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[DryvBy]

https://www.engadget.com/2019/03/19/anthem-tops-game-sales-february-npd/

BioWare may be racing to fix Anthem after its bumpy launch, but it doesn't have to worry quite so much about its bottom line. NPD Group data shows that the shared-world shooter was the top-selling game in the US in February, and the second strongest game for 2019 up to that point (Kingdom Hearts III is the year's current champion). Moreover, this was the second best launch month for a BioWare game, falling only behind Mass Effect 3's debut in 2012.

I don't think this measures success at all. Longevity for a games as service is what really matters and I can't imagine the player count being very high even now. I wonder how many regretted buying a digital copy after playing that busted beta too.

 

[Verdanth]

The regret for buying this must be huge.

Hope The Division 2 capitalizes on Anthem's disaster. Massive really created an amazing loot shooter and deserves more praise than it's getting, specially from the media.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Well I hope people are enjoying it. I bailed after the demo, but maybe I’m in the minority.

 

[mcjmetroid]

Hopefully people are enjoying but it really goes to show people will buy anything if it's advertised enough.
Wow

 

[angelic]

I'd like to see the "most returned and traded in" stat alongside this.

 

[Shadowcoust]

B-b-but look at all the outrage and anger over this game! This can't be true! Anthem must be doing badly!!

 

[iconmaster]

This looks like a BioWare success to us but we don’t know what EA was hoping for – and their metric is likely not the raw sales anyway.

I’m thinking of the Square Enix Tomb Raider situation. 3.4 million sold, but failed to meet expectations.

Can’t call it a bomb though.

 

[-MD-]

It's a really bad game with some okay combat.

I'm finding it hard to see why people are still playing it, I was bored out of my mind within a couple days.

 

[Shadowcoust]

It's a really bad game with some okay combat.

I'm finding it hard to see why people are still playing it, I was bored out of my mind within a couple days.

Because hype. Because the majority of the playerbase with the actual spending power to drop 70 bucks on launch and continue paying on GAAS don't read reviews/opinion pieces or go to forums and discuss the pros & cons of a game. They just buy.

 

[-MD-]

Because hype. Because the majority of the playerbase with the actual spending power to drop 70 bucks on launch and continue paying on GAAS don't read reviews/opinion pieces or go to forums and discuss the pros & cons of a game. They just buy.

Hype just gets you in the door, what's making them stay?

This game makes me feel weird, I hate even thinking about it.

 

[mcjmetroid]

It's a really bad game with some okay combat.

I'm finding it hard to see why people are still playing it, I was bored out of my mind within a couple days.

I don't get it either but then chatting to a person who I know who games now and then was very excited for it and bought it because " it looks like a game the Halo people made" says it all.

 

[Shadowcoust]

Hype just gets you in the door, what's making them stay?

This game makes me feel weird, I hate even thinking about it.

There's nothing making the poor and uninformed buyers stay. As you suggested they will very soon, if not already, find out this game was literally a scam. BioWare & EA should count their lucky stars that this game sold as well as it did, much less worry about whether it has staying power as a GAAS. I highly doubt they will be making any kind of loss anyway, EA probably couldn't care more about anything other than Anthem hitting launch ASAP.

 

[bilderberg]

Because Anthem looks cool. Say what you want about Anthem's mission design or lack of content, but if you just take 30 seconds of Anthem and compare it to the Division, the Division looks boring as fuck. I played the Division 2 demo for maybe 10 minutes because it just looks and plays like a boring 3rd person cover shooter. Why should I care about content or an impressive end game when the gameplay its self looks and feels so dull?

 

[Shadowcoust]

Because Anthem looks cool. Say what you want about Anthem's mission design or lack of content, but if you just take 30 seconds of Anthem and compare it to the Division, the Division looks boring as fuck. I played the Division 2 demo for maybe 10 minutes because it just looks and plays like a boring 3rd person cover shooter. Why should I care about content or an impressive end game when the gameplay its self looks and feels so dull?

Is that Tech Deals dude in your avatar

 

[bilderberg]

Is that Tech Deals dude in your avatar

yep

 

[Shadowcoust]

yep

Really great information source he is. Doesn't get enough exposure for the work he does but I think he does rub people off the wrong way sometimes, especially in his older videos.

 

[Ascend]

That's surprising. I wouldn't have expected Anthem to do better than Mass Effect Andromeda.

 

[MMaRsu]

People like bad games what a surprise

 

[ethomaz]

It did really bad.

ME 3 NPD was 1.3m without digital.

Anthem is less than that including digital.


Compared to:

The Division 1.8m without digital
Destiny 2.7m without digital

 

[Norse]

It did really bad.

ME 3 NPD was 1.3m without digitalz

Anthem is less than that including digital.


Compared to:

The Division 1.8m without digital
Destiny 2.7m without digital

The chart says PC digital sales not included. I'd imagine anthem sold a lot of digital on PC.

 

[ethomaz]

The chart says PC digital sales not included. I'd imagine anthem sold a lot of digital on PC.

Sure 90% lol

Most sales come from consoles.

 

[Xiaoki]

It did really bad.

ME 3 NPD was 1.3m without digitalz

Anthem is less than that including digital.


Compared to:

The Division 1.8m without digital
Destiny 2.7m without digital

Are you really so incapable of reading your own posts?

In the NPD thread you even write that those sales did not include PC sales. Did you forget that you yourself posted that or something? Also, it wouldnt include people playing through Origin Premiere.

OK, we get it, you dont like Anthem but its not the bomb that you were hoping it would be.

 

[ethomaz]

Are you really so incapable of reading your own posts?

In the NPD thread you even write that those sales did not include PC sales. Did you forget that you yourself posted that or something? Also, it wouldnt include people playing through Origin Premiere.

