Obsidian Entertainment - Avellone is Out

Yeah, those low numbers are disappointing.

Originally Posted by Gorath
.PoE will sell millions of units through Steam sales @9.99, 7.49, 4.99 and repeat for some GOTY / Deluxe / Enhanced / Community edition for which they'll certainly find an excuse.

I have no doubt it won't it's just a shame sales were so low on it's release.

It was the same with the first two Witcher games, but thanks to sales they both sold a combined eight million copies years later. It's the same for other RPG games also.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Thanks for the correction Moriendor so it didn't sell that well then.

That's just Steam and SpySteam is estimating the number via account sampling. The more recent the game, the less accurate the value is according to the author.

Also, I doubt Obsidian was expecting 1+ millions sales in 3 months for the game, very few games achieve this and they usually have a much bigger marketing campaign. Stick of Truth after 1 year only has ~1.1 millions sales according to SpySteam. Having around ~500k over 3 months is actually very good.

Well we all knew it wasn't going to be a massive day one release like W3. It just didn't have the marketing. Enough to keep the studio alive.

If we assume that 370K is accurate then let us try to take an educated guess at the rest.

We know from CD Projekt that shortly after release The Witcher 2 sold 200K copies on Steam and only 40K on GOG. If you look around the net a bit, you will find very similar numbers or percentages. Steam is by far the most popular digital distribution platform and usually makes up at least 80%+ of the digital sales.
So let's add +20% on the 370K from other digital places like GOG and we end up at ~450K.

Now physical is hard to guess. We know from CD Projekt with regard to UK retail sales only that they have sold 63% copies on PS4, 32% on Xbone and 5% on PC.
But The Witcher 3 is a cross platform game so it does not compare very well to the PC-exclusive PoE. Still, it seems to be a safe bet that PC retail does not play much of a role anymore, at least not in the UK/US.
Let's be really optimistic and assume they sold another 20% at retail worldwide. That would put PoE total sales at around ~550K.

However, I do have some doubts they reached 500K, mainly because I believe they would have announced this milestone to drum up more support for the game. So my guess would be it's hovering between 400K and 500K at the moment.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I have no doubt it won't it's just a shame sales were so low on it's release.

It was the same with the first two Witcher games, but thank to sales they both sold a combined eight million copies years later. It's the same for other RPG games also.

The old problem: Gamers *say* they want new games … but what they really want is sequels to established games because they make risk averse decisions. It took CDPR and PB 3 games to reach good sales numbers. Larian needed even more, but also produced more.
PoE is a new IP. It needs more time.

Despite not exactly smashing sales numbers at full price, Obsidian got a lot from PoE:
- millions of external funding
- direct communication with their target audience
- their own IP
- negotiation leverage for boxed distribution
- new tech for which others paid
- a long running income stream, possibly adding up to 20+M$.
- they are now a digital publisher, I think
- their standing in the industry has grown, they've become more independent
- …

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Hmmm, a FNV-type followup to Fallout 4? That would be about ready to onboard.

I want this so much. But NV was as much Sawyer's and John Gonzales's game as his (seems like John Gonzales gets forgotten)

People might find this interesting. Chris had an interview posted on June 3rd.

Looks like he is tired of working on so many projects at the same time and would like to do more comic books based on Fallout.

Please don't let it be his dream to found a mobile gaming studio. Please…

So, 500k for a game where the majority of costs were covered through kickstarter is considered not good? Do the math at say $50 dollars a game for 425k copies(75k were from kickstarter….) and you get 21,250,000…granted some will go to steam and other costs but that is a lot of money.

I'm definitely curious what he'll get up to next. The talk of him heading to inXile seems pretty plausible, but I do wonder if he's a bit burned out given that he has been all over the place these last few years.

Regarding PoE sales, it is selling better than Wasteland 2 was during the same time frame, and W2 was considered by inXile to be a success.

Do keep in mind Obsidian has 100+ employees, most of which are likely working on the Russian Tank MMO.

I honestly don't believe it's possible to stay energized and creative with the kind of workload he must have endured.

