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Divinity: Original Sin moves half a million copies
Throwback PC RPG Divinity: Original Sin has sold over 500,000 copies since its launch in June, developer Larian Studios announced today. Pitching its project as a return to the genre's roots, Larian surged past its Kickstarter goal last year, more than doubling its initial funding target. Founder Swen Vincke notes that Divinity: Original Sin buyers "mostly" arrived via Steam, with 10 percent of sales coming from retail channels. "'Break even' has been reached, our debts have been paid and we are now in the profitable zone," Vincke wrote. "While not all of the money is for us as we had private investors on board, the game did sufficiently well for us to envision funding our next endeavors with it, meaning we're pretty happy about its performance." [Image: Larian]
ESA prez: NPD is providing 'disservice to the truth'
Michael Gallagher, president of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), the trade body that assembles the annual E3 event, said this evening that sales tracking service NPD was doing a "disservice to the truth" in its monthly reporting. "The digital side of the industry is not being adequately reported, understood or covered. I think we've seen the consequences of that over the last two years," said Gallagher, concerned that NPD's monthly retail assessments don't give a full or accurate picture of the industry. He noted the retail side of the industry has flattened, particularly at the end of this current console cycle, while digital distribution has grown. NPD's standard of consistent monthly retail reporting, which it has provided less and less detailed public data on over the years, coupled with quarterly supplementals on digital distribution, isn't giving an accurate picture of the industry's current health. "Here's the aspiration: there are other industries that do this well and they enjoy the upside and downside of truthful numbers," said Gallagher. "I think the industry is better off if there's a standardized reporting mechanism that is seen as whole, and complete and truthful." The complication in Gallagher's wish is the closed digital distribution platforms of Valve's Steam, along with the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox marketplaces. To get an accurate picture of digital distribution revenue in this industry, it would require all these platform holders to openly share their sales data. And, perhaps, that's a dream for another console generation. [kentoh via Shutterstock]
Apple, Samsung reveal sales data to the court, boast of millions served
Have a smartphone from Seoul or Cupertino riding in the pocket of your jeans? You aren't the only one. New documents filed in Samsung and Apple's ongoing legal battle reveal specific sales data going back several years, confirming something we always knew to be true: there are a lot of devices out there. Samsung's filing reveals that it has sold 21.25 million "accused" phones and 1.4 million tablets from June 2010 to June of this year, and further breaks down the data by device and, in some cases, carrier. The Galaxy S II, for instance, takes the lion's share of US sales with over 4.1 million units sold between all models and carriers. The Epic 4G makes an appearance at 1.89 million sold, and the Captivate totals in at 1.39 million. Finally, the Samsung Prevail lives up to its moniker by netting 2.25 million in sales, lagging only behind the Galaxy S II -- though its $180 asking price brought in significantly less revenue per unit. Apple's charts are a bit less specific, detailing the total sales of its iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch lines rather than the sales of each specific hardware iteration -- though where it falters in detail it makes up in numbers. U.S. consumers have snatched up 85 million iPhones since 2007, alongside 34 million iPads and 46 million iPod touch devices -- bringing in almost $80 billion in revenue, collectively. Puts those quarterly reports into perspective, doesn't it? Check out both charts in full at the source link below.
NPD estimates $3.40B in game sales in Q1 2012
Market research firm NPD Group has released a handful of details about the video game industry's most recent spending habits, showing a sharp decline. Compared to last year's Q1 2011 estimation of $5.9 billion, total consumer spend in the first quarter of 2012 was down to $3.40 billion. With rapidly declining sales, things may continue to get worse before they recover.The 'Q1 2012 Games Market Dynamics: U.S.' report reveals that while spend on new physical software was on the decline versus last year – with Q1 2012 achieving an estimated $1.5 billion spent on new video and PC game software tracked by the NPD Group – total spend on other forms of physical software, such as used games and rentals, only saw a minimal drop."The declines in the physical market for new physical software are well documented," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said, noting that "broader view of the industry" showed other forms of physical spend, specifically the used game and rental market, "declined by just five percent and digital format content sales grew by 10 percent as compared to Q1 2011." The one-two punch of used games and rentals reached an estimated $525 million in Q1 2012, the report says."While the growth in digital format sales does not yet offset the declines in physical format sales, clearly the changes occurring within the industry are reflected in the trends we are seeing in the research," Frazier added.
