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Was Dragon Age: Inquisition a commercial failure?

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
That myth again?
 
Unwanted

DollarSign

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I can never understand how these threads constantly and unhindedly expand when the game at hand is just shit. Not even shit in a hilarious way, but just that dull brown stuff that's frogotten as soon as the toilet is flushed.
Insecure morons use it as a constant source of self-gratification. Normal people have moved on long ago. The funniest thing is watching retards scrutinize EA's sales and spread ridiculous gossip/conspiracy theories, hoping beyond hope that DAI wasn't a "commercial success".
 

imweasel

Guest
Insecure morons use it as a constant source of self-gratification. Normal people have moved on long ago. The funniest thing is watching retards scrutinize EA's sales and spread ridiculous gossip/conspiracy theories, hoping beyond hope that DAI wasn't a "commercial success".
Dragon Age: Inquisition, "Bioware's most successful launch ever!", consistently fails to chart. Bioware's previous most succesful launch was Mass Effect 3, which debuted at the number one spot, although the word got out pretty fast that the game is pure shit in comparison to previous installments.

EA is anything but concrete and extremely conservative with their marketing bullshit regarding DA:I, which leaves it open to rough interpretation. "Most successful launch" can mean almost anything really, but for the DA:I retards this of course means that the game is a huge hit and extremely profitable. In reality it could just mean that DA:I was Bioware's most succesful launch at the Best Buy in Edmonton, Canada.

Hard to say if the game was a disaster or not, because 1) we don't know how many copies EA has to sell to break even and cover production, distribution and marketing costs and 2) we don't know how many copies have been sold (although chart data indicates that it probably isn't selling as well as it should be).

TLDR:

keZ4BIT.jpg
 
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Xorazm

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106
Insecure morons use it as a constant source of self-gratification. Normal people have moved on long ago. The funniest thing is watching retards scrutinize EA's sales and spread ridiculous gossip/conspiracy theories, hoping beyond hope that DAI wasn't a "commercial success".
Dragon Age: Inquisition, "Bioware's most successful launch ever!", consistently fails to chart. Bioware's previous most succesful launch was Mass Effect 3, which debuted at the number one spot, although the word got out pretty fast that the game is pure shit in comparison to previous installments.

I came across an interesting observation on this page:

http://forum.bioware.com/topic/543826-inquisition-the-most-successful-launch-in-bioware-history/page-6

(you have to copy and paste the link because I have no idea how to get the formatting to work properly on this site, even copying and pasting straight out of your help section for urls leaves me with a string of incomprehensible gibberish for some reason)

The tl;dr is that there's no way these numbers add up

Let's assume that DA:I sold better than any other Bioware game - that would put it around the 5M units range. Assuming $60 a pop (which seems a little unlikely given some of the 40-50% fire sales we saw for most of December and January... but let's keep going) that's $300M in revenue. I'm not sure what EA estimates there were for this game, but let's just assume they were around DA2 levels - right about what NPD and other sources seem to indicate the game wound up at - of 3.5M, which would put it at total revenue of $210M.

Its numerically impossible for the difference, $90M, to be the driver for over 2% gross profit margin over expectations for a company that does over $4B a year in annual revenue. So... even in the BEST CASE SCENARIO, EA is making highly obscured and veiled, misleading statements to make DA:I look better than it is.

The only way I can make sense out of all this is that, when EA talked about DA:I being the "most successful launch" they were being very creative with the meaning of the term "launch." In other words, they must have been referring to pre-orders or first day sales, because there's absolutely no way that DA:I could drive such an improvement in their bottom line (keeping in mind that EA is a MASSIVE company) and fail to chart on the retail trackers (nobody in their right minds thinks the digital market is that big).

Long story short, people noticed that DA:I was falling off the charts and scuttlebutt started to gather that it was a failure. EA decided to get out in front of that narrative with some very carefully phrased language to mislead everyone while still being legally defensible.

And it totally worked. The only people would figure out that it doesn't come together are people who actually crunch the numbers and/or dedicated skeptics (naturally you can't expect journalists do this, come on).

It's a masterfully successful bit of deception that came off like a charm. Weirdly enough, Bioware's "most successful launch ever" just got cut down to $35. Again.
 

tuluse

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Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Lots of problems with that analysis.

1) EA didn't say it was the best selling Bioware game of all time, but the best launch. Makes no sense to look at total units another game sold.

2) Publishers don't get the full $60 when you buy a game at a store. It's probably closer to half that.


Xorazm

You can just paste a plain text link into a post and the forum will figure it out, you only need to use url tags if you want to rename the link. Also, it looks like you're trying to link to this url: http://www.example.com]go/ which can't be what you want.
 

Mustawd

Guest
January 2015 NPD sales data out.