OK, we get it, you dont like Anthem but its not the bomb that you were hoping it would be.

The proof of low sales are there but you keep trying to make it good.

OK, we get it, you like Anthem but its the bomb that you were not hoping it would be.

 

[CyRuZ]

And everything is forgotten when the new game get's announced. Just look at Cod and how people hating BO4 and the greedy monetization, yet they still get hyped by simply say mw2r.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

A heavily hyped and marketed game outsells every other game on release month.

On other news: water is wet.

 

[Xiaoki]

The proof of low sales are there but you keep trying to make it good.

OK, we get it, you like Anthem but its the bomb that you were not hoping it would be.

........and that proof is?

Selling over a million with only 1 week of console sales counted does not equate to "low" sales.

Or, are we using some other definition of low sales reserved for games that we hate.
Yeah, I'm thinking that's it.

 

[ethomaz]

........and that proof is?

Selling over a million with only 1 week of console sales counted does not equate to "low" sales.

Or, are we using some other definition of low sales reserved for games that we hate.
Yeah, I'm thinking that's it.

It is a AAA GaaS with huge amount of marketing and hype.

It barely sold more than 1m (if it sold more than 1 million) across consoles including digital.

Destiny 2.7m without digital.
The Division 1.8m without digital.

It is a big fail for EA.

But of course if you believe being #1 is something positive without actual look to the sales... well I have nothing to say you already did blind your mind.

 

[Xiaoki]

It is a AAA GaaS with huge amount of marketing and hype.

It barely sold more than 1m (if it sold more than 1 million) across consoles including digital.

Destiny 2.7m without digital.
The Division 1.8m without digital.

It is a big fail for EA.

Im going to be waiting for this "proof of low sales" for a long time aren't I?

 

[ethomaz]

Im going to be waiting for this "proof of low sales" for a long time aren't I?

Can’t you read?

We know the max of sales in NPD and it is bad... of course it can be even worst.

 

[juliotendo]

Feel bad for the people that paid $59.99 USD for that game.

Terribly bland and generic. The demo was very... plain feeling.

 

[Xiaoki]

Can’t you read?

We know the max of sales in NPD and it is bad... of course it can be even worst.

Max sales?

How many copies sold on PC?
How many people are playing through Origin Premiere?

You don't know the "max sales". You only see what you want to see and fabricate a narrative to match.

 

[ethomaz]

Max sales?

How many copies sold on PC?
How many people are playing through Origin Premiere?

You don't know the "max sales". You only see what you want to see and fabricate a narrative to match.

The numbers are right in your front...

Anthem < (less than) 1.3m including digital on consoles
The Division 1.8m only retail (not including any digital)
Destiny 2.7m only retail (not including any digital)

It failed in sales terms but a huge amount.

Consoles is the most part of the sales but you will say "PC is a miracle and it sold tons there... over 10 million" lol

There is only one truth here and it is not good for Anthem... sorry.

 

[demigod]

The numbers are right in your front...

Anthem < (less than) 1.3m including digital on consoles
The Division 1.8m only retail (not including any digital)
Destiny 2.7m only retail (not including any digital)

It failed in sales terms but a huge amount.

Consoles is the most part of the sales but you will say "PC is a miracle and it sold tons there... over 10 million" lol

There is only one truth here and it is not good for Anthem... sorry.

It didn't include PC digital sales. I don't think it bombed, just not the numbers EA wants.

 

[Afro Republican]

All those buyers will likely return/regret the purchase and the sales will collapse after the launch hype period.


It's the GTAiv of shooters basically.

 

[ethomaz]

Sorry I made a big mistake with my data about ME3.

It sold at NPD launch less than 1.3m while I'm using that number it did not reach it... it was a bit more than 1.2m but less than 1.2m.

It didn't include PC digital sales. I don't think it bombed, just not the numbers EA wants.

Neither Destiny, The Division or ME3 (where the numbers come from) but I'm not using it like an excuse.

 

[SkinnerSw33t]

I know people hate using Twitch as a measure...

But Anthem has like 12K for a live stream about a patch right now and the peak was higher than that.

 

[TeamGhobad]

if they didn't release the demo more people would have bought it. it just shows how clueless bioware is that they thought the game was good.
made me cancel my pre-order pronto.

 

[ethomaz]

if they didn't release the demo more people would have bought it. it just shows how clueless bioware is that they thought the game was good.
made me cancel my pre-order pronto.

For more ironic it can be the EA Access killed the game...

 

[ALIEN-gunner]

If I followed what outrage culture dictated I'd own maybe three games period. Fuck that bullshit. I own Anthem and enjoy playing it when I have the time. Even with its flaws I'm having a good time with it but even if it was completely broken I wouldnt jump ship to The Division 2 because that game doesn't even remotely play the same as Anthem. The comparisons between the two and it being the savior for all the so called disappointed Anthem players is a load of shit.

 

[RiccochetJ]

People like bad games what a surprise

I absolutely love Too Human. I'm part of the problem.

I like Anthem, but I bailed after finishing the campaign. I blame my current position on Destiny more than anything. I'll wait for patches and dlc and I'll rejoin and I'll be at the same power level as people who grinded for hundreds of hours while the game was complete garbage.

While playing through the main campaign with Anthem, I enjoyed myself. I thought it was fun. I liked the characters and the story. After it was done, I felt absolutely no need to stick around. Let's see what they do going forward.

 

[EGOMON]

I don't want to ride the hate-wagon but there were nothing that month to challenge it

 

[joe_zazen]

I don't want to ride the hate-wagon but there were nothing that month to challenge it

Ummm....Apex? I think that game kneecapped anthem.

 

[Moses85]

Not deserved. This is once more showing developers have the licence to fack up their fans, they are buying everything.