AP has sold 700k units?

[funcroc]

I read this info at NeoGAF.

Alpha Protocol and Iron Man 2 sales results

 

In their latest fiscal report, Sega revealed the sales results for two of their recent published titles, Alpha Protocol and Iron Man 2.

 

Alpha Protocol was released for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in Europe on May 28th and North America on June 1st. As of June 30th, the role-playing game has sold 700,000 units.

 

Iron Man 2 fared much better. Since its release in early May, the superhero movie tie-in sold 1.12 million units as of the end of June across Europe and North American combined on Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Edited July 30, 2010 by funcroc

[Tigranes]

Christ, that's not that bad, is it? I understand the no-sequel diktat but 700k in one month isn't a catastrophe, it'll easily pass a million soon enough. I guess they were looking for it to pull in top notch RPG sales - if they did they were probably expecting double that.

 

That said, Iron Man 2? I hate how we all sucker into brand purchases

[WorstUsernameEver]

Christ, that's not that bad, is it? I understand the no-sequel diktat but 700k in one month isn't a catastrophe, it'll easily pass a million soon enough. I guess they were looking for it to pull in top notch RPG sales - if they did they were probably expecting double that.

 

Well, it seems like they were expecting the game to be a top-tier RPG franchise. It honestly seemed a bit of wishful thinking on SEGA's part, but we don't honestly know what the budget was, maybe it was really high after all.

 

EDIT : Granted, taking into account that AP is a multi-platform title.... I would be curious to compare these sales to other, well, let's call them 'second-tier' RPGs, like Divinity II or Drakensang.

Edited July 30, 2010 by WorstUsernameEver

[funcroc]

from Sega Sammy Holdings website

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS [Japanese GAAP] 3 Months Ended June 30, 2010

Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements 3 Months Ended June 30, 2010

Edited July 30, 2010 by funcroc

[kirottu]

Christ, that's not that bad, is it? I understand the no-sequel diktat but 700k in one month isn't a catastrophe, it'll easily pass a million soon enough. I guess they were looking for it to pull in top notch RPG sales - if they did they were probably expecting double that.

 

Sawyer once said when we were discussing Jade Empire sales numbers(650k I think) that current AAA titles need to sell atleast 1 million to be succesful and that was way back.

[Kid SixXx]

ME2 sold about 500K units on its first day of release.

 

700K units may have sold, but there are still a lot of units sitting on shelves waiting to be put in the bargain bin. AP won't make a profit if the price has to be slashed dramatically just to move the first release shipment out of circulation.

 

Well, it seems like they were expecting the game to be a top-tier RPG franchise. It honestly seemed a bit of wishful thinking on SEGA's part, but we don't honestly know what the budget was, maybe it was really high after all.

 

I'm not sure how that was wishful thinking. The pre-release buzz generated a lot of interest and it was a spy game that felt like an action movie which tends to be a lot less polarizing than pure fantasy or sci-fi game.

 

If execution had lived up to even 80% of the hype, this would've been a monster hit.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Kid SixXx

[Cogar66]

ME2 sold about 500K units on its first day of release.

 

700k units so far isn't bad for an RPG. Mass Effect sold well because it was "ZOMFG EPIC ASPLOSION AWESOMENESS LACED WITH DRAMATIC GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS LIKE THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AN INVENTORY!"

 

Fact: Shooters sell better than RPGs.

[Kid SixXx]

700k units so far isn't bad for an RPG.

 

700K units moved isn't the volume you'd expect from a game that was supposed to launch a brand new franchise. Respectable from a genre standpoint, but pretty lousy when compared with expectations of the new intellectual property.

 

Mass Effect sold well because it was "ZOMFG EPIC ASPLOSION AWESOMENESS LACED WITH DRAMATIC GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS LIKE THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AN INVENTORY!"

 

And ME2 still sold very well. I suppose this is where the ME2 IS DUMBED DOWN FOR GROGNARDS WHO ARE NOT HARDCORE RPG PLAYERZ! part of the thread starts.

