Media Create Sales: Week 39, 2018 (Sep 24 - Sep 30)

mrmickfran · Oct 3, 2018

Braaier said:
I'm still gonna buy it when it releases in the US :(

And I guess the hopes of a sequel are dead.

I'll wait a bit for a price drop. People didn't think Sushi Striker was worth the asking price and it goes on sale continuously.

Boiled Goose said:
High price and questionable controls will make it a bomb. For enthusiast targeted games, you have to satisfy enthusiast demands.

Square a few weeks later: Unfortunately, plans to continue the series of The World Ends With You have been put to a halt because it looks like nobody wants it.

Boiled Goose · Oct 3, 2018

mrmickfran said:
I'll wait a bit for a price drop. People didn't think Sushi Striker was worth the asking price and it goes on sale continuously.

Square a few weeks later: Unfortunately, plans to continue the series of The World Ends With You have been put to a halt because it looks like nobody wants it.

The game is uncomfortable to play in both docked and handheld. Too many other better choices despite me loving the original.

RPGamer · Oct 3, 2018

Cartridge Games said:
Seems like an over abundance of new software. Kicked Splatoon out of the top 10 and Spider-Man from 1 out of the top 5.

Wonder if Orochi's poor performance on switch is why the sales skewed so much.

Kind of wished TWEWY and VC4 did better but fair enough

Yep. Exactly my thoughts.

Joseki said:
First time ever Splatoon 2 is out of the top 10. It needed a week with 8 new releases to happen.

Time for Splatoon 3 in 2019.

Bruno MB · Oct 3, 2018

Not many people cared about The World Ends With You released 11 years ago already.

If Square Enix had truly thought there was potential for this IP a sequel would have already been made long ago.

It debuted exclusively on NDS in its prime and barely sold 80.000 units with a paltry 40% sell-through.

TongPoo · Oct 3, 2018

Are we expecting game series that have not been on Nintendo platform for quite a while to miraculously sell good numbers? This is the first VC on Nintendo platform and it's the 4th game in series. The audience needs time and effort to build. It's okay to argue that Nintendo needs to spend more effort to promote 3rd party games and put more effort to make their base more diverse, but are we seriously expecting the base to be built in 1.5 years when Playstation has decades of leads?

test_account · Oct 3, 2018

Vinnk said:
Really? That is actually pretty good. I didn't know (which is probably another problem).

Yeah, there are some graphical comparison videos on Youtube. I think next year's release will also have improvement (just speculation from me), but maybe the next year after that, we might see a legacy version instead.

Mark H · Oct 3, 2018

Both version of Orochi seems to be sold out in lots of places and it looks to have good wom, so I'm expecting some legs.
FighterZ is a 2D fighting game which is a very niche genre these days, so not sure if it can have the legs Xenoverse2 enjoyed.
VC4, well, I'd say goodbye to VC series on any platform at this point.
TWEWY is dead.

Deleted member 37917 · Oct 3, 2018

Joseki said:
An uneventful quarter

This graph sums up pretty much my emotions about both years on Switch. 2017 was a mad rollercoaster and overall an amazing ride; 2018 is a boring-ass Nintendo cruise.

Marukoban · Oct 3, 2018

Sen 4 sales comparable to Sen 3 ....
I think we might see Erebonian epilogue a la Sora 3rd.

konoka · Oct 3, 2018

Braaier said:
Wow, the difference between Warriors and Fifa between the PS4 and Switch is surprising. I thought the PS4 was dying in Japan, yet Warriors sold more than four times as many copies and Fifa nearly did as well.

Can someone explain to me how this is? The Switch is destroying the PS4 on hardware and will soon pass the LTD numbers, but significantly more people purchased the PS4 versions of these games. Why?

Demographics are different.
And destroying on hardware doesn't mean destroying on software because tie-ratios of nintendo systems are low in japan.

konoka · Oct 3, 2018

ACL said:
Yeah, pretty much and it's really ridiculous. Switch is selling by far the most software and hardware in Japan and trends actually shows a very positive outlook in which Switch actually will strengthen its position against its competition in Japan. Rather than looking at the bigger picture some conviniently choose to cherrypick single data points instead.

aha?
https://sites.google.com/site/gamedatalibrary/software-data/2018-retail

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

Does anyone have past Falcom games sales at hand? Sales really seem to have declined compared to past generations. And on current gen, new releases are also stagnant compared to previous releases on the same system, with no significant improvement. As seen with this weeks release compared to part 3.

