State of Decay 2 reaches 1 million players in 2 days

upinsmoke · May 25, 2018

Looks like gamespass is having the desired effect. That being said it's difficult to measure success with it because it's still a new thing. You don't know who's using trials, who have legit paid for games pass, who's renewed etc. There's only been a couple of major games released with it, i'd imagine if Halo 6 was on games pass then you'd see what a benchmark is, right now there isn't one.

Also I guarantee once something like Halo 6 releases, whenever it may be we will be hearing about sales!

Braaier · May 25, 2018

Reckheim said:
What has my original post got to do with moving goal posts? The developer said it was a AAA game; just because you think otherwise doesn't make it so.

are you calling them liars?

They can say what they want and the term AAA is arbitrary. There's no set definition. Any developer can say they are making a AAA game. But there is a difference between a game like SoD2 and Halo. The latter is AAA. The former is not.

Bundy · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
Nope, again I'm not going with that because developers aren't always honest (see Sean Murray). SoD2 is not AAA

So you say Undead Labs is not honest and are liars? :( Yikes.
I believe them. So there.

Braaier · May 25, 2018

Bundy said:
So you say Undead Labs is not honest and are liars? :( Yikes.
I believe them. So there.

Are you saying Sean Murray didn't lie his ass off? Are you saying Peter Molyneux hasn't lied countless times? I mean, come on. Why are you being so obtuse? Trolling?

ForgedByGeeks · May 25, 2018

Sangetsu-II said:
Sure is nice only spending $30 a year and saving $150, I can't lie that service is amazing, but wonder if MS will make money if there are more people like you doing this.

So many people do not get how the games industry really works. For starters, they assume everyone buys almost all exclusive games.

Even top selling exclusives made by only by the 1st party usually have an attach rate around 10% to 15%. Most 1st party exclusives, outside of Nintendo, only get attach closer to 3% to 5%.

When you consider these sales, the attach rate for 1st party exclusives as a whole to console owners usually is around 1:1 or just slightly better over the entire life of a console platform. Which means, Microsoft/Sony only average 2 sales per user of their games.

If Microsoft can get even 8% of their user base to eventually sign up for gamepass, they basically break even on revenue for a 6 year life span of a console. If they can get closer to something like 30%, that is a huge increase in revenue.

Too many people are thinking that just the people who would have normally bought the games would get GamePass as well. NPD the last couple months have pointed out that games being on GamePass, like Sea of Thieves, is also helping increase their direct sales because of positive word of mouth from users who played them via GamePass. If that isn't the definition of a win-win, I don't know what is.

Prine · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
Nope, again I'm not going with that because developers aren't always honest (see Sean Murray). SoD2 is not AAA

orangeb1ood503 · May 25, 2018

Primethius said:
It's definitely not. Just a figment of Eras imagination.

I think the key is that as long as the games are fun we will keep buying them.

MrTired · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
They can say what they want and the term AAA is arbitrary. There's no set definition. Any developer can say they are making a AAA game. But there is a difference between a game like SoD2 and Halo. The latter is AAA. The former is not.

I just leave this here

You know what I mean. Triple-A, big Microsoft first-party games.

Phil Spencer: Well, you think of Sea of Thieves as that, right?

Yeah, but that had been announced. I'm talking about big first-party triple-A announcements to get us all really excited for Xbox One X.

Phil Spencer: The focus I had on this show was games you're going to get to play in the next year. We're focusing on Xbox One S and Xbox One X and the games you're going to play. We showed Crackdown, which looks fantastic. It's going to be there at launch day for Xbox One X, which will be a great showcase for the box. Obviously Sea of Thieves. I thought State of Decay showed up really well. Some people played State of Decay 1, but a lot of people missed it. Now we're giving that game time to really hit what we want State of Decay to do, because that will be an important franchise for us. We showed Forza.

