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[jroc74]

Three exclusives.

And someone said a few years ago MLB The Show was a niche type of game....

2 Wii U exclusives and a baseball game thats PS exclusive crack the top 10...

 

[gigantor21]

See, part of me is thinking this could turn into a repeat of what happened to fighters during the PS2 era. Back then they were pretty niche, and one factor might have been how Capcom basically sat out that gen except for some re-releases.

PS2 era had a lot of fighting games, but awareness of them was nothing like the post-2008 revival. Circa 2005 or 2006 people were actually wondering if fighters were dead outside Japanese arcade. Most were still relying on really old business models, yet the only ones that were actually moving towards the inevitable future (online) were games the FGC ridiculed like Mortal Kombat Deception and Dead or Alive 4.

Now we see Capcom being really cautious about fighting games again, and not looking to the future (F2P) as much as other fighters like KI and DOA are.

I'm probably wrong though. Capcom will probably try to repair SFV sometime around Evo in June.

If that's what ends up happening, Capcom will be in a FAR worse position this time.

Even with the dismal state of fighters back then, Capcom still released several of their best fighting games during that generation--Third Strike, CVS2, Marvel 2, Project Justice, Power Stone and the like. Fast forward to today, and they have outlined NO solid plans for non-SF fighting games--or even any SF crossovers or spinoffs for that matter.

Indeed, for all the talk of how Street Fighter IV revitalized the genre, the costs of HD development + support and patches + eSports events held Capcom to just three big fighters last generation. Of those, only Street Fighter IV got consistent support; losing the Marvel license crippled Marvel's support and SFxT was a disaster in terms of both sales and PR.

This gen, Capcom needed to lean heavily on Sony to put out a SFV that is launched with less content than fighting games released over a decade ago. If the sales are truly this bad, I'm really starting to worry about what Capcom will do next.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Dayum @ Pokken and KI3. DAH HOOP GAWD *imagine Dave Lang's mug here mugging*

- “Seventh generation consoles had a steep percentage decline of 78 percent, though those sales now represent only 2 percent of the month’s sales.”

And so it fades. *returns to waiting for Cold Steel 2*

It's all part of the plan, it's a game for the fighting community and no one else.

And the conversation is veered away from people pointing to stone cold reality back to fairy tale land.

 

[Nanashrew]

pokemon isn't close to star wars as a brand in the US. I mean maybe during the 90's craze but now it's not remotely as valuable.

They still are very comparable to Star Wars with merchandising and the brand earns roughly the same to the Star Wars brand.

 

[Spizz]

We know Sony is working with SE on FF7R, and we know they are planning to sell the game in chapters or whatever they are calling it. Awfully similar to SFV.

And I never said GOING, I said MIGHT. There's a chance that SE and Sony will both learn something from this traumatic SFV situation. SE needs to be careful with the way are handling this remake, and Sony needs to cut fatter checks if they want to deliver quality third-party exclusives.

Square could tell fans to go fuck themselves the night before the first part of the FF7 Remake comes out and it'll still sell millions.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

See, part of me is thinking this could turn into a repeat of what happened to fighters during the PS2 era. Back then they were pretty niche, and one factor might have been how Capcom basically sat out that gen except for some re-releases.

PS2 era had a lot of fighting games, but awareness of them was nothing like the post-2008 revival. Circa 2005 or 2006 people were actually wondering if fighters were dead outside Japanese arcade. Most were still relying on really old business models, yet the only ones that were actually moving towards the inevitable future (online) were games the FGC ridiculed like Mortal Kombat Deception and Dead or Alive 4.

Now we see Capcom being really cautious about fighting games again, and not looking to the future (F2P) as much as other fighters like KI and DOA are.

I'm probably wrong though. Capcom will probably try to repair SFV sometime around Evo in June.

I've actually been thinking of this myself, but am wondering how niche they really were. Because at that same time 3D fighters were still doing very well. I remember SCII (I had the GC version, fwiw) doing well, same w/ Tekken 4 and 5, etc. 2D fighters kind of fell off though but that was a trend that started in 5th gen aside from on Saturn maybe. And IIRC the PS2 MK games did quite well sales-wise too.

