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Industry analyst claims ToR already has between 1 to 1.5 million players before a single boxed game

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  • Creslin321Creslin321 Member Posts: 5,359

    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    I love all the comments about how crappy end game is on this game that has not even launched yet?  Kind of early to judge the end game when maybe 20 to 50 people total are max level across all servers.

    I think it comes from the fact that the major attraction of SWTOR is the story.  And the story is going to end at some point, probably max-level.

    And when you strip the story from SWTOR, it really isn't that good of a game when compared to its peers.

    Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?

  • stratasaurusstratasaurus Member Posts: 220

    Originally posted by TdogSkal

    I give TOR 2 years before it is F2P.   All Theme Park games have the same problem, end game.  Once you reach max level how much is there to do?  Raid or PVP and sometimes group PvE content.  

    I have not played TOR and I do not plan on playing as I am sick and tired of Theme park games, they are just not fun for me at all.   Enjoy the new favor of the month and I do hope I am wrong but 2 years and TOR is a F2P game.

    I hope not...F2P is a rip off.  Most of the time you have to be a prem member to really play the whole game anyone.  So now you are still paying a subscription and on top of that you still have a store you spend more money at or give a advantage to those other playes who will.  No thanks I much prefer a system where you pay a monthly sub and then they ask for no more money out of you.  F2P is really subscription plus more just in a clever marketing style that uses the word free in it.

  • stratasaurusstratasaurus Member Posts: 220

    Originally posted by Creslin321

    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    I love all the comments about how crappy end game is on this game that has not even launched yet?  Kind of early to judge the end game when maybe 20 to 50 people total are max level across all servers.

    I think it comes from the fact that the major attraction of SWTOR is the story.  And the story is going to end at some point, probably max-level.

    And when you strip the story from SWTOR, it really isn't that good of a game when compared to its peers.

    That is true the story is the main draw for many people.  It will up to Bio on if lives on though.  Better to have good story and fresh look that draws people in then work on improving end game mechanics vs a game like Rift where there wasn't enough draw for many(myself included) to even stick around till end game and see how good it was.  Who knows I just know that Bio/EA are the only group big enough to put enough content into the game to keep it going other than blizzard in my view at least.  Who knows if they will though and like I said I'm not even sure what end game will be like as it is.  Lots of speculation.

  • EliandalEliandal Member Posts: 796

    Originally posted by Zippy

    Originally posted by Puremallace


    Originally posted by NMStudio


    Originally posted by Teh_Axi

    Are you really trying to make a big deal out of some analyst speculating TOR will have average sales figures?

    Average?

    Which other MMO has ever opened to these kinds of sales numbers?  I'll tell you. None.

    WoW had maybe 250k on launch, Aion managed 400k.  Rift never hit a million, though they've still never given us any solid numbers.

    You don't have to like the game, but at least be realistic when talking about it.

    Pretty sure quotes like "we are approaching our millionith copy sold" indicates Rift did pretty good.

    With 99 Full servers with long queues at release I think its a pretty fair bet Rift sold over a million the first week.  Each server becomes full at 3500 players before going to queue.  Unless you believe more than 35% of box sales were logged in at once they sold well over a million.  But besides that your other numbers are accurate.  Additionally AoC sold 700k, Warhammer a bit more.  But you are right SWTOR's numbers are amazing.

     

      Rift cannot have sold over a million first month.  If they did, Trion wouldn`t have given an interview two months ago stating they `were nearing 1 million units sold`.  While the game is popular, it is in the "AOC" or "WAR" league of "launch" popular.  Although WAR did sell 1.1 million copies in the first month - and of course we now know what happened to both those games.  Thankfully Trion released a polished game - which has saved them so far from the same fate.

     

      It's still nice numbers for Bioware though.  Kudos to them.  I know I've already taken the 6 month plan - and I'll re-evaluate at that point.

