I was actually pretty surprised by the numbers, too. Perhaps more surprising, though, is that it looks like the attachment rate on their expansion was only like 10% (on steam anyway). Anyone heard any reasoning behind that? Was it a bad expansion or are people just happy with the game they have right now? I mean it seems like plenty of people are still online playing it.
The numbers are awesome. I love the game, still play it casually since premium beta but I expected it to peak at 500k maybe 700k. Getting double that is amazing. Should give FD the morale boost they deserve for making such a unique game.
Half year revenue was ~£10.9 million GBP ($15.6 million USD), an increase of ~50% compared to the first half of the year.
how is it a 'nitch game'
Space fighter...not really 'nitch'
If you'd played it you'd know it's a niche game. The gameplay experience is quite unique compared to other modern games. It's not for everyone, that's for sure.
I agree. Most are not going to stick with a game of this difficulty/inaccessible initially at least. I think they should emphasize that they are going with this more as a space flight simulator than something like X-wing/Tie Fighter...where you just jump in and can play fairly well somewhat quickly. I thought I liked "space flight simulators" until I realized that this is what most people mean by a space flight simulator.
I'm surprised that the game has sold this well. I prefer sci fi over fantasy so if this helps, I'm all for it.
Half year revenue was ~£10.9 million GBP ($15.6 million USD), an increase of ~50% compared to the first half of the year.
how is it a 'nitch game'
Space fighter...not really 'nitch'
If you'd played it you'd know it's a niche game. The gameplay experience is quite unique compared to other modern games. It's not for everyone, that's for sure.
I agree. Most are not going to stick with a game of this difficulty/inaccessible initially at least. I think they should emphasize that they are going with this more as a space flight simulator than something like X-wing/Tie Fighter...where you just jump in and can play fairly well somewhat quickly. I thought I liked "space flight simulators" until I realized that this is what most people mean by a space flight simulator.
I'm surprised that the game has sold this well. I prefer sci fi over fantasy so if this helps, I'm all for it.
kitarad thinks it a niche becaue of the genre not because 'its hard'. Once you 'niche' claimers can agree on what makes it niche then perhaps we can talk. In the meantime I am just sticking with 'its niche because its not made by a so called AAA company and hasnt been certified as 'cool' on gamespot'
Thanks
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Half year revenue was ~£10.9 million GBP ($15.6 million USD), an increase of ~50% compared to the first half of the year.
how is it a 'nitch game'
Space fighter...not really 'nitch'
If you'd played it you'd know it's a niche game. The gameplay experience is quite unique compared to other modern games. It's not for everyone, that's for sure.
I agree. Most are not going to stick with a game of this difficulty/inaccessible initially at least. I think they should emphasize that they are going with this more as a space flight simulator than something like X-wing/Tie Fighter...where you just jump in and can play fairly well somewhat quickly. I thought I liked "space flight simulators" until I realized that this is what most people mean by a space flight simulator.
I'm surprised that the game has sold this well. I prefer sci fi over fantasy so if this helps, I'm all for it.
kitarad thinks it a niche becaue of the genre not because 'its hard'. Once you 'niche' claimers can agree on what makes it niche then perhaps we can talk. In the meantime I am just sticking with 'its niche because its not made by a so called AAA company and hasnt been certified as 'cool' on gamespot'
Thanks
At one time CCP was making as much revenue monthly as this title does in 6 months, yet has always been rightfully described as being a "smaller" niche title.
Heck, WOW is "Large" niche game, every title serves a certain niche.
In the common vehicular niche refers to titles appealing to a smaller audiance and while they've sold quite a bitn my guess is the number af regularly active players is realively low.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Half year revenue was ~£10.9 million GBP ($15.6 million USD), an increase of ~50% compared to the first half of the year.
how is it a 'nitch game'
Space fighter...not really 'nitch'
If you'd played it you'd know it's a niche game. The gameplay experience is quite unique compared to other modern games. It's not for everyone, that's for sure.
I agree. Most are not going to stick with a game of this difficulty/inaccessible initially at least. I think they should emphasize that they are going with this more as a space flight simulator than something like X-wing/Tie Fighter...where you just jump in and can play fairly well somewhat quickly. I thought I liked "space flight simulators" until I realized that this is what most people mean by a space flight simulator.
