Or it can be just another case of Sony talking about sold to retail while VGC have it sold to consumers

It appears internet hype and actual sales performance are inversely proportional to each other.

Watch out Slim, your days are numbered!

I agree i actually though this had the potentail too sell over 5 million.

Too many other shooters already on the PS3: CoD 4, CoD: WaW, Resistance 2, R:FoM, etc. KZ2 still has a chance of reaching 3 million ltd sales eventually. Upcoming CoD games and other new shooters will slow its sales down.

I think it had a little to do with the control scheme at launch turned off potential buyers until they fixed it then buyers were over it. The release time wasn't that good and was released close to Resistance 2.

People saying Killzone 2 has already sold 2 million copies. I believe developers count shipped copies as sold.
People expecting Killzone 2 to sell as much as the giant shooter games such as: Halo 3, Gears of War and Gears of War 2, etc - have too high expectations for this game's sales.
Killzone 2 was released at the wrong time of the year - which could of adversely impacted upon its sales. If released in September (delayed the game by 6 months) combined with PS3 price cut - the sales of the game could have been a lot better.

I'm not sure if people notice, but Sony's first party has never really had 4mil+ selling games since the PS1, with the exception of their GT franchise. Putting America at fault for "PS3 hate" doesn't make too much sense, especially when looking at CoD4's sales (in case any one of the claims were serious).

Okay, as for my theory why KZ2 didn't sell - appeal. The game was simply too complex for the majority of gamers. The story isn't very clear from what is seen from ads. There's the sluggish feel of control that many complained about (contributed to my disinterest, felt unnatural). In fact, what GG said about it says at all: "Killzone 2 is a weighty, slower, more tactical first person experience that focuses on immersion... It is not a twitchy, split-second gun-wielding experience like some shooters." Perhaps more people want a twitchy, split-second gun-wielding experience?

There's just no unique hook to the game. Take a look at the other (high production, critically acclaimed) shooters that got massive:

Halo - best console split screen experience since Goldeneye, vehicles, epic battles in campaign (and a catchy theme song)!

Gears - Gritty, "badass" (executions, swearing, art style), third-person shooter.

Modern Warfare - Counter-Strike's potential finally realized on consoles! (Easiest one to relate to, hence the highest sales)

Whatever Killzone 2 tried to be did not have the widespread appeal as the above 3 did, and I don't think advertisements or a changed release date would have made it a 4mil+ seller. No offense to those who like the game, it just isn't as accessible. It's the same story with Super Mario Galaxy 1/2, which will be slaughtered by NSMB in sales.

i dont think each member of their team was on a $150k salary my friend. some people will probably be there working for as little as $30k- all depending on what their job title and position is.

I still have faith in this game. i reckon with the PS3 launch and spike in sales from the price cut, a lot of games such as R2, KZ2, Uncharted and LBP will get a big bump in sales from new PS3 owners who havent played any PS3 games.

the next few months will be very interesting in terms of HW and SW sales on the PS3

I had pondered KZ2's sales, due to its released, and was told the dry season was why it would end up doing gangbusters (because it wouldn't face any competition).  I also posted a message asking if KZ2 would break 3 million in sales, and the majority of messages were that it would do it without a sweat.

Anyone remember the KZ2 hype on here?  Can people who remember than honestly say that people would of said that Killzone 2 would have messages like the ones in this thread, before the game came out?  People posted KZ2 would be a game changer.  It wasn't a lot, but I do recall at least one thread made KZ2 out to be an answer to Halo and would lead the sales comeback.

Seriously, from fall 2008 until the release of KZ2 did ANYONE here end up posting that KZ2 would be disappointing, saleswise?

I remember reading posts about Resistance 2, which sounded similar to this.  The sales weren't there, in retrospect, because the game wasn't "that good".