Valve’s Leaked Steam Data Suggests Wolfenstein II Really Did Sell Poorly on PC

[Dyle]

They screwed up releasing it on the same day as Super Mario Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Origins, both much larger games that sucked up too much of the media attention. The concerns about the gameplay, not stellar pc port, and sequelitis all contributed too

 

[xrnzaaas]

I haven't played the game yet due to huge backlog and worrying reviews from a few trusted outlets but I think Bethesda will still release Wolfenstein 3. The difference is they'll probably add co-op and/or multiplayer.

 

[LilWayneSuckz]

Whoever did the game design of DOOM needs to collaborate with the creative designer of Wolfenstein 2 to create Wolfenstein 3.

 

[Soundtrack2chaos]

Not sure why you think over 500k switch owners should be paying full price for an old game which didn't even sell that great on other platforms.

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Should or would?

Switch owners have been paying full price for ports since the console was released. As for why, you'd have to ask them, the only full priced ports I bought were Mario kart (didn't have a wii) and Skyrim (because Skyrim).

 

[raketenrolf]

Massive letdown considering how awesome The New Order was. TNO literally became one of my favorite games this gen, I finished it around 4 times or more which is a lot for me these days. Don't see myself going back to Wolf 2.

Also, does this include the German version of the game? They are too different apps in Steam. Not that it would make a big difference, just curious.

 

[GameZone]

That's terrible. I hope Bethesda isn't moving away from Steam.

 

[Jaoox]

Don't sleep on Prey and/or Evil Within 2 guys...

Evil within is an acquired taste, but Prey is truly an amazing game.
If you have a System shock shaped hole in your heart, or even Bioshock, buy Prey, you're not gonna regret it.

Bethesda has pretty much only been releasing killer games this gen. Between DOOM, Prey, Evil Within, Dishonored 2... It's truly sad to see those not sell that well

Wolf2 on the other hand... Bought it day one on account of it being the sequel of TNO and woof... That was bad. Like, the level design frenquently made me audibly sigh because of how counter intuitive it was.It's a cool story for sure... But man what a letdown.

 

[Akiller]

Guess that happens when you don't market your damn games.

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Lol yeah, Beth basically sent TEW2 to bomb.They didn't bother marketing it, though the downgrade in sales per se wasn't a surprise. The first game had a huge hypetrain/pre-release hype.

 

[Juste]

Story was interesting, but gameplay was mediocre. PC port is also pretty ass, vsync doesn't even function in 4K.

 

[Arthoneceron]

isn't Ws2 supposed to be a good game?

What happened?

 

[PC-tan]

That's terrible. I hope Bethesda isn't moving away from Steam.

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I'm not sure if it's true or not but some people mentioned that it just did 2 million in sales world wide across all platforms, so I don't think Steam is the problem here. (The 2 million is just what someone here mentioned and I have no idea if that is true or not)

 

[mordecaii83]

I loved the original and bought it twice (PS4, Steam) but impressions about the second one (and watching a bit of it on Youtube) made it a pass for me. I really feel like they took a step backwards with the second game but would be interested in a third game if they fix most of the problems.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

Probably deserved

I heard the PC version had TONS of issues on release.

 

[xxbrothawizxx]

Whoever did the game design of DOOM needs to collaborate with the creative designer of Wolfenstein 2 to create Wolfenstein 3.

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Definitely how I felt after beating Wolf 2 a few days ago. The AI aren't as dumb as I originally thought, but they feel like a far cry from Doom's pathing at times.

 

[Derrick01]

Correct.
The guy behind this methodology has already criticised ArsTechnica for clickbait of calling it a leak - which it isn't. It also isn't "Owners data" so it isn't accurate in that way.

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Yeah calling this a leak when it's just using achievement data is irresponsible of the media. It doesn't count people like me who for example have prey and dishonored 2 on steam but haven't started them yet (I played both on ps4 at launch).

That's terrible. I hope Bethesda isn't moving away from Steam.

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They won't unless they want to sell even fewer copies on PC.

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

and thats why theyre adding coop in youngblood (and assuredly Wolf 3 as well). wish it sold better of course, even if the game itself was a disappointment

real shame about tew2 sales. one of the best games in the stacked 2017

 

[SirKai]

The sales of Prey, Wolf2, and TEW2 are all such a shame. The Evil Within 2 is fucking spectacular, and Wolfenstein 2 was also a great ride with some of the best cut-scenes and writing I've seen in years. I hope the games still managed to be profitable.

 

[Knurek]

I wanna see the receipts.

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Looked up the order confirmation, misremembered the amount but not by much.
£20.62, purchased on 27.11.2017

 

[PC-tan]

Keep in mind that sales figures without revenue can be extremely misleading, We don't know if those games were selling well at full price or at $3.

