(Rumour) Rise of the Tomb Raider sells less than 200k in November (U.S.)

[Mr Puggsly]

Hiku said:

We don't know the expected numbers, but it's fairly obvious they didn't expect them to be this low.
And a deal can definitely be worth it without the other party taking the full risk. If things go at least according to the minimum projections, then the amount you were paid to make it worth your while on top of the rest will be the reward. But as soon as things start to deviate from the plan, those losses cut into the 'bonus' you recieved. Part of the responsibility for Tomb Raider selling well also falls on Crystal Dynamics ability to deliver a good game.

As for the GTA IV deal, GTA is in a different league than Tomb Raider. Would you really call it much of a risk when it was the sequel to the 7th best selling game of all time?  If 1,25 million people bought the DLC on X360, which is around 11% of the GTA IV install base on 360, MS would have made back the $50m loan. Which creates a strange situation for Take Two, where they would be gravely disappointed with 'only' 1,25m sales for eachwellthe DLC episodes on 360, as each sale up to that point would lose them money.

As for PS3/PS4/PC, this sitaution is a bit different comepared to other games that have arrived late to those systems as it's been surrounded by a lot of negative backlash from the community.

Bottom line, we don't know enough about SE and MS's deal. You just wanna assume SE is getting the bad end of the deal. Personally, I dont believe SE would get involved with MS unless they took all the risks. Thats how MS gets exclusives, taking the risks.

Tomb Raider isnt in the same league as GTA, but MS didnt buy exclusivity of a complete GTA game. They bought DLC exclusivity.

You think they only need to sell 1.25 million units to make back a 50 million dollar investment? No. It wasnt 60 dollar DLC either.