EliteStance said:b) game is marketed as a leading title (whether single platform or multi) with strong promotional activity |
This really is all it takes. Give any game some hefty marketing and it will sell like crazy even if it's ultimately a crappy game or even just a disappointing one.
Great games + Poor marketing = Flop
Bad games + Great marketing = Success (financial anyway)
There are exceptions to this, but those are all too rare sadly.