Aters · Oct 3, 2018

ACL said:
Does anyone have past Falcom games sales at hand? Sales really seem to have declined compared to past generations. And on current gen, new releases are also stagnant compared to previous releases on the same system, with no significant improvement. As seen with this weeks release compared to part 3.

How can you improve the sales of CS4 from CS3 when CS4 requires people to play CS3 first?

Deleted member 2791 · Oct 3, 2018

Aters said:
How can you improve the sales of CS4 from CS3 when CS4 requires people to play CS3 first?

the fact that it dropped so little is already amazing in a sense, the fanbase is extremely loyal

Braaier · Oct 3, 2018

konoka said:
Demographics are different.
And destroying on hardware doesn't mean destroying on software because tie-ratios of nintendo systems are low in japan.

I didn't realize tie ratios were low! Are they demonstrably lower than non-Nintendo systems? I have only heard that Switch is selling a ton of software and (in Japan) there were no upcoming games that will sell a lot on the PS4.

And I question why the demographics are different. I would think we're at a point where for gamers in Japan the Switch is their primary console with the PS4 being a secondary console. Again, the Switch is about to past the PS4 LTD. The majority of Japanese gamers will own a Switch, not a PS4.

MysticGon · Oct 3, 2018

If Minecraft Switch keeps the pace up it'll be at 400k before the December. Might close out the year 500k+.

PS4 still doing work on the software front.

Mr Swine · Oct 3, 2018

Good hardware sales and a bit disappointing software sales for Switch, I guess that medium sized games on PS4 won't boost hardware sales that much anymore.

But I do really hope that Super Mario Party lights a fire under the Switches butt and increases hardware sales for the whole month until Pokémon comes out

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

What I'm interested in is to see how Falcoms sales performance in Japan developed in the past few years. As it looks like they are in decline or stagnant best.

Aters said:
How can you improve the sales of CS4 from CS3 when CS4 requires people to play CS3 first?

Not sure if I recall correctly, wasn't CS3 the first PS4 exclusive (refering to console/handheld) release in the series? And already suffered a notable decline due to this fact? The argument back then was that the PSP and PSV audience need time to transition to PS4 first.

fiendcode · Oct 3, 2018

If you bought VC4 digitally you get a 25% discount on VC1 I believe. These numbers are super low and it bombed either way but maybe that skewed the usual digital ratio up somewhat.

Aters · Oct 3, 2018

ACL said:
Not sure if I recall correctly, wasn't CS3 the first PS4 exclusive (refering to console/handheld) release in the series? And already suffered a notable decline due to this fact? The argument back then was that the PSP and PSV audience need time to transition to PS4 first.

No doubt Falcom took a great hit from ditching PSV, and not just in Japan. They once posted their best selling SKUs in Asia, and the tops are PSV SKUs. They sell better than on PS3 or PS4. Now that this arc has come to an end, it leaves Falcom a couple of years to think about if sticking to home console is the right thing to do.

foxuzamaki · Oct 3, 2018

Smellycat said:
Sometimes I wonder why companies cater to the needs of fans of obscure games, especially when you see sales like that for TWEWY. But then again, it probably didn't cost Square much to port the game. Y'all aren't getting a sequel though

It's called international release, nothing is dependent on Japan anymore

Deleted member 5535 · Oct 3, 2018

kickz said:
Switch 2018 lineup continues to be a joke.

2019 lookin stacked though

No title from Nintendo was released this week.

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

konoka said:
aha?
https://sites.google.com/site/gamedatalibrary/software-data/2018-retail

Pretty much confirms my point, especially in Hardware sales. MHW lead to a big spike in January in both Hardware and Software sales, after that Switch software sales pretty much took the dominant role in the market and trends to a clear market leader position in market share by the end of 2018.

sfortunato · Oct 3, 2018

Bruno MB said:
Not many people cared about The World Ends With You released 11 years ago already.

If Square Enix had truly thought there was potential for this IP a sequel would have already been made long ago.

It debuted exclusively on NDS in its prime and barely sold 80.000 units with a paltry 40% sell-through

TWEWY's time was up a few years ago.