I'm surprised that the game has sold this well. I prefer sci fi over fantasy so if this helps, I'm all for it.
kitarad thinks it a niche becaue of the genre not because 'its hard'. Once you 'niche' claimers can agree on what makes it niche then perhaps we can talk. In the meantime I am just sticking with 'its niche because its not made by a so called AAA company and hasnt been certified as 'cool' on gamespot'
Thanks
At one time CCP was making as much revenue monthly as this title does in 6 months, yet has always been rightfully described as being a "smaller" niche title.
Heck, WOW is "Large" niche game, every title serves a certain niche.
In the common vehicular niche refers to titles appealing to a smaller audiance and while they've sold quite a bitn my guess is the number af regularly active players is realively low.
so then what is not Niche?
I suggest the answer is anything that has been approved and certified by a so called AAA developer
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
I suggest the answer is anything that has been approved and certified by a so called AAA developer
Why is it that we're talking about definitions of niche? It's quite well-defined as a small market segment, isn't it? I think that the Space Flight Sim genre actually fits that definition quite nicely. Actually, I would go as far as to say that E:D might actually be breaking records here. I'd love if someone had sales numbers of Space Flight Sims, but I certainly can't remember a space flight sim doing that well. Maybe 1.4 million copies makes it less of a niche, though. However, I think 1.4 million copies is certainly the pinnacle of the genre.
I suggest the answer is anything that has been approved and certified by a so called AAA developer
Why is it that we're talking about definitions of niche? It's quite well-defined as a small market segment, isn't it? I think that the Space Flight Sim genre actually fits that definition quite nicely. Actually, I would go as far as to say that E:D might actually be breaking records here. I'd love if someone had sales numbers of Space Flight Sims, but I certainly can't remember a space flight sim doing that well. Maybe 1.4 million copies makes it less of a niche, though. However, I think 1.4 million copies is certainly the pinnacle of the genre.
STAR
WARS
Star wars has had space flight sim. More over, one of you is suggesting that Niche is not related to genre, another is saying it is and another is saying its only realted to how 'hard' the game is.
so no, i dont think you guys have a well defined definition at all
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
I'm not surprised it sold that many copies.. it does the "in cockpit" thing quite good and goes quite well with an OR of projector set up.
That said it needs more content and sadly the Horizon expansion doesn't add all that much other than landing on atmosphereless planets/roids and a couple other things which will be added throughout the year. The price point for Horizons is just too high, its nearly full game price minus a small discount for existing players, and doesn't add nearly as much as the base game so I don't expect sales for the xpac to be as high.
While the base game is rather bare bones compared to other released games this was to be expected as the game was meant to be supplemented with expansions, problem is I don't think anyone really expected expansion to be practically full game price especially considering all the stuff they dropped out of the base game like offline mode and other things.
Seriously if they want to sell xpacs and make more money with those they need to sell cheaper to more people. Looking forward to more info sales for 2015
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
I suggest the answer is anything that has been approved and certified by a so called AAA developer
Why is it that we're talking about definitions of niche? It's quite well-defined as a small market segment, isn't it? I think that the Space Flight Sim genre actually fits that definition quite nicely. Actually, I would go as far as to say that E:D might actually be breaking records here. I'd love if someone had sales numbers of Space Flight Sims, but I certainly can't remember a space flight sim doing that well. Maybe 1.4 million copies makes it less of a niche, though. However, I think 1.4 million copies is certainly the pinnacle of the genre.
Agreed, arguing about what niche means is pointless. I hope this game continues to prosper because you never know, one day I might want to leave EVE and do something different.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I'm not surprised it sold that many copies.. it does the "in cockpit" thing quite good and goes quite well with an OR of projector set up.
That said it needs more content and sadly the Horizon expansion doesn't add all that much other than landing on atmosphereless planets/roids and a couple other things which will be added throughout the year. The price point for Horizons is just too high, its nearly full game price minus a small discount for existing players, and doesn't add nearly as much as the base game so I don't expect sales for the xpac to be as high.
While the base game is rather bare bones compared to other released games this was to be expected as the game was meant to be supplemented with expansions, problem is I don't think anyone really expected expansion to be practically full game price especially considering all the stuff they dropped out of the base game like offline mode and other things.
Seriously if they want to sell xpacs and make more money with those they need to sell cheaper to more people. Looking forward to more info sales for 2015
I am surprised it hasnt sold more actually.
I mean Space Engineers hit a million 2 years ago
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Niche generally refers to something that is focused on one type or group. A niche can be a very large group though.
