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FIFA 18 on Switch accounted for 1% of all UK physical copies sold

Wonderfull result for the Switch version. Thought that might sound different from all the concern trolls descending upon the thread like it's the Switch version of Doom or something.

The low shipments we keep hearing about from Amazon, GAME, etc. just confirm what we already knew: this is a test game from EA. Something to dip their toes into the water to see if the Switch audience is in anyway receptive to what they have to offer.

The fact that some of the current shipments are selling out means that demand is outpacing supply which is always good. Now we just need to see where EA wants to go from here on out.
 
I think it's a poor result tbh. Was hoping for 15-20k sales. But we've heard that there has been supply issues and as a new entity in an established market it wont be posting huge huge number. Lets see how it shakes out in a few weeks.
 
Based on some of the posts in the FIFA OT. It seems like the Switch version has been selling it out so sounds like a good thing?

Seems to be selling more then EA expected?
 

fortunato

Banned
And this proves that people prefer next-gen instead of portability.

This was never up to debate.

The issue is more whether there exists a large enough audience that wants to play FIFA on-the-go. Legs and sales across entries will show this, not first week numbers.
 

Usobuko

Banned
The % seems even worse than to how Japanese games sell on Xbox One.

AAA western sports games audience are primarily on PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
 
The game was out of stock in Spain too. At least in Madrid, my brother visited almost 12 stores and was unable to find a copy of the game, bunch of people was in the same situation... Weird.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
In a market that is selling 250k a week (at least did last week) that's not saying much as anything that wasn't in the top 5 likely could barely managed to get past 10k sales.

To be fair, 10k sales on Switch isn't a disaster. It has a much smaller install base than the rest and people in here are saying stock is an issue. People are reading into 1% like it means a couple hundred copies.
 
How did FIFA 13 on the Wii U do?

Can't find exact numbers, but it was where EA went 'Welp, we're not doing more FIFA on Nintendo for a while' after "disappointing sales". Though amusingly it was apparently evergreen enough to outlast stuff like Bayonetta 2.

It really is a tricky thing to measure though. FIFA is very much a game that sells on systems already out there, and what's already out there is really out there, with millions of consoles rather than hundreds of thousands, and most of the associated marketing. As the Switch install base grows, sales of FIFA may grow with it, or it may not - EA is gonna have to make that call and decide whether or not it's worth it to them.
 
I think all this concern is somewhat premature. Sure the initial figure isn't fantastic but it doesn't include digital sales which there are suggestions that it did quite well. We don't know about the Switch install base in the UK which is territory that happily flip-flops on Nintendo. Even if UK sales aren't the best then the rest of Europe might pick up the slack (France and Germany in particular). Also, we don't know what EA's expectancy is.

But most important is that FIFA is an evergreen title that could still sell in significant numbers to new and existing Switch owners in the coming months and particularly over the holidays. I'd wager a fair few people will be opening their brand new Switches on Xmas day with a copy of FIFA.

All I'm saying is lets not sound the death knell on EA support of the Switch just yet. Lets wait and see how it pans out.
 

Rellik

Member
If EA didn't ship a lot of copies is because preorders were very low. Persona 5 was also out of stock in most UK retailers after release but that doesn't mean the game would have sold 100K if Atlus had shipped 100K to stores. Also EA can't force retailers to accept what they want to ship, it's the retailers that make that decision and ask for copies allocation based on preorders numbers. If FIFA 18 Switch preorders were low, of course stock on release date would be low as well especially at places like GAME considering their previous finantial issues.

Finally. Someone who understands the purpose of preorders.

I expected FIFA on the Switch to bomb but not bomb THAT badly. I said it before on here that people buy a PS/Xbox just for FIFA. Most of them won't even know the Switch exists and wouldn't care for it if they did. Switch is for a completely different market.
 
And this proves that people prefer next-gen instead of portability.
And this post proves you’re just drive by shitposting? Let’s see if you can figure out why your post makes no sense.


The switch version anecdotally seems to be selling well, I wonder how they’ll treat it going forward and if they’ll not make it a nerfed game just because it’s on Nintendo.
 
Doesn't really surprise me. I can't see the average football fan having a switch whereas a PS4/Xbox isn't really uncommon. Also Nintendo in general doesn't do great in the UK anyway.
 

sinonobu

Banned
I see some people being happy with these results since it's one of the first time 'third party game doesn't sell well on Nintendo platform' came true for Switch.
 
