PoE Sales Analysis Thread

[Fairfax]

And that GOG number for D:OS is roughly ~200,000 since Swen said they've already hit a million.

Hmm...that would be very interesting. Steamspy says D:OS has 864k on Steam. If we call it 850k, that's at least 150k on GOG. If PoE sold more than that on GOG and we consider 450k for PoE, that means 25% of PoE players (including backers, of course) got their game on GOG. Much more than the percentage for TW2, CDPR's own game which held the "record" before The Witcher 3.

It'd also put the game's sales figures above 600k and makes it considerably more successful than Wasteland 2.

 

[Sensuki]

GoGnard

good one

 

[Morality Games]

Hmm...that would be very interesting. Steamspy says D:OS has 864k on Steam. If we call it 850k, that's at least 150k on GOG. If PoE sold more than that on GOG and we consider 450k for PoE, that means 25% of PoE players (including backers, of course) got their game on GOG. Much more than the percentage for TW2, CDPR's own game which held the "record" before The Witcher 3.

It'd also put the game's sales figures above 600k and makes it considerably more successful than Wasteland 2.

How surprising.

 

[Fairfax]

How surprising.

What is?

 

[Morality Games]

What is?

Nothing. Because it isn't.

I.E. sarcasm regarding PoE selling more than WL2.

Not that I dislike WL2.

 

[Fairfax]

Nothing. Because it isn't.

I.E. sarcasm regarding PoE selling more than WL2.

Not that I dislike WL2.

Oh, right. Well, yeah, not surprising, but it was the only other KS CRPG of similar budget, etc.

 

[Sir Dupre]

One more, this time a tweet from steam spy itself.

https://twitter.com/Steam_Spy/status/638672236061265920

 

[Immortal]

One more, this time a tweet from steam spy itself.

https://twitter.com/Steam_Spy/status/638672236061265920

Oh Steam Spy

 

[Roguey]

Good to see that PoE has now officially and without a doubt surpassed Wasteland 2.

 

[Osvir]

Why was D:OS so successful compared to WL2 and PoE?

To just name the stuff at the top of my head, why I believe D:OS was more successful (speculation):

- Larian Studios appeared with Divinity: Original Sin during a peak in Kickstarter projects.
- Larian announced D:OS after Project Eternity, and released D:OS before Pillars of Eternity.
- Reviews and general marketing journalism coined D:OS as "Baldur's Gate"-esque. It gets watered down the more times you hear it, e.g. "D:OS is like Baldur's Gate!!" and then follows "PoE is like Baldur's Gate!". I remember thinking "Wtf are games journalism talking about? D:OS is nothing like Baldur's Gate!". I speculate that games media might've mixed popular gaming trends (Kickstarter) together, and went with the Baldur's Gate marketing for D:OS, when it was probably intended for PoE. Chronologically, a reader who loved BG would see D:OS marketed as a revival of BG, and POE as a copycat of the same marketing strategy. Whilst the truth is that D:OS "stole" that marketing.
- D:OS had the best Early Access out of the three, POE Backer Beta was a neat format for us Backers, but ultimately a public Early Access would've driven more sales (and potentially given POE more polish).
- D:OS is Co-Op.
- D:OS promised to be released regardless if KS was successful or not, I.E., Larian weren't really in any sort of shortage of funds to make D:OS (no desperation). They used Kickstarter to earn more money, develop more game, and to market their product when KS was popular, hyped, and emotional. Then they released it before everyone else, and, voila! Not rocket science. I suppose Larian can tip their hats and say "First" with snide smiles~
- D:OS was working based on a prototype product, Obsidian and inXile was working based on concepts. Quite a big difference. One is more developed and established in the minds of the developers, the other is still on the drawing board and the developers are still figuring out what to do.
- Swen Vincke and Larian Studios have always felt more like businessmen to me than inXile and Obsidian. Maybe not in their appearances publically, but considering their timing of announce, release, journalistic marketing and so on, how they are expanding their business by buying office space abroad+more staff.

Don't get me wrong, even though my comment may seem like it is insulting or bashing Larian Studios. I like Larian, they make good games, I wish them the best, but I think they are playing the business-game a little more strictly than other studios, and they would probably step all over other companies if they saw a chance to make big bucks to be able to pursue their visions and dreams further. This is, in my perspective, most noticable in Swen Vincke's nervous D:OS update videos.

I find it funny, personally, because a lot of the positive and sales driving aspects of Early Access that I suggested Obsidian to do (at the time, before D:OS Early Access), I later also found in D:OS Early Access.

 

[Lacrymas]

Тhere is nothing wrong with Larian being businessmen along with being awesome game developers. That's how they can continue making what they like and we can only benefit. They aren't the EA type of businessmen where it's more pathetic than savvy (though it works for them).

 

[Osvir]

Тhere is nothing wrong with Larian being businessmen along with being awesome game developers. That's how they can continue making what they like and we can only benefit.

I completely agree. Motivated Larian Power :D EA and Activision are driven by sales and economy, finances, earnings, production value. Because it is a strict business, stiff, and if you ain't cutting those % you get fired. Harsh, but understandable reality when millions of $ are in jeopordy. Larian feels like they are driven by motivation and driveforce, "Achievement! Get!". Happy, positive, cool and awesome. Chill dudes and dudettes. Passion. Business. They are moving up. I'm really just bummed they got the "Baldur's Gate" marketing *shakes head* it wasn't even any of D:OS's own selling points xD I mean, look at this (Google search). CTRL+F on their Kickstarter page "Baldur's Gate" provides 0 results. Darn it, Troll-IGN xD

But to completely look at sales analysis I feel you need to scry a bit into future investment as well, and it might be a reason to why the economic market is unsteady now, it'll pick up and stabilize dramatically soon...

