261 réponses à ce sujet

[Atakuma]

Aznable Char wrote...

At the same time that's the best thing about this .

Because all they need to do is fix five minutes of content and you'll see sales like you have never seen before . 

The fact that it's only the ending that has generated so much controversy is a BLESSING for BioWare because it's relatively short amount of content to be fixed as opposed to people who disliked DA2 for a whole PLETHORA of things .

That's not going to do bubkis for sales.

[Tleining]

BiowareDevA: "Wow, those are some... those drops are.... They aren't THAT bad, are they? Compared to our other titles?"
BiowareDevB: "No, it's pretty bad. But we can still solve it, we just need to .."
Harbinger: "THIS HURTS YOU!!!!"

sorry, couldn't resist.

[QuarianHIV]

George Lucas never got off the looney train after ROTJ.

Looks like BW's ROTJ will be ME3. Or was it DA2....

[Xenbus]

Tovanus wrote...

I can't imagine word of mouth having that much impact on ME 3. If people liked the first two, they'll probably get the third anyway because it's hard to believe the negative hype of how bad the ending is until you've seen it. The negative hype is all true, but still, not easy to believe. Plus, most fans would have bought the game almost immediately at release. It was a big deal, huge marketing everywhere. People who aren't fans aren't that likely to jump into the third game of a trilogy in the first place.

I think the real sales numbers that will tell you what damage has been done won't be seen until Bioware develops a new intellectual property. People will be wary of trusting any IP from Bioware after this. It'd be like the Lost guys starting a new series full of mystery, and saying, "Don't worry guys, we know what we're doing, all your questions will be answered!"

I know personally atleast 7 people that didn't buy the game and won't because of bad word of mouth from me.

That were planning on buying it previously, while i was playing it before I hit the ending.

So yes bad word of mouth tanks sales.

[Diablos2525]

Day one DLC and nonsensical endings are probably hurting their sales at least somewhat.

[The_Crazy_Hand]

Tleining wrote...

BiowareDevA: "Wow, those are some... those drops are.... They aren't THAT bad, are they? Compared to our other titles?"
BiowareDevB: "It won't be so bad once you see the clarification of it"
Harbinger: "THIS HURTS YOU!!!!"

sorry, couldn't resist.

Fixed.

[Aznable Char]

Paparob wrote...

Yes can I have a source please? Also context. How does this compare to other big budget releases from last year, say The Elder Scrolls IV: Skyrim, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3?

added source in OP . I meant to add the link immediately but somehow I had forgotten . My apologies .

[FlyingCow371]

From the numbers in the 1st post...they've already sold about 2 million copies. Will probably reach that by week 4 or 5 (assuming they can sell about another 100,000 copies). A number which took DA:O 10 weeks to reach. So, from the business standpoint... it looks like this game was already a success.

Modifié par FlyingCow371, 29 mars 2012 - 01:05 .

[Tovanus]

Aznable Char wrote...

The fact that it's only the ending that has generated so much controversy is a BLESSING for BioWare because it's relatively short amount of content to be fixed as opposed to people who disliked DA2 for a whole PLETHORA of things .

That I have to agree with. The main complaints I heard about DA 2, over and over again, were that the gameplay mechanics were boring, under-developed, and simple (fights devolved into hitting a single button over and over again as you wipe out waves of instantly appearing enemies, unlike DA: O where enemies were mapped out and you would plan out your attacks), and that the locales you visited were absurdly repetitive. As in, every cave you go into is like the same cave map (just with different parts blocked off so it "feels" slightly different), and every mansion you go into is the same mansion map (again with different rooms blocked off). The city barely changes over the time periods and is barely populated. (They TELL you it changes in narration, but you don't really SEE it).

[The_Crazy_Hand]

Oh geez, the source is VGChartz. Don't get me wrong, I don't have trouble believing the endings are hurting the game sales, but VGChartz isn't going to suffice.

[xMellowhype]

All in all ME3 was a good game and it's saddening to know that games like MW3 got 6 million on its first day but in 3 weeks ME3 gets 2 mil...

[deimosmasque]

Once again I will ask... Source of numbers?

Granted VGchartz is showing similar numbers but not the same.

[lillitheris]

warrior256 wrote...

I don't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I feel happy to see that the pressure is being put on Bioware as a member of the Retake movement. With such a devestating drop in sales, they can't afford to ignore us for long. At the same time, the part of me that still likes Bioware feels bad that what used to be a great company is getting hit so hard because of five minutes of cliffs. In the end though, Bioware still deserves this.

