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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Retail Sales Plummet in the UK

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  • ZebladeZeblade Member UncommonPosts: 931

    Well it will be a wow killer its just way to easy. As for sells lol duh they say they only put a short supply out there. Yet my best buy has them.

    But if you been playing then you know people have left and again duh it just launched. Give it about 3-6 months will tell. They just droppled the ball with the amount of bugs.. no dont even its been over 7 years since wow and they should have learned. Also customer service.. is just awful.

     

  • RavensworthRavensworth Member UncommonPosts: 78

    Originally posted by Ethos86

    A.I don't understand how some people always think that because these numbers only show retail boxes, the numbers would be that much better for the digital sales.

    B. Most other games in that list also have digital sales and it's not because it's an MMO that the % retail vs digital is that much different. If anything, who would really want to buy SW:ToR digital when everybody hates Origin (SW:ToR is not available on Steam) and want to avoid it at all cost...

    Battlefield 3, aslo an EA game who's also available on Origin digital download is still peaking in that sales list and it's released 25 October (and it had massive pre-orders which broke records). That's almost 2 months before SW:ToR. It's been out for 5x longer than SW:ToR and it's on the 3rd spot as opposed to SW:ToR's 38th spot.

    C. Skyrim for example, who was released 1,5 months ago is still on the 8th place in the same list and that game is even available on Steam. As we all know, Steam is a much more popular platform for digital download than Origin thus if it would really be digital downloads hurting the retail sales... then Skyrim would have a bigger loss in retail numbers than SW:ToR has.

    In other words, the arguments that SW:ToR is low in retail sales list because of digital sales or because of preorders, are nothing more than myths.

    D. What should alarm people is the trend which clearly shows form charts like this. The SW:ToR hype is dying very very fast if you ask me. Unlike Skyrim who created several meme's since it's release and where you still hear things like "omg if you havn't played this game already, you must check it out for sure".

    I still play SW:ToR btw, I had 90 days of sub and I started playing the 20th december. I enjoy it and played it for about 45 hours in less than 2 weeks. I played Skyrim too, something like 55 hours. While I think I'll eventually spend more time on SW:ToR I do think it won't leave such a mark on the Game scene as Skyrim did. Every minute I played Skyrim felt special and I had plenty of awesome moments where I was really impressed by the game. I couldn't stop talking about it to my friends like... GO AND PLAY THIS F*ING GAME OR I WILL NEVER EVER LISTEN TO YOU AGAIN IF YOU TALK ABOUT ANY GAME TO ME WITHOUT HAVING EXPERIENCED SKYRIM I'm not having that with SW:ToR bc while I enjoy the entertainment it gives me for my money, it's not leaving that mark on me...

    E. What might hurt SW:ToR long term sales is the word of mouth positive feedback... or the lack thereof...

    - Skyrim intrigued me in it's first hour... other people felt the same = mouth to mouth promotion = good continued sales

    - SW:ToR entertains me but doesn't stunn me with awesomeness = big hype dying fast after release = faster sale drop after preorder and initial sales

     

    Ow yeah, by the way. I bought SW:ToR for 39 euro in retail store (Saturn, Media Markt). Online digital download costs 50 euro. Do you guys really think they sell so much digital versions of this game? That's being very delusional if you ask me...

    Digital download being 11 euro's more expensive than having a boxed retail version...

     

    Edit:

    Either the list isn't correct (like the guy below me suggests), or those numbers show a very bad future for SW:ToR and everyone believing that it's bc of digital sales should open their fanboy-eyes and realised other games in those charts also have digital sales.

    A. I think that depends on where you live. In the US many people buy MMO's Digitally and some are only available that way.

    B. Disagree here. I hate steam and have alot of friends that do as well. Battlefield 3 is a really bad comparison as it is a different type of game, is available on many different platforms, and has a MUCH larger marketing budget than SW: TOR.

    C.See above. Console games have a longer shelf life than PC games and again Skyrim is not available for only the PC market. Console games also tend to attract a younger Demographic that includes Pre-teens and young Teens who often get those games as gifts. This leads to, as mentioned, a longer shelf life.

    D. Predicting the death of a game that is less than 2 weeks old and has received rave reviews not only from the press but from players is a little short sighted. I make no prediction as it is too early to tell.

    E. I think here we agree as word of mouth will influence people playing other MMO's. I do not play SW:TOR but many people in my guild have left the game I do play or are playing it part time. So far the only world of mouth I have heard sounds almost as if SW:TOR as turned it's players into raving Fanboys. This comes from players that usually trash other MMO's. I still won't play it as I am not a big fan of the Sci-Fi MMO's

    Last I think it was INCREDIBLY poor judgement of the editors to Post the title of this thread as they have, as has been pointed, out not done their research. >.<

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  • someforumguysomeforumguy Member RarePosts: 4,088

    Well I guess that all the ppl that were eagerly waiting for the release of SWTOR, now have their copy. Don't find it odd that sales drop after release.

