http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/03/12/playstation-store-february-2015s-top-sellers/

PS4 chart:

#1- Dying Light

#2- Dragon Ball

#3- Evolve

#4- The Order

#5- Life is Strange episode 1

For a game that was advertised much much more than any of the three above it, and attracting a loyal following, it seems that The Order is somewhat of a bomb, at least when it comes to digital sales. (Also, perhaps a sign of VGC overtracking retail sales).

It was beaten by Dying Light, a good game, but a game that released and probably sold a lot in January, 

By Dragon Ball that also had a PS3 version and not much of a hype.

By Evolve that sold relatively poorly at retail and was plagued by negative DLC stigma.

So, the question is: Is The Order a failure? (sales-wise, no need to involve quality concerns)

It seems to me that it is...

Maybe because people wanna sell it

I don't understand the need to attach a descriptor to a product based on some indirect facet.
We don't even know the digital sales of any of those, just relative positions, nor is it well reasoned that Order should sell more on digital than those other games.
Like, Order sold more than Xenoverse at retail...

But VGC shows some problematic software tracking, so we don't really know that The Order sold more at retail. That's why I suggest it is overtracked.

Also, we only have relative positions of Amazon charts, but it certainly doesn't stop people from discussing them continuously.

How is it a "failure"? All those other games were out for a much longer period of time in February in both retail and digital.

Amazon charts are used because they sell physical copies which sometimes coincide with total physical representations and relationships.

Xenoverse only sold 150k on ps4, but it's higher on the download chart...so if we were to take your credible analysis on the subject, Order should be less than 150k...unless Order sold more physical for some reason, which is where your entire premise goes in a tailspin. If you are willing to admit that Order sold at least as much or more than DBZ, then you're willing to admit there is no basis in your theory.

Pre-order numbers were within 250k just for US up to release. Europe tends to mirror US in copies sold but in general sells a little bit more. The numbers are likely very accurate.

I wonder if this game will make its money back. Just looking at it, you can tell it had a huge budget.

I'd say its pretty successful in regards to sales because it will be profitable. Its just a failure in game design.

To start, it is fine that we disagree. That's why I posed a question: I think one way, naybe some will think like me, others will not.

I'm just trying to start a civil discussion.

We disagree on one thing: you believe VGC numbers are correct, I do not. I think that preorders are completely untrustworthy. You think retail sales are tracked well, I think that VGC overestimated TO's sales. You think that The Order has much lower digital attach rate than other games, I simply think it sold poorly.

I'm sure it had a big budget, but probably not an unusually large budget.

How expensive is it to make a tech demo? If Ryse is profitable than surely The Order will be more profitable.

Moderated,

-Mr Khan