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Looks like on average it was about $20+ USD, and from the looks of it not even one month later it was already being sold for 50% off on Steam and other places

Edit: the 50% off was 1 month after it's initial release date on Steam

 

[LilWayneSuckz]

Definitely how I felt after beating Wolf 2 a few days ago. The AI aren't as dumb as I originally thought, but they feel like a far cry from Doom's pathing at times.

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Those enemy encounters in Wolfenstein 2 made me want to drop the game, but the story was amazing...Complete polar opposite of TEW2, the enemy encounters were bad and the story was awful.

 

[LewieP]

Looked up the order confirmation, misremembered the amount but not by much.
£20.62, purchased on 27.11.2017

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It's a massive difference when comparing sales figures to games that have been repeatedly sub-£5.

 

[ApeEscaper]

The beginning of it was so boring i wouldn't be surprised if people refunded it within the first two hours

 

[Theorry]

I like Bethesda their approach of announcing and releasing a couple of months later. But i guess it doesnt work for all games.

 

[Saty]

Numbers were taken July 1st, so ~8 months after release.

Sales of the games mentioned in their first 8 months or so:

Doom (2016) -1,730,337 ±37,663 (end of January 2017)
Wolfenstein: The New Order - Game released May `14, first Steamspy numbers are from April `16 - 1,129,164 ±25,352
Prey - 573,522 ±23,851 (end of January 2018)

 

[DOT_mjo]

It ran like shit upon release so I'm not even surprised. I had to beat the game on slideshow setting.

 

[Kewlmyc]

It's a terrible step down from the first so it's well deserved.

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Why is that? I'm in the middle of this new one. It seems on par with the first one so far in terms of combat and areas. Only negative seems to be that the villains feel way more cartoonish you evil this time around and there's an extremely stupid plot development halfway through (though it was technically hinted at earlier in the game).

 

[Lucumo]

Don't shoot me, but I still haven't played DOOM.

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As long as you played Doom and Doom II, it's all good.

 

[Eolz]

I reject the premise presented in the OP.

Wolfenstein II didn't get a big discount on Steam yet. What is the point in comparing numbers of games that have sold at full price or maybe 50% off with games that have been aggressively discounted to impulse purchase prices? And been on the market for longer?

Wolf2 sales seem pretty damn strong to me.

A sales number is meaningless without making efforts to understand the context it exists in.

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Ehhh, you could buy it for 20£ since november on most websites (not on steam directly), aka one month after release https://pricespy.co.uk/games-consol.../wolfenstein-ii-the-new-colossus-pc--p4363516

 

[Phediuk]

Wolfenstein 2 is also a much worse game than its predecessor.

 

[Dolobill]

TEW2 deserved so much better

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The PC port in of TEW2 is terrible so it deserves the poor PC sales, IMO. I still completed and enjoyed the game on PC but the performance is unacceptable.

 

[GameZone]

I'm not sure if it's true or not but some people mentioned that it just did 2 million in sales world wide across all platforms, so I don't think Steam is the problem here. (The 2 million is just what someone here mentioned and I have no idea if that is true or not)

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Steam is not doing the game any harm, but Bethesda is probably looking at making their games Bethesda Launcher exclusive, and that'll probably make them sell even worse.

 

[HouseDragon]

Wolfenstein II is one of my favorites this gen, so this just breaks my heart. It's definitely a hard sell for marketing due to its themes, but it's a storytelling gem and a blast to play.

Bethesda, I need Wolfenstein III, don't give up on this series!

 

[Deleted member 401]

It came out the same day as Mario Odyssey, and it wasn't a very good game to begin with.

 

[Deleted member 11093]

The PC port in of TEW2 is terrible so it deserves the poor PC sales, IMO. I still completed and enjoyed the game on PC but the performance is unacceptable.

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I mean it had its issues, like unfortunately most ports, but terrible? I wouldn't go that far.

You wanna know a truly terrible PC port? Play Nier, and that game sold way too fucking well. Plenty of PC gamers are willing to buy bad ports so I find the idea of someone refusing to buy TEW2 because of some mild issues pretty weird.

 

[Nostremitus]

I wouldn't call that poor sales.

Not great sells, mediocre maybe, but not poor.

We need to get past this perception that things are either gangbuster or they're complete flops with no middle ground.

 

[zerocalories]

I think I hate this game because it didn't have invincibility frames when getting hit? Did the first game have them? It just didn't feel good

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I think that's decent. I expected worse from the title.

 

[Sargerus]

No one to blame but Bethesda, they literally sent TEW2 to die.