     

      Just as an aside...really, when you think about it - ALL of their numbers have been kind of astonishing.  A "Beta" weekend that was bigger than most launches, pre-orders that are more on par with popular single player PC games.  Estimates of Early Access numbers being between 1 and 1.5 million people - and smooth as silk (for me anyways)

  • LidaneLidane Member CommonPosts: 2,300

    Originally posted by Icewhite

    Let's talk about sub numbers next month, boys,  Until sub numbers get published (wait, that won't be until at least Feb?) you're arguing over guesses.

    Pfft. If people around here only used documented facts to argue with, there'd never be anything new posted on here.

  • MargulisMargulis Member CommonPosts: 1,614

    Originally posted by dinams

    I am shooting at about 50% retention rate, a normal amount for a polished and finished game

    So I believe that until february they will sell about 2 mill units, they might end up with 1 mill subs, which is a healthy number nonetheless.

    I have yet still to play the game, but damn, Im so bored with nowaday selection of mmos that any entry would be welcome, SW:TOR or GW2

    I'll be very surprised if subs for this game are at 50% retention or a minimum of 1 million, there are too many games coming out that will draw people away and are offering at least a few new things to grab all the players tired of this model mmo - which are many.  Like you, I think a lot of people are on SWTOR right now because like you said, there just isn't anything else worth playing right now.  With GW2, TSW, Diablo 3, etc coming out in 2012, that won't be the case anymore. 

    I also think once the novelty wears off a lot of people are going to get tired quickly of this game.  Just like RIFT, it was AMAZING at first to everyone, then when the rift novelty wore off it was just the same game underneath - which is the case with TOR as well.  After you play a class from each side to max, you've seen it.  Class stories are unique but comprsie a very small percentage of your game time after starter zones.

  • MargulisMargulis Member CommonPosts: 1,614

    A huge lanuch was guaranteed the second they announced Star Wars + Bioware + MMO.  Let's see where the pop is at in 6 months and especially in a year.

  • DistopiaDistopia Member EpicPosts: 21,183

    Originally posted by Creslin321

    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    I love all the comments about how crappy end game is on this game that has not even launched yet?  Kind of early to judge the end game when maybe 20 to 50 people total are max level across all servers.

    I think it comes from the fact that the major attraction of SWTOR is the story.  And the story is going to end at some point, probably max-level.

    And when you strip the story from SWTOR, it really isn't that good of a game when compared to its peers.

    You say that as if it's some cold hard fact.

    For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson


  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403

    Originally posted by Kyleran

    Do you think they'll actually publish sub numbers?  So few companies ever really do, look at Rift, I don't think Trion ever published their sub numbers, at least not with any sort of regularlity.

    Why not?  This is probably the best early sales in a Western game in nearly a decade...maybe ever.

    Seems newsworthy, and the sort of thing PR flacks love to issue "press release" Op Eds about.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • stratasaurusstratasaurus Member Posts: 220


    Originally posted by dinams

    I am shooting at about 50% retention rate, a normal amount for a polished and finished game

    So I believe that until february they will sell about 2 mill units, they might end up with 1 mill subs, which is a healthy number nonetheless.

    I have yet still to play the game, but damn, Im so bored with nowaday selection of mmos that any entry would be welcome, SW:TOR or GW2

     

    I Remember reading a interview from I believe CEO of Bioware just before the start of pre orders.  He said that for them not to lose money they needed 500k subscriptions, 1M would be a money maker, and 1.5 to 2M or more would be far beyond anyone's hopes for the game.  He didn't say how long those would have to be open though....avg subs for 6 months? 1 years?  just buying and paying a month of subscription?  My guess would be 1 years but it seems like over 1M would be their target by that interview and I think they won't have any trouble keeping that many for at least a year.

