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Returnal has sold around 560,000 copies

uncleslappy

nethack is my favorite dark souls clone
And Bloodborne has probably a less attach rate with 6 years of sales….. Your point doesnt mean much lol

Returnal Reviews were excellent and sales have been good for 3 months.

Its no Horizon, Ghosts of Tsushima as new IP sales go but it probably a fraction of the costs of those games and the team is much smaller
Plus how many of those 10m console are actually in the hands of people using them? Serious question. Any idea how many consoles are sitting in scalpers "Warehouses"?
 

Allandor

Member
Half a mil in 3 months ain't great? For a new ip from a small studio?
You forgot the quite small audience because of a new console that is hardly available.

Ok, I might have expected more, because the current PS5 owners are those who just buy more games than the general public, but it is still a game that is not a fit for all people. In the current state of current gen console sales, it is a niche title. So it sold well enough. Would have sold much, much more later into the generation but that is the pain of a launch-window game.

Plus how many of those 10m console are actually in the hands of people using them? Serious question. Any idea how many consoles are sitting in scalpers "Warehouses"?
Most of those consoles. The scalpers still sell those console quite quickly else they won't buy them at first. But I really hope that people stop buying such overpriced stuff, would be better for all, but would not really lower the demand. It would still be sold out everywhere.
 
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engstra

Member
Ok, I might have expected more, because the current PS5 owners are those who just buy more games than the general public, but it is still a game that is not a fit for all people. In the current state of current gen console sales, it is a niche title. So it sold well enough. Would have sold much, much more later into the generation but that is the pain of a launch-window game.
Not sure if that logic tracks, don't think there's any way of knowing that only "hardcore gamers" were interested in the console at launch. It was the launch of nextgen, people were pretty hyped about it in general.
 

NickFire

Member
I get the argument about not saving being a feature, but I think it would be much better as an optional feature. Being mandatory has prevented at least one sale, to me, and I bet it has prevented far more, potentially hundreds of thousands or more.
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
All these people still bitching about $70 lol. Could have earned more than $70 in the time they spent complaining.

Was playing again last night and I'll say again, I wish they would release more content. I'm about 72 hrs in and would easily buy DLC for this title. Love the gameplay loop.

Also the fake no save narrative is hilarious at this point.
 

tommib

Member
More than half a million copies at 70 USD / 80 EUR in 3 months? For a tough as nails, dark and depressive arcade shooter with an adult narrative? With a left-field high-concept approach to gameplay? That’s more than a mega-hit in my book. So glad to hear. Hoping Housemarque keeps the experimental vein popping in their next corker.
 

NahaNago

Member
Animated GIF


Way more niche it turns out than experimental Death Stranding.
Death Stranding had a lot going for it because of Kojima though. This game was niche, barely had any buzz, folks were dismissing the game because of the price before the game came out, folks were hating on the main character before the game came out, and it is a new IP. I was honestly expecting at least a million sales due to launch period buzz. 500k copies makes sense for the game, but like you said not great, not terrible.
 
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ButchCat

Member
Games released in the launch window tend to have long legs and so will Returnal. People seem to forget the steep release price tag which prob increases the profit margin..
 
Not that bad. But honestly not a game for everyone.

I've enjoyed all their prior games but had absolutely no interest in this, especially at its price range.

Maybe when its on plus in a few years ill give it a chance.
 

geary

Member
figures. 10m console. Not every ps5 owner will buy all new games. everyone ha different tastes. Its why death stranding sold 5m copies on 116m ps4, and pc 120m steam.

game will have more sales, once they have more ps5. My estimate is 4m-8m by the end of 4 years. depends on how much ps5 is sold.
You are talkin about an exclusive to PS5, one of the few. I understand that not everybody buys every game, even exclusives, but why are you and early adopter of PS5, if not for the exclusives which are developed with the PS5 hardware in mind?
 

