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NPD Sales Results for May 2015

With the lower install base that means that number of software titles being released will continue declining, I do see AAA games selling more on average though to keep the big players in business but overall I see hardware and software revenue decreasing.

Speaking of... gamesindustry.biz published this thing from EEDAR on the type of games being released on the Consoles. Is interesting, no?

143394702243.png


Edit: Keeeripes that's a big image.
 

ZhugeEX

Banned
Speaking of... gamesindustry.biz published this thing from EEDAR on the type of games being released on the Consoles. Is interesting, no?

143394702243.png


Edit: Keeeripes that's a big image.

Well it's a cheaper way with less risk involved. Plus the majority are cross developed for PC as well.

They are more than likely smaller titles though, and so sales won't be sky high for all the games, likely enough to create profit for the publisher though.

Also that article says that traditional publishers have declined (who sell at retail) whilst digital has increased. I don't think that the digital publishers will make up the loss of sales from the declining retail sales.
 

aaronwt

Member
It's depressing that these numbers keep getting bigger and the number of boxed retail games in general is getting smaller.



Being smaller than last year when last year was a recovery from a 13-year low is not at all encouraging.

But more and more people are buying digital aren't they? I know none of the games I have purchased for my PS4 or Xbox Ones have been counted by NPD. I only purchase digital versions this gen.
 
it is going to result in things that are decidedly unpopular with the "core user" population.

I look forward to the traditional Console type games companies these dissatisfied individuals will invest their money and energies in to create and see what market feasible goods and services they can provide.
 
I think it was to be expected (well, I did anyways). It's in a genre, which I'm sure, enjoys a bigger base on the Playstation side of things.

WRPGs were bigger on Xbox last gen, and Witcher 2 was of course 360 console exclusive. It's simply a matter of the userbase being bigger.
 

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
Yes. They are buying ungodly amounts of DLC, Digital and Consumables. Many on GAF take it as a point of pride that they wait for GOTY editions or never buy DLC. They are the miniscule minority of the enthusiast customer base.



Lot of layers in this question.

Does the industry even want to survive with Consoles as they are in their current state? Don't think the answer to that is definitively yes.

Secondly, what industry is left to survive? ATVI, EA, WB, Take 2, Ubi. The first parties. Basically, that's it, right? Everyone else is gone or leaving (Deep Silver and Nordic could get bigger). But each has ambitions in Mobile, PC F2P and other expansions of opportunity.

Console development as we know it today is very high risk, high commitment of capital, with no guarantee of return, and you don't even know what product you really have until the day it launches.

The LAST business a smart person would open now is a AAA type development studio. Throw a big bonfire and burn the money for warmth instead. Higher chance of a positive outcome.

My take is that those left are trying to figure out what's next. Is it VR, is it F2P in China, is it Mobile, is it Set top streaming, is it PC in the living room? What it isn't in the long-term for the mass market, however, is a dedicated gaming box which sits under the TV.

That enthusiast market will remain profitable for some company or two for a few decades more potentially. But the idea that in 30 years a dedicated gaming device will even be technologically required to play videogames is a bit ludicrous.

What do you think?
My fear with almost all of those alternatives is that they're all equally risky imo (VR is just a complete unknown for example). F2P/Mobile, while easily the most lucrative at the moment, still relies on almost an even harder job than AAA. You essentially have to make a good enough game to have people putting TONS of hours, and then wanting to pay into the system to get X via microtransactions. Either that, or you need them to play enough to get money purely off of ads by essentially providing a service for "free" via events, etc. If you succeed, you make TONS of money, but there's no guarantee on how long that will last.

Both F2P/Mobile are still super unpredictable at the moment, and I honestly think that unlike the couple of expensive safe bets in the AAA industry, there are seriously 0 safe bets in mobile, but the opportunity cost (at least initially) is lower. If I'm not mistaken, the path F2P & Mobile take is by making small amounts of money over lots and lots of people. The number of games people are playing that can be in the field at once must by definition be smaller, as only so many players can enter the space if at all, even if there are a lot of people playing on mobile. In addition, it's essentially reduced the value of games to essentially free in the minds of most consumers. I think the AAA industry has a ton of problems too, but I think there really needs to be SOME middle ground that emerges either from AAA, mobile, PC or some new thing where F2P and a range of pricing schemes ($/month, lower up-front costs, etc.) can coexist.
 
WRPGs were bigger on Xbox last gen, and Witcher 2 was of course 360 console exclusive. It's simply a matter of the userbase being bigger.

Were they? I thought the numbers were close aside from a few titles.

Guess the userbase reasoning makes more sense anyways.
 
It seems like Gamestop trade-in deals in april really helped the xbox one then, this month's numbers are quite mediocre (havent seen PS4's yet).

People really didnt expect Splatoon to chart? Its at #5 but like 8/10 of that chart are evergreen titles (GTA, COD, Minecraft) and holdovers. The evergreen games sell forever but its like ~100k a month (going by GTA numbers that aqua gave last year). Splatoon would have to bomb pretty hard for it not to chart.

I mean i know its the WiiU and all but it was a shooter with great reviews and a lot of excitement and decently advertised. Hope its numbers are 150k+
 
I look forward to the traditional Console type games companies these dissatisfied individuals will invest their money and energies in to create and see what market feasible goods and services they can provide.

Well, their energies will go into a lot of sound and fury aimed at those companies on social media. :p
 
I don't think any of them stuck or were made for the long-term. Splatoon might be the first to do that since Pikmin.
A lot of their development was focused on the Mii stuff (Wii Sports, Wii Fit etc.) and other games like Nintendogs and Brain Age, all of which got at least a sequel or two. Since they weren't core-focused though they don't come up in conversations like this.

Splatoon is the first major new character-driven IP since Pikmin, I'd say.
 

Sakura

Member
A lot of their development was focused on the Mii stuff (Wii Sports, Wii Fit etc.) and other games like Nintendogs and Brain Age, all of which got at least a sequel or two. Since they weren't core-focused though they don't come up in conversations like this.

Splatoon is the first major new character-driven IP since Pikmin, I'd say.

How is Splatoon any more character driven than say Tomodachi Collection?
 

Alo0oy

Banned
How much longer will GTA continue to sell?

I don't think ~70 million is impossible, it was already 54 million a few months ago.
 
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