  • LoekiiLoekii Member Posts: 430

    Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

    http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/12/19/analyst-claims-swtor-could-already-have-1-5-million-players/ 

    If true this is pretty impressive

     

    Given the ques outside of many gaming outlets today for the game  and huge numbers of players don't pre-order games  t

    his could easily double over the holiday period alone . Que for someone to say it'll drop sharply in month two or it'll be free to play by then end of next year when its obvious to anyone with any sense both are extremly unlikly to happen .

    It does look that this game really could break records set by WoW for sales of a new MMO seven years ago .

    To me, that just shows the power of Hype and the Brand name. 

    For example:


    I cannot find links, but iirc, SWG sold over 1 million boxes at release, but failed to retain 75% of those sales in the following months.


     


    So for me, I want to see more than just selling a lot of boxes.    I will be impressed when we see over 1 million resubs in March/April, for example.

    image

  • ZippyZippy Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 1,412

    Originally posted by Eliandal

    Originally posted by Zippy


    Originally posted by Puremallace


    Originally posted by NMStudio


    Originally posted by Teh_Axi

    Are you really trying to make a big deal out of some analyst speculating TOR will have average sales figures?

    Average?

    Which other MMO has ever opened to these kinds of sales numbers?  I'll tell you. None.

    WoW had maybe 250k on launch, Aion managed 400k.  Rift never hit a million, though they've still never given us any solid numbers.

    You don't have to like the game, but at least be realistic when talking about it.

    Pretty sure quotes like "we are approaching our millionith copy sold" indicates Rift did pretty good.

    With 99 Full servers with long queues at release I think its a pretty fair bet Rift sold over a million the first week.  Each server becomes full at 3500 players before going to queue.  Unless you believe more than 35% of box sales were logged in at once they sold well over a million.  But besides that your other numbers are accurate.  Additionally AoC sold 700k, Warhammer a bit more.  But you are right SWTOR's numbers are amazing.

     

      Rift cannot have sold over a million first month.  If they did, Trion wouldn`t have given an interview two months ago stating they `were nearing 1 million units sold`.  While the game is popular, it is in the "AOC" or "WAR" league of "launch" popular.  Although WAR did sell 1.1 million copies in the first month - and of course we now know what happened to both those games.  Thankfully Trion released a polished game - which has saved them so far from the same fate.

     

      It's still nice numbers for Bioware though.  Kudos to them.  I know I've already taken the 6 month plan - and I'll re-evaluate at that point.

     

      Just as an aside...really, when you think about it - ALL of their numbers have been kind of astonishing.  A "Beta" weekend that was bigger than most launches, pre-orders that are more on par with popular single player PC games.  Estimates of Early Access numbers being between 1 and 1.5 million people - and smooth as silk (for me anyways)

    That is not true.  While they have  had a couple of  emplyess come out and say a few things about population they shouldn't have.  Such as the first month one employee said we have sold over a million copies, another said person was quoted as saying players  have created a million accounts.  Both times  Trion has said they won't comment.  Trion is very secretive.  One thing is all employess sign a NDA and they take it very seriously. I know someone who lost their job there for talking about some company info in game.  Not important info.  They keep a very tight ship on what is said. 

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403

    Originally posted by Loekii

    I cannot find links, but iirc, SWG sold over 1 million boxes at release

    Let us know if you do find that, because as far as I know that was far beyond SWG's wildest wet dreams at any point in its entire history.

    A million shipped?  Sure, I'll buy that, AoC used the same 'inflate the numbers' tactic.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • OkhamsRazorOkhamsRazor Member Posts: 1,047

    Originally posted by Creslin321

    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    I love all the comments about how crappy end game is on this game that has not even launched yet?  Kind of early to judge the end game when maybe 20 to 50 people total are max level across all servers.

    I think it comes from the fact that the major attraction of SWTOR is the story.  And the story is going to end at some point, probably max-level.

    And when you strip the story from SWTOR, it really isn't that good of a game when compared to its peers.

    Untill the next patch when the story is continued of course and lets not forget you can play several different storys and each story in different ways .