So maybe it wasn't so much about lack of awareness as it was about the hype from GTA-style games taking over; that tended to drown out a lot of things at the time and everyone definitely tried their best to get in on it.

Your points on the other stuff are valid tho I feel, and even tho MK and DOA did well sales wise the FGC treated them like shit for a long time. DOA kind of messed itself up by skipping arcades w/ DOA3 tho; yeah arcades weren't as big back then but to the FGC that added reputation and validity to the game. It's a trend I guess you can see strongest among the 6th gen fighters actually; most of the console-only ones were neglected by them, but that could've been a reactionary thing to the growing insularity of the scene given the proliferation of other genres, as you mentioned.

And as far as SFV goes, they better do something big. And fast. It doesn't deserve to die at retail but plenty of quality games in the past have suffered the same or worst fates, so it wouldn't surprise me if the game languishes from here on and they pull the plug after these first 6 DLC characters and Story Mode run.

If that's what ends up happening, Capcom will be in a FAR worse position this time.

Even with the dismal state of fighters back then, Capcom still released several of their best fighting games during that generation--Third Strike, CVS2, Marvel 2, Project Justice, Power Stone and the like. Fast forward to today, and they have outlined NO solid plans for non-SF fighting games--or even any SF crossovers or spinoffs for that matter.

Indeed, for all the talk of how Street Fighter IV revitalized the genre, the costs of HD development + support and patches + eSports events held Capcom to just three big fighters last generation. Of those, only Street Fighter IV got consistent support; losing the Marvel license crippled Marvel's support and SFxT was a disaster in terms of both sales and PR.

This gen, Capcom needed to lean heavily on Sony to put out a SFV that is launched with less content than fighting games released over a decade ago. If the sales are truly this bad, I'm really starting to worry about what Capcom will do next.

Like said earlier, they're just gonna pull out of the market. They've also lost a few of their remaining fighting game team members to SNKP (Neo_G recently, for example), so it'll just make things that much tougher for Ono to convince them otherwise.

I'm almost willing to bet Ono's gonna go to SNKP by the end of this year. Just watch. And then we'll know the fate of Capcom's stake in the FG market for good.

 

[joebruin]

Square could tell fans to go fuck themselves the night before the first part of the FF7 Remake comes out and it'll still sell millions.

they kind of did with the PSX, FF7 PS4 PC port reveal lol but months later they already reeled those people back in

 

[Boke1879]

They were 100% behind the game, paying for its development and everything.

You think they didn't take part in the creative process and shit? I'm blaming both Capcom and Sony.


We know Sony is working with SE on FF7R, and we know they are planning to sell the game in chapters or whatever they are calling it. Awfully similar to SFV.

And I never said GOING, I said MIGHT. There's a chance that SE and Sony will both learn something from this traumatic SFV situation. SE needs to be careful with the way are handling this remake, and Sony needs to cut fatter checks if they want to deliver quality third-party exclusives.

NO because it was Capcoms game at the end of the day. Capcom makes fighters. Sony doesn't. At most Sony threw some money and kept in contact with them about release dates. Capcom pretty much decided when to release this game.


Also aside from having a temp exclusivity with FF7R. Sony isn't actively developing the game with SE. I think SE has a list of developers helping though.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

That MS PR spin is pretty impressive. But the KI stuff is genuinely cool. Glad that game is getting a nice lifespan.

You're blaming this on Sony of all people?

Wow.

It's Sammy. Would you really expect anything less?

And the FF7R prediction. Lol.

 

[Maniel]

And so it fades. *returns to waiting for Cold Steel 2*

Lol you and me both

 

[chromatic9]

I'm not convinced SFV would've sold that much more if it had more content. Whole thing seemed low key. Just like the SF fans, Sony may have over estimated the pull this has. It's a slow slow build up and is milked.

Capcom may do a lot wrong but I think they're correct in the timeline they have for SFV. Of course doing something drastically different could change things and get peoples attention, not saying it's impossible before some SF fan quotes saying "if they did this that and F2P 10 million would be playing dude".

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Lol you and me both

I put that Slim in storage after beating it. It's a momentous event!