 

[Jobbs]

The story in these numbers is TEW2. It's one of the better SH games ever made and one of the best games of its release year and sold that poorly. What a shame.

 

[gcwy]

Yikes those Evil Within 2 sales.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Those sales numbers for TEW2 just hurt. It's a legit good game and a great follow up to TEW1, but got ignored in a crowded month :(

 

[Odesu]

For a game that has Mixed reviews and it is $60 USD, 500k is still a lot. I finished the game and I think it was a disappointment compared to The New Order. Also DOOM had a permanent price cut to $20 USD and it was a better game IMO compared to TNC. It totally deserves 3 million sales.

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[Dolobill]

I mean it had its issues, like unfortunately most ports, but terrible? I wouldn't go that far.

You wanna know a truly terrible PC port? Play Nier, and that game sold way too fucking well. Plenty of PC gamers are willing to buy bad ports so I find the idea of someone refusing to buy TEW2 because of some mild issues pretty weird.

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I did play through Nier on PC and had no issues whatsoever after applying the fan mod. Didn't drop from 60 fps (capped unfortunately) the entire game. TEW2 hovered around 45.

 

[Jerykk]

Massive letdown considering how awesome The New Order was. TNO literally became one of my favorite games this gen, I finished it around 4 times or more which is a lot for me these days. Don't see myself going back to Wolf 2.

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I've never understood how someone could love TNO but hate TNC. They have the same gameplay. That said, if you played it console, it makes a little more sense. TNC was clearly designed with MKB in mind, which is why enemies flank you so much and have such high accuracy and damage. I heard so many people complain about being unable to tell where they're getting shot from but that was never an issue on PC because there you could instantly turn 180. Peripheral awareness was never an issue for me.

In any case, Youngblood might be the last Wolfenstein we see for a while. There's a good chance that Youngblood originally started as Wolfenstein 3, then when Wolfenstein 2 bombed, its scope and budget were reduced to that of an expansion pack. I'm pretty sure that's what happened with Death of the Outsider/Dishonored 3.

As for TEW2, it's a shame it sold so poorly but I don't think Bethesda expected much. Minimal marketing and no season pass suggests that they had very little confidence in it. Honestly, I'm surprised they made it at all. On the bright side, it tied up loose ends and concluded the series pretty nicely so I'm okay with it being the last one.

 

[Deleted member 11093]

I did play through Nier on PC and had no issues whatsoever after applying the fan mod. Didn't drop from 60 fps (capped unfortunately) the entire game. TEW2 hovered around 45.

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TEW2 was almost constant 60fps for me, 52-54fps if it ever drops, which it rarely did, if I can find anything that's bad about the port its the fact that it doesn't have native Dualshock 4 support.

The fan mod didn't help me at all with Nier, but that was with my 970 (and even then, the way it horrendously ran with and without the mod is inexcusable), gonna see if it's any different with a 1070ti soon enough once I feel like getting into the game again.

My point still stands, PC gamers support bad ports all the time, TEW2 most likely failed for other reasons.

 

[justiceiro]

Half a million on pc alone don't seems too shabby for me.

 

[Turin Turambar]

I think it was an overrated game, imo it was disappointing but... this article seems pure bait?

Why would you compare Wolf 2 to Wolf 1? Obviously Wolf TNO has sold better because it has been on the market for more years, and it had more aggressive sales and in a bigger number of times. On pc more specifically, the difference in numbers between the two is very normal, it's a market very driven by sales and discounts.
See those 3 million units from Doom? 80% of them has been once the game was heavily discounted, it also sold initially kind of poorly when it had a $60 price tag.

 

[JigglesBunny]

What a crying shame, due in part to the hyperbolic negative word of mouth bashing the games difficulty. In reality, the game bests its predecessor in every way just with added difficulty.

 

[Turin Turambar]

How many copies accumulatively would it it need to sell to be profitable, do we have a ball park on that?

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This is a tricky question. Part of the total number has been sold at $60, part at $35, and part will be at $20. Etc. Number of copies isn't then a good metric of economic performance.

 

[Budi]

I don't think the moment to moment gameplay was as good as the previous Wolfenstein, but it was still a fun singleplayer FPS with an enjoyable story. Kind of a bummer that it didn't do too well as this game also goes harder against the nazi and racist ideologies flaring up recently than any other AAA game. It really is a product of the current political atmosphere. I kind of imagine these sales being used as ammo on less wholesome parts of the internet as "proof" gamers don't want "SJW" themes in videogames which is a shame.

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Have you played Mafia 3? How would that compare?

Edit: Yeah I know it's KKK and shit in Mafia 3 and not Nazis, but racism is racism.