Sea of Thieves is MS's most successful new IP this gen (2 Million+ Players and more stats)

RexNovis · Mar 29, 2018

Sydle said:
See my edit. Recent Eurogamer interview revealed that most of Rare's 200 are now on SoT.

When I look at LinkedIn data it shows they've grown from around 160 in mid 2016 and are at 200 now.

I think microtransactions are coming with the update in June, so with that plus the various ways to get the game they're probably on a path towards profitability assuming they have some content to keep people interested.

Yep I think with upcoming addition of MTX retention is going to be key for them acheiveing profitability. I also think retention more closely aligns with MS' own goals for the game and driving games pass subscriptions. Hopefully we get some insight into the game's population and active user base as time goes on. That'll definitely go a long way into determining how successful the game was for MS and Rare.

Personally I hope it ends up performing really well for them as I'd love to see more creative new IP coming from their studios. So here's hoping they support the game well and lock in a strong active user base.

daTRUballin · Mar 29, 2018

Sydle said:
EDIT: Seems Eurogamer is saying most of the studio's 200 employees were working on SoT as of Feb this year.

Link

If true, that's a real shame. I really wish Rare would be a multi-team studio again and have a similar speed of output to their early 360 era at least.

Kilgore · Mar 29, 2018

Rychu · Mar 29, 2018

daTRUballin said:
If true, that's a real shame. I really wish Rare would be a multi-team studio again and have a similar speed of output to their early 360 era at least.

Makes perfect sense. They said they were going to release a big SoT update every three months and would support the game until the end of Xbox One's lifetime.

You probably need a lot of staff for that, especially because it's huge updates every 3 months.

DrDeckard · Mar 29, 2018

nib95 said:
The analysis me and Rex were doing wasn't to determine player numbers, which as you stated is black and white, instead it was to see if we could figure out a rough range for potential sales of the game, coupled with predictions on development costs (him more than me). Obviously these are very loose and completely unscientific workings, but it's a sales thread, what else ya gonna do? Lol.

This is where it gets interesting. This game is the first push for Microsoft with games pass. You can't look at sales numbers anymore. It's almost like a part of this games development costs could also be seen as a marketing budget. How many new subscriptions did they create. How much revenue from that. How many keep their subscription? You could speculate forever....ultimately what is the point? It's a complete waste of time because even ms can only guesstimate how many people signed up due to sea of thieves.

GamerDude · Mar 29, 2018

The Twitch numbers seemed to take quite a dive today. Will be interesting to see if they improve over the Easter weekend.

Alex840 · Mar 29, 2018

pswii60 said:
Accusing them of outright lying now? Heh

The statement is very clear, it's selling faster than the likes of Sunset Overdrive and Quantum Break, despite Game Pass.

It is lying though. They said fastest selling IP, not Xbox IP, that's a massive difference! It's not a simple mistake either, that press release would have been looked at multiple times by multiple people, MS knew what they were doing.

Hoo-doo · Mar 29, 2018

Kilgore said:

At some point you got to realize that your drive-by posting contributes far less than the actual sales discussion going on.

Deleted member 14080 · Mar 29, 2018

"...the fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation."

What? Is Microsoft on drugs? What a deliberately deceiving spin, lol.

pswii60 · Mar 29, 2018

Alex840 said:
It isn't lying though. They said fastest selling IP, not Xbox IP, that's a massive difference! It's not a simple mistake either, that press release would have been looked at multiple times by multiple people, MS knew what they were doing.

It says "fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation"

Deleted member 20297 · Mar 29, 2018

MrTired said:
Did you get triggered by me giving correct, factual information.smh

https://www.resetera.com/threads/uk...-2017-now-with-digital-numbers-updated.26877/
You can use this to make an estimate.
Edit: Yeah quoted the wrong post suppose to quote the when you were asking for the numbers for UK performance.

