slavesnyder
Member
I thought it's the opposite, that many prefer watching let's plays and twitches and actually don't buy and play the game any more.
It's nearly like piracy.
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NPD Sales Results for August 2015 [PS4 #1 HW/SW, 7M Amiibos LTD, 600K LTD Splatoon]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
It's nearly like piracy.
It's a bit of both of course, but there is plenty of quantifiable evidence which shows that game sales are affected by Youtubers.
Halo is at 65 million, so yeah, makes sense.
Nintendo is incredible at selling their own games, but Wii U doesn't help at all.
Also Assassins Creed series is now over 88 million!
Didn't realise that myself till I just checked.
slavesnyder
Member
It also depends on genre.
Who would buy and play a PnC adventure after watching the let'splay for example?
Action-heavy titles and sports should work better.
The creator of To The Moon says that his sales went up drastically after Youtubers like PewDiePie and Cry did playthroughs of the game.
And To The Moon is almost nothing but story.
¯\_(ツ
_/¯The creator of To The Moon says that his sales went up drastically after Youtubers like PewDiePie and Cry played the game.
¯\_(ツ
Also-
Also-
Oh shit.
I bought HuniePot after seeing it on Youtube. I don't remember who was playing it, though.
slavesnyder
Member
That's why I like these NPD threads.The creator of To The Moon says that his sales went up drastically after Youtubers like PewDiePie and Cry did playthroughs of the game.
And To The Moon is almost nothing but story.
¯_(ツ
Thanks for this info.
It released 27th of April 2015 for PS3 & 360.
DC1
Member
Assassins Creed peels off 2.5 games annually. They'll sell 4 billion units by 2020.
Is this the first time it charted in the top ten since its release? Looking back I only see Advanced Warfare.
I wonder if the combo pack had a sale last month.
Or I'm guessing the thirst for CoD is starting to get real, people are gearing up for the next game.
Sum-Mischief
Member
Sony has to be excited.PS4 still running it course without price cut. Now with a less expensive model a price drop has a chance next year.
Sony strategy , marketing, and development has been smooth with very little hiccups.
Sony strategy , marketing, and development has been smooth with very little hiccups.
The Artisan
Member
at the same time though, while halo is still a juggernaut, you don't feel like perhaps it may've lost some momentum, enough for uncharted to catch up and be a match for it?
hm, wii u doesn't look that bad on this.Our next-gen war thus far
I'll be honest, I was so sceptical of this game because I just haven't been a fan of similar games from before (like Heavy Rain) but this one was totally awesome.
No one died on my first playthrough
Have you played Life Is Strange?
If not, go buy it now.
So, for 2015 as it is, Sony has won 7 months, and Microsoft has won 1 month. My predictions for the rest of the year.
September: Destiny TTK / MGSV hype: Sony
October: If PGW price cut occurs: Sony.
November: Insane Star Wars hype / Call of Duty/ Assassin's Creed: Sony
December: Even bigger Star Wars insanity & Xmas rush / mainstream snowball effect: Sony
I can't foresee how Microsoft wins any month going forward, even October with Halo. The wow factor of crazy price cuts has waned and the effect lessened considering every month they seem to be offering baffling deals for Xbox.
I just cannot see a $299 price point being introduced this holiday for Xbox, and I predict the price will stay at $349. Halo will be a juggernaut software wise (less than previous entries though), but following Halo MCC, is there really anyone interested in Halo that hasn't picked up an Xbox One yet?
If PGW price cut doesn't occur, October will be a toss up.
But the Winter months are definitely Sony's to lose.
And 2016 looks to be a bloodbath worldwide, and a slaughter in North America.
September: Destiny TTK / MGSV hype: Sony
October: If PGW price cut occurs: Sony.
November: Insane Star Wars hype / Call of Duty/ Assassin's Creed: Sony
December: Even bigger Star Wars insanity & Xmas rush / mainstream snowball effect: Sony
I can't foresee how Microsoft wins any month going forward, even October with Halo. The wow factor of crazy price cuts has waned and the effect lessened considering every month they seem to be offering baffling deals for Xbox.
I just cannot see a $299 price point being introduced this holiday for Xbox, and I predict the price will stay at $349. Halo will be a juggernaut software wise (less than previous entries though), but following Halo MCC, is there really anyone interested in Halo that hasn't picked up an Xbox One yet?
If PGW price cut doesn't occur, October will be a toss up.
But the Winter months are definitely Sony's to lose.
And 2016 looks to be a bloodbath worldwide, and a slaughter in North America.
DC1
Member
I think there's a pretty good chance Xbox edges out Playstation in October and November. Never underestimate the marketing juggernaut that is Halo.
October is a toss up.
November, no, not with Star Wars and Call of Duty.
Xbox may come close though, but I can't see it even if PS4 stayed on course at the current price point, not to mind a price cut.