Square could tell fans to go fuck themselves the night before the first part of the FF7 Remake comes out and it'll still sell millions.

They kinda did that in 2014.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Wake up call?

We're past that. Funeral Hymn is more appropriate.

Well, the silver lining in this is that potential collaborators for a new VS game may be able to enter into an agreement with Capcom from a position of strength and be able to leverage greater control over how a project may proceed. Given SNK's renewed focus on their fighters, like KOF XIV, there may be a great chance for a new SNK vs Capcom. For Capcom looking to dig themselves out of their current situation, it may be that Marvel Studios can come into an agreement with them as the controlling interest in a re-release or new installment of Marvel vs Capcom. Perhaps we'll see a Tekken vs Street Fighter in the form of added characters beyond Akuma to Tekken 7. Better yet, maybe there's a chance Capcom will be more open to new collaborations with Nintendo, Sega, and others, like an MK vs SF or KI vs SF. There's still a good chance Capcom management isn't totally bad at making decisions.

 

[MakanudoO]

GTA V is still there. Quite impressing.

 

[Nanashrew]

PC sales aren't going to show up on an NPD chart though..

Yeah. But 40 million or so userbase on PS4 is still huge. No way of getting lost in the sea of games for what the series is. Bad word of mouth has really killed much of the momentum and having nothing there for the casual fighting game fan to interest them or to stick around for.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I don't know what MLB has done in the past, but I was surprised to see it up there. Glad people are picking it up, it's a hell of a lot of fun this year.

 

[joebruin]

what does that put sfv's worldwide numbers at? assuming they at least cracked 500k? :\

 

[Kayo Police]

I'm gonna be sick as shit if Capcom abandons support for SFV after year one.

I firmly believe Season 2 will never come.

 

[Boke1879]

I'm not convinced SFV would've sold that much more if it had more content. Whole thing seemed low key. Just like the SF fans, Sony may have over estimated the pull this has. It's a slow slow build up and is milked.

Capcom may do a lot wrong but I think they're correct in the timeline they have for SFV. Of course doing something drastically different could change things and get peoples attention, not saying it's impossible before some SF fan quotes saying "if they did this that and F2P 10 million would be playing dude".

I think Sony pretty much wanted SFV to get their hands into the competitive scene. Which is fine. THe game is a huge draw and is fun to watch. That said Capcom and Sony I'm sure want this to start making some money. Get a F2P version out soon and just hedge your bets.

 

[Pinky]

Zeruda!!!

 

[Sydle]

Two Wii U games?! Impressive for a system on its deathbed.

I'm surprised SFV didn't make it, thought it was a given with the discounts and the content updates.

I firmly believe Season 2 will never come.

They're not going to drop it that fast, if at all. Perhaps the whole 5-year plan will be shortened to 3 years or so if the content updates don't help grow the install base.

 

[Jabba]

GTA5, damn man. Holy crap.

 

[Glorified G]

We know Sony is working with SE on FF7R, and we know they are planning to sell the game in chapters or whatever they are calling it. Awfully similar to SFV.

How is that similar? Street Fighter V is not being sold as an episodic multi-content series. It's one release with continuous free updates.

 

[Spizz]

I don't know what MLB has done in the past, but I was surprised to see it up there. Glad people are picking it up, it's a hell of a lot of fun this year.

It's always a solid seller, it came out March 31st last year and was 6th.

http://venturebeat.com/2015/04/16/march-2015-npd-ps4-xbox-one/

 

[PreyingShark]

I have no clue what that is, but I no being in the Pokemon world helped sell pokken.

Pokémon spin-offs frequently bomb in the west, especially these days.

Anyways, I was talking about the game's legs. Sorry if that wasn't clear. SFV's legs seem to have been hurt severely by poor word of mouth. Pokken doesn't seem it will have its legs artificially shortened like that so it will probably pass SFV.

 

[outunderthestars]

I think Sony pretty much wanted SFV to get their hands into the competitive scene. Which is fine. THe game is a huge draw and is fun to watch. That said Capcom and Sony I'm sure want this to start making some money. Get a F2P version out soon and just hedge your bets.

