on March 3 is not a very good news for Horizon, though I guess it should not change dramatically what the game is supposed to do in the first place. Still I would be very happy to see Horizon out one week sooner (02/22) if possible.

It's frustrating when two big games somehow comparable launch so close to each other. I was really really expecting Switch to come late March. Unless Horizon is abnormally short or stupidly bad, my Switch will sleep in its package looking at me until I'm done with Aloy, and that's dumb.

And of course there is no way I finish Zelda before Nier Automata release -.- First world problem and all.
 
According to this site, if it's accurate, only three mainline Zelda title have crossed the 5mil sales mark. So it's not really out of the realm of possibility that BotW could sell around 3-5 million.

Sure, if the game is received poorly. If reviews and user impressions are positive, 5 million is probably its sales floor. Its positioning as a launch title helps its chances significantly in the long-term.
 
Horizon Zero Dawn : wednesday

Breath of the Wild + Switch : Friday

I'm afraid Horizon will struggle... Should Sony change the release date if the game si gold ?

Your fears are unfounded!

If Horizon were on the Wii U or Switch then yep, it would be competing for the action RPG money. But that's not the case, so the game has more than enough breathing room at retail.

The only thing that would make Horizon struggle would be terrible reviews. Based on the previews, it doesn't sound like the game is another The Order, so I think if the final game matches the previews, we might be looking at the next big IP.
 
Both will do fine. I suspect that Horizon will outsell Zelda overtime, especially if shops start to reduce the price. People are reading too much into first day and week sales. That 53m vs 14m number will make a difference in long term, if you consider psn/eshop sales or bargain buckets at shops. Common sense really.
 
Sure, if the game is received poorly. If reviews and user impressions are positive, 5 million is probably its sales floor. It's positioning as a launch title helps its chances significantly in the long-term.
Weren't WW and SS received very well? Neither of those made it past 5mil in their lifetime.
 
I'm not picking up Horizon at launch because I'm picking up a Switch + Zelda, then Mass Effect later in the month and that's already a stupid amount of money to spend on games in a month.

I am super excited for Horizon but the release date being right next to Zelda/Switch is definitely losing my sale at least. I don't think it's that big a stretch to think there will be other people in my position either.
 
Weren't WW and SS received very well? Neither of those made it past 5mil in their lifetime.

Wind Waker, yes. Skyward Sword....kind of. Great reviews, pretty so-so user impressions. It was also released on a dying platform, where many of its core users had lost interest. Not only that, it required an accessory to play, which stunted its overall sales potential.

BotW is embracing industry trends much more openly than any previous Zelda, which really helps its chances of success.
 
OP has a point in that it's not necessarily about install bases but more about how much coverage Horizon will get from media and streamers. If it's a good game then it'll be fine.
 
Wind Waker, yes. Skyward Sword....kind of. Great reviews, pretty so-so user impressions. It was also released on a dying platform, where many of its core users had lost interest.

BotW is embracing industry trends much more openly than any previous Zelda, which really helps its chances of success.
WW launched the year after the GC's launch. I'll give you SS, though.

Well with the launch lineup of Switch, BoTW will be a no brainer for day 1 adopters. I'm it would reach those numbers this year alone.
How much Switch will help BotW's sales numbers depends on how well it sells, which is a completely different conversation altogether.
 
Joke thread?

First of all, Zelda is hardly a sales titan.

Secondly, it's releasing on a hybrid that nobody owns and a console that next to nobody owns.

Thirdly, they're completely different audiences.

Horizon is going to sell 5-7 million which is a lot more than Zelda will.

That's not to say Zelda won't be a much better game but I'm not splashing out £270 for the privilege to play it.

Hmm I don't know. Other then Naughty Dog and Gran Turismo, how many Sony dirt party games sell over 5+ million?
 
If horizon struggles, it'll be because Horizon ends up being a disappointment, not because of Zeldas release. Not saying it will, but I just don't see Zelda having that much of an influence.
 
Horizon is the one on the 3 year old console with 50+ million installed base.

I'm pretty sure Horizon isn't the one worrying about suffering here.

"Horizon Zero Down" sounds like a new car loan program.
 
Isn't Breath of the Wild in the same situation as Twilight Princess which sold, if I remember right, south of 9m and 75% of sold Wii during the launch period were with TP ?
 