The thing is that the same questions arise, alongside with the same answers as hours ago. And yes, you quoted the wrong post :)

Deleted member 14080 · Mar 29, 2018

pswii60 said:
It says "fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation"

It's missing "Microsoft's"... as in "fastest-selling (Microsoft's) first-party new IP of this generation"

daTRUballin · Mar 29, 2018

Rychu said:
Makes perfect sense. They said they were going to release a big SoT update every three months and would support the game until the end of Xbox One's lifetime.

You probably need a lot of staff for that, especially because it's huge updates every 3 months.

Oh, I can totally understand why they would need a lot of developers for SoT updates, but I just wish they would make more games faster. I know that's unrealistic to expect since it takes a lot of time and manpower to make AAA games these days.

It's not even like every game has to be AAA though. They could have some smaller teams working on smaller games by the side. I dunno.

Jenea · Mar 29, 2018

Alex840 said:
It isn't lying though

I think you wanted to say that it's a lie, because it really is.

The worldwide excitement for Sea of Thieves has made it the fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation
Read more at https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/03/28/community-thank-you-sea-of-thieves/#4GZcTlGpk0UMIyZP.99

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/03/28/community-thank-you-sea-of-thieves/

Is Horizon : ZD a first party new IP of this generation ? Yes
Is Arms a a first party new IP of this generation ? Yes
This is a lie, and they had to correct it on the site, not through tweets, but they still haven't done it.

Alex840 said:
It's not a simple mistake either, that press release would have been looked at multiple times by multiple people, MS knew what they were doing.

Yes, they really know it.

ps: some reactions are pretty hilarious, omg, people are discussing sales and numbers in a thread dedicated to sales and numbers. Shocking, right ?!

Kilgore · Mar 29, 2018

Hoo-doo said:
At some point you got to realize that your drive-by posting contributes far less than the actual sales discussion going on.

Sometimes you got to realize that a gif of Lady Gaga maybe is a JOKE.

It amaze me that I haven't seen you saying nothing about hyperbolic, full of drama, dooming and glooming posts, but if I joke about the tone of the thread you feel the need to calling me out.

MrTired · Mar 29, 2018

c0de said:
The thing is that the same questions arise, alongside with the same answers as hours ago. And yes, you quoted the wrong post :)

No the figures given in that conversation was 27k which was gotten comments made ZhugeEx however we got a more accurate figure after which was little under 23k. Just correcting some misinformation.

DannyClash · Mar 29, 2018

great news

everyone should try SoT. It's amazing and one of a kind

Kilgore · Mar 29, 2018

BTW seems like the Sea of thieves bundle is selling well on Amazon US since launched. It's not like it's representative of all the retail market, but you can see the general trends on the Amazon ranking. So, more players are coming.

Deleted member 20297 · Mar 29, 2018

MrTired said:
No the figures given in that conversation was 27k which was gotten comments made ZhugeEx however we got a more accurate figure after which was little under 23k. Just correcting some misinformation.

https://www.resetera.com/posts/6088957/

TheTruthofKayle · Mar 29, 2018

Wrong msg
Nvm

MrTired · Mar 29, 2018

c0de said:
https://www.resetera.com/posts/6088957/

RexNovis said:
So QB's debut sales would've been the bar to beat for this. How much did QB sell in its debut month in the UK?

nib95 said:
Again, there's not a lot of information but I believe QB sold 28k copies in its first week in the UK

Responding to this conversation.

Deleted member 20297 · Mar 29, 2018

MrTired said:
Responding to this conversation.

And back to my point: even 10 hours later, the same questions arise with the same answers.

Zappy · Mar 29, 2018

Jenea said:
I think you wanted to say that it's a lie, because it really is.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/03/28/community-thank-you-sea-of-thieves/

Is Horizon : ZD a first party new IP of this generation ? Yes
Is Arms a a first party new IP of this generation ? Yes
This is a lie, and they had to correct it on the site, not through tweets, but they still haven't done it.

Yes, they really know it.

ps: some reactions are pretty hilarious, omg, people are discussing sales and numbers in a thread dedicated to sales and numbers. Shocking, right ?!

But it is very obviously referring to Xbox first party....Xbox wouldn't even have data for other first party games.