I see some people being happy with these results since it's one of the first time 'third party game doesn't sell well on Nintendo platform' came true for Switch.
Even then we don’t know how it did in other countries of Europe. For example, France, Germany, and Spain.
It’s a shame, that this was the result.
 

f@luS

More than a member.
It's also missing modes (including the best one) and you can't play friends online.

It's trash, I don't know why it's getting praised here.
I’m using switch handheld 99% of the time. It’s by miles the best handheld soccer game ever. And a good tv soccer game. Nothing trash
 

kpaadet

Member
UK is far from being the norm regarding Nintendo sales. Crossing the Atlantic, in France, Fifa on Switch is selling better than the XBox One version on amazon and at Micromania, according to a sales manager friend of mine. We'll see how it performs worldwide, in a few months. It should be something between these 2 countries.
So you point out a country that is not the norm and counter with another country that is not the norm either. Nintendo is very strong in France much more so than any other country in the EU.
 

Si2k78

Member
My take is that EA hopes to capture new costumers, not replace the existing ones.

I agree. Someone posted this on another thread, but I’ll reiterate here, I think EA planned for the switch version to be a secondary purchase for gamers after they had already purchased the ps4/xbone versions. They want to capitalize on double dippers. Once the price drops on this, we’ll see the switch version fly off shelves.
 

Porcile

Member
The PES games on WIi were much better packages than FIFA 18 on Switch. I'm not really happy with my purchase.

Konami PLEASE.
 

Goodlife

Member
Me a week or 2 before it came out

"oh, that looks good, I'll order on Amazon"
Sold out
"ok, try Argos"
Not even listed
"pre-order in supermarket"
Don't do Switch stuff

Then the day before someone said it was back in stock in Amazon, so grabbed it quick luckily, as it's back out of stock now.

This sold as well / better than EA expected, there is no doubt about that
 

marc^o^

Nintendo's Pro Bono PR Firm
So you point out a country that is not the norm and counter with another country that is not the norm either. Nintendo is very strong in France much more so than any other country in the EU.
My point exactly, none of these countries offers metrics we can extrapolate to measure global Nintendo chances.
 

tzare

Member
let's see if it has legs, but doesn't seem too hot right now.

What's the ratio between the Switch and the other consoles in terms of existing HW base in the UK?
even if there are only a few switch compared to PS4/XBO, FIFA is usually the best selling game on those platforms, in fact is probably the best selling game in Europe, or at least top 3. SO we could expect a similar behaviour with switch too.
 

Majmun

Member
Not really surprising.

Don't think the FIFA/COD/GTA crowd are big Nintendo fans anyway.

Anecdotally speaking, though.
 
Huge overreaction here. It is the top selling Switch game this week in UK, thus, previously, FIFA barely managed to reach such number on a Nintendo platform, perhaps with Wii, I'm not sure. Given the low supply delivered, unless EA is acting on bad faith, it probably sold well enough to keep the franchise alive on Switch. If someone were expecting similar sales to PS4/XBO, where the userbase for the series is huge, then you got deluded.
 

zelas

Member
This was never up to debate.

The issue is more whether there exists a large enough audience that wants to play FIFA on-the-go. Legs and sales across entries will show this, not first week numbers.
Not really. Numbers will always be muddied because its a hybrid. Plenty of people will remain in either the portable or console only camp. Further numbers will just make it clear if there actually exists an sizable number of Nintendo only FIFA players. Also larger audiences have already had FIFA available on the go through mobile or other handhelds.

Huge overreaction here. It is the top selling Switch game this week in UK, thus, previously, FIFA barely managed to reach such number on a Nintendo platform, perhaps with Wii, I'm not sure.
What other competition released on Switch last week?
 

Bruno MB

Member
Very disappointing sales but I guess that the true test will be next year. I am sure EA will give another opportunity.
 

Piers

Member
Not really surprising.

Don't think the FIFA/COD/GTA crowd are big Nintendo fans anyway.

Anecdotally speaking, though.

The hope was for Fifa to bolster adoption rate of Switch, because it has the "most important game eva"
At 1%, this hasn't happened. It's one thing that XB1 is lagging behind the PS4 but Switch apparently performing beneath (Edit: or equal to, may change) the fucking legacy version really says it all. There is zero good reason for current generation systems to be behind a previous one in physical copies sold.
 
I think the more important question is how much did it sell thru of initial shipment in Switch compared to other consoles. Truthfully the 1% is interesting but could be misleading.
 
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