Once something is popular outside of a niche group of participants it gets closer to what is considered mainstream. If 1.4 million people represent the number of space sim fans, then it's still within it's niche. If it's appeal broadens to people who normally don't play space sims, then it it's no longer niche.
Bloodborne/Dark Souls are niche games, also selling over a million copies each. They can't seem to break out and appeal beyond a specific group (a sizable and profitable group). Is being niche a bad thing? No. Is it a good thing? No. It's just a way of describing the appeal of something.
It sounds like ED is doing pretty well for itself.
Great numbers ! Going Steam seems to have been a good move.
Hope it will go up even more once they have the full planned package in place and the Thargoid invasion starts.
"Horizons" expansion/DLC has some acceptance issues based on the initial added content (not a lot, but more coming this year, included in the price) and the pricing policy (mandatory merge with main game, creating feeling like you are paying for the main game twice).
I suggest the answer is anything that has been approved and certified by a so called AAA developer
Why is it that we're talking about definitions of niche? It's quite well-defined as a small market segment, isn't it? I think that the Space Flight Sim genre actually fits that definition quite nicely. Actually, I would go as far as to say that E:D might actually be breaking records here. I'd love if someone had sales numbers of Space Flight Sims, but I certainly can't remember a space flight sim doing that well. Maybe 1.4 million copies makes it less of a niche, though. However, I think 1.4 million copies is certainly the pinnacle of the genre.
STAR
WARS
Star wars has had space flight sim. More over, one of you is suggesting that Niche is not related to genre, another is saying it is and another is saying its only realted to how 'hard' the game is.
so no, i dont think you guys have a well defined definition at all
It could actually be both. I mean if we're talking about a niche market then we're talking about a segment of a larger market that is small. It's like if I were to create a new pair of underpants for men with overly-large private parts. That's a niche. You act like we're making this word up. This is a term that is well-defined. We have nothing to say about it. You can interpret it any way you wish, though. I mean you could say that the Space Sim genre is niche and complicated space sims are also niche, I suppose.
As far as XvT goes, I'd love to have some solid numbers for it, but I think that even XvT and XWA were fairly niche titles. I wish I had actual numbers, but if you took steam, for example. If we search Star Wars on Steam Spy: http://steamspy.com/search.php?s=star+wars
XvT, XW, and XWA each are outsold by over 10 times by the next worst title (which happens to be Star Wars Starfighter). All other, more mainstream, games with the star wars label are in the 500k-1.5million arena for owners. Also, you can do a search using Tags for Space Sim http://steamspy.com/tag/Space+Sim
I mean there are some popular titles, for sure, but after the top 10 titles, the number begins to drop off pretty drastically. I'd say that 10 games does not a genre make.
Space Engineers was released on Steam October 20th 2013, took 1 year to reach 1 million sales. Elite Dangerous was released December 20th 2014, (Steam April 2015) took 11 months to reach 1.2 million sales.
Besides, wasn't Space Engineers being sold for $15 for quite a long time compared to Elite's $60 fee.
Space Engineers was released on Steam October 20th 2013, took 1 year to reach 1 million sales. Elite Dangerous was released December 20th 2014, (Steam April 2015) took 11 months to reach 1.2 million sales.
my point exactly.
Space Engineers is a smaller project with little advertising I would assume the margin would be larger
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
I was actually pretty surprised by the numbers, too. Perhaps more surprising, though, is that it looks like the attachment rate on their expansion was only like 10% (on steam anyway). Anyone heard any reasoning behind that? Was it a bad expansion or are people just happy with the game they have right now? I mean it seems like plenty of people are still online playing it.
I read somewhere that the original player base got upset because people who bought the base game with the expansion saved money. So the lesson was that it was better to wait as they seem to drop the price on the past items whenever they have a new expansion coming out to entice new players.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
I was actually pretty surprised by the numbers, too. Perhaps more surprising, though, is that it looks like the attachment rate on their expansion was only like 10% (on steam anyway). Anyone heard any reasoning behind that? Was it a bad expansion or are people just happy with the game they have right now? I mean it seems like plenty of people are still online playing it.
I read somewhere that the original player base got upset because people who bought the base game with the expansion saved money. So the lesson was that it was better to wait as they seem to drop the price on the past items whenever they have a new expansion coming out to entice new players.
and that is different from every other game ever made in the history of gaming....how?
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Comments
Crazkanuk
----------------
Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
----------------
I love the game, still play it casually since premium beta but I expected it to peak at 500k maybe 700k.