Also, when such statements are checked internally, they are checked with a view on messaging and brand consistency. NOT with an eye on rabid fanboys on message boards and how they will deliberately choose to misinterpret statements when it suits them.

MrTired · Mar 29, 2018

c0de said:
And back to my point: even 10 hours later, the same questions arise with the same answers.

What do you propose then, or do we let misinformation spread?

Alex840 · Mar 29, 2018

pswii60 said:
It says "fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation"

But 1st party could include Sony and Nintendo's first party. It's misleading at best.

OG_Thrills · Mar 29, 2018

Rand al Thor breaks it down perfectly.

Klobrille · Mar 29, 2018

Zappy said:
But it is very obviously referring to Xbox first party....Xbox wouldn't even have data for other first party games.

Also, when such statements are checked internally, they are checked with a view on messaging and brand consistency. NOT with an eye on rabid fanboys on message boards and how they will deliberately choose to misinterpret statements when it suits them.

Exactly.

Jenea · Mar 29, 2018

Zappy said:
But it is very obviously referring to Xbox first party....Xbox wouldn't even have data for other first party games.

It doesn't matter, this is an oficial press-release from a very big international company and the wording is very important.

Zappy said:
Also, when such statements are checked internally, they are checked with a view on messaging and brand consistency. NOT with an eye on rabid fanboys on message boards and how they will deliberately choose to misinterpret statements when it suits them

lol, it's pretty bad when the fanboyism blinds you and you can't distinquish lie from truth anymore.
Once again,

The worldwide excitement for Sea of Thieves has made it the fastest-selling first-party new IP of this generation

Horizon: ZD or Arms are first-party new IP of this generation, and the statement from Microsoft implies that SoT sold faster than Horizon or Arms (or other examples), and that is a lie, you can't argue with that.

I won't repeat this anymore just because somebody can't or doesn't want to understand it, this is not my problem.

christocolus · Mar 29, 2018

Well done Rare. Now get to pushing out more content.

panda-zebra · Mar 29, 2018

Lukas Taves said:
Why does it matter? The whole point of putting the game on gamepass in the first place is to drive people to the service.

This is no different than bundling the game with the console, people don't usually care how much it sold individually or in bundles.

In sales threads, it's rare for at least some people to not question if numbers include bundles or not, you see this regularly. And in some territories they do, others they don't. When it comes to sales threads, it's no surprise people want to extract the actual data from these PR statements and put those numbers to work, that's what they're all about for people genuinely interested in that side of things. It certainly leads to more worthwhile discussion and understanding than posts that add little more than "Well done large corporation, you deserve it, :thumbsup:". Some people seem to think that's odd, however...

DrDeckard said:
I honestly don't think I've ever seen this kind of analysis and deconstruction of a simple statement for any other company. MS really do have the power to send people into a frenzy and invest hours that they could be playing games on their favourite systems spouting all kinds of strange speculation.

It's nothing unique to microsoft, however, their PR often requires more delicate parsing and context than others in recent times.

Some people have an interest or are maybe even invested in how well these companies and games perform. When a hyped, first-party, new style of game (SoT) with an interesting take on progression, launches in an equally complete state as the boxed retail copy day one on a subscription service, one for which has seen a wide-scale availability of trial access coupons, then of course that's going to generate a little more sales-related discussion than might normally be the case. Add in official PR that includes one set of data, a tweet or series of tweets often taken out of context or misunderstood by a raft of posters concerning another data point, and you have a recipe for a lengthy thread. Yes we could all be off playing vidya instead of discussing it, but each to their own. This is a video games forum after all, and sales is a valid and much-loved topic of discussion that is by no means off the table.

Deleted member 20297 · Mar 29, 2018

MrTired said:
What do you propose then, or do we let misinformation spread?

No but perhaps it would help that the OP gets updated every now and then so recurring questions and answers are already in the OP.

MrTired · Mar 29, 2018

Zappy said:
But it is very obviously referring to Xbox first party....Xbox wouldn't even have data for other first party games.

Also, when such statements are checked internally, they are checked with a view on messaging and brand consistency. NOT with an eye on rabid fanboys on message boards and how they will deliberately choose to misinterpret statements when it suits them.

