November's Best Selling PC Games, WAR MIA

[Bismallah]

So, those Black Friday sales didn't do a thing for WAR, not surprising... (sorry if it's been posted, been away on business)

Link: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56329      (http://www.pcworld.com/article/155384/top_pc_game_sales_for_november_2008.html)

List:

"1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Ed.
3. Call Of Duty: World At War
4. Spore / EA Maxis
5. Fallout 3 / Bethesda
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest
7. The Sims 2 Deluxe
8. Left 4 Dead
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
11. World Of Warcraft
12. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Exp.
13. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
14. EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey
15. Far Cry 2 / Ubisoft Montreal
16. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
17. BioShock
18. Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack
19. IGT Slots: Little Green Men
20. Assassin's Creed"

For what it's worth, WAR was 5th in October, then dropped off the face of the earth for November.

Link: http://news.bigdownload.com/2008/11/15/fallout-3-tops-pc-game-sales-in-october/

List:

"1. Fallout 3 - Bethesda Softworks
2. Spore - Electronic Arts
3. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy - Her Interactive
4. Far Cry 2 - Ubisoft
5. Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning - Mythic/EA
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest - Blizzard
7. The Sims 2 Apartment Life - Electronic Arts
8. Fallout 3 Collectors Edition - Bethesda Softworks
9. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe - Electronic Arts
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Electronic Arts
11. World Of Warcraft - Blizzard
12. Civilization IV: Colonization - Firaxis/2K Games
13. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade - Blizzard
14. Crysis: Warhead - Crytek/EA
15. Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway - Ubisoft
16. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premier Edition - Electronic Arts
17. Dead Space - Electronic Arts
18. Spore Creature Creator - Electronic Arts
19. Civilization IV - Firaxis/2K Games
20. The Sims 2 FreeTime - Electronic Arts"

EA fills several slots in there, but to see WAR go from 5th in sales from one month and completely out of the top 20 the next is not something I would be happy about if I was a current sub. EA will see those numbers, adjust accordingly with their staff, and move forward. It's the same as any major corporation out there. You develop A, B, C, and D. First three are booming, D fails to hit the mark. Move most of D staff over to A, B, and C development, marketing, etc... follow the money and capitalize on successes.

Guess we'll have to wait and see for the December numbers but I suspect they will show the same indications. WAR has settled and will only continue to slowly bleed out. If I were Mythic I would ask if they can go ahead and move forward with Origins. Salvage what player base they have left and try to make some dough.

Thoughts? Comments?

[WindupAtheist]

Jesus fucking Christ, WoW is numbers 1, 2, 6, 11, and 16. One quarter of the top 20 are WoW products. The original non-expansion WoW box is number 11 four years after coming out. Jesus.

[UnSub]

Jesus fucking Christ, WoW is numbers 1, 2, 6, 11, and 16. One quarter of the top 20 are WoW products. The original non-expansion WoW box is number 11 four years after coming out. Jesus.

Whenever someone tells me PC gaming isn't dying, I just count the Blizzard titles on the list. There's a reason why PC shelf space is rapidly shrinking in gaming stores.

Did BioShock and Assassin's Creed re-release or something?

[ghost]

Oh, c'mon guys, people were just waiting for the patch to come out, right?

[schild]

Hinterland missing. Shame.

[waffel]

Wow. I really didn't think it was THAT bad.

Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack beat out Warhammer? Haha

[Fordel]

<insert WotLK Throne Image here>


Blizzard virtually IS the PC game industry at this point.

[Arthur_Parker]

They should have released WAR at the start of December, WoW players were going to buy wotlk anyway.  Being in the top ten for pc games would have had more people buying WAR as a present, before word of mouth got out.

[ghost]

Well, Warhammer is in a little different position than Warcraft right now.  Blizzard only really has to focus on keeping the players they have and they will still be wildly successful.  WAR has to keep getting new subs and keep what they have.  They don't seem to be doing either right now.

