Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of
William Collis:office hours with the professor. As always, I'm your host,
William Collis:William the professor Kahless. And I want to get right into our
William Collis:story this week, and that is, game sales are down. This comes
William Collis:from a sports business journal article, which is commenting on
William Collis:NPD data. And apparently for the month of April, game sales are
William Collis:down 8% compared to the same month last year to 4.3 billion.
William Collis:And in fact, year to date, sales for games are also down 8% to
William Collis:18. Point 3 billion. I first want to start this article with
William Collis:just an early comment, which is a little bit facetious, but I
William Collis:sort of mean it, it's a little bit who cares. Because the
William Collis:reality is, lots of industries are down. There's a lot going on
William Collis:in our world today, and 4.3 billion for single month of
William Collis:sales is still a huge number. The other piece about this is in
William Collis:the NPD data, not necessarily all digital game sales are
William Collis:included. So particularly as more and more game sales shift
William Collis:to digital. I'm more and more skeptical of sort of the
William Collis:magnitude of this trend, our game sales probably down year on
William Collis:year. Yes. Is it something we should be worried about as an
William Collis:industry? No. So you might say, well, William, why did you want
William Collis:to do this story at all? Then if your comment is who cares? game
William Collis:sales are down? And the answer is because I want to talk about
William Collis:the sales of two specific games. I want to talk about the sales
William Collis:of Horizon forbidden West, and Elven. Right. Because I would
William Collis:argue that these games are pretty similar. They're both
William Collis:very deep involved RPGs. And they're both actually
William Collis:surprisingly large. I would also argue that they're both
William Collis:absolutely incredible games, I played both, I found each of
William Collis:them to just be real wheel masterworks that clearly, their
William Collis:developers put just so much passion and love into however, I
William Collis:think if you look at the sales data for these games, you see
William Collis:sort of an interesting story. So Elden ring has sold incredibly
William Collis:well. In April, it was the second best selling game of the
William Collis:month. And I believe the prior month, it was number one. And
William Collis:this is after launching. So towards the end of February. So
William Collis:this is basically launch month sales data. In contrast horizon
William Collis:forbidden West was the fifth most popular games, then march
William Collis:and down to the seventh best or most popular games selling in
William Collis:April. And, you know, you could argue that these numbers are
William Collis:good for forbidden West, because it is a console exclusive. And
William Collis:that's certainly true to some extent. But you do see console
William Collis:exclusives like say Caribbean and forbidden lands, cracking
William Collis:the top three, I would argue that horizons are bitten West
William Collis:should be selling better than it is. And I would argue that
William Collis:reason is Elden. Right? Because they're really going after the
William Collis:same consumers. And I think Elden ring has kind of sucked up
William Collis:the game or Zeitgeist about that phenomenal, you know, largely
William Collis:single player driven RPG experience. So why did I want to
William Collis:talk about this, I want to talk about this because this
William Collis:highlights something to me that I think is coming increasing
William Collis:problem in our industry, the difficulty of finding launch
William Collis:windows for games, like let's just be honest, the games
William Collis:calendar is getting more and more crowded. It used to be I
William Collis:remember a time when there was a real post-holiday slump, when
William Collis:nothing really important would launch in February. And now, you
William Collis:know, you can just look at the launch calendar, you had some
William Collis:stunning games like horizon and Elven rain coming out in that
William Collis:time period. And I would also argue, if you were a marketer
William Collis:working on horizon for bitten West, that February launch
William Collis:window probably felt pretty safe to you know, I'd rather go up
William Collis:against something like elven ring and say Call of Duty.
William Collis:Right. You know, I think you know, there's always going to be
William Collis:competitors out there. I think elven ring probably felt
William Collis:relatively safe. And I even see, you know, some intelligent
William Collis:decisions made around the exact launch timing with horizon
William Collis:choosing to go out a week before, Eldon rain better to
William Collis:launch first, if you can. So I think it's a relatively
William Collis:intelligent and well chosen launch time. And it just shows
William Collis:the difficulty of even getting a triple A constant title, like
William Collis:horizon into a calendar, where it can find breathing room to
William Collis:get the full credit for the excellent game it is, and
William Collis:candidly get the appreciation it deserves. This is another factor
William Collis:limiting our industry. It's not just big budgets. It's not just
William Collis:long, Dev times. It's not just the complexity of launching
William Collis:triple A games. It's literally how do you find a window to get
William Collis:your triple A game to breathe in. And I think the conflict
William Collis:between horizon and Elven ring perfectly illustrates just how
William Collis:crowded we are as a market and candidly how tough it is for new
William Collis:or innovative IPs to even find a launch window to break in.
William Collis:Basically, if you aren't an established triple A game with a
William Collis:preset launch timing. It's just really hard to find a moment for
William Collis:you to breathe in the sun. So it's just a fun little story. I
William Collis:wanted to talk about highlighting, I think a little
William Collis:bit of a less traveled angle on sales data in our in our games
William Collis:industry. So I hope you enjoyed this week's office hours and I
William Collis:look forward to seeing you next week.
Post a Comment