Actually it isn't that obvious it is referring to Microsoft first party IP.

Jeffrey Guang · Mar 29, 2018

I don't understand how can people acuse Microsoft of lying if they don't even know the fact. If you don't have the selling speed info on every first party new IP this gen, I don't understand how can you accuse them for lying. And to me, most poeple with a little common sense will know microsoft is referring to its own ecosystem.

Zappy · Mar 29, 2018

Jenea said:
It doesn't matter, this is an oficial press-release from a very big international company and the wording is very important.

lol, it's pretty bad when the fanboyism blinds you and you can't distinquish lie from truth anymore.
Once again,

Horizon: ZD or Arms are first-party new IP of this generation, and the statement from Microsoft implies that SoT sold faster than Horizon or Amrs (or other examples), and that is a lie, you can't argue with that.

I won't repeat this anymore just because somebody can't or doesn't want to understand it, this is not my problem.

They are not first party to MS. They are zero party. Companies don't refer to "first party" as a whole. They refer to their own first party studios.

MrTired · Mar 29, 2018

c0de said:
No but perhaps it would help that the OP gets updated every now and then so recurring questions and answers are already in the OP.

That really fair suggestion. Props to you

MrTired · Mar 29, 2018

Jeffrey Guang said:
I don't understand how can people acuse Microsoft of lying if they don't even know the fact. If you don't have the selling speed info on every first party new IP this gen, I don't understand how can you accuse them for lying. And to me, most poeple with a little common sense will know microsoft is referring to its own ecosystem.

But we do though Horizon Zero Dawn is the fastest selling new first party IP and before that it was Splatoon. HDZ sold 2.6 million in its first two weeks.

Ludens · Mar 29, 2018

Rocco said:
But, how are so many people enjoying it at $60?

Don't they know only 8 hour single player games are worth $60?

And how do you know that many people are enjoying it at 60$ and not feeling robbed?

Deleted member 6733 · Mar 29, 2018

Alex840 said:
But 1st party could include Sony and Nintendo's first party. It's misleading at best.

I'm sure most people will know what they mean. It's not that ambiguous.

And even so, does it really matter if some people do misunderstand it? I mean, what is the actual effect? Who's getting hurt? It seems people are getting hung up on something very simple and minor.

Just let them have their moment, they're not the first gaming company to PR speak, won't be the last.

Edit: I'll just leave this here.

Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE) today announces Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has set a new record for first party titles, selling more than 2.7 million copies[1] globally in the first week of release.

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/c...test-selling-playstation-4-first-party-title/

Jenea · Mar 29, 2018

Zappy said:
They are not first party to MS. They are zero party. Companies don't refer to "first party" as a whole. They refer to their own first party studios.

I explained above where the problem is, they could have change it on their site but they haven't done it yet. If you don't care about it, okay then, this is your choice.

nekkid · Mar 29, 2018

Hoo-doo said:
At some point you got to realize that your drive-by posting contributes far less than the actual sales discussion going on.

Given how the conversation has been going round in circles since the start of the thread, and in earlier threads...probably not.

Golvellius · Mar 29, 2018

Jenea said:
It doesn't matter, this is an oficial press-release from a very big international company and the wording is very important.

lol, it's pretty bad when the fanboyism blinds you and you can't distinquish lie from truth anymore.
Once again,

Horizon: ZD or Arms are first-party new IP of this generation, and the statement from Microsoft implies that SoT sold faster than Horizon or Arms (or other examples), and that is a lie, you can't argue with that.

I won't repeat this anymore just because somebody can't or doesn't want to understand it, this is not my problem.

Sony and Nintendo are not 1st party from MS's point of view. If they developed any games for Xbox, they would be 3rd party. It's not that hard to understand.

pswii60 · Mar 29, 2018

Alex840 said:
But 1st party could include Sony and Nintendo's first party. It's misleading at best.

It's Microsoft talking about first party, of course they're talking about Microsoft. Why would they be talking about Sony or Nintendo - they are third parties to Microsoft!

