C2B Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/172036/THQ_sold_UFC_license_after_failing_to_break_even_on_it.php South Park requires a relatively smaller investment than other titles due to its simple animation. That project's break-even point is also 2 million units, though the publisher believes it can sell well above that, THQ told Pachter. This.... This can't be right. I mean WHAT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowScythe Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Uh oh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigranes Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 They better have a gigantic marketing budget for that to make sense. Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flouride Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 They better have a gigantic marketing budget for that to make sense. Either that or Obsidian and/or Matt&Trey are getting a huge payday off the top. But to be honest, unless it gets totally murdered in reviews it will sell those 2 million units, just because it's South Park if properly marketed. The team itself at Obsidian is around 50 people. Hate the living, love the dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Labadal Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I personally doubt it'll sell 2 million copies. I'm expecting Dungeon Siege III numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wombat Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Not sure of exact numbers but the game seems to be basically for South Park fans and the presentation appears to be quite faithful to the series. Probably, the question for Obsidian fans is how Obsidian game it would be - the system of RPG seems to be solid, which is one thing (It was not just nice words when I wrote there must be tasks which require RPG veterans, criticizing Alpha Protocol). However, how much of the writing and dialogues (and thus C&C) are Obsidian? I cannot get rid of an impression that SP staff might have gone to Bioware to find their hands were full and/or have found they didn't have enough budget while Obsidian being just their second choice. Watching TV show dialogues written by Parker and Stone with solid RPG combat/loot mechanisms will sell enough to SP fans and it may be enough fun even to Obsidian fans, though. In any case, since, from a financial point of view, obviously, it would be good when the money eared is much more than invested, considering the situation surrounding THQ, they probably needed to put an emphasis on that. We can only hope that the situation won't get so hard to Obsidian. In any case, even before the subprime-loan-triggered recession, I was quite skeptical of the financial systems. At the moment, I'm hoping for at least one successful example of Kickstarter and the possibility of involvement of some Obsidian members to a project, either as a company or individuals. I may preorder Dishonored to show my support but, basically, any major title shouldn't need any "support vote" if they are to be successful at all and thus can wait till digital sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostofAnakin Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Has any Obsidian title sold 2 million units? "Console exclusive is such a harsh word." - Darque"Console exclusive is two words Darque." - Nartwak (in response to Darque's observation) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorstUsernameEver Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 (edited) Has any Obsidian title sold 2 million units? F:NV. And, uhm, I think Neverwinter Nights 2 might have sold that much? I don't remember how much KotOR 2 sold, but I don't think they reached numbers in that ballpark (market wasn't as big at the time though). That said, I'm pretty sure Neverwinter Nights 2 (assuming I'm remembering that number correctly) sold that kind of numbers during its lifetime, while I'm pretty sure that THQ wants 2 mil copies *fast* to recoup the development expenses. I'm not really sure why the game would need that kind of sales: Trey and Matt cost a lot of money? They're pouring a lot of effort into marketing? Good luck Obsid and THQ. Well, mostly Obsidian, since THQ recent classy moves such as trying to hide the closure of their UFC studio during E3, so I'm not sure I really care that much for them. Then again, Darksiders Edited June 8, 2012 by WorstUsernameEver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flouride Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 I'm not really sure why the game would need that kind of sales: Trey and Matt cost a lot of money? They're pouring a lot of effort into marketing? Or maybe THQ is just flat out bsing. They are bleeding for money after all, getting a fat income from South Park would surely benefit the company at this stage. But I guess the more reasonable/probable answer is a big marketing budget. Hate the living, love the dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wombat Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Well, I'd just say the statements sound quite "political." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobSmith101 Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Has any Obsidian title sold 2 million units? FNV probably did at least that. As long as the advertise in South Park the show I don't think they will have problems reaching those numbers. They could even write a show around it since everyone involved is on the same page and wants to make money from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hassat Hunter Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 It does seem like unrealistic high numbers... Like a certain SEGA on a certain Alpha Protocol. ^ I agree that that is such a stupid idiotic pathetic garbage hateful retarded scumbag evil satanic nazi like term ever created. At least top 5. TSLRCM Official Forum || TSLRCM Moddb || My other KOTOR2 mods || TSLRCM (English version) on Steam || [M4-78EP on Steam Formerly known as BattleWookiee/BattleCookiee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2B Posted June 8, 2012 Author Share Posted June 8, 2012 It does seem like unrealistic high numbers... Like a certain SEGA on a certain Alpha Protocol. Yeah, but there are reasons WHY AP needed to sell high (high development costs). Here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baeus Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 (edited) Maybe the South Park license was stupidly expensive? That is why licensed games have a rep for turning out as, ahem, less than awesome. So much of the budget gets blown on the name, leaving little for development. Does seem like a lot to break even though. The previews seem to be quite positive though. Edited June 8, 2012 by Baeus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2B Posted June 8, 2012 Author Share Posted June 8, 2012 Maybe the South Park license was stupidly expensive? That is why licensed games have a rep for turning out as, ahem, less than awesome. So much of the budget gets blown on the name, leaving little for development. Does seem like a lot to break even though. The previews seem to be quite positive though. Matt and Trey started this whole thing in the first place before THQ was even in the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowScythe Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Also aren't Viacom the ones publishing while THQ are just distributing? At least that's what I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bos_hybrid Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Given most AAA games struggle to hit 2M....... I don't think any of THQ's games have sold that, besides Saints Row. Not exactly what you would want to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2B Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Given most AAA games struggle to hit 2M....... I don't think any of THQ's games have sold that, besides Saints Row. Not exactly what you would want to hear. Given most AAA games struggle to hit 2M....... I don't think any of THQ's games have sold that, besides Saints Row. Not exactly what you would want to hear. After a bit of researching 2 M seems to be the break even point for every of their games. I still think that number can't be real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tale Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 I've heard that few games make a profit. But I've never been quite clear on whether that was the game industry equivalent of hollywood accounting or not. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2B Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Also aren't Viacom the ones publishing while THQ are just distributing? At least that's what I thought. Well THQ is the publisher. Who finances what is unclear though. And then licenses costs. But even then, their costs shouldn't need this number of sales. There are numerous things we heard about Viacom/South Park provided and they at least payed till THQ came into the picture. So does THQ just throw everything into Marketing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexx Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 (edited) Maybe that's a long time goal? Like, South Park should get 2 million sales in the first or second year or something? Because - like most around here - I find the value to be quite strange otherwise. Edited June 12, 2012 by Lexx "only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorth Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Maybe they just have a rubberstamp with 2 million on it which they use on their budgets for new games? I somehow suspect a typo or a paragraph ended up in the wrong place. THQ isn't even the publisher, so why the heck would *they* need to shift 2 million units? Isn't advertising and PR the responsibility of the publisher? Maybe they get a performance bonus if they can get that many copies into peoples hands through their distribution channels? “He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2B Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Maybe they just have a rubberstamp with 2 million on it which they use on their budgets for new games? I somehow suspect a typo or a paragraph ended up in the wrong place. THQ isn't even the publisher, so why the heck would *they* need to shift 2 million units? Isn't advertising and PR the responsibility of the publisher? Maybe they get a performance bonus if they can get that many copies into peoples hands through their distribution channels? THQ is at responsible for the PR how it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.E. Sawyer Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 FNV probably did at least that. F:NV sold-in 5 million units during its first three weeks. twitter tyme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobSmith101 Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 FNV probably did at least that. F:NV sold-in 5 million units during its first three weeks. Well deserved. I thought it surpased the original in most respects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now