  • AstralglideAstralglide Member UncommonPosts: 686

    I have no idea why they even sell boxes anymore. If you play a MMO, you're obviously online and most likely have broadband. I haven't bought a box PC game since.....

    A witty saying proves nothing.
    -Voltaire

  • maimeekraimaimeekrai Member UncommonPosts: 256

    Originally posted by WhiteLantern

    falling. The sky is

     

    fixed

     

    image

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  • AstralglideAstralglide Member UncommonPosts: 686

    Originally posted by someforumguy

    Well I guess that all the ppl that were eagerly waiting for the release of SWTOR, now have their copy. Don't find it odd that sales drop after release.

    I think this game has somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million pre-orders and MMOs still target a certain market. Why wouldn't new subs die off quickly after release? Everybody who was excited about it has bought it. Now they can expect some attrition as people get tired of it or don't like the game, etc. As long as they get more new subs than cancels, it's not "Dying" or even "winding down"

    A witty saying proves nothing.
    -Voltaire

  • Eir_SEir_S Member UncommonPosts: 4,440

    Originally posted by nerovipus32

    Originally posted by Eir_S


    Originally posted by Marcelino

    My friend buys everything boxed and I buy my games from steam. He says one day in the far future steam will go bust and i wont have access to my games lol Is it possible for a big company like steam to go bust which would make me to loose access to all my games? :/

    A friend of mine got his Steam account hacked temporarily and for some reason all his games were inaccessable for a period of time, but he eventually got them back.  That's as far as worrying news about Steam went for me.

    Anyway, I read on one forum that people in the UK don't have as easy access to credit cards that Americans do so many were forced to buy several months (via time cards) of a game they couldn't try first in order to play it, which makes EA's practices seem even more ridiculous, but I don't know how widespread that phenomenon is/was or if it affected sales to a large degree.

    where did you hear that rubbish?

    I don't remember where it was now, but I figured maybe someone from the UK would clear it up (I think I've read posts of yours declaring your UK citizenship?).  I found the thread and hastily scanned it while looking up info on another subject, but I DO remember that they also said that people in "their area" seemed to have less access to CC's, so I wasn't sure and it was probably localized at best.

    (A total lie at worst)

  • maimeekraimaimeekrai Member UncommonPosts: 256

    Originally posted by Renko

    I'm just surprised at the total lack of advertisement for SWTOR in the UK. It's no good copying the World of Warcraft strategy of waiting several years before having TV adverts, you need to hit the ground running now to make an impact and BioWare seem to be doing the opposite.

    Some cable channel ( USA, FX, Spike? ) was showing some Star Wars movies a couple of weeks ago and I think I saw a SWTOR ad. It's hard to remember though, because the Chuck Norris WoW ads, that were also shown, were much more memorable.

     

     

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  • Kaynos1972Kaynos1972 Member Posts: 2,316

    Box sale means nothing in a MMO. It's all about retention.  Doesnt matter if you sell 10 millions boxes if in 6 months there is 25k players left.


  • warbot7777warbot7777 Member Posts: 110

    The numbers come with a caveat, however: These sales reflect 'box' sales, not digital.

     

    Enough said.

  • fivorothfivoroth Member UncommonPosts: 3,916



    Originally posted by gt4980b

    I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US






     

    Wrong. We don't have bandwidth caps (I think I downloaded over 100gb the last month because of steam) and digital is quite popular in the UK. Hell, I haven't bought a single retail game in the last 1-2 years. Although I am a steam freak who loves to get everything on Steam :P

    Anyways who cares about sales in the UK? We are such a small country -_-

    Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.

  • OkhamsRazorOkhamsRazor Member Posts: 1,047

    I know someone  that works highlevel for a national  gaming outlet . The reason your seeing sales fall is not because people don't want it they just are having trouble getting enough copys of ToR to keep up with demand .

    Hate to pee on the doom and gloom merchants fires but those are the facts . I bet if you take into consideration the UK digital sales then you'd see a increase in the numbers of sales .

    Of course you can choose mmorpg.com gossip over facts if you want to .

  • sgelsgel Member EpicPosts: 2,197

    Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

    I know someone  that works highlevel for a national  gaming outlet . The reason your seeing sales fall is not because people don't want it they just are having trouble getting enough copys of ToR to keep up with demand .

    Hate to pee on the doom and gloom merchants fires but those are the facts . I bet if you take into consideration the UK digital sales then you'd see a increase in the numbers of sales .

    Of course you can choose mmorpg.com gossip over facts if you want to .

    The "facts" you just presented on mmorpg? ;)

    ..Cake..

  • stragen001stragen001 Member UncommonPosts: 1,720

    Originally posted by gt4980b

    I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

    I live in the UK and find the opposite. Boxed games are always more expensive than digital download at release. And no all of us have download caps ;)

    Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom

  • BigMangoBigMango Member UncommonPosts: 1,821



    Originally posted by stragen001


    Originally posted by gt4980b

    I always hear that UK games are cheaper if you buy them in stores vs digital.  So maybe digital isn't as big there.  They do have bandwidth caps so digital isn't as viable an option as in the US

    I live in the UK and find the opposite. Boxed games are always more expensive than digital download at release. And no all of us have download caps ;)

     
    You can easily find the box in the UK for 35£. That's 41€. Shipping included throughout Europe (everyone's ordering there).

