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Xbox Wire: State of Decay 2 exceeds 2 million players in less than two weeks
- Thread starter Theorry
- Start date
While this doesnt sound bad it still doesnt tell me if the game sold over or under 1 million copies.
What would knowing that piece of information really tell you in the end? That it satisfied your singular arbitrary criteria for success?
I have been playing!
It's stressful though, my community is slowly dying and I can't seem to stop it.
It's stressful though, my community is slowly dying and I can't seem to stop it.
So basically if your game ultimately depends on engagement, and you want your game to be played by a million or more people right away, putting it on GamePass seems to be a decent option.
You're literally referring to one post though, I don't see why anyone would read the entire thread and come away thinking the bolded.
I always wondered about these numbers, is it unique user oris it different user accounts on 1 xbox?
Now tell me honestly, why does this matter? The game will continue to get support and the developers will see this as a positive even if you refuse to. If nobody is playing this game in 3 months then that is a metric we can go by and then claim it didn't do well.
Its certainly more than one post, and Sea of Thieves thread was horrendous about this type of stuff.
Game pass seems to be working so far. Very encouraging that a niche hardcore survival sim can find an audience. Seems to be doing exactly what everyone hoped for.
Let's assume it didn't sell any copies at all, whatsoever. That means 2 million playing thanks to Game Pass. So Game Pass is a success, and State of Decay 2 is getting significant exposure.
I wouldn't worry about the economics of it all, Microsoft isn't going under any time soon, and as many have acknowledged on here, their games are under-funded anyway. So clearly they've got far less to lose.
People don't want to give MS credit and will find any loop hole to diminish first party/exclusive success. Game Pass is supposed to do this. I would have never played Sea of Thieves or SoD 2 if it wasn't for game pass. People who are gonna buy the games will buy it, and everyone else who is on the fence has the chance to play these games for 10 dollars a month. It's a win win and MS measures success differently than units sold per game.
Now the major hurdle is to get third party onboard because it's going to be very difficult to get them to put their new games on GamePass. The traditional way of releasing games is something that won't change overnight.
I wonder if those arguing Game Pass plays don't 'count' as much as a traditional sale would make the same argument about streaming numbers for an album on Spotify or Apple Music.
Yes, and the snarky posts started really early. They were, like, preemptive snark.
OP
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I am mean its already happening. But those are AA titles and indie games so far. It will take some time to see more AAA games on there on release for sure. But seeing good numbers for games like this is a good sign to sell it to third party.
I do expect at E3 one big third party game to be announced on Gamepass day one tho.
Who cares? MS is obviously happy with both SoT and SoD2 sales. MS announced a million players earlier on and now 2 million in less than 2 weeks. Like it or not the game is doing amazing (actual sales&gamepass subs) which means the community is growing quickly and MS is happy with it.
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Im just curious. We have number threads for discussion all the time here on Era.
It just would give us a better look at the success of the game and also the success of gamepass.
Its not like im asking for company secrets.
It's a good point. Plays on Spotify/Apple Music etc all count towards album and single charts these days. Media is consumed in different ways in 2018 and only taking 'a sale' as a measure of success is honestly old fashioned. Microsoft publish SOD2. If people are subbing to Game Pass (or staying subbed to Game Pass) and playing SOD2 then it's a success. They obviously value people playing on GP or they wouldn't put all of their first party games on there.
I'm happy to see that the reviews haven't tanked this game. I loved State of Decay and this game is a better version of that.
Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess I can just empathize with why MS (or any pub) doesn't go out of their way to share those numbers, because it doesn't give us context for what's considered a success. 500K sales might not look impressive, but maybe that surpassed MS' projections, who knows. I just sometimes feel like "I want to see sales numbers" on here really means "prove to me you've sold one million plus".
Giving hard numbers doesn't tell the whole story which is likely why it's probably in Microsoft's best interest to treat it as a company secret. Things have changed quite a bit over the years, even digital sales sometimes get forgotten in number reports. If I can't find anyone online to play with or they stop updating the game and remove it from the servers that's what I care about.
You keep spouting similar comments in every Xbox/MS thread. Don't you get tired?
Sounds perfectly normal to me ;) My community is no joyful bunch either, too few beds, lack of resources, too many infestations and everyone is depressed and threatens to leave. But the blood plague cure is made at least! Tbh those stressful scenarios seems fitting for the genre, I like it a lot and I know the next Dead Rising and TLOU2 will seem shallow without that.
Lol what ?
I would say most of the industry and consumers care about.
Units sold
Revenue
This player count , hour played or any other PR canned bullshit response has to go.