The game had a nice cult following back then. It didn't do greatly sales-wise but fanbase was dedicated. 11 years are a long-ass time though.

They should have released a direct sequel on 3DS, after TWEWY cameo in KH3D, in 2013.

test_account · Oct 3, 2018

D.Lo said:
Mr Konami: "Oh Mr Konami you are a genius! Hyper Sports R is exactly what the market wants! If it doesn't sell a million it's clear Switch owners don't buy 3rd party games and we'll cease development of anything on it! Also, let's put some Castelvania games on PS4 to tie in with Smash Bros, perfect!"

Honestly, i think Hyper Sports R has a bigger chance to sell more than a port of two older Castlevania games. I can see it (Hyper Sports R) reaching a much broader audience at least.

Castlevania on PS4 is also joint venture between Konami and Sony, it might not have happened without that. I also think its more likely that Sakurai/Nintendo was the one who approached Konami to include Belmont in Smash Ultimate, not the other way around. Castlevania is a pretty iconic franchise in gaming history (well, at least for those who are ~25 years or older), and Smash Ultimate being a new game, including Belmont is a pretty good fit for a new character. Its not like everyone getting Smash Ultimate only owns a Switch either, so having Belmont in Smash could have positive effect on Castlevania games for other platforms (although i think its debatable how much effect such thing actually will have. Is there any proven correlation that including a character in Smash has boosted sales for games in the serie?).

fiendcode · Oct 3, 2018

foxuzamaki said:
It's called international release, nothing is dependent on Japan anymore

You'd think after years of this being PS4's rallying cry people would extend the same logic to Switch.

That said I don't think TWEWY is going to do all that great in any market either. $50 for an awkward DS port a decade later is a tough sell no matter where you are.

ggx2ac · Oct 3, 2018

konoka said:
Demographics are different.
And destroying on hardware doesn't mean destroying on software because tie-ratios of nintendo systems are low in japan.

Software tie-ratios don't really mean much, if software is selling at a faster rate than hardware, then the software tie-ratios will end up higher, which PS4, Vita and 3DS are all experiencing because they're at the end of their lifecycle. They're all dependant on how fast or slow the hardware is selling.

Sure, the PS4, 3DS and Vita all have similar software tie-ratios but the 3DS has sold double the amount of software and almost double the amount of hardware of PS4 and Vita combined.

(Last record on gamedatalibrary week ending September 23rd 2018)

PS4
HW: 7.115.682
SW: 33.197.541
tie-ratio: 1:4.7

Vita
HW: 5.931.609
SW: 24.118.811
tie-ratio: 1:4.1

3DS
HW: 24.210.427
SW: 119.233.021
tie-ratio: 1:4.9

Switch
HW: 5.090.333
SW: 13.973.349
tie-ratio: 1:2.7

impact · Oct 3, 2018

RIP Valkyria Chronicles

next time release during the summer drought rather than September (there's not going to be a next time)

SinCityAssassin · Oct 3, 2018

Wonder how long it'll take for Spiderman to leave top 10.

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

ggx2ac said:
PS4
HW: 7.115.682
SW: 33.197.541
tie-ratio: 1:4.7

Switch
HW: 5.090.333
SW: 13.973.349
tie-ratio: 1:2.74

I agree. It was a really weak argument, that implied low software sales. But this data clearly shows that Switch, even with a smaller userbase, already sold more than a third of PS4s lifetime software sales, actually it's even closer to half, than just a third.

PS4: 33.2m (2014-now) vs Switch: 14m (2017-now)

test_account · Oct 3, 2018

fiendcode said:
You'd think after years of this being PS4's rallying cry people would extend the same logic to Switch.

That said I don't think TWEWY is going to do all that great in any market either. $50 for an awkward DS port a decade later is a tough sell no matter where you are.

To be fair, the situation is basically the same. Some guy talked about sales here (in this case with TWEWY), and another point out that the game is being sold worldwide. Its the same situation thats been for PS4 for some years.

Otherwise i agree that TWEWY probably wont do that good in other countries as well.

Sadist · Oct 3, 2018

It was a pretty stacked week for Switch third party releases, can't remember a week like this in its first and half years on the market. Valkyria bombed, but I fear worldwide the game will have it rough. Shame. I am part of the problem.