  • DistopiaDistopia Member EpicPosts: 21,183

    Originally posted by Loekii

     

    To me, that just shows the power of Hype and the Brand name. 

    For example:


    I cannot find links, but iirc, SWG sold over 1 million boxes at release, but failed to retain 75% of those sales in the following months.


     

    That doesn't sound accurate to me as I remember an announcement in 05 (or so) saying SWG was approaching or had sold their millionth copy.

     

    "wiki" In August 2005, SOE reported that they had sold 1,000,000 boxed copies of the game

    Source from wiki   http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/star-wars-galaxies-sales-top-a-million-units  take note of the date of the article.

     

    For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson


  • OkhamsRazorOkhamsRazor Member Posts: 1,047

    Originally posted by Zippy

    Originally posted by Eliandal


    Originally posted by Zippy


    Originally posted by Puremallace


    Originally posted by NMStudio


    Originally posted by Teh_Axi

    Are you really trying to make a big deal out of some analyst speculating TOR will have average sales figures?

    Average?

    Which other MMO has ever opened to these kinds of sales numbers?  I'll tell you. None.

    WoW had maybe 250k on launch, Aion managed 400k.  Rift never hit a million, though they've still never given us any solid numbers.

    You don't have to like the game, but at least be realistic when talking about it.

    Pretty sure quotes like "we are approaching our millionith copy sold" indicates Rift did pretty good.

    With 99 Full servers with long queues at release I think its a pretty fair bet Rift sold over a million the first week.  Each server becomes full at 3500 players before going to queue.  Unless you believe more than 35% of box sales were logged in at once they sold well over a million.  But besides that your other numbers are accurate.  Additionally AoC sold 700k, Warhammer a bit more.  But you are right SWTOR's numbers are amazing.

     

      Rift cannot have sold over a million first month.  If they did, Trion wouldn`t have given an interview two months ago stating they `were nearing 1 million units sold`.  While the game is popular, it is in the "AOC" or "WAR" league of "launch" popular.  Although WAR did sell 1.1 million copies in the first month - and of course we now know what happened to both those games.  Thankfully Trion released a polished game - which has saved them so far from the same fate.

     

      It's still nice numbers for Bioware though.  Kudos to them.  I know I've already taken the 6 month plan - and I'll re-evaluate at that point.

     

      Just as an aside...really, when you think about it - ALL of their numbers have been kind of astonishing.  A "Beta" weekend that was bigger than most launches, pre-orders that are more on par with popular single player PC games.  Estimates of Early Access numbers being between 1 and 1.5 million people - and smooth as silk (for me anyways)

    That is not true.  While they have  had a couple of  emplyess come out and say a few things about population they shouldn't have.  Such as the first month one employee said we have sold over a million copies, another said person was quoted as saying players  have created a million accounts.  Both times  Trion has said they won't comment.  Trion is very secretive.  One thing is all employess sign a NDA and they take it very seriously. I know someone who lost their job there for talking about some company info in game.  Not important info.  They keep a very tight ship on what is said. 

    I was there at the launch of Rift in the EU I dont think they had anything like the numbers playing in early access in ToR .

  • LoekiiLoekii Member Posts: 430

    Originally posted by OkhamsRazor

    Originally posted by Creslin321


    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    I love all the comments about how crappy end game is on this game that has not even launched yet?  Kind of early to judge the end game when maybe 20 to 50 people total are max level across all servers.

    I think it comes from the fact that the major attraction of SWTOR is the story.  And the story is going to end at some point, probably max-level.

    And when you strip the story from SWTOR, it really isn't that good of a game when compared to its peers.

    Untill the next patch when the story is continued of course and lets not forget you can play several different storys and each story in different ways .

    I am reading claims that is not the case.

     

    Rather while each class story is different, a good chunk of the story is repeated content.   For example, a Republic player that enjoyed each and ever story available to him/her, will be repeating a lot of those stories on their next Republic character - from what I have read.