Nope. I'd argue that the game driving people to try Game Pass is more important than the single $30 sale. Can't look at these things in a vacuum. Even for those that try it and cancel it, it's increasing mindshare of the service.
The thirst for 1st party X1 games is so fucking real.
Also, Zombie games will never not be cool.
Also, Zombie games will never not be cool.
No doubt a lot of it is Gamepass, although the UE edition was #1 on top paid charts before it released to GP.
But even then when GP is involved it makes the sales numbers less relevant and engagement statistics more relevant.
If one person subscribes to Game Pass in part due to SOD2 stays subscribed for the next 3 years, that's equivalent to 12 copies sold. Sure many will cancel after their trials. Others who were pushed over the edge will stick.
I'd argue the Game Pass subscriber is every bit as important as the true retail sale.
I'd argue the Game Pass subscriber is every bit as important as the true retail sale.
I'm pretty sure the number of consumers who care about revenue or units sold is next to none.
Fantastic numbers. I've sunk in a good 30+ hrs on it myself despite the jank and bugs.
I still feel like this could have been a bigger and far more polished game with a full narrative arc. But for such a small studio, I believe around 60 active Devs, they have done a great job.
I still feel like this could have been a bigger and far more polished game with a full narrative arc. But for such a small studio, I believe around 60 active Devs, they have done a great job.
Some barriers have now been removed like the upfront cost. Putting this on GamePass may help its future more so now because those who were on the fence or those who may not have even thought about getting it might try it now and actually play it. Is Fortnite not a success because they don't share how many units were sold? Microsoft is part of this industry and they will look at the data they see as relevant, not what you think is. After all, they are the one's who are funding the game so if they see this as a positive sign why would they care if all you want is units sold? Did you plan on playing the game in the first place, are you thinking of getting Gamepass or is this just another way to discourage any positive feedback?
They all 'count'. It's a question of the ratios used and value of each individual gamer.
In the UK music charts 150,000 streams are equivalent to 1000 actual sales. These things are never like for like as you have subscribers, free users, subscriptions given with phone contracts etc.
You'd expect a major AAA like Sea of Thieves to sell multiple millions lifetime with good reviews, no GamePass and a following wind. 2m players in the first couple of weeks is a start, but to generate the same kind of revenue as 2m $60 sales, you'd need a significant percentage of that playerbase engaged over multiple years, spending on DLC and microtransactions.
This applies to each subsequent release. Titles need to retain player engagement and spending to justify that individual titles placement on GamePass......and any subsequent sequels. Netflix and Spotify have reached a critical mass where enough people subscribe year long to fund and expand the services. It's still way too early to tell if consumers are using GamePass as an extended demo service, be it with $10 monthly passes, or free ones.
There's one further crucial difference with Netflix and Spotify. These services are only limited by the availability of an internet connection. It's difficult to pick up any electronic entertainment device without these services. Until Microsoft deliver a streaming version of GamePass they'll be constrained by their Xbox userbase. The moment they open up GamePass from 35m to 350m+, that's when we can start talking about potential.
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The face you're member here and probably GAF makes this post even more stupud
I went from dead rising 4 straight to state of decay 2 and the whole "generic zombie genre getting stale" meme is rediculous...I did not feel an ounce fatigue playing SoD2 which has a completely different feel than DR4. With that said I'm totally excited for Days Gone.
I got the GP for 2 months for 4 bucks for ging. Sea of Thieves was a major disappointment while State of Decay 2 was a pleasant surprise for me.
I got the GP for 2 months for 4 bucks for ging. Sea of Thieves was a major disappointment while State of Decay 2 was a pleasant surprise for me.
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The number of members on GAF and Era is a tiny fraction of the whole consumer base. Even then, not everyone on here cares about units sold.
The vast majority of consumers don't care.
Well deserved! I'm on my 4th playthrough of the game and I imagine I'll be playing it for the foreseeable future. There's no other game on the market like it.
By the way, MS doesn't care whether it's people with Gamepass or people buying the game on Xbox or Windows, they're getting paid either way.
By the way, MS doesn't care whether it's people with Gamepass or people buying the game on Xbox or Windows, they're getting paid either way.
I love that gamepass exists, and think it's a definite bet positive for games on the service...
But it's a real monkeys paw style wish granted if you wanted better discussion around MS games. Games will have great numbers going forward, but will always have that "how much from gamepass" metacommentary
But it's a real monkeys paw style wish granted if you wanted better discussion around MS games. Games will have great numbers going forward, but will always have that "how much from gamepass" metacommentary