Going around in circles anyway, it's all very trivial really :)

benny · Mar 29, 2018

Arthas said:
Edit: I'll just leave this here.
https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/c...test-selling-playstation-4-first-party-title/

While the quoted sentence isn't great, within the same paragraph it's made clear twice that it's the PlayStation 4's fastest selling first party title, in addition to the title of your URL including this information.

I think one can take the position that it doesn't really that much due toe Greenburg being a higher authority than the Xbox Wire author, but it's not equally as ambiguous as you attempted to paint it by omitting the text before and after.
With the PS PR message it's clarified within a few words what the situation is, in this case you have to make a judgment call based on a different source.

I think this is more of this SonyToo thingie again.

Thorrgal · Mar 29, 2018

CalamityPixel said:
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2018/03/28/community-thank-you-sea-of-thieves/

Worth noting MS considers things like Quantum Break first party even though it isn't by a first party studio. It'll also be interesting to see how Gamepass has contributed to the overall player count.

They also said this:

So as predicted no sale numbers, just MAU's and number spinning...

This next NPD is gonna be fun :P

Golvellius · Mar 29, 2018

Arthas said:
Edit: I'll just leave this here.

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/c...test-selling-playstation-4-first-party-title/

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

...I am so confused now...
...what could this possibly mean???

Does it mean that Sony are liars?

bombshell · Mar 29, 2018

RexNovis said:
Its the minimum estimate I came up with after discussing sales of the previous best selling new IP QB. Granted its just an estimate but i think its a reasonable one for the WW sales.

You looked at Quantum Break first two month sales and estimated those to 400k worldwide.

What MS is saying is that Sea of Thieves week 1 beat Quantum Break week 1, not any other QB periods. For that to be true, Sea of Thieves will not need to have sold above 400k, instead it might only need 200k+ sales for it to be true.

chasingclouds · Mar 29, 2018

I did honestly take it they were saying it was the fastest selling new IP of this generation - as in compared to Sony and Nintendo's first party. I was seriously impressed (and shocked). They really should have qualified it with "our" IP or "Xbox's" or "Microsoft's", because there's a really big difference between the two, and their statement does not make it clear.

Deleted member 6733 · Mar 29, 2018

benny said:
I think this is more of this SonyToo thingie again.

It's not a 'SonyToo thingie' it's me showing how PR speak works. That sentence is clearly designed to be used as headline material for the first impression 'wow' affect.

I'm trying to say that people shouldn't have their feelings hurt by PR speak, regardless of source. They all do it.

benny · Mar 29, 2018

bombshell said:
You looked at Quantum Break first two month sales and estimated those to 400k worldwide.

What MS is saying is that Sea of Thieves week 1 beat Quantum Break week 1, not any other QB periods. For that to be true, Sea of Thieves will not need to have sold above 400k, instead it might only need 200k+ sales for it to be true.

While that is technically true, that doesn't sound likely. Also we have more data points for Sea of Thieves due to the closed beta being hidden behind pre-orders.

Arthas said:
It's not a 'SonyToo thingie' it's me showing how PR speak works. That sentence is clearly designed to be used as headline material for the first impression 'wow' affect.

I'm trying to say that people shouldn't have their feelings hurt by PR speak, regardless of source. They all do it.

And I'm saying it's only the same because you omitted the parts within the same paragraph where this verbiage was not used. The confusion about "who is meant?" doesn't even come up because of the URL, the sub-header and a sentence within the same paragraph repeating it yet again.

It's not the same and selectively quoting this on this forum does not make it the same.

If you want ridiculous PR then I think it's better to use PS3-era Sony because the roles were reversed and they had to embarrass themselves and not PS4-era.

bombshell · Mar 29, 2018

benny said:
While that is technically true, that doesn't sound likely. Also we have more data points for Sea of Thieves due to the closed beta being hidden behind pre-orders.

It's the floor, the ceiling is undefined. I didn't suggest any sales, just what it has to beat.

Sea of Thieves is MS's most successful new IP this gen (2 Million+ Players and more stats)

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