See how the Vita's first-week sales stack up in this handy infographic
Sales figures can be somewhat hard to interpret on their own; what sounds impressive without context may suddenly seem far less so when seen in relation with other relevant information. It's about the big picture, and now there's an actual big picture to help put the figurative one in perspective.The above infographic (available in its entirety here) was compiled by VentureBeat using information provided by Statista. It shows how the Vita's first week of sales compares to the those seen by the DS, 3DS and PSP in different regions, as well as globally. For some bonus relevancy, it also ranks the best-selling handheld consoles of all time.If anything, it proves that tastes vary widely by region, and that relatively low first-week sales (see: PSP sales in Japan) don't necessarily translate to poor lifetime performance. It also reaffirms that infographics are the coolest way to display statistical data.
PlayStation 3 sells 3.9 million units during the holidays (and other sales data)
This holiday season has been kind to Sony, the company revealed today, specifically the PlayStation line of gaming consoles. The PS3 was the front-runner for Sony's parade of prosperity, invading over 3.9 million homes during the company's unspecified "holiday sales season" worldwide. On paper, it's impressive, but not quite as much when compared to the competition -- the Xbox 360 managed to outperform the PS3, selling 10 million consoles since the last tally back in late October. Other top earners for Sony include the PlayStation Move, which managed to -- wait for it -- move 1.7 million units off store shelves, and the PSP, which sold 1.6 million. The PlayStation Vita, which launched in Japan just last month, was snatched up by 500,000 gamers in the region, while the PS2 also sold a half-million worldwide.
NPD estimates $5.9B in game sales in first quarter
Market research firm NPD estimates that consumers spent $5.9 billion on video games in the first quarter of 2011, a 1.5 percent increase from the same period of last year. That doesn't mean everything is unicorns and rainbows, since the comparison is to 2010, the second consecutive year to see declines in consumer spending. The "glass half full" perspective would be that it seems like things aren't immediately worse. NPD analyst Anita Frazier notes that the new physical retail channel (translation: new games that come in a box) still makes up a majority of industry sales, as the market research firm tries to get a good grip on digital sales data. The company estimates the total spent on "used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games" to be $1.85 billion during the first quarter.
Samsung sews up 60 percent of the 3D TV market
In the face of claims by LG that customers prefer its passive 3D technology, Samsung's pointing to the scoreboard. Recent NPD data shows its plasma and LCD 3D TVs account for 60 percent of those sold between May 22nd and June 18th, and more than half of those sold for April to May. One question would be how many of those are actually set up to watch 3D but with its slew of free glasses promotions, we have to expect most of those owners have the proper equipment. Of course the other question is how many total sales does that amount to but those numbers weren't revealed. The press release is after the break for further dissection, we'll check back later in the year to see which side customers are choosing -- if they're choosing based on 3D at all -- then.
BlackBerry shipments break record in Q3, RIM profits jump 59 percent
RIM being a thriving and profitable company is hardly a new story -- as confirmed by third quarter earnings of $628 million off the back of a record-breaking 10 million units sold -- but the way it's making its money seems to be changing. More than 80 percent of new BlackBerry subscribers in the quarter were private customers, marking a distinct shift -- maybe not away from the corporate arena, but definitely toward embracing the consumer market. In an effort to further consolidate its global empire, RIM has also announced a partnership with China Telecom to go along with its earlier China Mobile deal. Oh, and there's the small matter of the 75 millionth BlackBerry being sold, but we're sure the cool cats up in BB HQ aren't counting handsets, they're probably too busy rolling around in piles of money.
February NPD: Street Fighter IV, Wii Fit battle as Nintendo dominates hardware sales
Zangief's always struck us as a perpetual sourpuss, but he -- and the rest of the Street Fighter IV crew -- must be cracking polygonal smiles right about now. So are Capcom's accountants, sans the polygons (we think). While Wii Fit was once again at the top of software sales for February, the combined total of SFIV copies moved for PS3 and 360 has the fighter closing in on 1 million units sold in its first two weeks (actually outselling Wii Fit by 205K copies). Reported sales of the PS3-exclusive Killzone 2 are at 323K after a mere 48 hours on shelves, landing it in 5th place. Finally, Wii Play has officially broken the 10 million sold mark in the US.On the hardware front, Nintendo seems to be doing pretty well with this "Wii" thing, selling almost 3/4 million of whatever they are. DS maintained its second-in-command spot for the month, followed by Xbox 360 and PS3 -- the latter of which only outsold its previous iteration by 79K consoles. Overall hardware sales were up considerably over January.Fun Fact: The analysts of EEDAR were a little off with their February software revenue and top 10 titles predictions, to the tune of $75 million in sales (NPD's final accounting was $733.5M, EEDAR had expected $659M).-Wii: 753K74K (+11%)-DS: 588K77K (+15%)-Xbox 360: 391K82K (+27%)-PS3: 276K73K (+36%)-PSP: 199K 27K (+16%)-PS2: 131K30K (+30%)Check out the software sales chart after the break.
