Is Releasing Fallout 4 And Black Ops 3 So Close To One Another A Risky Move Or Smart Business?

With the pending releases of Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 happening just days apart, Skewed and Reviewed have posted an opinion piece asking if releasing two AAA games with huge budgets so close to one another is smart business or a risky move.

[Thatguy-310]

This month is going to be crazy. You got COD, Fallout 4, Tomb raider and star wars. New game every week lol

[Garethvk]

So true. I did not even go into that as they are later in the month but clearly a year to budget and use pre-orders or wait until you see what you get as gifts.

[Relientk77]

No social life every week

[Paytaa]

What's a social life?

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

Bloodborne expansion is also coming out this month.

[Thatguy-310]

There's literally going to be something new to play this whole month. Software and hardware sales are going to be HUGE!!

[Jaegar]

Aaand Bloodborne the Old Hunters DLC for the PS4 lot. Can't goddamn wait.

[aviator189]

Haha, I just wish they would have spread these games out a bit.
One thing's for sure though. The NPD numbers for these games are going to blow up, possibly even set records.

[Paytaa]

Fallout 4 has 5 years of strong hype built up. Game is going to sell a dump load. Definitely will outsell Skyrim and Fallout 3.

Still hasn't hit me that the game is a week away or the fact it exists after the years of speculation and rumors. I'm ready to lose my life to Fallout for the third time.

[Heyxyz]

Same here. I've been waiting so long, and even though the end is near I still feel like it's all one big rumor.

[Immorals]

Different markets really, call of duty has always had a largely casual market, whereas fallout fans are getting ready to live and breathe fallout :p

[retrogamer09]

I don't understand this logic, If people want the games they'll buy them both. Also preorders are a real thing. Most people that really really want these games already have them preordered both digitally or physically. It won't hurt sales whatsoever. COD will continue being a behemoth and do another 20 million in sales and another billion in revenue and Fallout 4 will ship 6 or 7 million copies when this is all set and done.

[Dario_DC]

Not all people can spend 140 or even more euros in one month... Don't forget about Need For Speed, Tomb Raider, Bloodborne Old Hunters, Star Wars BF and more! It's an expensive month my friend.
I'll skip most of these games for now... Getting BloodBorne and maybe StarWars because of the Split-screen, so I can play with my GF.

[retrogamer09]

As I said in my comment, preorders are a real thing. Most people pay down on the game and simply pay it off when the time comes if they really want the game. If I want Fallout and Call of Duty as an adult I will buy both of them. I want make a sacriface over 140 bucks. Both games were announced months ago. Whoever wanted to buy the game has already either paid for them, are paying the games off, or decided that the 140 bucks spent on them is no bother to them. Also there's other avenues such as Redbox, Gamefly, and buying the game used that also make the monetary decision easier.

[Garethvk]

Biggest issue is those who do not pre orderand cannot afford two games at once.

[jb227]

I've never bought 2 retail titles at once. I've bought multiple used games simultaneously & games on sale, but I've never been able to bring myself to spend upwards of 140 bucks at once at a game store. It just doesn't make sense to me...If I'm looking at FO4 & CoD, I will grab whichever one entices me more, play through that, then wait for a sale & more reviews on the next game.

Sure there are gamers willing to spend big bucks on gaming as it may be their sole hobby, but the majority of gamers have many other commitments & pasttimes to spread their money across...it has nothing to do w/ being an "adult" & being grown enough to spend big bucks on gaming, it's all about being grown enough to be responsible with your money and not dropping that kind of money when you won't be actually playing both games simultaneously.

You yourself mentioned other avenues such as RedBox & GameFly, which doesn't amount to a retail sale. These games should be more spread out through the year in my opinion, they stand a better chance of getting actual sales in dry periods w/ no competition as opposed to rentals & canceled preorders in times when gamers have too many options on shelves.

[Flash81]

COD,Star Wars, and Fallout are going to sell very well

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I seem to remember Skyrim came out around COD last time and it did more than fine so I think Fallout 4 will too. COD actually could be in serious trouble this go round as Battlefront has a lot of momentum and hype while COD:BLOPs3 seems to not have as much steam this time.

[Ricegum]

Huh? Black Ops 3 has more hype than most of the previous instalments in the franchise, and preorders are huge too. If you think Black Ops 3 is going to be outsold by Battlefront or anything else for that matter you are a little misled. Blops will do some fantastic numbers, anything but serous trouble lol.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Maybe I just am not reading the right forums but I don't see the online hype for COD like I used to... but Battlefront seems off the charts to me.