Jaysen

Banned
But when you die you start from the beginning right? Its the same as Returnal.

Returnal saves all your key items, shortcuts, weapon progress etc. You just start from either Level/Biome 1 or 4 depending on where you died
Yes, it functions the same as other rogue games, but unlike other rogue games, a single run of Returnal can last hours, so not allowing people to save mid-run is really bad.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
figures. 10m console. Not every ps5 owner will buy all new games. everyone ha different tastes. Its why death stranding sold 5m copies on 116m ps4, and pc 120m steam.

game will have more sales, once they have more ps5. My estimate is 4m-8m by the end of 4 years. depends on how much ps5 is sold.
I forget the exact percentages, but almost always %90 of a games lifetime Revenue comes within the first 3 months. There’s outliers that sell millions years later but it’s so exceptionally rare that it’s almost not worth considering.

Returnal will be lucky to break 1 million lifetime, 1.5 would be miraculous and highly unlikely.
 

Stuart360

Member
I think the attach rate for Switch games has clouded some peoples minds.
A 5% attach rate isnt great, but its not terrible either. Some of the big exclusive Xbox and Playstation exclusives that sell millions, often sit around a 10% attach rate.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Yes, it functions the same as other rogue games, but unlike other rogue games, a single run of Returnal can last hours, so not allowing people to save mid-run is really bad.

Are we talking mid run from the start to finish or from level 1 to 3. Or 4-6. Its not really that long. Between 3 levels especially since you can skip it from level 1 to 3 and level 4 to 6 with the portals
 

down 2 orth

Member
That's why Sony bought the studio after the game released as opposed to prior to release when sales projections would have indicated how well the game would do. They probably got a pretty good discount.
 

Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
I think the attach rate for Switch games has clouded some peoples minds.
A 5% attach rate isnt great, but its not terrible either. Some of the big exclusive Xbox and Playstation exclusives that sell millions, often sit around a 10% attach rate.
historically launch titles haved had a high attach rate. People want new games to show off there new purchase.
 

MrS

Banned
Is this a joke post or you living under a rock??

Exactly.

I'm just here for the incoming salt.....


Well I do remember someone saying its just Recore with neon effects.....

So the devs themselves calling it AAA doesnt have any weight....

Cool.

Let me know when we can take devs words at face value again. I swear it changes up from platform to platform, game to game........


Really?

I would love to here these indications......

I see you ignored April, May and June US/Canada/Europe PS Store download charts.



Hard numbers yeah. But game is still charting on PS Store after 3 months.



Yeah, it is. If you ignore ALL the charts.



How 2 months in a row on NPD chart is a "fell off real quick"?



















Equalizing Japan sales as worldwide sales ( and ignoring all others ) just proves that you can have 10 PS5s and just 1 Xbox, you still can be a delusional Xbox fan by a country mile.
Enjoy the L and never doubt me again, n00bs.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
For Sony I think it'll be a question of revenue; how many sales happened after this was dropped to less than $50 (in USA at least).

Then you have the long-tail sales.. very likely eventual PC release/etc.

It's likely not a particularly expensive game for Sony, and I think they aren't ONLY trying for blockbusters, particularly for growing studios.

Considering the type of game it is, definitely a good showing.
 
560,000 copies after 3 months doesn't seem like a success to me, especially when Sunset Overdrive was able to sell 320,000 copies in 3 weeks and with less Xbox One's having been sold through in the same time period.
 

Jaysen

Banned
Are we talking mid run from the start to finish or from level 1 to 3. Or 4-6. Its not really that long. Between 3 levels especially since you can skip it from level 1 to 3 and level 4 to 6 with the portals
Skipping levels makes it go quicker, but the game is hard so most people will want to get as many upgrades as possible in all levels before proceeding on to a boss fight. That takes a lot of time. There’s absolutely no good reason to not let someone save and then come back later and continue.
 
Not surprising but still, it has to be said, very poor numbers.

