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Forums - Sales Discussion - Week 41: Media Create/Famitsu/Dengeki - 9th- 15th October 2017

NoCtiS_NoX said:
tbone51 said:

That doesnt make it good though, all sales this week were pretty low (including switch hardware but its just gonna do switch numbers lol). Only thing that did good was leggy games. Hardware is low, even ps4. 

Just out of curiosity what is a good sales for PS4 then?

 

Also, Famitsu up!
NSW- 37,227
PS4  -26,486
3DS- 20,157

Software:

Shadow of war
20,144

[PS4] Lost Sphear 
7.363 
[NSW] Lost Sphear 
5.770 

Wasnt ps4 baseline this year around i guess 28k-30k? Great weeks would 35k giving the market. Around 30k as it was doing a lot this year would be good sales imo. My point to kero was if 22k is one of the lowest ps4 has in weekly sales has is it good? Its not bad i say just about ok. (Of course now that i re read my post i didnt specifically say that my bad!)

Kerotan said:
tbone51 said:

That doesnt make it good though, all sales this week were pretty low (including switch hardware but its just gonna do switch numbers lol). Only thing that did good was leggy games. Hardware is low, even ps4. 

22k on mediacreate and 26k on Famitsu for ps4. That's not low for a traditional home console in Japan.  I'd also argue that 3DS selling 20k+ isn't low either when you consider this a slow period for it aswell and also consider how late in its life it is.  

 

Switch isn't low either it's just low compared to what it could be selling if there was sufficient stock. 

StarDoor said:

Not sure if you're serious, but:

PS4: ~5.4 million
NS: ~1.9 million

Yeah ps4 still has quite a big lead. It's too be expected. 

NoCtiS_NoX said:

Just out of curiosity what is a good sales for PS4 then?

 

Also, Famitsu up!
NSW- 37,227
PS4  -26,486
3DS- 20,157

Software:

Shadow of war
20,144

[PS4] Lost Sphear 
7.363 
[NSW] Lost Sphear 
5.770 

Why does Famitsu regularly have ps4 and switch numbers much closer together? 



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Tbone were talking about it's rock bottom baseline for one of the slowest if not the slowest time of year. Selling over 22k or 26k according to Famitsu is very good.



Did miyamotoo miss the blatant sarcasm in tbone's post about Lost Sphear or am I missing something?

Also Lost Sphear bomba, step it up Tokyo RPG Factory - Acquire is schooling you hard with Octopath Traveller.



 
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Shadow of War sold 22k with a strong sell-through of nearly 90%. The previous title sold 13k FW / 27k LTD.
Lost Sphear sold 12k across 2 platforms with a low sell-through of around 20%.



Dengeki up



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Thanks for taking over, Noctis. It's lovely to have you back doing this (and you're already quicker at getting the other trackers up than I ever was!)

vgc said:

Reused assets are going to bring development costs down, and the game has yet to be released in other markets.

If Tokyo RPG Factory were a Compile Heart studio, I can see the argument for re-used assets etc. Yet Compile Heart games sell more than Lost Sphear did. And Lost Sphear is made by Square Enix.

Square Enix, a company who have killed mid-tier IP's that were selling considerably more than this. Square Enix, who revived franchises like Star Ocean and SaGa to sell like 5-10 x more than Lost Sphear and they were still considered disappointing. In Star Ocean's case, it was turned into a mobile franchise.

Perhaps Tokyo RPG Factory can live on as a mobile RPG Factory, but for an initiative set up to relive the brilliance of old console RPG's, this is a miserable result and a sad, stark wake up call to Square Enix that their attempts to court the mid-tier of gaming can sink as low as this.



Kresnik said:

Thanks for taking over, Noctis. It's lovely to have you back doing this (and you're already quicker at getting the other trackers up than I ever was!)

vgc said:

Reused assets are going to bring development costs down, and the game has yet to be released in other markets.

If Tokyo RPG Factory were a Compile Heart studio, I can see the argument for re-used assets etc. Yet Compile Heart games sell more than Lost Sphear did. And Lost Sphear is made by Square Enix.

Square Enix, a company who have killed mid-tier IP's that were selling considerably more than this. Square Enix, who revived franchises like Star Ocean and SaGa to sell like 5-10 x more than Lost Sphear and they were still considered disappointing. In Star Ocean's case, it was turned into a mobile franchise.

Perhaps Tokyo RPG Factory can live on as a mobile RPG Factory, but for an initiative set up to relive the brilliance of old console RPG's, this is a miserable result and a sad, stark wake up call to Square Enix that their attempts to court the mid-tier of gaming can sink as low as this.

I have a feeling Octopath Traveler will more than make up for this.



Shaunodon said:
Kresnik said:

Thanks for taking over, Noctis. It's lovely to have you back doing this (and you're already quicker at getting the other trackers up than I ever was!)