How can it be a huge draw if nobody is buying it.

 

[joebruin]

I think Sony pretty much wanted SFV to get their hands into the competitive scene. Which is fine. THe game is a huge draw and is fun to watch. That said Capcom and Sony I'm sure want this to start making some money. Get a F2P version out soon and just hedge your bets.

just gotta make ken available

How can it be a huge draw if nobody is buying it.

does big twitch numbers at the big tournaments i guess? or people watching daigo stream heh

 

[ethomaz]

what does that put sfv's worldwide numbers at? assuming they at least cracked 500k? :\

Know numbers already put it over 500k... more like over 700k.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Yeah. But 40 million or so userbase on PS4 is still huge. No way of getting lost in the sea of games for what the series is. Bad word of mouth has really killed much of the momentum and having nothing there for the casual fighting game fan to interest them or to stick around for.

I wonder what they can do, if anything, to recover those sales further down the line. I mean, I haven't bought it because I'm a casual waiting for something to make me stick around. I'll get the game at some point. I'm not sure how other people feel though and if it'll just be forgotten.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

what does that put sfv's worldwide numbers at? assuming they at least cracked 500k? :\

SFV official worldwide shipment will be known on May 9th, when Capcom update its IR Data for their financial results.

 

[VeryGooster]

Either people are buying GTA V for their pets or they just hand out a copy when you renew your driver's license

 

[aBarreras]

I wonder what they can do, if anything, to recover those sales further down the line. I mean, I haven't bought it because I'm a casual waiting for something to make me stick around. I'll get the game at some point. I'm not sure how other people feel though and if it'll just be forgotten.

Super Street Fighter V: For Reals This Time Edition

 

[Ivan Amiibo]

Your points on the other stuff are valid tho I feel, and even tho MK and DOA did well sales wise the FGC treated them like shit for a long time. DOA kind of messed itself up by skipping arcades w/ DOA3 tho; yeah arcades weren't as big back then but to the FGC that added reputation and validity to the game. It's a trend I guess you can see strongest among the 6th gen fighters actually; most of the console-only ones were neglected by them, but that could've been a reactionary thing to the growing insularity of the scene given the proliferation of other genres, as you mentioned.

actually it's because DOA3's U.S. version and the MK games were broken and/or not fun to play but that was a creative theory, i must say.

It's really as simple as that. And people's whose tastes don't align with what people play and view the most will always be alleging a capcom conspiracy. Despite SFxT getting immediately thrown in the shitter and MVC3 Vanilla well on its way there before Ultimate came out. and CFE ignored completely and etc. etc.

 

[Balb]

I wonder what they can do, if anything, to recover those sales further down the line. I mean, I haven't bought it because I'm a casual waiting for something to make me stick around. I'll get the game at some point. I'm not sure how other people feel though and if it'll just be forgotten.

Sony would probably have to step in and either bundle it with PS4s or make it an IGC on PS+ once Capcom cleans the game up some more.

 

[Boke1879]

How can it be a huge draw if nobody is buying it.

As far as viewership. I mean Evo will be the real tell, but I assume it'll do similar numbers to SF4 at Evo this year honestly. I mean people watch the tournaments, it's fun to watch. Now they have to harness that and get people interested somehow. I think a F2P version is needed. I think every fighter should have it at this point.

 

[Busaiku]

SFV official worldwide shipment will be known on May 9th, when Capcom update its IR Data for their financial results.

Unless they shipped less than a million.

 

[Nanashrew]

I wonder what they can do, if anything, to recover those sales further down the line. I mean, I haven't bought it because I'm a casual waiting for something to make me stick around. I'll get the game at some point. I'm not sure how other people feel though and if it'll just be forgotten.

I honestly hope they can find someway to turn the ship around. I don't know the answers outside of maybe readjusting their pipeline in some way. I love the franchise and have played almost every Street Fighter game. This one though... I'm still waiting for something to be there =/

 

[Welfare]

Actually surprised CoD is #9. AW was #5 last year. Division knocking some wind out?

 

[BriGuy]

I'm ranked at like 280,000th in SF5 despite being awful and only winning about one match. I'm guessing it sold like 400-500k tops.