 

Fact: Shooters sell better than RPGs.

 

ME2 was billed as the sequel to an RPG, not a shooter.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Kid SixXx

[WorstUsernameEver]

700K units moved isn't the volume you'd expect from a game that was supposed to launch a brand new franchise. Respectable from a genre standpoint, but pretty lousy when compared with expectations of the new intellectual property.

 

And that's what I really don't understand. You don't fund a self-contained game with lots of choices and consequences and a rather weak focus on action and stealth if you want to start a million-seller franchise.

Not that Obsidian is faultless, far from it, after all, THEY WERE THE ONE WHO DEVELOPED THE GAME, but did Sega know what they were funding?

[Cogar66]

Fact: Shooters sell better than RPGs.

 

ME2 was billed as the sequel to an RPG, not a shooter.

More people bought ME2 than ME because it was a shooter. People didn't buy it because it was a sequel to an RPG. In fact, a lot of the fans of the first dislike ME2 because of the shooter direction it took.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Cogar66

[Flouride]

700k isn't all that bad nor is it good when considering the long development cycle. Cba to discuss why it sold "only" 700k units as it has been discussed in multiple thread already.

[Kid SixXx]

And that's what I really don't understand. You don't fund a self-contained game with lots of choices and consequences and a rather weak focus on action and stealth if you want to start a million-seller franchise.

 

Not sure about anyone else but to me, AP had the allure of a Bourne film or the TV series, 24, going for it at the time. It had to feel like an action film and I think it struck all the right chords with dialogue, storyline and choice. I liked the idea of an RPG set in an espionage setting. I thought it had wider appeal than a space opera or some fantasy epic dungeon crawl.

 

With some tinkering to the gameplay mechanics (Smarter AI, have weapon skills improve damage instead of accuracy and leave the shooting to the player, level designs to help players better exploit stealth or gadget use), AP would've been a perfectly fine game.

 

Not that Obsidian is faultless, far from it, after all, THEY WERE THE ONE WHO DEVELOPED THE GAME, but did Sega know what they were funding?

 

I think SEGA knew what they were funding because it's not like they haven't funded RPG's before that are downright revered now like Skies of Arcadia. They were doing business with the company that made KOTOR2 and that sold like nobody's business despite the rushed deadline.

 

Ultimately I blame SEGA as a producer. I think if they had better supported the ambition of the AP dev team, this game would've turned out much better.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Kid SixXx

[Kid SixXx]

More people bought ME2 than ME because it was a shooter. People didn't buy it because it was a sequel to an RPG. In fact, a lot of the fans of the first dislike ME2 because of the shooter direction it took.

 

They still bought the game and it still sold far better than this one.

 

No offense, but the gripes of fans that dislike the shooter focus for a game whose main protagonist is a miltary guy and whose first game in the franchise was pretty much a glorified 3PS / Squad Combat based title anyway gives me some pause.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Kid SixXx

[Cogar66]

More people bought ME2 than ME because it was a shooter. People didn't buy it because it was a sequel to an RPG. In fact, a lot of the fans of the first dislike ME2 because of the shooter direction it took.

 

They still bought the game and it still sold far better than this one.

I never said it didn't, I was just saying, it sold well because it was a shooter.

No offense, but the gripes of fans that dislike the shooter focus for a game whose main protagonist is a miltary guy and whose first game in the franchise was pretty much a glorified 3PS / Squad Combat based title anyway gives me some pause.

I agree the first was more a shooter than RPG, but it was still more RPG than ME2.

 

ME: 30-40% RPG 60-70% Shooter

 

ME2: .01%-1% RPG 99%-99.99% Shooter.

[Flouride]

No offense, but the gripes of fans that dislike the shooter focus for a game whose main protagonist is a miltary guy and whose first game in the franchise was pretty much a glorified 3PS / Squad Combat based title anyway gives me some pause.

 

As games both Mass Effects are good, but the crpg mechanics are really lacking in ME2. So why wouldn't crpg fans whine about it? And it's not like people didn't bitch about the original title as well.