Frankly, I loved the fact I didn't have to bring out Gears and Halo just to say, hey. People know we have Gears and Halo in our portfolio, and we're working on other things that aren't on this list...
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-12-the-big-interview-xbox-boss-phil-spencer

Phonomezer · May 25, 2018

Only Queen X

Reckheim · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
Are you saying Sean Murray didn't lie his ass off? Are you saying Peter Molyneux hasn't lied countless times? I mean, come on. Why are you being so obtuse? Trolling?

You're not wrong. I guess the developer of SOD2 is a huge liar as well. Shame.

Edit: /s

Ripcord · May 25, 2018

Fun game, glad it's finding success. Also glad I'm not running into the performance issues people are discussing. Yikes.

The AAA debate is what's important now. Lol.

Bundy · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
Are you saying Sean Murray didn't lie his ass off? Are you saying Peter Molyneux hasn't lied countless times? I mean, come on. Why are you being so obtuse? Trolling?

I don't understand? Did Sean Murray and Peter Molyneux lie about budget costs? I can't follow.
All I'm saying is that the dev studio confirmed that SoD2 is AAA. So that's a fact. And you are saying that Undead Labs is lying. Can we now agree to disagree?

Bundy · May 25, 2018

orangeb1ood503 said:
I think the key is that as long as the games are fun we will keep buying them.

Well said :)

MrTired said:
I just leave this here

You know what I mean. Triple-A, big Microsoft first-party games.

Phil Spencer: Well, you think of Sea of Thieves as that, right?

Yeah, but that had been announced. I'm talking about big first-party triple-A announcements to get us all really excited for Xbox One X.

Phil Spencer: The focus I had on this show was games you're going to get to play in the next year. We're focusing on Xbox One S and Xbox One X and the games you're going to play. We showed Crackdown, which looks fantastic. It's going to be there at launch day for Xbox One X, which will be a great showcase for the box. Obviously Sea of Thieves. I thought State of Decay showed up really well. Some people played State of Decay 1, but a lot of people missed it. Now we're giving that game time to really hit what we want State of Decay to do, because that will be an important franchise for us. We showed Forza.

Frankly, I loved the fact I didn't have to bring out Gears and Halo just to say, hey. People know we have Gears and Halo in our portfolio, and we're working on other things that aren't on this list...
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-06-12-the-big-interview-xbox-boss-phil-spencer

Good post. Even Phil Spencer confirmed that SoD2 is AAA :)

Reckheim · May 25, 2018

Bundy said:
Well said :)

Good post. Even Phil Spencer confirmed that SoD2 is AAA :)

He's lying obviously.

Braaier · May 25, 2018

Bundy said:
I don't understand? Did Sean Murray and Peter Molyneux lie about budget costs? I can't follow.
All I'm say is that the dev studio confirmed that SoD2 is AAA. So that's a fact. Can we now agree to disagree?

Yes, it's a fact that Undead Labs says SoD2 is AAA. It's also a fact that Sean Murray said No Man's Sky had multiplayer along with countless other things not in the game. Get it?

bombshell · May 25, 2018

ForgedByGeeks said:
NPD the last couple months have pointed out that games being on GamePass, like Sea of Thieves, is also helping increase their direct sales because of positive word of mouth from users who played them via GamePass.

Is that why SoT dumped all the way down to #18 in its second month NPD ranking in a quiet time of the year?

Bundy · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
Yes, it's a fact that Undead Labs says SoD2 is AAA. It's also a fact that Sean Murray said No Man's Sky had multiplayer along with countless other things not in the game. Get it?

Yes, I know that Sean Murray lied about certain in-game features. But not about budget costs. Your comparison is weird.
Even Phil Spencer said SoD2 is AAA. So are you trying to tell me that Undead Labs and Phil Spencer are "not honest" and liars?

Reckheim said:
He's lying obviously.

ikr
All that "not honest" and "lying" talk is super weird.

Kolya · May 25, 2018

Does it really matter if it is actually AAA or not, really? Undead Labs think it is AAA, they believe it to be a AAA game and this is what they have made.

Our definitions of AAA don't really affect that, in my opinion.