The only thing I would change about that prediction that could give Microsoft at least November/Black Friday is not lowering the price but bundling a ton of games at retail with each purchase of a console. Say two digital downloads in every box and at least 2 or 3 games free depending on the store with said purchase.
The bang for the buck factor could sway many shoppers during major holiday sales.
hodayathink
Member
Given the numbers on their most recent entries, Halo could fall by 50%, and Uncharted could increase by 100%, and it still might not be enough (and if it was enough, it'd be very close)
If you're talking about US sales..... no.... not at all.
Welfare
Member
In the US, lol no.
Even with the PS4 doing well in the US, why do some think that's enough for UC4 to be that much more successful, or even that it'll do so much more than UC3 in the first place?
Is Uncharted really a franchise that'll just keep going up and up? Not even Halo did that, its launch numbers have stayed at around the same level and LTD could be dropping from entry to entry. (I don't know if Halo 4 is over Reach in the US)
EdReedFan20
Member
I agree. And I think it'll be party due to Unity's missteps and bad press. I think what will happen will be like Call of Duty: Ghosts to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. COD:AW was received much better than Ghosts, but since Ghosts got such as lukewarm response, I think it partly led to the declining sales (franchise fatigue is to blame too, of course). However, I think BLOPS III will do better than AW. If AC:S is well received, I bet next year's game will get a sales bump.
After September things wont be as predictable.
The 3 PS4 hardware bundles are going to be big I think.
I imagine by Black Friday were gonna see:
• Star Wars Battlefront Basic Bundle (limited Vader will be sold out)
• Call of Duty Basic Bundle (not yet announced, but it's gonna happen, it'll also get a limited like SW)
• PlayStation Neutral Bundle(GoW 3/TLOS/maybe Uncharted Tril?)
AND/OR
• Assassin's Creed Syndication Bundle (maybe with Unity thrown in. Fuck it, throw in Black Flag as well)
Suppose to come out of preview this November and be compatible with about 100 games to start iirc.
That wont help at that much.
November,
pixelation
Member
When will the standalone white PS4 be released in the U.S?, i'm dying here...
Probably next year. I'd just import one tbh.
I now use YT in place of game demos when there are no demos available. My son tho....has watched all of Until Dawn. Its maddening because I dont want to know anything about the game. I have to remind my son I dont wanna know about games I havent played yet. My kids are part of the Let's Play generation. I can only see myself doing it for games I've already played, finished.
pixelation
Member
Dang it!
Boombloxer
Member
Neither was I. They did a good job of both red herrings and atmosphere until, well, you know. Really well done.
Dude, I can't help but feel you have a 99.99% chance of winning the bet. I mean, the holiday season will no doubt be huge for the PS4. I myself am predicting 35 million sold through by the end of 2015. If Cosmic raised his bet to 32 million, then he has a much better chance of winning.
Obliterator
Member
To be fair MS has at least 1 major unannounced hardware bundle hitting this year
But yeah this holiday seems to be Sony's to lose
neogaffer1
Banned
hate that gif--the scene it's taken from he's actually saying "fantastic", and you can even see the gif itself is him just saying "-tastic", not "nice"
Destiny and Batman were made in past years when MS had CoD and other deals, and even then Batman and MK both are due to the WB/Sony friendship, and Disney Infinity/Battlefront are similarly due to the Sony/Disney friendship. AC has had a history on PS, so it having Sony co-marketing isn't out of the ordinary. Also, while they may have moneyhatted SFV (which I doubt is nearly as expensive as ROTTR is due to the increased press TR got due to the moneyhat), IIRC we still don't know the deal with FFVII, if it's exclusive to PS or what. To take all of that as evidence that they have less money is a bit of a reach, IMHO.
It was cosmic's idea haha. <30m was the number cosmic said.
I know, and that is ridiculously low. It's almost as if he made the bet to lose.
Square2015
Member
Please tell me we did get the top selling SKU this month...
Nope.
serversurfer
Member
Fixed.
To prevent this from happening again
The pie chart above is Ubi's revenues from last quarter, but it also represents how much money Sony are making. They'd like to turn that 69% in to 74% or even 79%. Maybe the console market is shrinking, but there's still money to be made, and they'd like to make as much of it as they can.
Not even a rumor?
Saying they aren't going to sell hardware at a loss doesn't mean they intend to continue selling it at a profit. They don't want to leave money on the table, but suggesting they're not concerned with growing their installed base is kinda silly. That's where the bulk of their profitability is going to come from selling software and services to their users so the more users they have, the better off they are. Saying they'll no longer jog over broken glass to grow their business doesn't imply they're no longer interested in maximizing its growth.
That's what I'm saying. The PlayStation business is pretty healthy right now. Extra cash today is nice, but more cash later is better. I don't think they run much risk of running the business in to the ground if they cut $100 this holiday, and it could pay big dividends for them over the remainder of the generation. In the span of two months last year, they lost 600k of the lead they'd built in the US. I'm sure they'd rather see that be a +600k this holiday, and then continue building their lead from there.