[rk47]

It's a domino effect. This is why Devs need to realize that leaving customers don't really equal one less 'current subscriber'. Look at us in this forum, we've been spewing bile and highlighting their stupidity. Visitors who read this are probably having second thoughts on getting the game.

Same case for me in real life, I told my friends to leave the game alone for a few months while they fix the fortress siege and tell them if they want to PVE, there's a perfectly good game made by Blizzard, there's no need to torture yourself in here just to please your inner RVR person.

One less current subscriber could mean the loss of three to five future subscribers. That is all.

[Threash]

Well, Warhammer is in a little different position than Warcraft right now.  Blizzard only really has to focus on keeping the players they have and they will still be wildly successful.  WAR has to keep getting new subs and keep what they have.  They don't seem to be doing either right now.

Keeping the customers they have? ORIGINAL WOW IS STILL A TOP SELLER 4 YEARS LATER.

[Sophismata]

Did BioShock and Assassin's Creed re-release or something?

That's from the purchase of consoles as christmas presents - people tend to buy a few games to go with them. Assassin's Creed and Bioshock are two of the bigger, and more recognisable ones.



Anyway, kudos to Blizzard. I'm anxious to see how their sales do once they release Starcraft and D3; they could well have 9 out of the top 20 after Starcraft's 3 games.

[waffel]

Those are all PC games, has nothing to do with consoles.

The fact that War got outsold by year+ old games, and spore creature pack, is sad beyond words.

[Azazel]

It's a domino effect. This is why Devs need to realize that leaving customers don't really equal one less 'current subscriber'. Look at us in this forum,

You're absolutely correct. 11m+ players. China or no China, South America, Korea, etc. These people are not all "Blizzard fans". Most of them joining up at this stage have to be word of mouth sales.
(And goldfarmers buying new accounts to turn over.)
 

That's the positive juggernaut snowballing of good word of mouth, a professional, finished product and all the rest. WoW's initial success may have been an unexpected and happy accident, but that's not why they've managed to stay so far ahead of the pack. That's why MJ and his old-school devs-vs-players grindfest unfinished bullshit is dying a slow quick death.

[Sophismata]

Those are all PC games, has nothing to do with consoles.

The fact that War got outsold by year+ old games, and spore creature pack, is sad beyond words.

I'll leave my mistake up for all to gawk at. Thankyou for the correction, now I look like a fool .

Anyway, high-profile games do tend to see increased sales at Chritsmas.

[tazelbain]

Sad, but inevitable with their attitude.

[Nebu]

Sad, but inevitable with their attitude.

Telling customers "You're playing the game wrong" is never a good idea.

[fuser]

Did BioShock and Assassin's Creed re-release or something?

I know it's not PC, but I picked up a copy of Assassin's creed CE (PS3) for $19 brand new. I'm guessing Ubisoft is slashing to move the units.

[shiznitz]

Those are all PC games, has nothing to do with consoles.

The fact that War got outsold by year+ old games, and spore creature pack, is sad beyond words.

And the EQ2 expansion. It is a good expansion, but c'mon. If EQ2 has 150k actives I would be surprised. I like the game myself, but it isn't and never was a big player.

[Nebu]

Large budget MMO's failing to meet long-term goals:

Tabula Rasa: check

Age of Conan: check (but not dead yet... still a glimmer of hope)

Warhammer Online: check

Money is getting tighter... let's see if investors (and publishers) have learned anything.

[Merusk]

I'd expect they've learned "Don't invest in anything not Blizzard."  Depends on their level of research and where they're reading, but "MMO companies largely have no idea what they're doing" proably makes it to the executive summary page.

[Bismallah]

And from sales numbers like that, who would blame them?

Electronic Arts stock hit a 52 week low 5 days back, then had massive sales volume seen across the board. Ticker ERTS, fancy graph and chart for you all here, http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:ERTS

It should go back up after last nite's video gaming awards over here in the states in addition to the introduction of some new games like this: http://www.dantesinferno.com/home.action

[Soln]

how many of those games are EA?  Or earn EA any money?