Cladyclad · May 25, 2018

SOD2 probably won't even be in the top 10 npd next month

Braaier · May 25, 2018

Bundy said:
Yes, I know that Sean Murray lied about certain in-game features. But not about budget costs. Your comparison is weird.
Even Phil Spencer said SoD2 is AAA. So are you trying to tell me that Undead Labs and Phil Spencer are "not honest" and liars?

ikr
All that "not honest" and "lying" talk is super weird.

First, it is not necessarily a lie. Please post the definition of AAA. He can believe it, but your definition is different. Who is lying? You?

Second, are you comparing SoD2 to a Halo game or God of War? They're all AAA, right? Again, what's your definition of AAA? You just go off of what the developer says? Ohhhhh...you said it has something to do with the budget. Gotcha. So what budget makes something AAA? If Undead Labs spent as much as Sony did on GOW where did all that money go? But they're both AAA, right?

Hint: they're not. GOW is AAA. SoD2 is not.

But I know you're just being obtuse and trolling.

Judge · May 25, 2018

Kolya said:
Does it really matter if it is actually AAA or not, really? Undead Labs think it is AAA, they believe it to be a AAA game and this is what they have made.

Our definitions of AAA don't really affect that, in my opinion.

Exactly. Please stop derailing the topic with back and forth about what you personally think AAA to mean. The developer and the publisher do, so we don't really need to argue this in his thread.

Bundy · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
First, it is not necessarily a lie. Please post the definition of AAA. He can believe it, but your definition is different. Who is lying? You?

Second, are you comparing SoD2 to a Halo game or God of War? They're all AAA, right? Again, what's your definition of AAA? You just go off of what the developer says? Ohhhhh...you said it has something to do with the budget. Gotcha. So what budget makes something AAA? If Undead Labs spent as much as Sony did on GOW where did all that money go? But they're both AAA, right?

Hint: they're not. GOW is AAA. SoD2 is not.

But I know you're just being obtuse and trolling.

Braaier, don't compare all AAA games with budget monsters like Assassins Creed Origins or Halo. Don't make up your own rules about what AAA games are and what they are not.
Let's do this one more time. Undead Labs knows the budget of SoD2. Undead Labs knows what a AAA production is and what isn't.
Phil Spencer knows the budget of SoD2. Phil Spencer knows what a AAA production is and what isn't. Undead Labs and Phil Spencer confirmed that SoD2 is AAA. So let's go with Undead Labs and even Phil Spencer. SoD2 is AAA, according to the people in the know. You Braaier, are clearly not in the know.

Judge said:
Exactly. Please stop derailing the topic with back and forth about what you personally think AAA to mean. The developer and the publisher do, so we don't really need to argue this in his thread.

Well said. Let's end this here.

Somnia · May 25, 2018

Cladyclad said:
SOD2 probably won't even be in the top 10 npd next month

There's a very high probability it will be, even if it's #10. There haven't been a lot of releases in May. Granted games like God of War and Donkey Kong were end of April so they will continue to sell well.

Braaier · May 25, 2018

Cladyclad said:
SOD2 probably won't even be in the top 10 npd next month

NPD is based on revenue. It's a $30 game so they would have to move twice as many copies to compete with other releases. So not really surprising. But this is still an amazing result for Undead Labs.

JustP_Gaming · May 25, 2018

Cladyclad said:
SOD2 probably won't even be in the top 10 npd next month

Who cares if its not in NPD do you own stock or shares? The people that will enjoy the game will enjoy the game.....thats all that really matters at the end of the day.

Faria · May 25, 2018

Fantastic game.

So addictive!

Kage Maru · May 25, 2018

Happy they are enjoying success. Now they just need to polish the game and let positive word of mouth take it from there.

Bundy said:
I don't understand? Did Sean Murray and Peter Molyneux lie about budget costs? I can't follow.
All I'm saying is that the dev studio confirmed that SoD2 is AAA. So that's a fact. And you are saying that Undead Labs is lying. Can we now agree to disagree?

