540°

PS4’s The Last of Us: July’s best-seller, July’s biggest disappointment

The PlayStation 4’s biggest game of the summer missed sales expectations by 50,000 copies, according to an analyst.

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venturebeat.com
Axios23541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

Not really surprising, it was only released a year ago on PS3.

@ Lukas, I dare you to find the word "disappointing" in my comment. I'll dumb my response down for you so you can understand; I'm not surprised ANY game released for a 2nd time within a year has not met analysts expectations

@ Lukas, all is forgiven, cheers

GarrusVakarian3541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

Stop trolling, TLOU:R is anything but a disappointment. Top of the July NPD chart, despite only 4(?) days of it's sales being counted, and is currently sitting at 95 on metacritic (I know how much you love those metacritic numbers, Axios).

I've yet to come across a single person who owns the game who is disappointed by it. And why would they be? It's a better looking, and better running version of the most awarded game in history, with all the season pass DLC.

Some random analyst company says it's a disappointment....so it's a disappointment? Give me a break. Disappointments don't top charts after only 4 days of sales.

TheTowelBoy3541d ago Show
XBLSkull3541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

I'd call it a disappointment. Tons of perfect scores and GotY awards. It's good but not the most amazing game ever. I would give it 8/10 and I'm probably 2/3 through at this point. A solid game but my expectations were much to high.

of course its the top July seller, who releases games in July? No one, and this game is proof of why developers should spread games out and not pack them all into holiday season. We game year round and if you put out a good game we will buy it regardless of the time of year.

can anyone tell me how long the DLC content is? Not sure I wanna play more than an extra hour or two.

Sadie21003541d ago

Did you read the story? This is about sales expectations/predictions.

NewMonday3541d ago

so 50k is now a "big disappointment"? sigh!

it most likely sold many times that digitally and exceeded expectations.

HammadTheBeast3541d ago

Relax man, you took his comment completely out of context.

jebabcock3541d ago

I think there is some critical grammar here that is being ignored... "BY 50,000" implies it was 50k short of expectations. It says nothing of what total sales were...

Biggest3541d ago

"I dare you to find the word "disappointing" in my comment."

This is an easy game.

"PS4’s The Last of Us: July’s best-seller, July’s biggest disappointment"

Axios2 + 3h ago
Not really surprising, it was only released a year ago on PS3.

rainslacker3541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

Didn't TLOU:R sell 1.5 million on it's first day?

They were off by 50K units and they consider that a disappointment? 50K units of 1.5 million is a .03% discrepancy. Hardly a disappointment.

Maybe I'm reading this article wrong, but apparently Sony isn't disappointed in the sales, just some analyst group that got it wrong.

Overall game sales were down, but TLOU:R was most decidedly a successful launch of a game. Way to flame bait a title and article.

Rhythmattic3540d ago (Edited 3540d ago )

XBLSkull

Then don't.

Two thirds the way through ay?
If you dont know what the games about by then, and haven't enjoyed it , why even bother finishing it?

I say 1/3 your trolling, the other 2/3's is BS.

Lightning Mr Bubbles3540d ago (Edited 3540d ago )

This article is full of crap. This dude should just stick to watching his gay ass college sport.

sonarus3540d ago (Edited 3540d ago )

@rythematic. Not everyone has to love a game. But I like how xbl skull calls it a disappointment with an 8/10 review scores. I wish more disappointing games managed an 8/10 from me lol.

Gaming1013540d ago

For those who didn't read the article, an NCAA football game has historically been released in July and was always the top seller every year, and it's no longer being made. Analysts took into account that this is a remake in their forecast, you must take all factors into account, however the only disappointment was that it didn't meet forecasts.

It is not saying that it is in any way a low selling game overall as it is the month's best seller, or has disappointing quality. Get it now? Good.

SnakePlissken3540d ago

I was disappointed the first time it came around. In fact, I couldn't bring myself to even finish it.

Pacing was slow, felt too generic to me. Like most new games these days. I know a few others that felt the same.

Very overrated game!

Rhythmattic3538d ago

Just popping back in.....

Sooooo agree with this review.

http://youtu.be/fCV1DN6eBkI

+ Show (11) more repliesLast reply 3538d ago
GarrusVakarian3541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

I apologise for jumping to conclusions about your comment. In my defence, you didn't really make it clear what part you weren't surprised about.

Please accept my apology. I love you really, Axios.

Sevir3541d ago

lol @ "I love you" Lukas let that be a lesson that we can get overly serious about our hobby,

lets keep the pitch forks and torches away... we all know how amazing the last of us is!

sourav933541d ago

I see why you moved to GAF Lukas. Some people....