Weell…it's already 100 million without online sales. So, you know, not so bad.

…

Edit: and yeah, the data is worthless without something to compare with. Your DA data showed something like 1 -> 1/3 -> 1/2 -> 1/2 -> stabilize, but there's no way to really draw conclusions from that.

Modifié par lillitheris, 29 mars 2012 - 01:10 .

[Aznable Char]

FlyingCow371 wrote...

From the numbers in the 1st post...they've already sold about 2 million copies. Will probably reach that by week 4 or 5 (assuming they can sell about another 100,000 copies). A number which took DA:O 10 weeks to reach. So, from the business standpoint... it looks like this game was already a success.

again I noted how this is true . However , I find it rather interesting considering the hype and conclusionary importance of this particular title as opposed to something new and untested as DAO especially when BioWare was also just beginning to become the name it's known for today . However , as I noted in my notes , this is an interesting exercise in trends that show whether or not you have continuing staggering drops especially after the 3rd week and comparing it to other AAA titles since DAO might not be a fair comparison .

As I noted in my other posts , the main point of pressure for bioware will be dlc sales and new game sales from here on , but I am hoping that BioWare is smart enough to realize to hedge off any possible loss in the future or at least maximizing profits in the future by addressing the ending now before it gets to that point of having to rebuild a significant and large portion of the fanbase so that they can actually have over a million pre-sales again .

[Tovanus]

Xenbus wrote...

Tovanus wrote...

I can't imagine word of mouth having that much impact on ME 3. If people liked the first two, they'll probably get the third anyway because it's hard to believe the negative hype of how bad the ending is until you've seen it. The negative hype is all true, but still, not easy to believe. Plus, most fans would have bought the game almost immediately at release. It was a big deal, huge marketing everywhere. People who aren't fans aren't that likely to jump into the third game of a trilogy in the first place.

I think the real sales numbers that will tell you what damage has been done won't be seen until Bioware develops a new intellectual property. People will be wary of trusting any IP from Bioware after this. It'd be like the Lost guys starting a new series full of mystery, and saying, "Don't worry guys, we know what we're doing, all your questions will be answered!"

I know personally atleast 7 people that didn't buy the game and won't because of bad word of mouth from me.

That were planning on buying it previously, while i was playing it before I hit the ending.

So yes bad word of mouth tanks sales.

I'm not saying bad word of mouth doesn't hurt, or that it can't tank sales in many situations. I know people who aren't buying it because of me too. I'm just saying that I think the impact is relatively minor at this point, and the drop-off we see in numbers is almost entirely due to the natural direction you'd see in sales for a game like this. Most games with lots of hype have massive sales at release, and huge drop-offs afterwards, and that's even more likely to be the case (with drop-offs) when the game being sold is a sequel.

[wagsnout]

ahandsomeshark wrote...

xMellowhype wrote...

Wouldn't this be common? Millions people bought MW3 in the first week but since everyone has it the number is bound to go down in week 3.

If you can show this is truly unprecedented in the industry then it means a lot.

yeah that's what I would think. All media sales drop majorly in the first 2-3 weeks after release.

But Mass Effect 3 has suffered more that your average AAA title. Its retail price has tanked over the last couple of weeks. Amazon is now selling new copies for $40 and giving refunds on opened copies.
The fact that Amazon and Origin are giving refunds at all indicates that a lot of those first week sales were returned with complaints so Bioware won't be getting the money for those copies.

This game may have sold as well or better that any other Bioware title but EA/Bioware are going to see significantly less return on it that they did on DA2.

[ahandsomeshark]

lillitheris wrote...

warrior256 wrote...

I don't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I feel happy to see that the pressure is being put on Bioware as a member of the Retake movement. With such a devestating drop in sales, they can't afford to ignore us for long. At the same time, the part of me that still likes Bioware feels bad that what used to be a great company is getting hit so hard because of five minutes of cliffs. In the end though, Bioware still deserves this.

Weell…it's already 100 million without online sales. So, you know, not so bad.

yeah but bulk doesn't matter so much as what it is vs their projected sales. (these are totally made up numbers bare with me) if they projected 200 million in sales by now and budgeted for that and only sold 100 million then it's a failure. For example The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made over 231 million world wide at the box office and was still a net loss for MGM.

[JeosDinas]

 I'd attribute this more to mass preorders than anything else. Large releases like this tend to sell a lot of their units at launch.

[MetalCargo999]

That graph is very enlightening...

[ahandsomeshark]

Tovanus wrote...

Xenbus wrote...

Tovanus wrote...