Also, regarding money being left on the table, it may not be as much as you think. They argument is that if someone is willing to give you $400, you shouldn't offer it for $300 instead, but I'd argue that if someone was already planning to give you $400 this holiday and you drop the price to $300, that buyer will probably now just pick up an extra controller and/or game instead of simply spending less*. But, you've opened the door to a new group of buyers who were simply unwilling to spend $400, especially on a present for somebody else, no matter how nice it was.
*I'd argue we've actually been seeing the opposite effect in recent years in the form of "declining software sales." In fact, overall spending isn't really down, but people are spending money on the new hardware, leaving them little to spend on the software. But as hardware prices drop and more users have bought in, I think we'll see that spending shift back to software.
Mobile games included?
To prevent this from happening again
Not even a rumor?
That's what I'm saying. The PlayStation business is pretty healthy right now. Extra cash today is nice, but more cash later is better. I don't think they run much risk of running the business in to the ground if they cut $100 this holiday
Is not going to happen, wanna do an avatar bet?
They secured advertisement and bundles of the 2 more popular/big games this holiday that Gaf usually hates/ignore/underestimate but the rest of the world loves. Well, with those deals, Sony needs to sell X amount of those games, that would be impossible by offering a cheaper standalone ps4.
Thats all, if you want a PS4 buy it full price, or wait until E3 next year.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Guys I've said this before, and I'll say it once more: it is not as black and white as you want it to be. If I am spending $80MM on Adventure Game that I need to put out in fiscal year 2017, and I pitch the game to MS and Sony (because everyone has to... No one owns the platform), and they both love the game, that's great.
Weeks go by, my pre orders are strong and the press love Adventure Game.
I start to get phone calls from MS and Sony to discuss my launch plans.
Sony wants to support me as a preferred title because my early metrics are strong, but it's all with owned channel media only because they too are launching an Adventure Game this year with the same targets and need to spend their cash on that. They see more revenue that way. MS also calls me because my metrics are strong too, but are only launching FPS this year and their targets are slightly different therefor they want my audience and are willing to offer me $6mm in media match because they have the cash and want more market share with that target, in exchange for a tag at the end of my spot and some times exclusive for the messaging....WHY WOULD I CARE MS IS 5MM UNITS BEHIND PLAYSTATION?
That $6mm doubles my reach and awareness, which in turn raises my sales regardless of the platform people buy it on. You can't buy what you don't know. Maybe if you're at 98% awareness you wouldn't care, but that's such a rare exception... Wouldn't you always take the best deal? if anything, platform sales are mostly a factor in what 1st party is willing to offer because they can afford more, as opposed to someone simply choosing one over the other to go with because "feelings"
Weeks go by, my pre orders are strong and the press love Adventure Game.
I start to get phone calls from MS and Sony to discuss my launch plans.
Sony wants to support me as a preferred title because my early metrics are strong, but it's all with owned channel media only because they too are launching an Adventure Game this year with the same targets and need to spend their cash on that. They see more revenue that way. MS also calls me because my metrics are strong too, but are only launching FPS this year and their targets are slightly different therefor they want my audience and are willing to offer me $6mm in media match because they have the cash and want more market share with that target, in exchange for a tag at the end of my spot and some times exclusive for the messaging....WHY WOULD I CARE MS IS 5MM UNITS BEHIND PLAYSTATION?
That $6mm doubles my reach and awareness, which in turn raises my sales regardless of the platform people buy it on. You can't buy what you don't know. Maybe if you're at 98% awareness you wouldn't care, but that's such a rare exception... Wouldn't you always take the best deal? if anything, platform sales are mostly a factor in what 1st party is willing to offer because they can afford more, as opposed to someone simply choosing one over the other to go with because "feelings"
The Artisan
Member
well, I have to admit this is quite disappointing.
i'm not saying uncharted is that franchise but Uc4 is in a position of being a game in playstation's current biggest franchise. if history is the only thing to go by to predict sales then gt6 should've been a shocker to everyone. and again, besides gt, has any first party game ever sold over 10 million copies?
hodayathink
Member
I don't think Sony cares that much about Microsoft shrinking their lead as long as they hit their targets in terms of unit sales of their console (which, judging by the fact that they only barely missed their FY prediction on consoles sold last year even though the PS3 dropped faster than nearly everyone expected, I think they did). The whole reason I believed they would drop the price this year is because they predicted greater sales than last year but lower revenue. Now that I think about it more though, I think that showed they were prepared to drop the price, but not that they had to. If they legit think they can hit their sales goal even without dropping the price, then I don't see them doing so no matter how well Microsoft sells this holiday season. Not to mention how well meeting their sales goal while actually taking in more revenue than they thought would look to investors. I still think they're going to drop the price before Morpheus comes out, but it's looking more like that price drop is going to be somewhere between March to May of next year instead of October or November of this year.
Also, if what you were saying was true about hardware and software, then we'd see a consistent percentage increase in hardware sales to go along with the decrease in software sales. But we aren't.