[Cogar66]

Snip

+1

[Volourn]

"More people bought ME2 than ME because it was a shooter. People didn't buy it because it was a sequel to an RPG. In fact, a lot of the fans of the first dislike ME2 because of the shooter direction it took. "

 

Evidence, please. Most people who played ME1 and ME2 prefer ME2. That includes the Codex who are all about rpgs. Heck, they prefer ME2 over DA. ME2 is an action rpg just like ME1, AP, or BL. It's not a shooter. It's an RPG with 'shooter elements'. It has a lot more in common with rpgs than it does with shooters.

 

 

As for actual topic, if AP actually sold 700k copies already, that ain't too bad. Highly suspect that Sega would officially write off a game that sold that much...

[Wrath of Dagon]

700K isn't bad at all for a game positioned the way AP was. But as someone said, it's probably units shipped to store, not sold through to the consumer.

[Flouride]

Evidence, please. Most people who played ME1 and ME2 prefer ME2. That includes the Codex who are all about rpgs. Heck, they prefer ME2 over DA. ME2 is an action rpg just like ME1, AP, or BL. It's not a shooter. It's an RPG with 'shooter elements'. It has a lot more in common with rpgs than it does with shooters.

 

Maybe it's one those facts that you don't need to prove at all

Ooh it was better liked at RPG Codex, then it must be true. *****, please. Mass Effect 2 had 6 votes and Mass Effect had 2 votes on The 2010 Codex Top 5 RPG's vote. Dragon Age also got 6 votes. Great success, eh?

 

The whole gameplay is based on shooter mechanics in ME2, not crpg. Conversations and story elements are the only part of the game that still have some crpg elements left.

[Volourn]

"Maybe it's one those facts that you don't need to prove at all"

 

 

 

"Ooh it was better liked at RPG Codex, then it must be true. *****, please. Mass Effect 2 had 6 votes and Mass Effect had 2 votes on The 2010 Codex Top 5 RPG's vote. Dragon Age also got 6 votes. Great success, eh?"

 

Your comment here doesn't even make sense. We weren't comapring how much Codex likes ME2 comapred to other games just ME1 9and DA). It's clear they prefer ME2 over ME1 and espicially over DA which is supposedly a full rpg.

 

 

"The whole gameplay is based on shooter mechanics in ME2, not crpg."

 

Baloney. Character talents do make a difference. And, again, the fact that the combatb is action NOT shooter based is why it is an action rpg.

 

 

" Conversations and story elements are the only part of the game that still have some crpg elements left."

 

Like I said, ME2 is an action rpg with shooter elements.

[WorstUsernameEver]

People can legitimately like Mass Effect 2, while still think that it's more of a shooter compared to Mass Effect (which is the blatant truth, supported by Bioware).

 

I'm not sure what the hell it has to do with Alpha Protocol though.

[Flouride]

Your comment here doesn't even make sense. We weren't comapring how much Codex likes ME2 comapred to other games just ME1 9and DA). It's clear they prefer ME2 over ME1 and espicially over DA which is supposedly a full rpg.

 

Nonsense. It makes perfect sense. Since there's isn't a poll on RPG Codex on which game out of the 3 everyone prefers you can't really prove your point. At least that TOP 5 rpg's poll shows how many people rate them very highly when it comes to crpgs.

 

Clear? Last time I checked 6-6 is a tie, not a clear victory for ME2.

[Volourn]

Bottom line is ME2 is an action rpg with shooter elements that has more in common with rpgs than shooters. This is FACT.

 

Still, doubting the 700k number since sega basically blasted AP and I doubt they would if it sold that much. So, either the number is wrong or Sega is foolish.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

How the hell did Iron Man 2 sell 1.12 million?

[Libertarian]

It sold 700,000 units in less than a month and they're not going ahead with a sequel? Wtf...

 

It's on track to sell 1+ million (if it hasn't already), which is a success. Not a Halo/Call of Duty success, but better than most third-party releases.

Edited July 30, 2010 by Libertarian