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Media Create Sales: Week 12, 2016 (Mar 21 - Mar 27)

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Three notable franchises targeting three different audiences on the top three dedicated platforms all underperform. Quite the hat-trick.
 

crinale

Member
I hope SE don't decide to make mobile as the main platform for DQM series..
I'm guessing DQM mobile singlehandedly made more profit than all DQM combined to date.
 
SS

ßig

Unconfirmed Member
DS3 already outsold Bloodborne lol (I looked at Famitsu)
 

horuhe

Member
Even though, it's not necessarily the cause, we must remember both Bloodborne and now Dark Souls III had stock problems in some stores. This is from yesterday, I guess during these days there will be continuous shipments.
SfV7Rlm.jpg
 
Wii U back to sleep mode. Pokken had a good drop, PS4 is doing good, Mario Maker surprise increase.

Dark Souls coulda been higher...
 

convo

Member
Even though, it's not necessarily the cause, we must remember both Bloodborne and now Dark Souls III had stock problems in some stores. This is from yesterday, I guess during these days there will be continuous shipments.

Wow a physical X1 Dark Souls 3 copy, they didn't even enter the charts
 

duckroll

Member
Not so great sales in general imo. I think DoAX3 is the only positive debut here in comparison with its franchise.

210k isn't great for DS3. DS2 launched at 261k in 2014.
 

Vandole

Member
Nice to see that Pokken is still moving and probably on pace for breaking half a million worldwide. Gives me hope that there's still a chance for some DLC.
 

convo

Member
Not so great sales in general imo. I think DoAX3 is the only positive debut here in comparison with its franchise.

210k isn't great for DS3. DS2 launched at 261k in 2014.

How many digital imports happened with DS3 on PS4 and X1 combined? That's a lot of double dippers i'd reckon. Still not bad for a PS4 game in Japan but i guess that doesn't matter anymore.
 

duckroll

Member
Lol as if this one week spells doom for the franchise.

It just means it's not growing in Japan anymore.

First week comparisons:

Demon's Souls (2009) - 39,689
Dark Souls (2011) - 279,567
Dark Souls 2 (2014) - 261,147
Bloodborne (2015) - 152,567
Dark Souls 3 (2016) - 210,141

How many digital imports happened with DS3 on PS4 and X1 combined? That's a lot of double dippers i'd reckon. Still not bad for a PS4 game in Japan but i guess that doesn't matter anymore.

Digital imports? Probably less than 1,000. :p
 

Maniel

Banned
Lol as if this one week spells doom for the franchise.
I don't think anyone said that this result "spells doom for the franchise." Pretty much everyone disappointed with this result just thinks it underperformed.

Edit: Double beaten
 

test_account

XP-39C²
How so? Less awareness at launch means, retailers do not need a new shipment as quickly if the initial run is big enough, 60%-80% as shown by Famitsu doesn´t indicate any shortages. And unless you have a new phenomena in your hand, hype and interest will cool down rather quickly, with more and more used copies in circulation as a further negative factor. Keep in mind that this specific promotion you refer to didn´t even start yet. More than weekly sales, the problem lies that it might affect retail orders.
Isnt the arguement about less advertisement that less people are aware of the game, and this is the result of lower sales? If people first gets aware of the game a week or two after the launch rather than a week or two before, i dont see why they would be less interested in the game just because it has launched. Stores having the game in stock is then good, otherwise people have to tend to used copies instead (or digital). Used games this early could be a problem, but i think this is mostly an issue if the game has bad WoM.

I think that this promotion started two days ago. 4Gamer lists it as a promotion going from 28. March to 10. April, unless i'm mistaken.

EDIT: Fixed a typo.
 

Instro

Member
Not an particularly significant difference between DS2 and DS3 considering the PS4 has a fraction of the userbase that the PS3 did back in 2014. Probably a bit of fatigue given that the system already has Bloodborne too.
 

convo

Member
It just means it's not growing in Japan anymore.

First week comparisons:

Demon's Souls (2009) - 39,689
Dark Souls (2011) - 279,567
Dark Souls 2 (2014) - 261,147
Bloodborne (2015) - 152,567
Dark Souls 3 (2016) - 210,141



Digital imports? Probably less than 1,000. :p

I won't be expecting much growth for DS, besides the dlc FROM will probably be making different not-souls things.And i expect that won't be competing much with the constant popularity of handheld games either. People seemed to expect nothing at all 2-3 years ago for this market in the home console space.
FFXV is one big game for PS4 but i honestly expect this to be more succesful overseas, the marketing sure as hell is western focused.
 