Getting double that is amazing.
Should give FD the morale boost they deserve for making such a unique game.
..Cake..
I'm surprised that the game has sold this well. I prefer sci fi over fantasy so if this helps, I'm all for it.
Thanks
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
I self identify as a monkey.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Heck, WOW is "Large" niche game, every title serves a certain niche.
In the common vehicular niche refers to titles appealing to a smaller audiance and while they've sold quite a bitn my guess is the number af regularly active players is realively low.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I suggest the answer is anything that has been approved and certified by a so called AAA developer
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
Why is it that we're talking about definitions of niche? It's quite well-defined as a small market segment, isn't it? I think that the Space Flight Sim genre actually fits that definition quite nicely. Actually, I would go as far as to say that E:D might actually be breaking records here. I'd love if someone had sales numbers of Space Flight Sims, but I certainly can't remember a space flight sim doing that well. Maybe 1.4 million copies makes it less of a niche, though. However, I think 1.4 million copies is certainly the pinnacle of the genre.
Crazkanuk
----------------
Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
----------------
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
That said it needs more content and sadly the Horizon expansion doesn't add all that much other than landing on atmosphereless planets/roids and a couple other things which will be added throughout the year. The price point for Horizons is just too high, its nearly full game price minus a small discount for existing players, and doesn't add nearly as much as the base game so I don't expect sales for the xpac to be as high.
While the base game is rather bare bones compared to other released games this was to be expected as the game was meant to be supplemented with expansions, problem is I don't think anyone really expected expansion to be practically full game price especially considering all the stuff they dropped out of the base game like offline mode and other things.
Seriously if they want to sell xpacs and make more money with those they need to sell cheaper to more people. Looking forward to more info sales for 2015
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I mean Space Engineers hit a million 2 years ago
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
Once something is popular outside of a niche group of participants it gets closer to what is considered mainstream. If 1.4 million people represent the number of space sim fans, then it's still within it's niche. If it's appeal broadens to people who normally don't play space sims, then it it's no longer niche.
Bloodborne/Dark Souls are niche games, also selling over a million copies each. They can't seem to break out and appeal beyond a specific group (a sizable and profitable group). Is being niche a bad thing? No. Is it a good thing? No. It's just a way of describing the appeal of something.
It sounds like ED is doing pretty well for itself.
Hope it will go up even more once they have the full planned package in place and the Thargoid invasion starts.
"Horizons" expansion/DLC has some acceptance issues based on the initial added content (not a lot, but more coming this year, included in the price) and the pricing policy (mandatory merge with main game, creating feeling like you are paying for the main game twice).
Have fun
It could actually be both. I mean if we're talking about a niche market then we're talking about a segment of a larger market that is small. It's like if I were to create a new pair of underpants for men with overly-large private parts. That's a niche. You act like we're making this word up. This is a term that is well-defined. We have nothing to say about it. You can interpret it any way you wish, though. I mean you could say that the Space Sim genre is niche and complicated space sims are also niche, I suppose.
As far as XvT goes, I'd love to have some solid numbers for it, but I think that even XvT and XWA were fairly niche titles. I wish I had actual numbers, but if you took steam, for example. If we search Star Wars on Steam Spy:
http://steamspy.com/search.php?s=star+wars
XvT, XW, and XWA each are outsold by over 10 times by the next worst title (which happens to be Star Wars Starfighter). All other, more mainstream, games with the star wars label are in the 500k-1.5million arena for owners. Also, you can do a search using Tags for Space Sim
http://steamspy.com/tag/Space+Sim
I mean there are some popular titles, for sure, but after the top 10 titles, the number begins to drop off pretty drastically. I'd say that 10 games does not a genre make.
Crazkanuk
----------------
Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
----------------
It's funny to watch the anti-SC crowd come into an Elite: Dangerous thread and try to make it about SC.
Crazkanuk
----------------
Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
----------------
'some people say'?
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
Space Engineers was released on Steam October 20th 2013, took 1 year to reach 1 million sales.
Elite Dangerous was released December 20th 2014, (Steam April 2015) took 11 months to reach 1.2 million sales.
Besides, wasn't Space Engineers being sold for $15 for quite a long time compared to Elite's $60 fee.
Space Engineers is a smaller project with little advertising I would assume the margin would be larger
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Please do not respond to me, even if I ask you a question, its rhetorical.
Please do not respond to me