I can't imagine word of mouth having that much impact on ME 3. If people liked the first two, they'll probably get the third anyway because it's hard to believe the negative hype of how bad the ending is until you've seen it. The negative hype is all true, but still, not easy to believe. Plus, most fans would have bought the game almost immediately at release. It was a big deal, huge marketing everywhere. People who aren't fans aren't that likely to jump into the third game of a trilogy in the first place.

I think the real sales numbers that will tell you what damage has been done won't be seen until Bioware develops a new intellectual property. People will be wary of trusting any IP from Bioware after this. It'd be like the Lost guys starting a new series full of mystery, and saying, "Don't worry guys, we know what we're doing, all your questions will be answered!"

I know personally atleast 7 people that didn't buy the game and won't because of bad word of mouth from me.

That were planning on buying it previously, while i was playing it before I hit the ending.

So yes bad word of mouth tanks sales.

I'm not saying bad word of mouth doesn't hurt, or that it can't tank sales in many situations. I know people who aren't buying it because of me too. I'm just saying that I think the impact is relatively minor at this point, and the drop-off we see in numbers is almost entirely due to the natural direction you'd see in sales for a game like this. Most games with lots of hype have massive sales at release, and huge drop-offs afterwards, and that's even more likely to be the case (with drop-offs) when the game being sold is a sequel.

Yeah I think if there's any major financial repercussions it will be on pre-orders of future Bioware/EA titles. And possibly on used versions of the game flooding the market destroying their long-term profitability (I've said it before I've never traded in a Bioware game but this one has almost no replayability for me)

Modifié par ahandsomeshark, 29 mars 2012 - 01:11 .

[SpideyKnight]

I wouldn't worry about returns. There's a reason Amazon is allowing them. There is so few that it hardly matters.

[Aznable Char]

wagsnout wrote...

ahandsomeshark wrote...

xMellowhype wrote...

Wouldn't this be common? Millions people bought MW3 in the first week but since everyone has it the number is bound to go down in week 3.

If you can show this is truly unprecedented in the industry then it means a lot.

yeah that's what I would think. All media sales drop majorly in the first 2-3 weeks after release.

But Mass Effect 3 has suffered more that your average AAA title. Its retail price has tanked over the last couple of weeks. Amazon is now selling new copies for $40 and giving refunds on opened copies.
The fact that Amazon and Origin are giving refunds at all indicates that a lot of those first week sales were returned with complaints so Bioware won't be getting the money for those copies.

This game may have sold as well or better that any other Bioware title but EA/Bioware are going to see significantly less return on it that they did on DA2.

this is absolutely true not to mention the figures are also influenced because of this because the price of each title sold is not listed . this is interesting to me because by lowering price , they can increase volume sales , but are not making as much money per unit as they are other titles which is affecting their bottom line a whole PERCENTAGE . As much as 30% it seems with the amazon indicators . This is a HUGE hit which doesn't get reflected in sales . In other words , the situation is worse than it seems .

[J717]

It pains me to say it, but if BioWare doesn't fix the ending and they suffer a meteoric fall from grace post-ME3 - I would not feel the least bit sorry for them. In fact...it would be karma.

[Aznable Char]

ahandsomeshark wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

warrior256 wrote...

I don't know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I feel happy to see that the pressure is being put on Bioware as a member of the Retake movement. With such a devestating drop in sales, they can't afford to ignore us for long. At the same time, the part of me that still likes Bioware feels bad that what used to be a great company is getting hit so hard because of five minutes of cliffs. In the end though, Bioware still deserves this.

Weell…it's already 100 million without online sales. So, you know, not so bad.

yeah but bulk doesn't matter so much as what it is vs their projected sales. (these are totally made up numbers bare with me) if they projected 200 million in sales by now and budgeted for that and only sold 100 million then it's a failure. For example The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo made over 231 million world wide at the box office and was still a net loss for MGM.

Whoever you are , your point makes me crush on you .

[devSin]

Aznable Char wrote...

ME3 still has a large total number sold , however , the dent is still evident .
This means , at least in my interpretation , that BioWare has the money since most people pre-ordered and have more than likely recooperated , with profit , their particular sale .

A few points.

The site that states these figures is notoriously unreliable. I won't argue against using it to guess at trends, but the exact figures are useless. In particular, digital sales render the PC numbers completely irrelevant.

EA shipped 3.5 million units worldwide. They want to sell this amount of retail product (in the perfect scenario, they'd already be shipping more out).

EA does not get the full retail price of a retail sale. They sell to retailers at a much lower price, and the rest is profit for the retailer.