Maybe that's just me, but truly inspired writing has to come from a place of passion and focus - and I don't see how that's possible with the amount of work he's dealt with.

I know he's had issues with Obsidian cutting much of his work from games - or so it seems - but I'm smelling burnout. If he's leaving for another developer, I hope he learns to focus and stick with one game at a time. The result will be the better for it.

No, I don't much care for his writing or his take on Star Wars - but I know he's a popular writer around here. So, I recognise he must have something special, and he could probably use an extended break to get his priorities in order.

Naturally, this is just speculation.

My bit of speculation would be that the whole things smells like a dirty divorce. He left in May. Time enough for both sides to prepare some press statements with the usual phrases. But so far no reaction from Obsidian at all when their CCO and co-founder leaves? Strange.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
I have no doubt it won't it's just a shame sales were so low on it's release.

It was the same with the first two Witcher games, but thanks to sales they both sold a combined eight million copies years later. It's the same for other RPG games also.

Perhaps you have lost touch with how the majority of gamers behave by being so entrenched in a specific hobby-site?

The Witcher games are primarily two-fold enterprises:

1. Action RPGs on a PC
2. High performance requirements games

As regards point 1, back in 2007 action RPGs weren't what was hot. Half the market was still yearning for D&D-like material and the other (bigger, more casual orientated) half had migrated to MMOs. It's only since people started getting bored of MMOs, stopped bothering to expect new D&Ds and since Oblivian/Sykrim started to dominate the mainsteam (because nature abhors a vacuum) that the Witcher's category of RPG has come to the fore. Similar to how Dark Souls snuck into the same gap.

I've tried all three, Withcer, Elder Scrolls, Dark Souls, and that kind of RPG just doesn't appeal to me. I last about 30 mins to 1 hour every time. I don't begrudge the success, but I feel really quite offended when someone suggests it's 'sad' when they struggle to sell - sad for who? Not for me, mate. Aside from dedicated fans on extremely specialist sites, there will be many who have a similar history to me who might only now being trying really hard to 'get into' this stuff for the sole reason that it's now 'sad' not to (though I, personally, don't care about being 'sad' and continuing as normal).

On point 2, and this is probably the more salient point, when PC games get first released they all (those with a decent budget) invariably require you to own the most up-to-date PC system possible in order to get the maximum enjoyment out of the game. Unless you are in the position of both having gaming as your primary hobby and you have cash to burn on said hobby, then most gamers will live in a world of sporadic catch-up, where they will have a year or two of buying the latest games then three or four years of gradual backlog which they catch-up on when they get their next system.

And this is why PC games always have more staggered sales rates over time than console games which are more like movie releases, designed to satiate people for 1 or 2 months until the next blockbuster comes out. Consoles don't have 6 monthly increments in improved hardware like PC does, it's a completely different mind-set.

I've tried all three, Withcer, Elder Scrolls, Dark Souls, and that kind of RPG just doesn't appeal to me. I last about 30 mins to 1 hour every time. I don't begrudge the success, but I feel really quite offended when someone suggests it's 'sad' when they struggle to sell - sad for who? Not for me, mate. Aside from dedicated fans on extremely specialist sites, there will be many who have a similar history to me who might only now being trying really hard to 'get into' this stuff for the sole reason that it's now 'sad' not to (though I, personally, don't care about being 'sad' and continuing as normal).

It's probably sad to the fans who're expressing their opinion by saying it's sad.

Think back to when you were a kid and you dropped your ice cream on the floor - and you started crying. You were sad - and you expressed yourself as best you could.

You were not making an objective statement about how all living beings should be sad for there being less ice cream to be consumed by little lackblogger.

Not rocket science

Just providing balance.

It's not brain surgery

Originally Posted by lackblogger
Just attempting to provide balance.

It's not brain surgery

Fixed that for you

Thanks for attacking my opinion, mr "It's just an opinion"…

Well first let me say thanks for your valued opinion lackblogger. Though I have to ask does being an asshole on the internet come naturally to you, or is it a gift?



Edit: Oh look I received a warning for calling a member exactly what he is.