The World Ends with You was to be expected. As much as I love the original, its a very hard sell as a game. The DS version didn't set the world on fire, I doubted the Switch version could.

As for the orther three releases... I'll wait and see. Data shown us that FIFA and Xenoverse 2 were slow sellers and went on to sell well over 100k. I'm expecting a similar trajectory for FIFA 19 and FighterZ. Warriors Orrochi 4 will snag a few sales as Well.

sfortunato · Oct 3, 2018

Sadist said:
The World Ends with You was to be expected. As much as I love the original, its a very hard sell as a game. The DS version didn't set the world on fire, I doubted the Switch version could.

Original fans of the game don't want a porting (the game was also re-released on mobile phones too). They want a sequel.

Sqrt · Oct 3, 2018

impact said:
RIP Valkyria Chronicles

next time release during the summer drought rather than September (there's not going to be a next time)

The west will save it. Believe!

KillerMan91 · Oct 3, 2018

ggx2ac said:
Software tie-ratios don't really mean much, if software is selling at a faster rate than hardware, then the software tie-ratios will end up higher, which PS4, Vita and 3DS are all experiencing because they're at the end of their lifecycle. They're all dependant on how fast or slow the hardware is selling.

Sure, the PS4, 3DS and Vita all have similar software tie-ratios but the 3DS has sold double the amount of software and almost double the amount of hardware of PS4 and Vita combined.

(Last record on gamedatalibrary week ending September 23rd 2018)

PS4
HW: 7.115.682
SW: 33.197.541
tie-ratio: 1:4.7

Vita
HW: 5.931.609
SW: 24.118.811
tie-ratio: 1:4.1

3DS
HW: 24.210.427
SW: 119.233.021
tie-ratio: 1:4.9

Switch
HW: 5.090.333
SW: 13.973.349
tie-ratio: 1:2.7

To be fair this ignores digital sales completely that with PS4 means that pretty big amount of sales data is not taken to account (for example some discounted games like BF4, AC: Unity etc have sold more digitally than in retail)

konoka · Oct 3, 2018

ggx2ac said:
Software tie-ratios don't really mean much, if software is selling at a faster rate than hardware, then the software tie-ratios will end up higher, which PS4, Vita and 3DS are all experiencing because they're at the end of their lifecycle. They're all dependant on how fast or slow the hardware is selling.

Sure, the PS4, 3DS and Vita all have similar software tie-ratios but the 3DS has sold double the amount of software and almost double the amount of hardware of PS4 and Vita combined.

(Last record on gamedatalibrary week ending September 23rd 2018)

PS4
HW: 7.115.682
SW: 33.197.541
tie-ratio: 1:4.7

Vita
HW: 5.931.609
SW: 24.118.811
tie-ratio: 1:4.1

3DS
HW: 24.210.427
SW: 119.233.021
tie-ratio: 1:4.9

Switch
HW: 5.090.333
SW: 13.973.349
tie-ratio: 1:2.7

I can't understand what you want to say.
Do you think PS4 tie-ratio don't increase anymore?

Deleted member 15360 · Oct 3, 2018

What's people opinion on Q1 PS4 schedule ? Its loaded. Good time for a price cut?

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

konoka said:
I can't understand what you want to say.
Do you think PS4 tie-ratio don't increase anymore?

It means that considering that by the end of the year Switch software might very well be at over half of PS4 total software sales from 2014 to 2018 combined, your tie ratio comparison is a rather pointless comparison. As Switch Software sells at a faster rate than PS4 software in Japan.

Deleted member 31092 · Oct 3, 2018

Pranay said:
What's people opinion on Q1 PS4 schedule ? Its loaded. Good time for a price cut?

For the current sales of PS4 in Japan any day is a good day for a price cut.

ggx2ac · Oct 3, 2018

konoka said:
I can't understand what you want to say.
Do you think PS4 tie-ratio don't increase anymore?

I'm going to pretend I don't know. Please go ahead and continue with your response.

Dash Kappei · Oct 3, 2018

Radishhead said:
The World Ends With You: Final Bomba

Costs triple the mobile version, you can't play it in handheld mode with classic controls but only touch screen, even table top afaik you need to play it with motion controlled aiming.
For a game that offer little content over the decade old DS version, nevermind mobile...

I predicted 20k but I'm not shocked with this figure either.
It'll bomb worldwide.

