August 2017 NPD Thread ! Switch Won

[VideoGameAccountant]

TheBlackNaruto said:

VideoGameAccountant said:

Looking over your data, I think it might be ahead because of titles released in the beginning of this year (Horizon, Crash, Tekken, Injustice, Ghost Recon). Looking at the latter half of this year, there doesn't seem to be as much as a lot of games were pushed into 2018. Outside of the usual suspects (sports games, CoD, Assassins Creed), doesn't look like much will be there to really drive sales. There is also the Loot Box fiasco which could hurt sales of all of these titles. 

I mentioned in another thread the issue between the data and Sony's shipments. Q1 shipments were down and they are expecting YoY decline. This could result in a weaker Q4 since the decline in selling to customers would lag sold to retailers. So Q4 sales could be down Year-over-year 

But hasn't this been the case every year? The usual suspects to push the end of the year? And the 2nd half of the year i s usually always stronger than the first....plus GT Sport....can't count that one out. So I am not so sure they will be down YoY I still feel this will be the peak year. Some good holiday bundles can be made and that should give them the sales they need.

Looking at Sony's line-up, there doesn't seem to be a major software seller at the end of 2017. I guess I should clarify the "usual suspects." What I mean is that these titles are all sequels, so if you weren't interested in Battlefield, CoD or Assassins Creed before, why would you buy a PS4 now. It would be like saying that Halo 6 is going to be a massive system seller. If you weren't interested in Halo before, it's unlikely you would be now (though Assassin's Creed may be different as these games are usually in different settings giving them a unique feel). 

System sell by their games. Sony has a pretty good first half. Horizon, Crash, and Persona and Tekken were all games you couldn't get on the PS4 already (could maybe add Wildlands in there, but I'm not fimiliar with the series). At the end of the year, its all games that exist on the platform in some form. I don't think it will bring in new customers. 

One thing we should also consider is the PS4 Pro. Unlike the Slim models before it, the Pro does give PS4 owners a reason to upgrade. Although there aren't a massive amount of these being sold (I think its 1:5 or 1:4), it does inflate sales. It's money in Sony's pocket, sure, but it may mean that the sales would be higher when compared to prior generations or even prior years. Basically, PS4 sold would not be the same as the number of new customers. It could mean sales for Holiday 2017 would improve YoY.