     

    It doesn't sound like the story is laid out in such a way, where a player can run off to different zones on their second play through and avoid a lot of repeated story content --- like one can in WoW (Tauren in Mulgore, and then Tauren in Undead lands).

     

    And until we see BW churing out large patches of story content, I do not believe we are going to see it.   Rather I can see something more along the real of paid expansions introducing more story.   Again, it is more about 'seeing is believing', for me at least.   Not saying it cannot happen, but rather that until it does, I am doubtful.

     

     

    image

  • LoekiiLoekii Member Posts: 430

    Originally posted by Distopia

    Originally posted by Loekii


     

    To me, that just shows the power of Hype and the Brand name. 

    For example:


    I cannot find links, but iirc, SWG sold over 1 million boxes at release, but failed to retain 75% of those sales in the following months.


     

    That doesn't sound accurate to me as i rememebr an announcement in 05 saying SWG was approaching or had sold their millionth copy.

     

    "wiki" In August 2005, SOE reported that they had sold 1,000,000 boxed copies of the game

    Source from wiki   http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/star-wars-galaxies-sales-top-a-million-units  take note of the date of the article.

     

    I stand corrected.    However, according to MMOCharts, the sub numbers were falling 300k -- so it wasn't as if they had 1 million active subscriptions:

     

    For myself, box sales is just an indicaiton of how well a game has been marketed (hyped), where as resub numbers is a good indication of how good a game is (how happy customers are with it).

     

    image

  • catlanacatlana Member Posts: 1,677

    Originally posted by Loekii

    Originally posted by OkhamsRazor


    Originally posted by Creslin321


    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    I love all the comments about how crappy end game is on this game that has not even launched yet?  Kind of early to judge the end game when maybe 20 to 50 people total are max level across all servers.

    I think it comes from the fact that the major attraction of SWTOR is the story.  And the story is going to end at some point, probably max-level.

    And when you strip the story from SWTOR, it really isn't that good of a game when compared to its peers.

    Untill the next patch when the story is continued of course and lets not forget you can play several different storys and each story in different ways .

    I am reading claims that is not the case.

     

    Rather while each class story is different, a good chunk of the story is repeated content.   For example, a Republic player that enjoyed each and ever story available to him/her, will be repeating a lot of those stories on their next Republic character - from what I have read.

     

    It doesn't sound like the story is laid out in such a way, where a player can run off to different zones on their second play through and avoid a lot of repeated story content --- like one can in WoW (Tauren in Mulgore, and then Tauren in Undead lands).

     

    And until we see BW churing out large patches of story content, I do not believe we are going to see it.   Rather I can see something more along the real of paid expansions introducing more story.   Again, it is more about 'seeing is believing', for me at least.   Not saying it cannot happen, but rather that until it does, I am doubtful.

     

     

    Each story is different as is each side. Now, you can also very effectively level by either pvping or space missions. Pvp is a very efficent way to level as you get pretty decent gear from pvp as well. 

  • TealaTeala Member RarePosts: 7,627

    Originally posted by NMStudio

    Originally posted by Teh_Axi

    Are you really trying to make a big deal out of some analyst speculating TOR will have average sales figures?

    Average?

    Which other MMO has ever opened to these kinds of sales numbers?  I'll tell you. None.

    WoW had maybe 250k on launch, Aion managed 400k.  Rift never hit a million, though they've still never given us any solid numbers.

    You don't have to like the game, but at least be realistic when talking about it.

    Actually according to old news reports WoW was the fastest selling game when it launched.  It sold 250k copies in 24hrs.   Soon after it continued the pace and had sold almost a million copies by Christmas of that year.   Back then that was unheard of for an MMORPG. 

    As for Aion...Aion sold according to news articles almost 600k copies US and EU when it released - which actually broke WoW's old record for MMO sells.   Age of Conan sold 800k copies in the US and EU ,and eventaully over a million within a couple of months of its lanuch.   Rift also did very well in  the US and EU selling 1 million units...from March to June.   Warhammer sold almost a million copies...but it was ghost town with a couple months of its release and had barerly 50k players - today it is even less.   