Wii sales propel Call of Duty: World at War past COD4
Chew on this: Call of Duty: World at War had greater combined US sales on current-gen consoles in its first three months of release than did Call of Duty 4. World at War achieved this milestone despite COD4 outselling it by nearly 400,000 Xbox 360 units during the comparable months. A rise in PS3 sales from COD4 to World at War -- just over 130,000 units -- helped to slightly offset this difference, but the introduction of a Wii version of World at War (COD4 had no such entry) tipped the scales in favor of the latest Call of Duty entry. In December alone, the Wii World at War (pictured) sold more than 366,000 units. This trend spotting is a result of analyst Matt Matthews' work (published on Gamasutra) and seems to indicate that Wii is a profitable platform for third-party publishers; at least, for Activision, which had two multiplatform titles with Wii versions in the January NPD Top 10. As for our Xbox 360 and PS3 sales assumptions, uh, analysis? Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead definitely hindered World at War sales on Xbox 360 from November through January, while on PS3, there simply wasn't a strong resistance to choosing World at War as the holiday's go-to shooter. Will Modern Warfare 2 follow suit? We expect a surge in both PS3 and Xbox 360 enlisters -- but we're not sold on the concept of modern warfare on Wii ... and neither is Infinity Ward, we imagine.
Nintendo boasts NPD success that 'offset' competitors
Nintendo issued a celebratory press release following the announcement of the NPD numbers last night, pointing out an impressive statistic: "While the video game industry grew by $150 million (12 percent) year-on-year, Nintendo's total sales grew by $300 million in January, offsetting declines on other platforms." Nintendo is basically compensating for the whole industry's decline at this point, at least in terms of financial growth. No doubt Nintendo is pleased to have a new angle to talk about in its monthly statement of how awesome it is. The company said that sales of the Wii grew 148 percent in January 2009 over January 2008, and DS sales grew 99 percent. It also pointed out that 20 of the top 30 games last month were produced for Nintendo systems, including five of the top ten -- six, we must point out, if you count Guitar Hero: World Tour.
January NPD: Industry up 13% over Jan. '08, handhelds down 80% from Dec.
With the 2008 holiday season behind us, this month's NPD sales data brings with it figures showing the inevitable -- and dramatic -- decline in hardware sold for the month of January '09. For instance, last December the Nintendo DS was the top-selling platform, with 3.04 million units moved that month alone. This month? 511K were sold. (It was still the second best selling hardware after the Wii.)In the battle to decide who's going to play second fiddle to Nintendo, 360 continues to lead PS3 in sales, but the gap isn't nearly as wide as last month (roughly 106K versus December's 714K). Handheld saw the most significant drop-off in sales, with DS and PSP declining 82% and 83%, respectively.Software-wise, there are only three platforms -- and companies -- to look at this month. Those would be the Wii, DS and 360 on the hardware representing the hardware on the backs of which EA, Activision and Nintendo rode to software sales success. EA's two most recent major releases, Skate 2 and Lord of the Rings: Conquest, both made it into the top 10. Fun Fact: Three of this month's top games have something in common other than their publishers: they all have "Mario" in the title and they're all a bit ... dated. Mario Kart DS hit in 2005, New Super Mario Bros. in 2006 and Mario Kart Wii in April of last year. That's-a some lasting power! -Wii: 679K1.47m (-68%)-DS: 511K2.5m (-82%)-Xbox 360: 309K1.1m (-76%)-PS3: 203K523K (-72%)-PSP: 172K848K (-83%)-PS2: 101K309K (-75%)Check out the software sales chart after the break.
X-Play lists Age of Conan at the top of PC game sales [updated]
Game|Life has reported on an interesting little tidbit included in a recent episode of X-Play -- apparently, Age of Conan has topped PC game sales charts for the month of March. As any anxious fan will tell you, the game is not due for release until the 20th of May, so provided that X-Play's assertion is correct, this sales dominance must have come from pre-orders. Also, we're assuming that topping the charts for March means, "for March thus far".If true, this bodes extremely well for the launch of AoC. We already know that a lot of people are excited for the game, but to beat everything else on the sales chart a good two months out from release is fairly incredible. Game|Life has contacted G4 to see if they can find out more, and are expecting to hear from them on Monday with some clarification on the source of their numbers.Update: G4 has said that their sales data came from Gamestop.