Conzul3541d ago

Oh.
I thought Lukas was being deeply sarcastic.

Whoopsie.

GarrusVakarian3541d ago

@Conzul

I wasn't being sarcastic. I was an ass, so I apologised for it.

Ezz20133541d ago

"I love you really,Axios"

is that a Bromance i see ?

morganfell3541d ago

^^^You are assuming they are both males.

CrashJones3540d ago (Edited 3540d ago )

Hey Lukas, share the love bud, and hook us up with a bubble will ya? :P

ps. I was on the shelf about picking up TLoU again, but I did, and was far from disappointed. Just an absolutely amazing gaming experience(again)... made better this time(so smooth), and with all the original DLC.

DragonKnight3540d ago

I'm not surprised you'd be confused since Axios2 is a known Xbox fanboy.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3540d ago
incendy353541d ago ShowReplies(2)
princejb1343541d ago

i feel like the game didn't sell well because of the ip name
not many people know about the last of us
I'm sure if it was called something like call of duty : last of us it would have sold 5 million easily

ABeastNamedTariq3541d ago

It sold more than 5 million on PS3 though.. People know.

princejb1343541d ago

@abeastnamedtariq

I meant for ps4

rainslacker3541d ago

It sold 1.5 million on it's first day. That's a pretty good number for any game. Particularly for a game "not many people know about".

This game will have legs going into the holiday season, so given the install base, and the reputation this game has gotten since it's PS3 release, and the fact it's $10 cheaper than most games(probably more come November), I wouldn't doubt that this game easily hits 3+ million sold by the end of the year...if it hasn't already.

Corpser3540d ago

Only on n4g are there people that think it sold 1.5 million in 24 hours , the only source for that is insiderp, a site banned in neogaf

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3540d ago
medman3541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

I'm sorry...did I miss where sales figures were posted? An article calls a game a "disappointment in sales" without knowing just how many copies were sold? The game was available for all of a few hours in the month of July....geez. Dubious, at best.

Eddie201013541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

It sold 1.5 million in three days and it was a remaster. If it sold a little under in three days, that does not make it a failure at all.

The only failure is that publishers did not release any major games for the month.

This is some kind crazy spin to say The last of us was a failure by any means.

Eddie201013541d ago

let me correct something, TLOU sold 1.5 million in it's first 24 hours.

SnakePlissken3540d ago

Alot of people bought into the hype. You tell enough people that this is supposed to be the greatest game of all time! More than half of them will believe you.

I found it quite boring and too generic. I didn't even want to finish it. There are so many better games out there!

Eddie201013540d ago (Edited 3540d ago )

I would have say that you have no idea what a great game is.

It is not hype, it is one of the best games ever made.

ramiuk13541d ago

i played it on ps4 and its best story game i ever played,characters,story the feel of the level design was amazing.

Ocsta3540d ago

@XBLSkull

Someone named XBLSkull thinks it was disappointing. Seems legit.

Syntax-Error3540d ago (Edited 3540d ago )

What did it have to contend with? It's the only new game for PS4, so of course it would've done well. Waste of money considering the graphics upgrade wasn't that major. If you look at what GTA V did compared to TLOU then you would feel a little cheated. We have been dying for something new since Watch Dogs. Even our PS Store isn't as good as PS3's. They are really slacking on the PS4

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 3538d ago
JeffGrubb3541d ago

July was pretty weak, but surprised Last of Us didn't do a little bit better.

randomass1713541d ago

For a remaster I thought it did pretty dang well.

Angels37853541d ago

It only had 4 days of sales recorded for npd

Cryptcuzz3541d ago

I wonder why the article or the analyst did not even mention the fact that it only had 4 days of sales for the month of July?

The analyst should be the one to blame. He should be complaining that his prediction for the whole month of July has been short by a measly 50K units, for a game that was recorded in sales for only 4 freaken days lol.

DigitalHope3541d ago

Do remember NDP doesnt count digital sales. Here in canada we have the remastered bundle that comes with a digital copy, but even non remastered ps4 editions are coming with digital copies of tlou:r

The sales are way higher then the ndp report.

JeffGrubb3541d ago

You're right, PassiveAttack, but this analyst is taking that all into account. The expectation was for it to sell 50,000 new physical copies in addition to what it was supposed to do digitally.

jebabcock3541d ago

@Jeff

go back and read the article. And compare it to your comment. The article merely says it was short 50k... Your comment makes the implication that it's total physical sales were less than 50k. Be a little more responsible than that if you are going to be so adamant in your position...

rainslacker3541d ago

According to Sony, it sold 1.5 million on it's first day. If after 4 days, the analyst was off by 50K units, then he was off by .03% compared to first day sales alone.

