How do they figure sales?

[Mesa Red]

Having read the forums here and at the LA site I have heard numerous references to getting KotOR2 out for the Christmas shopping season. Now this may seem like a silly question and if so please feel free to skip to the next topic.

 

However, since the game was released just before Christmas, how could the publisher be sure sales then would be higher than, say, a February release?

 

I ask because it seems almost all of the ones that purchased KotOR2 also owned KotOR1. Would the time of release have stopped them from buying the sequeal?

 

And this begs another question; By rushing the game to market and having it snatched up by KotOR1 owners who were then disappointed by the 'final' product, wouldn't this have ultimately hurt sales because of the bad publicity (for LA and OE) the game has generated?

 

Just asking for opinions here. I am curious as to what others may think.

 

 

Mesa Red

[ShadowPaladin V1.0]

Having read the forums here and at the LA site I have heard numerous references to getting KotOR2 out for the Christmas shopping season. Now this may seem like a silly question and if so please feel free to skip to the next topic. 

 

However, since the game was released just before Christmas, how could the publisher be sure sales then would be higher than, say, a February release?

 

I ask because it seems almost all of the ones that purchased KotOR2 also owned KotOR1. Would the time of release have stopped them from buying the sequeal?

 

And this begs another question; By rushing the game to market and having it snatched up by KotOR1 owners who were then disappointed by the 'final' product, wouldn't this have ultimately hurt sales because of the bad publicity (for LA and OE) the game has generated?

 

Just asking for opinions here. I am curious as to what others may think.

 

 

Mesa Red

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

More games are sold over the holiday period. Something like 40% more or around there anyway.

 

The majority of people dont know about the alternate ending in the game. Probably care even less and are playing something else right now. So any bad publicity is going to be confined to a small % of people. The US Xbox release would have had 3 months of sales prior to that and since thats the only one that LA felt the need to get out before Xmas, thats were most of the sales were expected to come from.

[Mesa Red]

Makes sense I suppose.

 

Though I have to admit my family buys games during the year and rarely gives them as presents at Christmas. So, I am guessing that is the exception rather than the rule. As much as I was looking forward to KotOR2, I didn't purchase it until early March of this year. <shrug>

 

Anyway, thanks for your information/thoughts.