 

[jroc74]

Either people are buying GTA V for their pets or they just hand out a copy when you renew your driver's license

I think it might be ppl buying the PS4 and XBO versions that are finally getting a current gen console.

I know I double dipped when I got the PS4. I got the PS3 version when it launched, got the PS4 version in 2014 or 2015. First person mode alone is worth the double dip. I have a cousin that just got an XBO last Christmas. He either got GTA V then or a few months ago.

 

[Elandyll]

But it's shocking really.

PS4 is slaying worldwide and SFV was very anticipated.

Sure, the game lacks content, but the same can be said for Splatoon, Pokken and many other games that came out recently.

Something else went wrong here, and I wonder how this is going to affect some of the third-party PS4 exclusives, especially coming from Capcom.

Sony clearly didn't do their marketing job right, they also paid for the development of the game, and it bombed on critic and user reviews, the same can be said about that SF4 port. They are messing with the image of an iconic franchise here, and from a third-party partner, no less!

I mean, SO5 is coming out later this year, it's going to bomb, and nobody will give a fuck. But SFV? It's not just a regular bomba, it's an important title, and Sony was behind it.

SE and FF7R might be the next victim.

You realize that Sony isn't the publisher right? They co-financed so the game would happen (gaining a high profile lifetime exclusive in tne process), but I'd almost count Sony as a "victim" of Capcom's greed and rushed calendar due to EVO in this, same as gamers who got an incomplete game for a full price.

The dates, content choices and marketing are all on Capcom afaik.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

Unless they shipped less than a million.

Yup, but I think they will baaarely make it

 

[The God]

I firmly believe Season 2 will never come.

:/

The least they could do is support their own product, especially if we aren't going to get any other SF or Capcom fighters anytime soon.

 

[joebruin]

I wonder what they can do, if anything, to recover those sales further down the line. I mean, I haven't bought it because I'm a casual waiting for something to make me stick around. I'll get the game at some point. I'm not sure how other people feel though and if it'll just be forgotten.

interested to hear what would make you pull the trigger. seems less likely that people will buy it at this point for content versus something like a big price reduction

 

[Boke1879]

Sony would probably have to step in and either bundle it with PS4s or make it an IGC on PS+ once Capcom cleans the game up some more.

Hadn't thought of this. PS+ would be a viable solution for this in the short term. Especially in June.

 

[bitbydeath]

we know they are planning to sell the game in chapters.

Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII were also sold in 'chapters'.

Nothing new to the franchise here.

 

[cordy]

They were 100% behind the game, paying for its development and everything.

You think they didn't take part in the creative process and shit? I'm blaming both Capcom and Sony.

Dawg, you need to read some of Ono's interviews about SFV's development lol.

I'm outty 5000 like Lupe.

That MS PR spin is pretty impressive. But the KI stuff is genuinely cool. Glad that game is getting a nice lifespan.

It's Sammy. Would you really expect anything less?

And the FF7R prediction. Lol.

Yeah, I'm done with that lol. I mean we saw what Capcom did with MvC3's release with a lack of content, it's the same thing. It's just how they are these days.

 

[outunderthestars]

As far as viewership. I mean Evo will be the real tell, but I assume it'll do similar numbers to SF4 at Evo this year honestly. I mean people watch the tournaments, it's fun to watch. Now they have to harness that and get people interested somehow. I think a F2P version is needed. I think every fighter should have it at this point.

That makes sense. I think that the market for fighting games seems to be moving in that direction.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Sony would probably have to step in and either bundle it with PS4s or make it an IGC on PS+ once Capcom cleans the game up some more.

PS+ would be interesting. They could add it to the subscription for a couple of months (in addition to the rotating IGC) and really advertise it as the centerpiece of the service for a while.

interested to hear what would make you pull the trigger. seems less likely that people will buy it at this point for content versus something like a big price reduction

I'm not sure what exactly would make me pull the trigger. I've spent a bunch of money on games since SFV came out, so price isn't really the issue for me.

 

[Vena]

Hey on the flip, Nintendo may well just buy MH at the rate Capcom is going.