    My digital download form Origin was 54€.

  • MisterSrMisterSr Member UncommonPosts: 928

    Isn't this true for any game that releases just for computer? I don't understand why this is news worthy.

  • ishistishist Member UncommonPosts: 213

    Originally posted by nblitz

    Word of mouth might not be so great, if it isn't the digital option hampering sales.

    I'm not surprised either way.


     

    How could word of mouth advertising even be happening? Most of the people who bought the game haven't left their house or talked to their family in weeks.

    In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams

  • ValentinaValentina Member RarePosts: 2,077

    Not accounting digital? hardly a surprise as they pushed digital pretty hard and thats how most people got it. The game is excellent with servers continuinng to fill up and new ones being opened on maintenance days, and then filling up. Like the guy above me said, most people havent left their house it seems rofl

  • VhalnVhaln Member Posts: 3,159

    If digital purchases are so popular, why were so many more people buying boxes a week ago?  Why the change to digital downloads, if its not actually a decline in sales?

     

    When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.

  • ScalebaneScalebane Member UncommonPosts: 1,883

    Originally posted by GrayGhost79

    Originally posted by Scalebane


    Originally posted by BigMango


    Originally posted by Qazaam

    http://www.askajedi.com/2012/01/03/venturebeat-tor-drops-28-spots-on-uk-sales-charts/



    Posting from my phone so I can't make it a direct link but it talks about a supply problem.

     

    Of course, people from many countries in Europe (and elsewhere) are ordering online from the UK as everything is cheaper there. (Movies, PC games, console games, etc...).

    So if they limited the boxes there's no wonder it's sold out in the UK.

     

    [UPDATED] Leo Olebe, BioWare’s Director of Marketing posted a Tweet that may explain some of the drop in sales volume. Remember how supplies were limited to ensure a good launch of the service? Yep:

    @LeoOlebe @askajedi We limited the supply upfront so the game is very hard to find right now.  We’re getting more out there for y’all ASAP!

     

    i don't know why he thinks its hard to find, the stores around my area still have lots of them on the shelves.  maybe he means just in certain areas.

    I'll put it this way........

    Some place like La Junta, CO should have plenty of copies left since the total population is less than 8k

    Places like Atl, Ga. will not with a population of 400k+  or NY boasting around 8mil. 

    Chain retailers tend to come up with a base number all stores should get then send extra to stores that seem to sale higher volume on video games in general. 

    This is why you end up with plenty of copies on shelves in a place like La Junta and end up with 0 left in a place like NYC or ATL or even London. 

    wasnt talking about my small town, which barely gets anything was talking about the cities like pueblo and colorado springs.  i wouldn't bring up my town because all it has is a wal-mart and one tiny gamestop lol

    image

    "The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
    - Lewis Thomas

  • OkhamsRazorOkhamsRazor Member Posts: 1,047

    OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

    This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

    http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

    As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

    Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

    Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

    Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

     

  • IsaneIsane Member UncommonPosts: 2,630

    Originally posted by Aquazen

    Not too suprising, I tend to get everything digital on the pc now-a-days.

    Digital these days is two click and download why would i waste; Time and money on petrol when it is just so easy to buy online. Game is still great with friends, interesting post for info but not sure it has any real relevance at this point.

    ________________________________________________________
    Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel 

  • SmoeySmoey Member UncommonPosts: 599

    Who buys PC games retail now? That's so 1990's...

     

     

     

    (\ /) ?
    ( . .)
    c('')('')

  • rdrpappyrdrpappy Member Posts: 325

    Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

    OK before everyone gets excited about this remember the charts SBFord is talking about is are cross platform charts and include budget games and ones in sales . I brought a few of these single player games in the sales myself ( loving dead island by the way )

    This is the PC game chart from the same website for the 31 st December for full priced games

    http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110022 

    As you can plainly see StarWars ToR is in second place .

    Perhaps SBFord should have posted this link as well and researched it a bit better ? It makes a good attention grabbing headline but if wouldn't have seemed half as effective if it have said .

    Retails Sales Plummet in the UK StarWars ToR falls to number 2 in the PC game chart .

    Those are the facts . The articles just a tad sensationalist ..

     

    That's the norm around here, the game  is clearly ontrack to be the biggest online rpg anywhere and people will try and convince you it's going to be f2p in 2 months.

    The miss-information machine rivals North Korea, all because we are talking about millions of subs at stake, you have to go look for yourself to see the 123 North American servers are going to need to be increased yet again due to server population.

  • tryklontryklon Member UncommonPosts: 1,370

    Do people still buy games in retail stores on the US? Around here we tend not to anymore...

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