Is it possible the numbers are lying?

[MuricaIsDead]

This website: http://www.vgchartz.com/charts/preorders.php says that total physical copies sold so far, is over 900,000; with 3-4 weeks to go until the game is live. This does not include digital copies sold.

There is also a poll here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=473062 where people are answering whether they are buying a digital copy or physical copy. Of the 2000 respondents, over 73% are buying the digital copy.

So, just by doing some quick math, we're looking at a possible 3.5 million people minimum, at launch.

Even if you cut that number in half, just to be ultra conservative, it's still teetering on 2 million. (remember there's 3-4 weeks of sales left before launch).

U.S. numbers only here, by the way. Thank you Chrysia.

successful game is successful.

[Chrysia]

That's also US only shewkoi, so you've got about half of Europe not included to figure in too.

[Kaneiac]

Because Rift totally didn't end up with like 1+ million initial purchases and hover around 500k now, right?

[redruMPanda]

successful game is successful.

Success is not measured by sales in the MMO world, but by how long they can keep it up with a steady sub base.

[Smitzelplix]

Success is not measured by sales in the MMO world, but by how long they can keep it up with a steady sub base.

Except for a game like Guild Wars 2 which has no subs at all and will mainly rely on box sales

[MuricaIsDead]

Success is not measured by sales in the MMO world, but by how long they can keep it up with a steady sub base.

I spent about 40 hours in the last beta. And I was a huge skeptic of the game up until about a month or so ago.

It will be successful. guaranteed.

[vizzle]

OP, it only includes hard copy sales in the US. Not any hard copy sales anywhere else, or any digital sales at all.

[Xeones]

I'm expecting around 1.5 mil at launch. The game is much better than Rift so I would be suprised if it didn't hover around a million. People are looking for something new after Cata.

[Smitzelplix]

Because Rift totally didn't end up with like 1+ million initial purchases and hover around 500k now, right?

Actually it took Rift several months to reach 1 million units sold. Also so what if they only have 500k subs, they put out more content than WoW does. An MMO doesn't need 10 million subs to be successful, they don't even need a million, WoW is a freak basically when it comes to the amount of people playing their game and look how they repay that devotion. Huzzah for patch 4.1, hooray for Abyssal Maw getting removed with weak excuses from a company that is making tons of profit.

[Deleted]

What a lot of people seem to forget is that the Star Wars franchise has existed for quite some time, across a number of generations and decades. If I'm not wrong, it's existed for thirty years. Now, I'm not saying the majority of fans will be interested in an MMORPG, but a fairly large portion will try it out at the very least. WoW had a lot of success largely due to Warcraft 1, 2 and 3.

[randomone05]

like many have said, its the keeping of subs and getting more subs thats vital. but, having played 2 beta weekends now and having following this game since its inception(more or less), it can have whats left of my soul for my sub

[Fiddlesnarf]

Except for a game like Guild Wars 2 which has no subs at all and will mainly rely on box sales

Micro-transactions, I can promise GW2 will have them, and if successful it will make them tons of money, look at League of Legends, one of the most successful online games is free-to-play, but makes so much money from selling champions and skins.

[Deleted]

Micro-transactions, I can promise GW2 will have them, and if successful it will make them tons of money, look at League of Legends, one of the most successful online games is free-to-play, but makes so much money from selling champions and skins.

On that note, I despise micro-transactions. I truly hope ToR does not go down the route of having both a monthly subscription and micro-transactions. I want to be able to earn things in game instead of through my wallet, in other words. :P

[Smitzelplix]

Micro-transactions, I can promise GW2 will have them, and if successful it will make them tons of money, look at League of Legends, one of the most successful online games is free-to-play, but makes so much money from selling champions and skins.

Oh it will have micro transactions they have already said that, but it's going to be very cosmetic according to Arenanet. I just felt like pointing out that you don't always need subscribers to have a successful game. Also WoW has micro transactions too or can they be considered macro

[ZeroEdgeir]

The last estimate I saw on a SW:TOR news site, about a month ago or so, was around 3.5 million pre-orders, between physical and digital, globally. (This was info straight from EA)

[Deleted]

Oh it will have micro transactions they have already said that, but it's going to be very cosmetic according to Arenanet. I just felt like pointing out that you don't always need subscribers to have a successful game. Also WoW has micro transactions too or can they be considered macro

The problem is, what classifies as 'cosmetic'? A lot of players don't care overly much about frequent PvP or PvE exploits in an MMORPG - some of us enjoy collecting gear, pets, mounts to gain a sense of personal achievement. A lot of players are then alienated when such things appear on an online store, especially if they're unable or unwilling to afford to shell out excessive amounts of cash for them.

The main issue tends to be greedy or out of touch developers. Or more likely, frustrated developers who have their hands bound by greedy and out of touch investors demanding profits.

[krono957]

snip.

your name makes me laugh, like a lot, excellent reference

[Tore]

ASSUMING THE NUMBERS IN THE LINK ARE REAL:

-Figure in Digital Preorders.
-Figure in European Preorders.
-Figure in Redzone Launch.
-Figure in Remaining Countries Launch.

There's a potential here for really big numbers.

MMOs don't ever survive on box sales and are usually judged by subscription numbers, but when EA decided to stairstep launches in different parts of the world they ensured that they would give the illusion of constant growth over several months, even if previous subscriptions start dropping. And then when the growth is reported on more people will want to try the game, resulting in even more subscriptions. Smart marketing, if a little manipulative.

[Smitzelplix]

The problem is, what classifies as 'cosmetic'? A lot of players don't care overly much about frequent PvP or PvE exploits in an MMORPG - some of us enjoy collecting gear, pets, mounts to gain a sense of personal achievement. A lot of players are then alienated when such things appear on an online store, especially if they're unable or unwilling to afford to shell out excessive amounts of cash for them.

The main issue tends to be greedy or out of touch developers. Or more likely, frustrated developers who have their hands bound by greedy and out of touch investors demanding profits.

We'll have to see when the game launches to find out what Arenanet's definition of cosmetic is. I do know that Guild Wars 1 has some costume pieces they sell, so that will probably be in GW2.

[zealous]

Oh it will have micro transactions they have already said that, but it's going to be very cosmetic according to Arenanet. I just felt like pointing out that you don't always need subscribers to have a successful game. Also WoW has micro transactions too or can they be considered macro

Most of LoL's transactions are cosmetic. And LoL doesn't even have a box cost. It's completely f2p.

The game runs on a very simple engine and has toony and light graphics.

Yet they're raking money like mad, spending quite literally millions of dollars on tournaments...

Cosmetic cash shops can be hugely successful if marketed well and attached to an addictive product. The only question is how well GW2 will accomplish that.