Takao

Banned
[PSV] Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness # <ADV> (5pb.) {2016.03.24} (¥7.800) - 4.479 / NEW
[PS4] Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness # <ADV> (5pb.) {2016.03.24} (¥7.800) - <3.448
[XB1] Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness # <ADV> (5pb.) {2015.05.28} (¥8.424) - 3.116 / NEW

The XB1 version might have outsold the PS4 one lol. First (and likely only) time in history.

Star Ocean V is releasing tomorrow, so if anything, the week after the next will be interesting.

Star Ocean V's going to need to sell itself before it can sell some PS4s.
 
tf2qviX.jpg


0 digital sales.

Dark Souls II didn't get a digital release until some months later.

Edit: 309.854 physical number was the LTD sales as of March 30 (3 weeks of tracking).

Now this needs to be quoted, it means the drop is actually less important than it looks.

Very happy about that 210K+ launch, you don't see this everyday on PS4 and the IP remained strong year after year. Wouldn't be surprised if Dark Souls III > Dark Souls II in the West. We also know From is wise enough to stop milking Dark Souls from there to try something new.
 

Kandinsky

Member
tf2qviX.jpg


0 digital sales.

Dark Souls II didn't get a digital release until some months later.

Edit: 309.854 physical number was the LTD sales as of March 30 (3 weeks of tracking).

And what was that?

Digital has only been increasing in significance over the years so I think DS3's digital should close the gap either way.

Edit - It seems digital is a nonfactor for DS2 according to Bruno. :p

Nvm then lol
 
Mildly surprised with Mario and Sonic there. Looking back, its actually held relatively well, hovering above 10k. Is that normal with these titles?
 

Darius

Banned
Isnt the arguement about less advertisement that less people are aware of the game, and this is the result of lower sales? If people first gets aware of the game a week or two after the launch rather than a week or two before, i dont see why they would be less interested in the game just because it has launched. Stores having the game in stock is then good, otherwise people have to tend to used copies instead (or digital). Used games this early could be a problem, but i think this is mostly an issue if the game has bad WoM.

I think that this promotion started two days ago. 4Gamer lists it as a promotion going from 28. March to 10. April, unless i'm mistaken.

EDIT: Fixed a typo.

My point is that it will affect lifetime sales for already mentioned reasons, just check the last few posts. Maybe we should tell SQEX that they are just wasting their money, when it comes to all the FF15s pre launch events and marketing, if it really is such a minor issue for a potential mainstream title, like you are constantly implying.
 

Fisico

Member
New releases increasing on their second week. This is a long shot, but I think these may have legs guys.

Budget rereleases are the very definition of legs.

Mildly surprised with Mario and Sonic there. Looking back, its actually held relatively well, hovering above 10k. Is that normal with these titles?

Yes

Mario & Sonic 2012 3DS
02./00. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 43.155 / NEW
06./02. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 23.587 / 66.741 (-45%)
10./06. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 16.183 / 82.924 (-31%)
12./10. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 16.731 / 99.656 (+3%)
12./12. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 12.947 / 112.603 (-23%)
10./12. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 10.364 / 122.967 (-20%)

Mario & Sonic 2016 3DS
05./00. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) - 41.736 / NEW
06./05. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) - 22.032 / 63.768 (-47%)
05./06. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) - 18.391 / 82.160 (-17%)
08./05. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) - 14.713 / 101.781 <80-100%> (-16%)
04./08. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) - 13.930 / 115.711 <80-100%> (-5%)
10./12. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2016.02.18} (¥4.700) - 11.732 / 127.443 <80-100%> (-16%)
 

test_account

XP-39C²
My point is that it will affect lifetime sales for already mentioned reasons, just check the last few posts. Maybe we should tell SQEX that they are just wasting their money, when it comes to all the FF15s pre launch events and marketing, if it really is such a minor issue for a potential mainstream title, like you are constantly implying.
I didnt say or imply that. If i implied anything, in my very first post (where i quoted Hiska-kun, before you replied to me), i said "unless it has bad WoM", implying that this could lead to many used copies, and this wouldnt be good for future sales, and that is also one of your arguments unless i'm mistaken. I pointed out several of times that i was talking about this specific DQJ3 promotion, and i dont think it would made any big difference if they ran this a week before the launch of the game or one week after the launch, unless WoM is bad. Thats all. Do you think it would made any difference?