Now, calling that a disappointment is a big stretch. Any analyst that can come within a .03% margin of error on their predictions would be highly sought after for their accuracy. The typical analyst margin of error is in the 5-10% range.

Spotie3540d ago

I can't believe how hard you tried on this article. It would be impressive if it weren't so sad.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3540d ago
ColManischewitz3541d ago

Were expectations out of whack here?

GribbleGrunger3541d ago

It failed because it didn't meet an analysts expectations? LOL

HeWhoWalks3541d ago (Edited 3541d ago )

Er, what would you call a "disappointment", a success? Not that it WAS a disappointment, but today's journalists are very much like many of today's gamers - entitled individuals who whine more than they cheer they very hobby wee all share.

JeffGrubb3541d ago

@HeWhoWalks I call a "disappointment" a disappointment. Things are not binary.

LeCreuset3540d ago

Exactly. Click-bait these days. Let's devote an entire article to undermining TLOU's status as the best selling game last month, based on projected sales figures from some game analyst not named Pachter (whom I also wouldn't take seriously).

What takes me out is that I often see statements about selling double last month's consoles and only being available in X number of countries repeated in the media with not even a tenth of the analysis of what exactly that means as is taking place in this article with TLOU.

ShowGun9013540d ago

I'd say the analyst failed at predicting the correct sales... but lets blame devs, producers, and consumers! thats easier than me being wrong /s

DanielGearSolid3541d ago

I would THINK Sony's expectations are the only ones that matter here.

But hey what do I know

JeffGrubb3541d ago

Sony is a public company, so that is incorrect.

DanielGearSolid3541d ago

What I mean is...

Sony's expectations account for dev costs and other expenditures. That the analyst doesn't have access to.

Also, one analyst doesn't = July's biggest disappointment.

iceman063541d ago

True...BUT, the public usually bases their expectations around the expectations of the company. Plus, we don't know the magic number of those expectations.

Show all comments (103)
140°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers15h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos22m ago(Edited 21m ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken2h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g11h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing11h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H911h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola7h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66910h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle10h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

Show all comments (14)
130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg1d 3h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos1d 3h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion1d 2h ago (Edited 1d 2h ago )

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola22h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

Show all comments (8)
280°

Sony Taps Bungie's Head of Revenue to Lead Live-Service Games

Sony has recruited Bungie's head of revenue Jaremy Rich to head up its live-service gaming division, Rich has announced on social media.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
ChasterMies21d ago

Please do not put Destiny’s monetization into Sony’s first party games. The monetization is what’s driving players away from Destiny.

just_looken21d ago

The new temp boss is the sony cfo bean counter so i can see this being a thing get every penny.

Cacabunga21d ago

PlayStation officially losing it.. fans will never support gaas games

just_looken21d ago

@car

The new boss did a interview in japan he wants to tap into the mobile market like nintendio so he give 0 fucks about gamers/fans

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

Redemption-6421d ago

@Cacabunga
You only speak for you and those who think like you, but most fans will support what they want. Playstation and PC fans are literally supporting Helldivers 2 and that is a gaas. Maybe you wouldn't, but many more would if they like it.

Huey_My_D_Long21d ago

@Redemption-64
Look, Im not making any judgement calls about this guy, but I will say that Helldivers 2 GaaS model is unique to Helldivers, and legit the only other game I can think of thats similiar was the Avengers game except HD2 pass is still better.
The fact that you can earn in game currency in a way that doesnt make you feel like you have to grind forever, as well you being able work on that pass that you bought...on your own time without a time limit...that right there is fucking huge to me, and I can't name any game other than avengers that avoided trapping players with FOMO logic...I think GaaS on HD2 shouldn't be compared to the rest of the industry...it should be copied.

Einhander197220d ago

Cacabunga

Helldivers 2...

Redemption-64

In Europe it's a 60 40 split favoring PC.
In the US its a 60 40 split favoring PS5.

So PlayStation owners supported the game just fine, it's not getting carried by PC or anything like that.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

@just_looken,
I'm perfectly fine with the way Nintendo entered the mobile market, I never touched their mobile games, meanwhile, the console/handheld stayed the way it is. As for being a bean counter, he's probably going to reel in these massive budgets that Sony's studios have had lately, I haven't played Spiderman 2, but I cannot see how they almost tripled the budget for that game.