Software
  1. Dying Light (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
  2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One ,PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
  3. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
  4. Minecraft (360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
  5. NBA 2K15 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
  6. Super Smash Bros. (Wii U, 3DS)
  7. Far Cry 4 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
  8. Madden NFL 15 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
  9. Destiny (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
  10. FIFA 15 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS)

No DA:I to be seen.
 

Rahdulan

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January 2015 NPD sales data out.


Software
  1. Dying Light (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
  2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One ,PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
  3. Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
  4. Minecraft (360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4)
  5. NBA 2K15 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
  6. Super Smash Bros. (Wii U, 3DS)
  7. Far Cry 4 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
  8. Madden NFL 15 (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
  9. Destiny (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3)
  10. FIFA 15 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, Wii, Vita, 3DS)

No DA:I to be seen.

But think about all the time players put into the game. After all, if EA can use it to measure success then so can you. :codexisfor:
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
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If it was a failure I doubt they'd be expending further resources to patching. It's been three months and they're still going. Bombs/disappointments don't get much post-release support because of the whole sunk cost thing.
 

AwesomeButton

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Thanks a lot, Mustawd for your insight (I can't brofist posts yet). BTW, a few posts down, the quoted BSN guy bought the "based on sales but we won't disclose the number" argument.

I'm thinking if we want Bioware to fail and the DA division to be closed forever, we should actually advocate more DA games, which would then flop, taking down Bioware :D Too bad we don't have the strength to distort the picture enough...
 
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If it was a failure I doubt they'd be expending further resources to patching. It's been three months and they're still going. Bombs/disappointments don't get much post-release support because of the whole sunk cost thing.
they are also working on dlc :smug:
 

Mustawd

Guest
If it was a failure I doubt they'd be expending further resources to patching. It's been three months and they're still going. Bombs/disappointments don't get much post-release support because of the whole sunk cost thing.


Yeah, I doubt it's an all out bomb. And it's altogether possible that this game may still be profitable. However, in terms of their expectations? Dunno. It still might below, in which case one can argue it under-performed.

Will be interesting to see EA's language on DA:I in the next few months.

EDIT: For the record I don't care either way. Just because shitty RPGs exist doesn't mean I have to play the damn things.
 

Roguey

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I'm sure a lot of 'em are at least emotionally crushed that they didn't peel off any of that Skyrim money.
 

imweasel

Guest
EA is not interested in making games that only break even or make a small profit. I doubt that an extremely expensive AAA game like DA:I sold as well as it should have if it never charted. Not to mention that the reception isn't great either.

I seriously doubt that EA will make another Dragon Age game. They will just have Bioware stick to Mass Effect and their new unannounced IP IMO.

If it was a failure I doubt they'd be expending further resources to patching. It's been three months and they're still going. Bombs/disappointments don't get much post-release support because of the whole sunk cost thing.
The bitching is immense because the game is in an appalling state. It wouldn't be a good idea to leave your fanbase out in the rain if you want them to buy Mass Effect 4 or any other Bioware game.
 

AwesomeButton

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EA is not interested in making games that only break even or make a small profit. I doubt that an extremely expensive AAA game like DA:I sold as well as it should have if it never charted. Not to mention that the reception isn't great either.

I seriously doubt that EA will make another Dragon Age game. They will just have Bioware stick to Mass Effect and their new unannounced IP IMO.

While we're on the subject:
Why Paradox boss wants "more Goat Simulator, less Call of Duty"

Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester and COO Susana Meza Graham discussed the future of the games industry at a media round table last week, focusing particularly on the viability of big-budget game development, the challenges facing an exploding digital market, and why a game about pinging a goat off a trampoline is preferable to the biggest shooter series in the world.

"Competition is really fierce," said Wester. "You have to have an edge in there, and that's why I say 'more Goat Simulator and less Call of Duty' for Paradox, because we need the edge. It's easier to get out and market, it's easier to show what you're doing.

"People are tired of explosions and dubstep music. We've seen it a million times now, like, stop doing it. No more."

Paradox' bosses aren't planning to muscle in on the farmyard animal flap-about genre any time soon, but they are thinking hard about how to stand out in increasingly packed market of small and mid-tier releases. It's not surprising that they'd look favourably on a quickly produced viral hit like Goat Simulator, they've had success building niche games with relatively small teams, and are wary of the one-upmanship that accompanies big-budget blockbuster development. Susana Meza Graham thinks the arms race can't last.

"I think we're going to see a little bit of a scaling back as well. As an industry we've just tried to top each other every single time we release something, it's going to be bigger, better, bigger productions, bigger marketing budgets, whatever, whatever. Then all of a sudden it's released and we still can't meet consumers' expectations because some things don't work maybe as planned, the plans were too ambitious."

Assassin's Creed Unity provides a recent example. Wester has another that highlights the sky-high expectations developers and publishers set around their landmark releases.