    So other games have started out pretty strong in initial sells, but retention of those sales was horrible.  It is said that Aion retained just a bit over 5% of all US sales and a little better in the EU at 12%.    As for Age of Conan...it was considered dead by the market analyst within 6 months of launch retaining maybe 3 to 4 percent of its initial sales in the US and a little more in the EU between 8% and 10%.    Rift has actually faired better and seems to have held a little more of its initial player base at about 25%. 

  • EvileEvile Member Posts: 534

    Everyone who says TOR will be ftp soon, and will fail because it has themeparks in it I feel are wrong.

    TOR has themeparks yes, but they are fun rides. The stories are very well done. The game is very addicting and immersive. TOR is very polished, and lots of fun.

    TOR already is a solid success. It's good to be back with my SWG guildies and friends among the MANY new faces.

    image

  • stratasaurusstratasaurus Member Posts: 220

    Originally posted by Teala

    Originally posted by NMStudio


    Originally posted by Teh_Axi

    Are you really trying to make a big deal out of some analyst speculating TOR will have average sales figures?

    Average?

    Which other MMO has ever opened to these kinds of sales numbers?  I'll tell you. None.

    WoW had maybe 250k on launch, Aion managed 400k.  Rift never hit a million, though they've still never given us any solid numbers.

    You don't have to like the game, but at least be realistic when talking about it.

    Actually according to old news reports WoW was the fastest selling game when it launched.  It sold 250k copies in 24hrs.   Soon after it continued the pace and had sold almost a million copies by Christmas of that year.   Back then that was unheard of for an MMORPG. 

    As for Aion...Aion sold according to news articles almost 600k copies US and EU when it released - which actually broke WoW's old record for MMO sells.   Age of Conan sold 800k copies in the US and EU ,and eventaully over a million within a couple of months of its lanuch.   Rift also did very well in  the US and EU selling 1 million units...from March to June.   Warhammer sold almost a million copies...but it was ghost town with a couple months of its release and had barerly 50k players - today it is even less.   

    So other games have started out pretty strong in initial sells, but retention of those sales was horrible.  It is said that Aion retained just a bit over 5% of all US sales and a little better in the EU at 12%.    As for Age of Conan...it was considered dead by the market analyst within 6 months of launch retaining maybe 3 to 4 percent of its initial sales in the US and a little more in the EU between 8% and 10%.    Rift has actually faired better and seems to have held a little more of its initial player base at about 25%. 

    Do you have sources for this.  Everything I have read has Aion at over 1M subs and a peak of over 3M....If they are at 1M(which is conservative by what I can find) at 5% that would mean 20M boxes sold....Even at the EU number of 12% that is close to 10M sold. 

  • chryseschryses Member UncommonPosts: 1,453

    I don't know why people get hung up on how long a game may or not be around for or when it will go FTP.

    I will sub for 3 months and then judge where I am with it.  The cost for a 3 month sub is dirt cheap compared to standalone games and even if I didn't continue I know I will have fun running through the story's and landscape. 

    The longest games I have subbed to are

    EvE - 5 years (indy)

    Fallen Earth - 1+ year (indy)

    AoC - 6 months.

     

    Everything else has been a fun run around for 1-4 months. 

    Personally I hope they make a profit because if companies stop making money out of MMO's then future MMO's won't get the investment needed to make them.

  • TealaTeala Member RarePosts: 7,627

    Originally posted by stratasaurus

    Originally posted by Teala


    Originally posted by NMStudio


    Originally posted by Teh_Axi

    Are you really trying to make a big deal out of some analyst speculating TOR will have average sales figures?

    Average?

    Which other MMO has ever opened to these kinds of sales numbers?  I'll tell you. None.