I can only talk about myself, I totally forgot Horizon is even coming out at the same time (here in Europe) and now I'll skip it. I will definitely, 100%, play Horizon. It looks awesome. But after the Zelda trailer and since it's the game I'm buying my Switch with, I don't want to split my time between Zelda and Horizon. Zelda first, Horizon later.

As far as the general public goes I think Horizon should do fine. Let's hope it's a good game first and foremost.
 
WW launched the year after the GC's launch. I'll give you SS, though.

Well, not every Zelda game is a blockbuster. BotW has a much better shot at selling over five million than Wind Waker though. That game's art style automatically turned off a pretty large segment of its potential audience. It's one of the reasons Nintendo used a completely different visual look for Twilight Princess.
 
I'd be more concerned about the idiots populating some gaming sites that won't buy it either because the protagonist isn't male or because "she's ugly".
 
It depends what both games play like, consumers seem more switched on these days so if one of them gets slammed by reviews or even gets middling reviews it will hurt.

I'll be putting all my other consoles on hold for a few weeks while I finish Zelda Switch.

I'll most likely pick Horizon up on sale around Christmas as it looks like the first Sony IP that'll interest me.
 
Deja Vu! Remember how embarrassing the Mario Kart 8 vs Titanfall sales thread turned out? Not that Zelda carries the weight of Mario Kart, but this sort of speculation is bound to make half the people responding in this thread to look really ridiculous in a few months.

http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=826726

Horizon is a new IP competing with allot of AAA game money space - Mass Effect, For honour, Res evil 7. It will stand with how well it competes against these potentially big hitters.

BOTW has no AAA big game competition on Switch at launch at all, it will do fine and have a high attach rate, heck it should be 1:1 as there are no other big games, the issue is how much will Switch sell with 1 attractive game at launch if your not a Zelda fan ?

The 2 games do not overlap the customer bases much at all.
 
God of War 3 is over 5mil and I believe the first two were in the 4mils range
Ahh I forgot about God of War. Still it's kinda weird how Sony software doesn't sell more. I always thought their software sold a lot better since their consoles always sell great.

To answer the OP, I think both will be fine. I think Zelda has more guaranteed sales though. Nintendo is going to at least get 3-4 million in sales.
 
For the most part a totally different user base. I don't really think Zelda will hurt Horizon Zero Dawn at all and visa versa. Also people are allowed to buy two awesome games in one week. I give you guys permission. ;)
 
How Horizon performs won't be from the consequence of Zelda launching the same week, it'll be from the effect of all the big PS4 titles coming out in that same general period that may take the wind out of its sail.
 
I'd be more concerned about how it reviews and is received by the public before I'd worry about a different game affecting it's sales.
 
How much Switch will help BotW's sales numbers depends on how well it sells, which is a completely different conversation altogether.

You do have a point. With Nintendo's current messaging. A lot of people probably put-off their pre-orders. Though console launches tend to sell big. I think I read somewhere Nintendo plans to sell 2m units at launch.
 
switch and zelda on a friday, almost a perfect day for someone to go get one

maybe they should push the game back to the friday before then

True. I feel like the switch will be a fair success for Nintendo. Positioning it as the good 2nd console for gamers who already has a PC or PS4/One for multiplat titles is just smart
 
You do have a point. With Nintendo's current messaging. A lot of people probably put-off their pre-orders. Though console launches tend to sell big. I think I read somewhere Nintendo plans to sell 2m units at launch.

People putting-off their preorders doesn't really matter much when they get swept up by the next people in line for a preorder, that much I can tell you. And mind you that whatever person feels the switch is off message for them will PROBABLY opt for the Wii U version of the game anyways, and for that situation I'd still add that to the total Zelda count.
 
I'll be buying both and I am expecting both with the same level of interest but I will let Horizon rest while I go through Zelda first.

1) I have been waiting for Zelda for much longer than Horizon.

2) I am afraid Horizon's graphics might spoil a bit the visual impression I'd get from Zelda (which has a charming Artistic direction to still keep my eyes satisfied, but the technical blemishes will be obvious).

3) Probably going to jump on the 2017 TV line-up to move to 4K/HDR somewhere in April, which Horizon will benefit from.

4) Well, Zelda is also kind of the only game I really want to test the Switch I pre-ordered...


To answer the original question : I think Horizon will be fine, there won't be that much overlap between the targeted audiences and most of that overlap will probably opt to buy both.
 
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