WL2 & D:OS on Consoles will only expose all Kickstarter titles more, making Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2 possibly getting post-production investment to port to consoles, from Sony or Microsoft (Morpheus Development, PS4, and HoloLens Development, Xbox One, VR & AR). Although, HoloLens has most application and accessability out of all VR devices. Industrially, publically, privately.

Facebook and Google is also involved in the AR/VR market. Apple and Nintendo holding back, or has nothing to show. Just market insights btw~ lots of big names want in on VR & AR, and media, journalism, science, developers/designers, professionals & experts are all excited & positive about VR & AR.

Surrounding economy and industry, hardware & technology, is an important aspect to consider, it will affect sales & further success. For instance, HoloLens is operating on Windows 10. Can you play Pillars of Eternity on Windows 10? I.E. Porting Pillars of Eternity into HoloLens might be a breeze. And Pillars of Eternity 3 might even be made using a Holographic interface. And HoloLens is also using Unity as its primary go-to for development (who has the most public/commercial market, professionalism and training in the last 3 years working with just that?).

With everything I've followed in this time I've been gone from this community, I think it's pretty safe to assume that VR & AR is happening big time. And has changed my mindset a bit. I thought that PoE was a success, moreso than Divinity: Original Sin (Which I haven't gotten around to finish though), I also noticed lots of people felt and feel the same way. After getting new insights, I believe, PoE, WL2, D:OS, will probably be among the first to release entertainment (games) with higher production values, to HoloLens and that they will be see even more success then.

Post-success, post-exposure, post-sales, post-partnership. Later, revenue will grow. Holographic interfaces will change everything. Did I mention I was directed to a specialist counciler for start up companies? "Natural evolution" he said. And answering "60 million" when I asked "How much would you have invested in iPhone if you knew about it 5 years ahead of time?". It's the same with Holographic interfaces. How much is Obsidian, inXile, Larian, Doublefine, Harebrained, investing into Holographic user interface, design & display?

Pillars was successful enough to warrant a better sequel. It sold for ~300% $ of what it p. much cost to make, got 90%/89% score rating, which will follow for a long time forward. A merit to show investors, distrubitators, a selling point.

I'm bringing all of this up because I feel there's some comments on the Codex with "doomsday" vibes. It's not over yet

 

[Rostere]

Why was D:OS more successful, you say? Simple. It had multiplayer and a cartoony WoW-esque graphical style. That's it.

 

[Volrath]

Why was D:OS more successful, you say? Simple. It had multiplayer and a cartoony WoW-esque graphical style. That's it.

It was also a much better game.

 

[Roguey]

cartoony WoW-esque graphical style

Swen disagrees, hence the art change.

I don't care so much about the change in character models (though it is a Dragon Age-esque waste to create assets to use for only one game), but I'm sore about what he did to the color palette.

 

[Lacrymas]

I liked D:OS' art style, even though I loathe the modern trend of cartoony graphics. It was charming and it didn't feel forced to conform to the mainstream. The palette depends on the overall aesthetic and shouldn't be random just to have bright/dark colors.

 

[Abu Antar]

It was also a much better game.

Quality has nothing to do with success or else we would have been getting more incline games in the past decade.

 

[Lacrymas]

I don't think anyone here would seriously disagree that D:OS had creative and fun combat. It was sprinkled with issues that caused its positive sides to not matter. Good combat - pathetic difficulty, Exploration - Random items, Crafting - Inventory hell + pointless, a lot of RP possibilities - perks and shitty writing etc. I could go on. I hope these issues are fixed in the EE and, as far as I can tell, they at least acknowledged them and tried to fix them. It was successful (for me) because it was Incline, at least in some categories. PoE wasn't in any categories.

 

[tuluse]

D:OS had the best moment to moment gameplay, and co-op, that's why it sold the best.

It's not hard to figure out.

 

[Roguey]

If PoE has 800,000+ on Steamspy by March of next year it'll be a comparably fast seller.

 

[Infinitron]

Blah blah blah.

What I'm interested in is how Obsidian's expansion pack strategy will compare with inXile and Larian's Enhanced Edition strategy of "brand relaunching". Which will bring in more new sales?

 

[Immortal]

Blah blah blah.

What I'm interested in is how Obsidian's expansion pack strategy will compare with inXile and Larian's Enhanced Edition strategy of "brand relaunching". Which will bring in more new sales?

Which do you prefer?
I definitely prefer the EE model over the Expansion broken into 13 chapters of DLC strategy. All edgyness aside - Obsidian was kind of lame to pull that crap.

 

[Infinitron]

If I've played the original game, I'm more likely to actually try something that offers new content.

It's kind of awkward that EEs are best for the people who haven't yet played your game, ie, for your less dedicated fans.

 

[Sannom]

What I'm interested in is how Obsidian's expansion pack strategy will compare with inXile and Larian's Enhanced Edition strategy of "brand relaunching". Which will bring in more new sales?

The brand relaunching seems like the safest bet. The expansion is about getting more money from the existing fanbase after all, the brand relaunching hopes to bring about new sales.

Now maybe that the brand relaunching could be more aptly compared to stuff like patch 2.0?

And of course, the analysis is different if we talk about the money brought in rather than the number of units moved around.

 

[Infinitron]

The brand relaunching seems like the safest bet. The expansion is about getting more money from the existing fanbase after all, the brand relaunching hopes to bring about new sales.

Now maybe that the brand relaunching could be more aptly compared to stuff like patch 2.0?

You misunderstood my post - both of those strategies are brand relaunching. The release of the expansion gave Obsidian lots of publicity which moved 50,000 additional copies of the base game.

We'll see how much the EEs move next month.