If Square Enix does the same thing with FF15, delay one specific advertisement campaign like this a week after the launch, i think the same thing applies there. Cant really see such a thing having a tremendous effect on sales. It would rather be the lack of advertisement in total that would be a bigger reason for that (generally speaking, not just about FF15), not just that one smaller ad campagin being shown a week before or after the game launch. I also mentioned that perhaps Hiska-kun were thinking about the total amount of advertisement, and this would be an issue of its own (as in being too little advertisement and how that would effect sales).

Just a few posts ago, i said that having more advertisment before launch is a good thing, so i'm not sure what you're getting at when you say that all FF15s pre launch events and marketing is a waste of money. What made you think that i implied anything like that? It would kinda be a miracle if a week or two long advertisement campaign running shortly after launch would make up for months of pre-launch advertisment and hype, so i've never implied or said anything else.
 

Darius

Banned
I didnt say or imply that. I pointed out several of times that i'm talking about this specific DQJ3 promotion, and i dont think it would made any big difference if they ran this a week before the launch of the game or one week after the launch, unless WoM is bad. Thats all. If Square Enix does the same thing with FF15, delay one specific advertisement campaign like this a week after the launch, i think the same thing applies there. I also mentioned that perhaps Hiska-kun were thinking about the total amount of advertisement, and this would be an issue of its own (as in being too little advertisement and how that would effect sales).

I also said that its better to have more advertisement before the launch of a game to get more people aware of it, so i'm not sure what you're getting at when you say that all FF15s pre launch events and marketing is a waste of money. I've never said or implied anything like that.

I think it´s clear that most refer to the overall marketing campaign, with the focus on the most important part in this case, namely pre-launch marketing, while you made it clear that you just focus on a specific post launch promotion, for whatever reason. That´s also why it was pointed out that DQMJ3 already launched, when the supposed new promotion was mentioned.
What gets criticised is that post launch marketing is only effective when it´s just a continuation of a good marketing campaign that generated enough pre-launch interest, or when it really is set up to continue for a rather long post-launch period, the latter is really unlikely in this case. It seems more like a band-aid move after a very lackluster pre-launch marketing campaign that lead to quite less pre-orders, to be quite honest.

It performed well under it´s potential (pre-orders leading up to its launch) and that´s likely also one of the reasons why they even bother with post-launch marketing. Since momentum is important, especially for games that are relatively front-loaded, I don´t agree with you.

This picture is very emblematic of the whole situation.

VsfuwxT.jpg


The marketing started so late, even after DQH2, that resulted to this funny picture, where they put the DQMJ3 boards in front of "older" marketing materials of yet to be launched games in the Playstation section, at least that´s what I get from the DQH2 and SO5 material in the picture. It really seems badly thought out and "cheap".
 

Sakura

Member
Pretty good sales for DOAX3, more than I was expecting. I'm sure they will make a lot off the DLC and free to play version.
 
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 [DS] - 682,014
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 [3DS] - 375.612

it's just the post launch marketing fault
 

test_account

XP-39C²
I think it´s clear that most refer to the overall marketing campaign, with the focus on the most important part in this case, namely pre-launch marketing, while you made it clear that you just focus on a specific post launch promotion, for whatever reason. That´s also why it was pointed out that DQMJ3 already launched, when the supposed new promotion was mentioned.
What gets criticised is that post launch marketing is only effective when it´s just a continuation of a good marketing campaign that generated enough pre-launch interest, or when it really is set up to continue for a rather long post-launch period, the latter is really unlikely in this case. It seems more like a band-aid move after a very lackluster pre-launch marketing campaign that lead to quite less pre-orders, to be quite honest
Yeah, with the information that i've gathered from this thread, i agree that it looks like DQJ3 didnt get that much of advertisement. And i dont disagree with the other things either.