Are you referring to the older tweet of them calling it AAA or something recent? If it's the older tweet, I wouldn't take that as this being confirmed as AAA or the developers lying. Things can change in game development as a game...develops. Their original goal could have been to produce a AAA game but the final price and lower budget indicates plans may have changed.

monketron · May 25, 2018

Is this going to be Microsofts new thing? Trying to make out every game is a success because loads of people are trying it for free on games pass? Seems a bit desperate really. Do they think people won't abandon their platform if they think it's more successful than it really is?

Somnia · May 25, 2018

monketron said:
Is this going to be Microsofts new thing? Trying to make out every game is a success because loads of people are trying it for free on games pass? Seems a bit desperate really. Do they think people won't abandon their platform if they think it's more successful than it really is?

How is everyone trying it for free? Sure there are free trials, but a large chunk were used during Sea of Thieves, most people on gamepass are paying $10 a month, they aren't playing this game for free. Just like you don't watch Netflix Originals for free.

CaptNink · May 25, 2018

monketron said:
Is this going to be Microsofts new thing? Trying to make out every game is a success because loads of people are trying it for free on games pass? Seems a bit desperate really. Do they think people won't abandon their platform if they think it's more successful than it really is?

Aw come on dude....it's marketing for Christ's sake. Of course they are going to make some noise about it. They want the game on people's radar.

Pakesaker · May 25, 2018

I love the game from what I've played in single player, but am unable to get co-op working on PC.

Animal Liberation Ⓥ · May 25, 2018

Kolya said:
Does it really matter if it is actually AAA or not, really? Undead Labs think it is AAA, they believe it to be a AAA game and this is what they have made.

Our definitions of AAA don't really affect that, in my opinion.

Agreed. What constitutes AAA in 2018 with how much the landscape has changed besides the obvious ones that over 100million in budget?

I mean, Detroit is AAA, yet it's budget is far, gar lower than your average.

chobel · May 25, 2018

Dayum!

Falchion · May 25, 2018

Very cool, hopefully they keep the post-launch support coming.

chobel · May 25, 2018

AAA game? Yeah, they're fucking lying there.

Judge · May 25, 2018

monketron said:
Is this going to be Microsofts new thing? Trying to make out every game is a success because loads of people are trying it for free on games pass? Seems a bit desperate really. Do they think people won't abandon their platform if they think it's more successful than it really is?

On the flip side, is it always going to be a thing where people say that EVERY MS release is affected by free passes? I heard the same thing about SoT, that success was just people using free memberships. People only get 1 free membership, so which is it? We are going to have Halo 6 releasing next year and some people are still going to be saying it must have been all these free trials that somehow everyone is using like 5 of every time a MS game comes out lol

Somnia said:
How is everyone trying it for free? Sure there are free trials, but a large chunk were used during Sea of Thieves, most people on gamepass are paying $10 a month, they aren't playing this game for free. Just like you don't watch Netflix Originals for free.

^^ also, most were used before Sea of Thieves, when the program actually launched lol

Cladyclad · May 25, 2018

JustP_Gaming said:
Who cares if its not in NPD do you own stock or shares? The people that will enjoy the game will enjoy the game.....thats all that really matters at the end of the day.

So I should never see your username ever be any sales topic ever

Gotcha

Gamer17 · May 25, 2018

According to NPD Xbox software sale is dropping heavily . The number 2 on the Xbox indivial format of npd was number 18 in the combined platforms .
Don't know if the game pass is to blame or not yet.

Anyways congrats for the milestone :)

Theorry · May 25, 2018

Gamer17 said:
According to NPD Xbox software sale is dropping heavily . The number 2 on the Xbox indivial format of npd was number 18 in the combined platforms .
Don't know if the game pass is to blame or not yet.

Anyways congrats for the milestone :)

But SoT was second in March. Wich took everybody by surprise?

Gamer17 · May 25, 2018

Theorry said:
But SoT was second in March. Wich took everybody by surprise?