Btw, does anybody know ballpark worlwide LTDs for YsVIII PS4/Vita/Switch and how the late Switch port compares?

Kresnik · Oct 3, 2018

65k indeed Utawarerumono.

Falcom really syphoning that Trails audience in Japan, glad the rest of Asia is making up for the losses I guess.

Pretty good from FighterZ and FIFA on Switch. Definitely expected more from Orochi and Valkyria though.

Lelouch0612 · Oct 3, 2018

Dash Kappei said:
Costs triple the mobile version, you can't play it in handheld mode with classic controls but only touch screen, even table top afaik you need to play it with motion controlled aiming.
For a game that offer little content over the decade old DS version, nevermind mobile...

I predicted 20k but I'm not shocked with this figure either.
It'll bomb worldwide.

Btw, does anybody know ballpark worlwide LTDs for YsVIII PS4/Vita/Switch and how the late Switch port compares?

I remember AniHawk saying that the Switch version is outselling the PS4 and PSV versions combined in the West.

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

LordKano said:
the fact that it dropped so little is already amazing in a sense, the fanbase is extremely loyal

Looked up sales of CS1 and CS2, which were PSV/PS3 releases. The problem is that CS1 and CS2 sold something like 160k-170k first week each. Sales almost halfed with CS3 and CS4 didn't sell any better either. The hope after CS3 was that it was just a matter of time until the PS3 and PSV audience transitions to PS4, but with CS4 sales remained stagnant.

Mory Dunz · Oct 3, 2018

Vc4 did bad. Everything else is generally around what I thought.

Deleted member 2791 · Oct 3, 2018

ACL said:
Looked up sales of CS1 and CS2, which were PSV/PS3 releases. The problem is that CS1 and CS2 sold something like 160k-170k first week each. Sales almost halfed with CS3 and CS4 didn't sell any better either. The hope after CS3 was that it was just a matter of time until the PS3 and PSV audience transitions to PS4, but with CS4 sales remained stagnant.

The bolded is nonsense, it was never a matter of time. The userbase lost in the PSV -> PS4 transition were never coming back since they were portable-players only. The fact that the decline is so little between CS3 and CS4 is an extremely good result considering it's a direct sequel.

Charamiwa · Oct 3, 2018

Lelouch0612 said:
I remember AniHawk saying that the Switch version is outselling the PS4 and PSV versions combined in the West.

And Labyrinth of Refrain Switch is outselling the PS4 version 3 to 1. Japanese games on Switch don't have any trouble in the West. But as Mat mentioned in the NPD threads, about 70% of Switch owners have a PS4/XB1/PC, so the Switch is just part of the life of those "hardcore" gamers. It's in Japan where the split seem to be must harsher. I guess people have deeply ingrained notion of what a PS4 and a Nintendo console should be. Weren't there a stat that showed that the Switch was mostly owned by children there?

ACL · Oct 3, 2018

LordKano said:
The bolded is nonsense, it was never a matter of time. The userbase lost in the PSV -> PS4 transition were never coming back since they were portable-players only. The fact that the decline is so little between CS3 and CS4 is an extremely good result considering it's a direct sequel.

I hope we can agree that the decline between CS2 and 3 on the other hand isn't an "extremely good" result. And about what you call nonsense, I simply mentioned the arguments with which some attempted to damage control the steep decline.

Deleted member 2791 · Oct 3, 2018

ACL said:
I hope we can agree that the decline between CS2 and 3 on the other hand isn't an "extremely good" result. And about what you call nonsense, I simply mentioned the arguments with which some attempted to damage control the steep decline.

Well from a growth perspective, sure, cutting the userbase in half is never a good result in theory. Now you gotta also factor in that they now have less of a workload with one less platform to develop for (or two ? I don't remember if CS2 was PS3/PSV/PS4) and that evens the things quite a bit.

There's also the harsh reality that Vita was not going to be a sustainable platform and they had to move in any situation, which implied no matter what they did a drop in the userbase.

Sub Boss · Oct 3, 2018

schuelma said:
Pretty meh for the new Switch software. Fighters Z will have to show legs to get to 100K.

For some reason Xenoverse 2 caught the Switch audience much more

Media Create Sales: Week 39, 2018 (Sep 24 - Sep 30)

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