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.

[Axios2]

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

[GarrusVakarian]

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.

[XBLSkull]

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.

[Sadie2100]

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

[NewMonday]

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

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

[HammadTheBeast]

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

[jebabcock]

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...

[Biggest]

"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.

[rainslacker]

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.

[Rhythmattic]

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 Bubbles]

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

[sonarus]

@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.

[Gaming101]

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.

[SnakePlissken]

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!

[Rhythmattic]

Just popping back in.....

Sooooo agree with this review.

http://youtu.be/fCV1DN6eBkI

[GarrusVakarian]

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.

[Sevir]

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!

[sourav93]

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

[Conzul]

Oh.
I thought Lukas was being deeply sarcastic.

Whoopsie.

[GarrusVakarian]

@Conzul

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

[Ezz2013]

"I love you really,Axios"

is that a Bromance i see ?

[morganfell]

^^^You are assuming they are both males.

[CrashJones]

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.

[DragonKnight]

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

[princejb134]

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

[ABeastNamedTariq]

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

[princejb134]

@abeastnamedtariq

I meant for ps4

[rainslacker]

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.

[Corpser]

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

[medman]

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.

[Eddie20101]

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.

[Eddie20101]

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

[SnakePlissken]

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!

[Eddie20101]

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.

[ramiuk1]

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

[Ocsta]

@XBLSkull

Someone named XBLSkull thinks it was disappointing. Seems legit.

[Syntax-Error]

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

[JeffGrubb]

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

[randomass171]

For a remaster I thought it did pretty dang well.

[Angels3785]

It only had 4 days of sales recorded for npd

[Cryptcuzz]

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.

[DigitalHope]

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.

[JeffGrubb]

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.

[jebabcock]

@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...

[rainslacker]

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.

[Spotie]

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

[ColManischewitz]

Were expectations out of whack here?

[GribbleGrunger]

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

[JeffGrubb]

No one said it failed.

[HeWhoWalks]

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.

[JeffGrubb]

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

[LeCreuset]

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.

[ShowGun901]

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

[DanielGearSolid]

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

But hey what do I know

[JeffGrubb]

Sony is a public company, so that is incorrect.

[DanielGearSolid]

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.

[iceman06]

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.

[Rimeskeem]

As we all know analysts are the supreme ruler of gaming and if they say something or predict something they must be right. (sarcasm)

[incendy35]

I ended up buying it.. begrudgingly haha.

[WeAreLegion]

It surpassed most expectations for its sales.

[MysticStrummer]

I need a refresher on what "disappointment" means I guess, or else this author is from Bizarro World.

[iceman06]

Disappointment-a noun used to define your argument in the most abstract way possible so as to not have any basis of comparison. LOL

***Warning, this definition was STRICTLY derived from the context of its use in this article. Use at your own peril!!!***

[MRMagoo123]

***and if worst comes to worst, there is usually a cream or pill for it***

[PrinceOfAllSaiyans]

For only 2 days and it still was the best selling game of June. Supposedly selling 1million copies on PS4 alone. I bought it the other day.

[Locknuts]

Maybe because July almost always sucks.

[lolosgolos]

How does a game fail with no competition?

[Letthewookiewin]

What a stupid article.

[46889337]

I knew that insider" who claimed TLOU sold 1.5 million copies in the first 24 hours was full of crap. Yet everyone took his word for it, without getting any facts. It hasn't even sold 50K copies and it had no competition whatsoever.

Maybe this will tell developers to stop re releasing games that are barely a year old.

[Kaimu]

Yes the last of us failed to sell 50 k copies

/s

[DVS-Zev]

" It hasn't even sold 50K copies and it had no competition whatsoever."

You're borderline autistic.

[DafunkyRebel]

Read it again or go back to school and learn sentence structure. It says the game sold SHORT of 50,000 not ONLY 50,000. Meaning the game is sold in the millions but is 50,000 LESS than expected.

[46889337]

Yeah. I misread the article. Didn't have enough time to edit it. I apologize for jumping to conclusions.

[Biggest]

Jumped to conclusions? LOL!!! What you did was jump to "I don't even know how to spell conclusions so what ever I am jumping to is WAY beyond that!"

The insider may have been wrong, but your feelings on the matter have far less importance. Less than 50k sales and you thought it may have been correct AND felt validated. Wow.

