152 réponses à ce sujet

[Busomjack]

I've heard that EA has been losing money and it's making me fear that maybe Mass Effect 2 was a financial failure despite it's critical acclaim.
EA has improved it's reputation over the years but many people still are very bitter about how EA closed down Westwood Studios and I fear that maybe they'll do the same to Bioware if their games don't sell well enough.

[Weskerr]

I always had the impression that ME2 was a financial hit for them.

[Slayer299]

was it? The figures I've seen were around 2.1 or 2.2 million, (taken from VGAChartz). I know that it was a critical success by reviewers.

[Phaedon]

Yes, Mass Effect is one of the most profitable franchises EA has.

Modifié par Phaedon, 15 novembre 2010 - 04:42 .

[wookieeassassin]

I can't imagine it would lose money.

[Busomjack]

Is selling 2.2 million copies enough to turn a profit? This game seems really big budget so I think even with those numbers this game likely lost a profit. It's too bad, I hope they still make Mass Effect 3.

[Tyrannosaurus Rex]

I think the ME series makes enough money, maybe not as much as EA hoped for. But I doubt EA will shut Bioware down because of it.

You should be more concerned when TOR is released. If it fails then there might be a chance for what you fear.

[Elyvern]

2.2 is discounting PC sales. And I read before that ME2 already hit 2 million sold on first week of release. It is far more than 2 million now for sure.

[Phaedon]

Electronic Arts announced that over two million copies of Mass Effect 2 were sold within the first week of release.[13]

The stats are obviously wrong, or they are not overall sale stats.

[Weskerr]

Busomjack wrote...

Is selling 2.2 million copies enough to turn a profit? This game seems really big budget so I think even with those numbers this game likely lost a profit. It's too bad, I hope they still make Mass Effect 3.

Well, if we say that each copy of ME2 is about $60, then they made $132 million. Even after paying all the voice actors and every individual who worked on the game their due, I think they would still turn a profit.

[mad825]

EA is a big, big, big corporate company.

it's very likely the drain is coming from different areas of the business besides this is not new, EA closed Pandemic studios before 2010 due to funds.

if they did shutdown Bioware, we would know months in advance.

Modifié par mad825, 15 novembre 2010 - 05:30 .

[pacer90]

2 mil is good. You're probably comparing sales to stuff like black ops, which was the biggest release in entertainment history.

[Phaedon]

And the good news is that 2 mil is a wrong number.

[davidshooter]

Does anyone have accurate numbers for both ME1 and/or ME2?

I have always been under the impression that the games have sold "respectable" amounts - not huge, but certainly not failures either. I also have the impression that despite the changes from ME1 and the "stand alone" nature of ME2 that the game didn't really draw in the new "shooter" gamers that Bioware was trying to entice and that the total sales of the game were lower than expectations - this isn't to suggest the game lost money though, I would find that hard to believe.

This leaves me wondering what direction ME3 will take. If there will be an even bolder attempt to sell to the shooter fans or whether the game will try to remedy some of the complaints from the RPG fans who felt somewhat let down by the changes.

I'd really like to see some accurate figures though.

Modifié par davidshooter, 15 novembre 2010 - 06:11 .

[Weskerr]

davidshooter wrote...

 I also have the impression that despite the changes from ME1 and the "stand alone" nature of ME2 that the game didn't really draw in the new "shooter" gamers that Bioware was trying to entice and that the total sales of the game were lower than expectations - this isn't to suggest the game lost money though, I would find that hard to believe.

ME2 wasn't able to attract as many shooter gamers as they wanted? Interesting. Is this a fact?

[cachx]

Fun fact: Digital purchases are rarely tracked, at least not until very recently. Steam is specially tight-lipped about sales numbers.

This leaves us a little in the dark when it comes to digital PC copies and DLC.

[davidshooter]

Weskerr wrote...

davidshooter wrote...

 I also have the impression that despite the changes from ME1 and the "stand alone" nature of ME2 that the game didn't really draw in the new "shooter" gamers that Bioware was trying to entice and that the total sales of the game were lower than expectations - this isn't to suggest the game lost money though, I would find that hard to believe.

ME2 wasn't able to attract as many shooter gamers as they wanted? Interesting. Is this a fact?

No, just my impression - hard facts/numbers are what I'd like to see though. 

Modifié par davidshooter, 15 novembre 2010 - 06:30 .

[Weskerr]

davidshooter wrote...

Weskerr wrote...

davidshooter wrote...

 I also have the impression that despite the changes from ME1 and the "stand alone" nature of ME2 that the game didn't really draw in the new "shooter" gamers that Bioware was trying to entice and that the total sales of the game were lower than expectations - this isn't to suggest the game lost money though, I would find that hard to believe.

ME2 wasn't able to attract as many shooter gamers as they wanted? Interesting. Is this a fact?

No, just my impression - hard facts/numbers are what I'd like to see though. 

Ahh that's too bad. I'd also like to see some numbers.

[Skilled Seeker]

First of all those figures are woefully wrong. Mass Effect 2 sold that much in the first WEEK alone and this is discounting digital downloads which make up a significant portion of PC sales.

Secondly Mass Effect 2 is not a multiplatform release. For example Black Ops is out on all consoles and handhelds.

Mass Effect 2 is also an RPG and has no multiplayer. FPS online games will always sell like hotcakes. The only way Bioware can hope to match such figures is by adding online to Mass Effect and reducing the RPG, exploration, conversations which casual gamers find boring.

Also thanks to the high critical aclaim that places ME2 amongst the best games ever, the recent GOTY Golden Joystick victory and the PS3 port ME2's sales will get a further boost.

To conclude ME is a highly successful franchise. It will never be best selling but if Bioware were chasing after those numbers then it wouldn't be ME either.

Modifié par Skilled Seeker, 15 novembre 2010 - 06:29 .

[davidshooter]

I'm no expert on game sales figures but I do know a thing or two about sales figures for other media and first week sales would be a representation of what retail ordered not necessarily what sold through. Sometimes the numbers from the first week are more than the total sales to the public (although they still get counted even though retail returned them). I'm not saying that happened here - just that it can.

There used to be an expression in the music biz that a record shipped gold to retail and came back to the record company platinum. Just sayin'

I think ME2 could have done Assassins Creed 2 numbers and I think that was the ball park Bioware was aiming for.  Both games got great reviews, were the second chapter in a trilogy, both were single player campaign and both were recognized franchises.  But I don't think ME2 came close to AC2 numbers depite the advantage of being a shooter.

Modifié par davidshooter, 15 novembre 2010 - 06:41 .

[rayvioletta]

there's no way they'd focus money and resources on porting ME2 to the PS3 if it had already failed to turn a profit on PC and/or Xbox. nor would they likely use said money and resources on so much DLC if it weren't profitable

think it's safe to say the Mass Effect franchise is still alive, well and making money

[DarthCaine]

ME1 had a much longer development time, meaning it cost a lot more to make, while selling around 2.5 million overall. I'd say that's profitable since ME2 did come out.



ME2 on the other hand, had a shorter development time, meaning it cost much less, while selling 2M in a much shorter time and had a lot of DLC that sold well. So I'd say ME2 was MUCH more profitable.

[Count Viceroy]

Are we discussing the franchise or the specific game? Franchises are never cost efficient to build from the ground as you never know if it'll take off. ME2 built upon the success of Me1 and I have no doubt that Me3 will cash in even more than Me2 did.

[davidshooter]

I would be very surprised if ME2 cost less to make than ME1. There is a lot more that goes into development expenditures than just time.

Is there no place where sales figures are posted?