@Redemption-64,
That's an exception to the rule, I'm expecting a lot of these GAAS games from Sony to fail, to be fair, they only need a few to succeed, but I would have preferred that they put more of their resources into other types of games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
DivineHand12521d ago

True their monetization is driving players away and at the same time, their decision to chop out content and convoluted systems is keeping new players away from the game.

Joe91321d ago

I don't think that will happen based on how things worked out at Naughty Dog now that we know what we do, seems they had the option to fully commit to live service games or stay making single player experences so they gave up on their live service game. We are not sure how things came about with Bend making a live service game but I hope that was not a forced situation. Sony doesnt seem like they are forcing studios to switch up but we will see, Sony's bread and butter is single player games it is how they dominated the console market.

Obscure_Observer21d ago

Yeah, I though Sony learned something from all their failures in the LS segment under Bungie´s disastrous leadership and supervision which led to games been cancelled, studios closed and all the people laid off.

Looks like Bungie still plays a major role in Sony´s LS initiative and Sony is not backtracking on their GaaS plans.

S2Killinit21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Are we forgetting that Destiny is also a highly successful franchise? I feel like that definitely deserves mention here.

Besides, there is no reason why a person cant learn from past experiences.

Joe91320d ago

I agree, people act as if Destiny flopped when it came out lol it took 9 to 10 years for the numbers to fall yet people are still playing it add the success of Helldivers 2 no wonder Sony is going forward down this path.

S2Killinit20d ago

Personally, I see no problem with Sony also having service games as long as they make good ones, and more importantly they deliver the AAA story driven games that they are known for. So yeah, I agree 100% with you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 20d ago
Christopher21d ago

I mean, this person made some pretty bad decisions at Bungie. I hope they've learned from them because I definitely don't see those type of ideas as good for PlaySation in general.

CrimsonWing6920d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Honestly, what’s to learn from? How to make people happily continuously dump money into a single game over its life-time? Buy season passes continuously for several years with a smile on our faces?

GaaS is a design decision that is everything wrong with this industry. The fact that Helldivers 2 did so well and people defend the monetization because it was $40 and is a fun game, scares the sh*t out of me to see that the door is open and all shift will probably be to replicate that in future games. We already know the ROI for traditional game dev cost isn’t doing it for them.

I thought with Jimbo leaving we’d see a change for the better… I’m not so sure now.

S2Killinit20d ago

Service games are being offered by everyone. Sony cannot afford to only create single player AAA games. No one can. They already said they will be doing both.

Abnor_Mal21d ago (Edited 21d ago )

Ps5 gamers in 2023 seemed to play more live service types of games, so regardless to how people feel about them, numbers don’t lie and Sony is going where the money is. I mean look at the excitement around Helldivers2, people are showing that they want live service games.

Christopher21d ago

They play long-time existing live service games like CoD, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and the like. Mass majority of new live service games are considered failures and aren't moving gamers away from older games.

just_looken21d ago

Yep the huge issue with live service is they need paid players along with a reason to play them.

You forgot mobile market that also taps into that player base as well as the eve online style games there is only a certain amount of krakens/whales blind supporters compared to the amount of live service games we have its not sustainable math wise.

700 restaurants making food for every seat for 1000-3000 eaters just does not work out

Einhander197220d ago (Edited 20d ago )

Christopher

I am not a big live service fan and literally own zero of the games you listed, but that is not true, unless you call games that aren't the top games to be failures.

There are tons of live service games that are profitable.

Games don't have to be the biggest game ever they just need to make more than they cost.

I challenge you to show professionally prepared data that shows that more live service games fail than make enough to keep going.

Because all the data that I have seen shows that live service is less of a gamble than making a big AAA budget game which needs to survive off retail sales.

FinalFantasyFanatic20d ago

I sometimes wonder if we're at saturation point, where it's hard for a new game to join those ranks unless it's particularly exceptional, people only have so much time and money to devote to these types of games.

romulus2321d ago

Correction, they have no issue playing good live service games

shinoff218321d ago

Lol it's not even a quarter of the ps5s sold. Helldivers may have been a hit but let's not say most are enjoying it because truth is most(the real most ) don't care about it.

S2Killinit20d ago (Edited 20d ago )

I play what is fun. If a live service game is good I’ll play it as long as its not a money scheme which Helldivers is not.

And Im a single player gamer.

mastershredder21d ago

How do you kill a franchise that already been killed?
Destiny’s grind, cash-in-on-playbass-cha-Ching, and pop-culture-insertion mainstream-me-too bs totally killed any rep Bungie had. Sony/Bungie, if you are doing this to ward-off players, it’s already working.

crazyCoconuts21d ago

Headline truncated:
"... off a cliff"

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