If Tokyo RPG Factory were a Compile Heart studio, I can see the argument for re-used assets etc. Yet Compile Heart games sell more than Lost Sphear did. And Lost Sphear is made by Square Enix.

Square Enix, a company who have killed mid-tier IP's that were selling considerably more than this. Square Enix, who revived franchises like Star Ocean and SaGa to sell like 5-10 x more than Lost Sphear and they were still considered disappointing. In Star Ocean's case, it was turned into a mobile franchise.

Perhaps Tokyo RPG Factory can live on as a mobile RPG Factory, but for an initiative set up to relive the brilliance of old console RPG's, this is a miserable result and a sad, stark wake up call to Square Enix that their attempts to court the mid-tier of gaming can sink as low as this.

I have a feeling Octopath Traveler will more than make up for this.

I can't wait for that game! It's been a long while since I've been so hyped for a RPG.



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Kresnik said:

vgc said:

Reused assets are going to bring development costs down, and the game has yet to be released in other markets.

If Tokyo RPG Factory were a Compile Heart studio, I can see the argument for re-used assets etc. Yet Compile Heart games sell more than Lost Sphear did. And Lost Sphear is made by Square Enix.

Square Enix, a company who have killed mid-tier IP's that were selling considerably more than this. Square Enix, who revived franchises like Star Ocean and SaGa to sell like 5-10 x more than Lost Sphear and they were still considered disappointing. In Star Ocean's case, it was turned into a mobile franchise.

Perhaps Tokyo RPG Factory can live on as a mobile RPG Factory, but for an initiative set up to relive the brilliance of old console RPG's, this is a miserable result and a sad, stark wake up call to Square Enix that their attempts to court the mid-tier of gaming can sink as low as this.

It's unfair to draw comparisons to other titles based on just 1 week of data in a single region.

I think you've just contradicted yourself by saying Square Enix killed and Square Enix revived. A dormant franchise is not the same as a dead franchise, and IPs can co-exist on mobile and consoles.

The mobile market is overcrowded and highly volatile. You can't just assign a new studio to mobile and hope for the best. Square Enix has already established a strong presence in the world of mobile. What they need is strength and depth in other markets. Tokyo RPG Factory was set up with the sole purpose of providing classic JRPGs on modern consoles. It's not always about maximizing profits. Square Enix have identified a new revenue stream with potential, and they will continue to pursue it.



Shaunodon said:

I have a feeling Octopath Traveler will more than make up for this.

I'd love that to be true, but I've a feeling it'll do better than bombs like Lost Sphear but among the sort of "ehh" performances of things like Star Ocean 5.

Remember - this is a company that didn't see the point in investing much money in Bravely Second despite the first game's almost runaway success.

vgc said:

It's unfair to draw comparisons to other titles based on just 1 week of data in a single region.

I think you've just contradicted yourself by saying Square Enix killed and Square Enix revived. A dormant franchise is not the same as a dead franchise, and IPs can co-exist on mobile and consoles.

The mobile market is overcrowded and highly volatile. You can't just assign a new studio to mobile and hope for the best. Square Enix has already established a strong presence in the world of mobile. What they need is strength and depth in other markets. Tokyo RPG Factory was set up with the sole purpose of providing classic JRPGs on modern consoles. It's not always about maximizing profits. Square Enix have identified a new revenue stream with potential, and they will continue to pursue it.

I don't think anyone who follows Japanese sales could say with any seriousness that an RPG (traditionally a genre with no legs) that debuts at this level can't be used to draw comparisons. It sold between 20-40% of its initial shipment on both platforms. Retailers and/or Square Enix hugely overestimated demand. It is going to have to hit bomba bins to remove the remaining stock. There is no other comparison to be drawn other than "that's an under-performance".

Re. mobile, I agree with you. But what I don't agree with is this:

vgc said:

Square Enix have identified a new revenue stream with potential, and they will continue to pursue it.

I am honestly struggling to see any potential in this revenue stream they're pursuing. I suppose if you classify mid-tier stuff as including the first Bravely Default and Dragon Quest Builders, then they've had some successes, but equally they've had a string of disappointments:

- Chaos Rings III

- SaGa Scarlet Grace

- Star Ocean 5

- Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (and that second Final Fantasy spinoff)

- World of Final Fantasy

Tokyo RPG Factory was a studio specifically designed to target this market and so far they've released one game that had a fairly muted performance (I am Setsuna) and you have a second game that performed nearly 5 x worse in first week sales. What do you say about that? "Oh, just keep trying, you'll find a hit eventually?" There has to be a point where something doesn't become feasible. For comparison, Lost Sphear has sold less in the first week than any of those other underperformances that I've listed.

Of course, perhaps western sales will be the saving grace of all this, but somehow I don't think they will.