[Bismallah]

Quick glance, maybe 6-8 from the November list. Top 3 are Activision Blizzard, and to have 5 WoW titles on the list is just insane. I would have liked to see a breakout of numbers to see just how many copies 1st and 2nd place sold comparative to the rest of the list.

[Pendan]

First time I have seen a game I worked on in NPD monthly top 20.

[BitWarrior]

First time I have seen a game I worked on in NPD monthly top 20.

The popularity of Nancy Drew continues to amaze us all.

[Pendan]

The popularity of Nancy Drew continues to amaze us all.

I think you had a 50% chance based on that list and got it wrong. Nancy Drew is more interesting than the product I worked on. What amazes us at our company is that the least interesting products we do are also the most popular.

[schild]

The popularity of Nancy Drew continues to amaze us all.

I think you had a 50% chance based on that list and got it wrong. Nancy Drew is more interesting than the product I worked on. What amazes us at our company is that the least interesting products we do are also the most popular.

Judging by the response, I think I know *where* you worked, but if you don't mind me asking, where did you work. Feel free to PM me.

[Beltaine]

The fact that Nancy Drew falls from #3 to #15 in a month's time and WAR falls from #5 to OUT in the same amount of time is sort of sad.

[UnSub]

The fact that Nancy Drew falls from #3 to #15 in a month's time and WAR falls from #5 to OUT in the same amount of time is sort of sad.

Nancy Drew has better PvP than WAR.

[Ubvman]

It's a domino effect. This is why Devs need to realize that leaving customers don't really equal one less 'current subscriber'. Look at us in this forum, we've been spewing bile and highlighting their stupidity. Visitors who read this are probably having second thoughts on getting the game.

Same case for me in real life, I told my friends to leave the game alone for a few months while they fix the fortress siege and tell them if they want to PVE, there's a perfectly good game made by Blizzard, there's no need to torture yourself in here just to please your inner RVR person.

One less current subscriber could mean the loss of three to five future subscribers. That is all.

The bolded statement.

THIS
is why you really DO need official forums. So that newbs, noobs, bored casual gamers and other innocent folks don't get hijacked by cynical assholes like you guys (I mean that in the nicest way). Really, I do think MJ is pretty unprofessional and more than a little bit pathologically childish in his "hate" for official forums. A multimillion $$$$ game's "word of mouth" has been completely been taken over by guys like you all at F13 (me included i guess) or drooling fanbois; either of which you do not want to be doing the "word of mouth"-ing.

[Bismallah]

I am patiently awaiting December's numbers... I am secretly pulling for Nancy Drew to stay in the top 20 and have no resurgence from WAR but time will tell.

[Jherad]

A multimillion $$$$ game's "word of mouth" has been completely been taken over by guys like you all at F13 (me included i guess) or drooling fanbois; either of which you do not want to be doing the "word of mouth"-ing.

It isn't exactly rocket science that 'message control' is the primary plus for official forums, from a company's perspective. If/when they do go down that route, that'll be the reason.

If your game is doing well, or even 'ok', then I guess you can afford for fans to be getting their community on elsewhere; there are advantages to distributed free marketing. If it is tanking, and every fan forum is a cesspit you'd want to be sure that you can respond to criticism quickly, and that your response is the first (or only) thing the players see. They can moderate the crap out of the place.

[eldaec]

you really DO need official forums. So that newbs, noobs, bored casual gamers and other innocent folks don't get hijacked by cynical assholes like you guys (I mean that in the nicest way). Really, I do think MJ is pretty unprofessional and more than a little bit pathologically childish in his "hate" for official forums. A multimillion $$$$ game's "word of mouth" has been completely been taken over by guys like you all at F13 (me included i guess) or drooling fanbois; either of which you do not want to be doing the "word of mouth"-ing.

You seem to be suggesting that official forums have reduced proportions of drooling fanbois, cynical assholes, and whining dickheads.

What evidence do you have for this surprising conclusion?



Not having official forums is one less stupid distraction for community relations to worry about. However, community relations have around 20 billion stupid distractions to worry about - so one more or one less doesn't really make much difference.

[Samwise]

So is this game worth playing yet or what?