"For whatever reason" is that i just wanted to make a comment on the launch of that specific ad campaign that was mentioned, nothing more. I dont see any problems commenting on specfic things like that. This doesnt mean that the bigger picture is ignored or disagreed to.

Now you say that it was clear that i was only talking about that specific ad campaign, and that made me curious. If i made myself clear, and you understood it fine, why are you saying that i'm implying anything else then, such as pre launch advertisement is a waste of money? I'd honestly would like an answer to that.


It performed well under it´s potential (pre-orders leading up to its launch) and that´s likely also one of the reasons why they even bother with post-launch marketing. Since momentum is important, especially for games that are relatively front-loaded, I don´t agree with you.
What are you disagreeing to? That the game would have sold noticeably better if this specific ad campaign would have been done one week before the launch of the game instead? If so, thats fine :)
 

hiska-kun

Member
well bloodborne did about 45k digitally in a month so it is possible but probably not 90k lol. maybe 55-60k for the month

actually i am not sure how people from overseas buying it digitally in japan store to play early affects it

Dark Souls 3 on Xbone might chart pretty high on Famitsu, thanks to people Westside who downloaded the Japanese version lol

Any chance to get some number from digital sales of Dark Souls 3? Should be a pretty high (for XBox) number thanks to all of you impatient guys getting it from the japanese store in order to play it. ;)

Famitsu's digital estimates come from surveys to japanese people (or non-japanese people living in Japan), they extrapolate the results to get the final numbers.
Overseas sales won't be reflected in those estimates.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
Flat numbers for DS3, even if digital sales were to be a very optimistic guesstimate of about 20% of fw.
We had 3 Souls game on PS4 with 2 of those being very high profile releases and there hasn't been any growth, I think it's fair to say Souls audience in Japan isn't going to drastically increase ever at this point, regardless of install base. I think From missed the boat with DS2, didn't handle that release very well imo. I think the same will happen in the West, with numbers close to (but maybe even not quite up there) DS2.
I expected a bit more for Joker but legs will be crucial, maybe SE really didn't market it enough besides those ads in selected subway stations.

Pokken's second week is pretty great.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 [DS] - 682,014
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 [3DS] - 375.612

it's just the post launch marketing fault

I think there's a pretty clear huge loss of interest.

Whether it be the game itself, the mobile game's astronomical success, or the competitive state of the genre on dedicated devices (Yokai Watch/Pokemon), there looks to be far more fundamental issues than just a weaker promotional push.

I'd say the same about Project Diva. Dark Souls strikes me as likely being driven by fatigue or people who previously picked up the game not liking it, but it's holding more stable than the other two.
 

Darius

Banned
Yeah, with the information that i've gathered from this thread, i agree that it looks like DQJ3 didnt get that much of advertisement. And i dont disagree with the other things either.

"For whatever reason" is that i just wanted to make a comment on the launch of that specific ad campaign that was mentioned, nothing more. I dont see any problems commenting on specfic things like that. This doesnt mean that the bigger picture is ignored or disagreed to.

Now you say that it was clear that i was only talking about that specific ad campaign, and that made me curious. If i made myself clear, and you understood it fine, why are you saying that i'm implying anything else then, such as pre launch advertisement is a waste of money? I'd honestly would like an answer to that.



What are you disagreeing to? That the game would have sold noticeably better if this specific ad campaign would have been done one week before the launch of the game instead? If so, thats fine :)

At this point I would have to repeat myself, but long story short, I disagree with the following.

test_account said:
dont think it matters that much if this promotion in specific was done two weeks before the release date, or two weeks after.

Since I have made my point clear, I won´t continue this topic today.
 

Darius

Banned
I think there's a pretty clear huge loss of interest.

Whether it be the game itself, the mobile game's astronomical success, or the competitive state of the genre on dedicated devices (Yokai Watch/Pokemon), there looks to be far more fundamental issues than just a weaker promotional push.

I'd say the same about Project Diva. Dark Souls strikes me as likely being driven by fatigue or people who previously picked up the game not liking it, but it's holding more stable than the other two.

Wouldn´t similar games and IPs be affected the same way? We´ll see how YW3 and Pkmn M/S will perform this year.
 
Three notable franchises targeting three different audiences on the top three dedicated platforms all underperform. Quite the hat-trick.

You think some of the bigger publishers like square and namco are going to market thier games more aggressively in the west?
 
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