Many things were going against it: brutal price point for a roguelike, just being a roguelike turned many people off, brutal difficulty with no saves (no bueno in hand-holding age) and maybe even main character.

After just beating Nemesis in many many tries, I can tell you this is no game for casuals, those with limited game time or impatient. That’s great and all but people will vote with their wallets.
 
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Only just over 1m for Ratchet out of 10m? Ouch. That's disappointing. Was expecting at least 3m for June. And Returnal is a bomb. Why they made that game a rogue like is beyond me. Oh well, maybe there's a chance Housemarque can give me DinoNation!!!
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Skipping levels makes it go quicker, but the game is hard so most people will want to get as many upgrades as possible in all levels before proceeding on to a boss fight. That takes a lot of time. There’s absolutely no good reason to not let someone save and then come back later and continue.
You get weapon proficiency upgrades at the start of every level if you skip levels before it. Its really not that hard, not as a dark souls or bloodborne boss.
The 3rd boss is the hardest I give people that, but you can get there in 30mins with all the upgrades you can get in that level.
Kinda defeats the point of a rogue like game.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Attach rate of 1/20. Not bad at all for a hardcore game. I feel like this game will have long legs, especially when it starts popping up in the digital sales. It’ll definitely surpass 1 million in my opinion.
 
That's around $39-25M for Returnal, probably already covered its development expenses.
Stores sell the game for $60, but Publishers really only make about $30-$40 off the transaction. Also, Housemarque said this was their first AAA budget game, meaning it must have cost at least $50 million (low-end) to develop.
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
Stores sell the game for $60, but Publishers really only make about $30-$40 off the transaction. Also, Housemarque said this was their first AAA budget game, meaning it must have cost at least $50 million (low-end) to develop.

Horizon ZD was around 45M euros and it's much bigger. They say it's AAA but can't see the budget exceeding $20M. Content wise it's pretty short and relies on difficulty to inflate the overall playability like all roguelikes.

 
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kingfey

Banned
I forget the exact percentages, but almost always %90 of a games lifetime Revenue comes within the first 3 months. There’s outliers that sell millions years later but it’s so exceptionally rare that it’s almost not worth considering.

Returnal will be lucky to break 1 million lifetime, 1.5 would be miraculous and highly unlikely.
Not really. Cult games usually sell bad at first, then alot after that.

I see returnal as a cult game. Like prey remake.

They need to iron out some issues about the game.
 

kingfey

Banned
You are talkin about an exclusive to PS5, one of the few. I understand that not everybody buys every game, even exclusives, but why are you and early adopter of PS5, if not for the exclusives which are developed with the PS5 hardware in mind?
Assuming people who bought ps5 cares about ps5 exclusive.

80% of Playstation users don't care about its exclusive.

The highest ps4 exclusive selling game is spiderman at 20m. That is on a device which has 116m console sold. Aside of hardware failures. The game sold 20% if its hardware. While 80% didn't bother buying it.

So returnal sale chart is expected.
 

Kagoshima_Luke

Gold Member
I wonder what the sales would have been if they would have made the protagonist attractive? Not meant to be snarky or glib, but serious question. If it would have been Lara Croft's face on that cover art, it would have sold more. Just wonder how much more.
 
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Stuart360

Member
Assuming people who bought ps5 cares about ps5 exclusive.

80% of Playstation users don't care about its exclusive.

The highest ps4 exclusive selling game is spiderman at 20m. That is on a device which has 116m console sold. Aside of hardware failures. The game sold 20% if its hardware. While 80% didn't bother buying it.

So returnal sale chart is expected.
Thats pretty standard on Playstation and Xbox though, due to the sheer amount of games that release every year. Compared to Switch that has huge attach rates, but gets what?, 5 or 6 big games a year.
There are a lot of 10mil selling games on PS4, that are huge successes, but have like 10% attach rates.
Its simply down to the amount of games that release on Xbox and Playstation.
 
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