[Macdaddy71]

What last of us number two didn't pull game sale up!!!! OMG sad the month of July turn out bad with out a Sport game, Hmmmm see what greedy people does to the rest, I hope all them NCAA players enjoy there $5.00 dollars each they get,....
Truth is game release sucks right now, no ncaa, can't play last of us beat it on ps3....

[HanzoHattori]

What a stupid article. The Remastered version has already sold 1.5 million plus copies and it hasn't even been out for a month.

http://attackofthefanboy.co...

"The game itself sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide within 24 hours of its launch across the globe, making it the biggest selling day 1 game on ‘next gen’ platforms.

The leaked SONY ledger accounted for around 70% of retailers worldwide, so we are unaware if the consolidated numbers from digital and retail have surpassed 2 million copies on launch day. Approximately 25% of the sales were via digital transactions over PSN.

The effect The Last Of Us : Remastered made on hardware sales has been significant, as over 200,000 The Last Of Us : Remastered PS4 console bundles were sold across North America and Europe between 31st July 2014 and 1st August 2014."

Other sources
Gamespot
http://www.gamespot.com/for...

IGN
http://www.ign.com/articles...

Idiots writing articles and leaving out the actual facts. Facts reported by SONY!!!

Douchebag

[Subaruwrx]

There aren't many decent journalists reporting on the Video Game Industry. Many of them don't bother to use multiple and/or reliable sources. Give them one source, or even worse a rumor, and they'll spew forth a bs article.

[ShowGun901]

TLoU is selling great, and im happy more people get to enjoy it! The only "dissapointment" would be if you dont have a ps3 or ps4 to play it on!

on a side note, im sorry everybody in the entire universe didn't collaborate to make sure TLoU sold *EXACTLY* the correct amount of copies to please this "analyst"... he should email us next time!

[aquamala]

All these articles use the same source from insiderp, are they reliable? I don't know, but 1.5 million seems ridiculous to me, it sold about as much as infamous and watch dogs ps4 so far in just 24 hours?

All we know is it is the best selling game in July NPD, but we don't know how many copies, could be 100,000, could be 1 million

[Austin48]

The Last of Us remasterd did very well episcially for a remake this article is click bait all the way don't fall for it

[FayZ_]

lou is a great game, amazing story & i'm a guy who prefers online gaming. but lou remaster was not needed, the ps3 version looked great & the remaster was just a cash grab, it didn't look any better just boosted res & fps. if they were going to remake it they should have totally improved the textures, more bloom effects & so on, the remaster still looked last gen, but it was still a great looking game for the most parts.

im sure it sold well but i think most people would avoid re buying if they have it on ps3, the story was short but good, and the mp is a lil boring. they should have rolled out new maps & game modes, quite disappointed by the mp graphics too, they couldve increased player count, so much for next gen..

[jts1891]

It wasn't needed? Yeah, it was. 30% of PS4 owners didn't have a PS3 last generation, I'm one of them, and if they hadn't remastered the game, I wouldn't have been able to play it. And if you think the Remaster looked Last Gen, you haven't played it in person. It looks better than any game I've seen on next gen consoles, including InFamous: Second Son.

[jts1891]

So, it's a disappointment because a group of analysts made a prediction and it turned out to be wrong? How amusing.

[SilentNegotiator]

Missing expectations by 50K on a game that sells millions is the "biggest disappointment" for July? I guess July was a stellar month, then - only the most minor of disappointments.

[Dynasty2021]

MP is pissing me right off.

SO, SO insanely slow to get into a match. Like 5 minutes EVERY time to find a lobby full of enough players.

The glitches etc just scream lack of polish.

The PS3 version was so much better.

[LightDiego]

Nobody cares for your opinion on anything related to consoles, you are just a sad fanboy who plays only in one platform.

[trouble_bubble]

The logic in this article is so flawed and irrelevant. So if in turn I "predict" the Halo MCC to sell 10 million copies, I can turn around and call it a failure if it " only" sells 9 million? Because if missing a random nobody's target by a mere 50k is cause for such vitriol, then missing a mark by a whopping 1 million would be an astronomical disasterpiece, right? lmao. Who are these people?

[mrpsychoticstalker]

Disappointing, including the multi-player. Pretty game indeed, but I want to play games. Not movies.