"One signal there is when Square Enix shipped [Tomb Raider], the latest edition of that, it's like 'it's a new record for Square Enix! Shipping 5.3 million units day one!' And it's still 1.2 million units under their target. Then I feel like 'okay your target is 30 percent more than you've ever done before ever ever ever, and that's your target' There's something that's a bit strange here."

"You can always dream," Susana adds. "And there's reality, and at some point the two need to start meshing together a little bit more. Maybe it's easy to sit here and say—we don't face those realities on a day to day basis—but I just think it's gotten to a point where it's a rollercoaster, it's not going to be able to continue like this."

Paradox has had its own setback recently, cancelling their Norse mythology RPG, Runemaster, to refocus their efforts on other projects. Said projects include the wizardy co-op game, Magicka 2, Cities: Skylines, Hearts of Iron 4 and a new expansion for Europa Universalis IV. They're also publishing Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity, due out next month.

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-paradox-boss-wants-more-goat-simulator-less-call-of-duty/

The movie industry imploding was something that Spielberg and Lucas warned about in an interview years ago (easy to dig it out). Nobody noticed that the same thing has been happening with the videogames industry too - larger and larger budgets, progressively more risk-averse investors leads to fewer and less imaginitive titles.
 
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
EA is not interested in making games that only break even or make a small profit. I doubt that an extremely expensive AAA game like DA:I sold as well as it should have if it never charted. Not to mention that the reception isn't great either.

I seriously doubt that EA will make another Dragon Age game. They will just have Bioware stick to Mass Effect and their new unannounced IP IMO.

While we're on the subject:
Why Paradox boss wants "more Goat Simulator, less Call of Duty"

Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester and COO Susana Meza Graham discussed the future of the games industry at a media round table last week, focusing particularly on the viability of big-budget game development, the challenges facing an exploding digital market, and why a game about pinging a goat off a trampoline is preferable to the biggest shooter series in the world.

"Competition is really fierce," said Wester. "You have to have an edge in there, and that's why I say 'more Goat Simulator and less Call of Duty' for Paradox, because we need the edge. It's easier to get out and market, it's easier to show what you're doing.

"People are tired of explosions and dubstep music. We've seen it a million times now, like, stop doing it. No more."

Paradox' bosses aren't planning to muscle in on the farmyard animal flap-about genre any time soon, but they are thinking hard about how to stand out in increasingly packed market of small and mid-tier releases. It's not surprising that they'd look favourably on a quickly produced viral hit like Goat Simulator, they've had success building niche games with relatively small teams, and are wary of the one-upmanship that accompanies big-budget blockbuster development. Susana Meza Graham thinks the arms race can't last.

"I think we're going to see a little bit of a scaling back as well. As an industry we've just tried to top each other every single time we release something, it's going to be bigger, better, bigger productions, bigger marketing budgets, whatever, whatever. Then all of a sudden it's released and we still can't meet consumers' expectations because some things don't work maybe as planned, the plans were too ambitious."

Assassin's Creed Unity provides a recent example. Wester has another that highlights the sky-high expectations developers and publishers set around their landmark releases.

"One signal there is when Square Enix shipped [Tomb Raider], the latest edition of that, it's like 'it's a new record for Square Enix! Shipping 5.3 million units day one!' And it's still 1.2 million units under their target. Then I feel like 'okay your target is 30 percent more than you've ever done before ever ever ever, and that's your target' There's something that's a bit strange here."

"You can always dream," Susana adds. "And there's reality, and at some point the two need to start meshing together a little bit more. Maybe it's easy to sit here and say—we don't face those realities on a day to day basis—but I just think it's gotten to a point where it's a rollercoaster, it's not going to be able to continue like this."

Paradox has had its own setback recently, cancelling their Norse mythology RPG, Runemaster, to refocus their efforts on other projects. Said projects include the wizardy co-op game, Magicka 2, Cities: Skylines, Hearts of Iron 4 and a new expansion for Europa Universalis IV. They're also publishing Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity, due out next month.

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-paradox-boss-wants-more-goat-simulator-less-call-of-duty/

The movie industry imploding was something that Spielberg and Lucas warned about in an interview years ago (easy to dig it out). Nobody noticed that the same thing has been happening with the videogames industry too - larger and larger budgets, progressively more risk-averse investors leads to fewer and less imaginitive titles.

Wait, Pillars is out next month? Wasn't you guys still bitching about the flaws in the combat system? I thought they would take some more time to fix the issues from the complaints.
 

AwesomeButton

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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
My working theory is that they'vs signed a release date with Paradox and they are running out of budget/don't want the bad PR that comes from announcing a third delay. But let's not sidetrack the thread with that. Yep, we are bitching, some of us are reporting bugs, like loyal fanboys should do, after they've already paid for something, and as it seems we will maintain this for months to come.
 
Unwanted

a Goat

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Paradox might push them a little but it wouldn't make PoE issues smaller by any chance - most of them are caused by certain design decisions.
 

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