Rein: UTIII on PC not "doing so badly"

Mark Rein has described Unreal Tournament III on PC as not "doing so badly" in response to a question on the game's retail performance in launch month.

More than a few surprised eyebrows were raised when data released by NPD Group put the sequel at 33,995 unit sales in November 2007 in the US, which seemed very low for such a high-profile game.

[jackdoe]

Er, I wouldn't call it not doing so badly. I'd call it, not doing so well right now, but we are working on patching the game and adding Assault so more people would decide to buy it.

[mboojigga]

Im sorry but people are not going to simply buy the game for this particular mod just like they are not buying the game because it has the mod for Halo. PC games have been on the decline for years. Very few games sale on the PC and all it takes is a brief look at what games sale and what doesn't. What is odd is that you can't pinpoint it down to different genres that is a sure thing to sale. It is random across the board.

[ohhthegore]

Sad to see such a great game not performing so well

[MattyF]

Isn't this the exact same story?

http://www.n4g.com/News-101...

[Snukadaman]

so the ps3 version is keeping them afloat right now..weird...lol

[Iron Man 2]

I though PS3 owners didn't buy games?Xbox fanboys have got some explaining to do...

But yeah,it's sad to see a great game like UTIII sell so little

[theox2g7]

Here's a comment from one developers working in Tripwire on the situation :

"These NPD numbers are VERY misleading for PC games having seen this with our own game (Red Orchestra:Ostfront). Basically, the US is very console heavy, and Europe is very PC heavy. So you can estimate that whatever the NPD numbers were for a PC game, there was probably over 2-3x more in Europe and elsewhere. So if UT3 sold 30,000 in the US, I would guess it sold a total of 100,000+ in those two weeks worldwide." says the analysts at Tripwire.

And even according this, http://www.1up.com/do/newsS...
UT3 sold about 86000 by the end of November. And if Crysis did 85,000 in the US, it probably did around or under 200,000 worldwide. And that doesn't even include digital downloads or online sales. Add those in and the numbers would be much much bigger.

FYI, Crysis was the number one selling game across all platforms in Germany. It was also best selling PC game in Japan. That just goes to show you how misleading NPD numbers are for PC games.

Hence, let's wait a couple of more months for worlwide sales figures before calling any games failures in sales. People are also forgetting that the holiday season was saturated with tons of games and AAA titles. I mean we have Gears of War with new content, Bioshock, Orange Box, Almighty Call of Duty 4 and the like. PS3 fanboys use this argument for Uncharted sales and they are right cos sales of that game is picking up as we are leaving the congested holiday gaming season. Especially considering number of FPS released in 2007 alone and how pc gamers don't buy as many games at once, I think all these factors come into play. Also especially considering the fact that most pc gamers also own consoles and the console market was even more saturated, they must have spent a fortune buying games with 60 dollar price tags so they are probably saving up for pc games and hardware upgrades later. Those who owned all 3 consoles along with a gaming machine must have spent an arm and a leg getting all these potential GOTY console titles and probably just winged it for pc for another time. Plus it makes sense, pc game prices come down faster so it'll even be cheaper for them to just wait it out with empty pockets until the savings come in.

US PC sales on shelves have become niche because of piracy and digital distribution. PC gaming has entered the internet age. Lots of people buy their games online, and through digital distribution (unlike consoles). This is because piracy became rampant and most pc gamers got into the habit of getting digital copies of games instead. So they stopped going to stores when they actually wanted to purchase a game as they were more familiarized with the online process because of steam and piracy. NPD leaving these elements out completely skews the sales numbers. It would be like calculating holiday shopping sales and ignoring all those poeple that used credit cards or debit cards."

In other words, it's almost as stupid to focus on PC game sales from the US as it is to focus on 360 game sales in Japan. The NPD is absolutley pointless when it comes to tracking PC Gaming.

And as Rein said in another interview, the console market and pc market are two different things altogether, consoles peak sales within first few months of release and there's a downward spiral from there as other games take the spotlight, pc games sell even more as more capable hardware is released and prices are slashed for gaming parts to be more affordable for the average joe, tons of pc gamers are patient and don't rush out to get games at launch as they can't afford capable rigs at the moment, but with new hardware and price cuts, sales will continue at a steady pace or even pick up.

Comparing pc sales to console sales is like comparing apples to oranges because developers spend a whole lot less developing pc games than console games due to licensing and heavy optimization or development cost, that's why pc games are always cheaper than their console counterparts. The sales needed to recoup pc development cost isn't that much for most games. Why do you think formally console exclusive companies like capcom and ubisoft are now releasing almost all their games on pc as well? Lost Planet, Devil May Cry 4, Assassin's Creed, Bionic Commando on pc and it's all $10 cheaper than the console versions? Cos it's not hard to make profits with pc games and that is the exact reason that pc gaming will not die. Also, Europe sales alone will keep pc game sales alive as they mostly constitute a heavy chunk of overall shelve sales.

Half life 2 sold 4 million copies in a 2 year time period. Give these games time to bloom. It's not like Halo 3 or other console games where you'll get 90% of the game's lifetime sales in the first month or two.

[led1090]

dude sorry if i pissed u off the last time but i have to agree with u completely pc games sell much better in europe EA has already stated that crysis is one of its success stories.....reaching to conclusions without hearing the official word can lead to some really silly rumours.....look at witcher many ppl say that it is one of the most underrated games this yr....but it sold 100k copies in poland alone and more than 200k in russia and more than a million worldwide....so yea u should just wait for the official word of the devs

[danarc]

Just release it on PS3 in Europe!!!

I'd buy it on release :D

[Skerj]

I hadn't even seen commercials to it until this month then they just poured in, it's like they were holding them all back when the game launched.

[jackdoe]

And they advertised the single player component of the game instead of the multiplayer...

[BludoTheSmelly]

NPD doesnt get numbers from retailers like wallymart and others also.

[Baba1906]

how about the ps3 ut3 for europe -.- please release it.

[zonetrooper5]

Its not selling as much because alot of the hardcore fans of UT are not buying UT3 as its not suppose to be that great. Its suppose to be UT2004 but with better graphics.