[soul-assassin-]

fallout 4 & black ops are two different styles of game....i don't understand the logic of the article either. Me? i will be buying both of these.

[Garethvk]

Two AAA games released closely. Both of interest to moat gamers but not everyone can buy two games in a week.

[soul-assassin-]

Nobody said it was a cheap hobby! . I understand some may not be able to afford both, but now is the time to trade in those completed / unwanted games.

[AidenPearce]

Different target audiences. Hardcore RPG fans generally don't care about online shooters, and hardcore CoD players would get CoD before anything else.

[Jozinho]

The list will go like this !!

Fallout 4
CoD Black Ops
Star Wars
Tomb Raider

The first 3 can be shuffled but i can't see Tomb Raider competing with them. Honestly, what a good year to be a gamer.

[sullynathan]

They're both appealing to the same people and they both have high budgets and will have good advertising.

Neither game is going to bomb. Skyrim sold 20 million in the long run and released close to cod and so will fallout 4.

[GuruStarr78]

Got my fallout 4 preordered digital, will be playing the second it comes out, I will probably rent the rest..

[EazyC]

Zombies looks like some good ol' splitscreen (lol remember that!?) fun though. Will get it at christmas, Fallout won't be leaving the disc tray (or disc...feed?) for a few months I'd say!

[EazyC]

Got to admit, I'm really surprised at the hype generated online for Fallout, I always thought tES was more of a 'for the masses' kind of game, Fallout is quite quirky and idiosyncratic -- and I'm really proud, as a total devotee to the franchise, to see it getting so much attention. Can't wait!

Also, I can't help but think the prospects of another Fallout from the ex-Black Isle team (the guys who worked on original Fallouts and New Vegas ) is being boosted too, Bethesda will see the financial benefit in killing two birds with one stone.

[sullynathan]

Thing is, ever since Bethesda bought Fallout, the current fanbase of both series have become interchangeable.

Bethsoft expects Fallout 4 to sell well because Skyrim sold well.
Bethsoft has been including the same features from both series to make then feel more and more like each other from a gameplay perspective, so it's easy to see why people will be hyped for Fallout 4.

Plus, Fallout 3 & New Vegas both sold very well.

[EazyC]

I must be an outlier, as high fantasy never gelled well with me. Post-apocalyptic/Cyberpunk(whi ch Fallout skims on, notably in Junktown)/future I love. I can see how they complement each other though

[iistuii]

There will COD & the rest in sales as per usual. Nice to have a choice, but all out the same couple of weeks isn't ideal. I've just bought Assassis Creed & Halo 5, will pick up TR, the rest can wait, it's a lot of money to shell out in a 3 week period..

[Ricegum]

The idea of purchasing Tomb Raider over Fallout 4 makes me cringe lol. But you know, it's nice everyone has their own opinion.

[Rooted_Dust]

Fallout is going to take precedence over everything else for me.

I'm going to wait on the Battlefield reviews, and for Tomb Raider on PC.

[LAWSON72]

If you played Fallout 3 or even Skyrim you know what you will be playing come Nov 10. These are one of those rare dates when we see a Bethesda game and those who want Fallout 4 know this is a much bigger deal than another year of CoD.

[ChuckTheIceMan]

It wouldn't matter if they released them all on the same day. If someone's been waiting for a game for months or in some cases years they will buy them no matter what.

[Livecustoms]

COD Blops 3 has received more pre-orders than the last two years so...

[mastershredder]

Something for everyone I say.

[Garethvk]

Exactly. People bash COD but we know it will sell huge. F4 is going to sell. The issue is not which game will appeal to whom as I see them both appealing to most gamers who like action and RPG. The issue was that being so close in release dates makes it hard for gamers on a budget. AAAA would do fine but a non franchise or indy game might struggle if opened with another huge game. Just saying it is interesting that release dates are so close.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

It's the holiday shopping quarter and this is very common. Put all your big guns out now. No pun intended.

[Garethvk]

Buy now, next week, next month, next year.

[Tsunade]

It is a risky move releasing with such heavy contenders as COD, Fallout 4 and Star Wars. Tomb Raider could have a chance if it was multiplatform but being restricted to the X1 that has a little market share is surely not going to help at all. That was a bad decision and we are going to witness it soon.

[PSN_ZeroOnyx]

I can't afford both in one week but i pre-order most games in advance and pay when I can. Both games are paid off, vacation time approved at work for both. Now time to get paid while I enjoy playing my last 2 pre-orders of the year.