    WoW had maybe 250k on launch, Aion managed 400k.  Rift never hit a million, though they've still never given us any solid numbers.

    You don't have to like the game, but at least be realistic when talking about it.

    Actually according to old news reports WoW was the fastest selling game when it launched.  It sold 250k copies in 24hrs.   Soon after it continued the pace and had sold almost a million copies by Christmas of that year.   Back then that was unheard of for an MMORPG. 

    As for Aion...Aion sold according to news articles almost 600k copies US and EU when it released - which actually broke WoW's old record for MMO sells.   Age of Conan sold 800k copies in the US and EU ,and eventaully over a million within a couple of months of its lanuch.   Rift also did very well in  the US and EU selling 1 million units...from March to June.   Warhammer sold almost a million copies...but it was ghost town with a couple months of its release and had barerly 50k players - today it is even less.   

    So other games have started out pretty strong in initial sells, but retention of those sales was horrible.  It is said that Aion retained just a bit over 5% of all US sales and a little better in the EU at 12%.    As for Age of Conan...it was considered dead by the market analyst within 6 months of launch retaining maybe 3 to 4 percent of its initial sales in the US and a little more in the EU between 8% and 10%.    Rift has actually faired better and seems to have held a little more of its initial player base at about 25%. 

    Do you have sources for this.  Everything I have read has Aion at over 1M subs and a peak of over 3M....If they are at 1M(which is conservative by what I can find) at 5% that would mean 20M boxes sold....Even at the EU number of 12% that is close to 10M sold. 



    Did I mention the asian market in anything I wrote.  I am talking about he EU and NA market.   Aion was a major success in the asian market...then again it is an asian made game aimed at the asian market.    Doesn't matter what Aion does there...what matters is how it fairs here and in Europe.    The asian market is different than the US and EU market.    The games created in and for the asian market genreally do not fair as well here in the US or Europe.    This is very well known.   Plus I dunno where you got your numbers from but there is no way Aion sold 10 million copies in the EU - no way.    That would make it one of the best selling games ever in the EU and in the world for that matter and that is not the case.   It didn't do to badly though when you include box and digital download sells it managed to break the 1 million mark eventually.

    This is what is know about Aion sales.


    Sales and revenue

    Aion was the biggest MMO release in recent years according to NCsoft, with 400,000 pre-orders in the US. The game generated 40.6 billion won ($32.7 million) in the fiscal quarter in South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Japan.[26] In China, over 1 million players logged in within the first four days of release.[27]

    On its western release, Aion became the best-selling PC game of September 2009.[28] It also managed to remain at No. 1 on both the Steam and Direct2Drive charts for several weeks.[29][30] By 9 November 2009, the game had sold nearly 1 million copies in the west, with 500,000 units sold in the US and 470,000 units in Europe. The success of Aion resulted in NCsoft's quarterly revenues to rise 112% for a total of $142 million.[31]

  • popinjaypopinjay Member Posts: 6,539


    Originally posted by Teala

    So other games have started out pretty strong in initial sells, but retention of those sales was horrible.  It is said that Aion retained just a bit over 5% of all US sales and a little better in the EU at 12%.    As for Age of Conan...it was considered dead by the market analyst within 6 months of launch retaining maybe 3 to 4 percent of its initial sales in the US and a little more in the EU between 8% and 10%.    Rift has actually faired better and seems to have held a little more of its initial player base at about 25%. 


    Rift had more hostages than those other games you mentioned.


    Mmos weren't doing six month and one year subs at AOC, Aion, Warhammer, launches. Those were monthly subs only if I remember right at launch.

    Rift was selling three, six and I think yearly from day one, so they count their 'retention' six months later as people who were still on the sub whereas games like War at launch had to have people resubbing each time.


    I'm pretty sure that's how it was, but I could be wrong about their launches.

    edit: I might be wrong about this. I think I see something about AoC launching with six month plans, but not one year.

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