Well I m talking about April .as time goes by,more people will get on game pass and their willingness to purchase new games drops as they pay 10$ for 100 games

RevenantAxe · May 25, 2018

Theorry said:
All Gamepass trials offcourse. Joking.
But thats nice. Now some patches to get it cleaned up abit would be nice.

Trials used already thnx to Sea of thieves.

These not trials. These legit fans who want to enjoy this unique Zombie with sim mechanics .

carlsojo · May 25, 2018

I mean it's their call what bar they want to set with their "AAA" games. If they want State of Decay 2 to be their gold standard for that tier of Microsoft game, then more power to them.

henhowc · May 25, 2018

Across player communities, we've seen survivors kill over 675 million zombies, throw over 6 million firecrackers and fireworks (survivors still find ways to celebrate), eat over 6 million bags of snacks, read over 2 million textbooks, and typically survive for about three days (with some players surviving for over an in-game month – a lofty goal to aim for your session this weekend).

Bolded seemed unnecessary stats to get their point across.

cakely · May 25, 2018

There's no reason to think high percentage of those player numbers are trials: there are probably more than a million Game Pass subscribers at this point.

Going forward, every major Game Pass release is going to launch with more than a million players. Bigger games, like Crackdown 3, will have even more.

It would be nice to have a count of the number of active Game Pass subscriptions but it seems unlikely that Microsoft will ever release that information.

Sloane Ranger · May 25, 2018

I wonder ...

What % of total MAU does SOD2 make up out of of ALL currently available Game Pass games available from launch (SOD2) until today .... a high percentage or a very low percentage.

ForgedByGeeks · May 25, 2018

bombshell said:
Is that why SoT dumped all the way down to #18 in its second month NPD ranking in a quiet time of the year?

Irrelevant. GamePass still helped sell units. All you are doing is trying to distract from that initial success amd try to discredit using an unrelated point.

All that says is that while SoT was good enough to sell up front, it is lacking legs. No different than most games that release and sell most of their copies in their first month.

P A Z · May 25, 2018

I'm glad Gamepass exists because I'd be upset if I spent £25 on it.

I'm not saying it's a bad game but man it is virtually exactly the same game as the original just with a bigger map, new UI and a little prettier.

Considering how unique SoD still is in the console space, I figured I'd be up for more of the same but around 8-10 hours later and I'm just bored.

Papacheeks · May 25, 2018

Braaier said:
Yes, it's a fact that Undead Labs says SoD2 is AAA. It's also a fact that Sean Murray said No Man's Sky had multiplayer along with countless other things not in the game. Get it?

Thing is, the amount of people in a studio like 70+ for Undead labs is considered AAA. AAA is defined by it's budget, Production, ANd work force/studio size. No man's Sky was like less than 20 people if I remember. Undead Labs had 70 some people studio wise which in retrospect is something close to what average studio start at for AAA development. A lot they ramp up hiring depending on the project and sometimes they are not always permanent positions.

Undead labs may have started as a small indie developer in size, but MS added more money to them for this game so they could grow the scope which meant hiring more people for the studio. It's budget is definitely more than a standard indie game/arcade title.

Theorry · May 25, 2018

Gamer17 said:
Well I m talking about April .as time goes by,more people will get on game pass and their willingness to purchase new games drops as they pay 10$ for 100 games

I am just saying people expected it to influence SoT launch also and didnt happen. At the end i think we have to see how it will be after some time.

RevenantAxe said:
Trials used already thnx to Sea of thieves.

These not trials. These legit fans who want to enjoy this unique Zombie with sim mechanics .

I clearly said "joking" ;)

bombshell · May 25, 2018

ForgedByGeeks said:
Irrelevant. GamePass still helped sell units. All you are doing is trying to distract from that initial success amd try to discredit using an unrelated point.

All that says is that while SoT was good enough to sell up front, it is lacking legs. No different than most games that release and sell most of their copies in their first month.

You said the previous months of NPD showed it, which April results certainly didn't. So it's only March where you could draw such a conclusion.

State of Decay 2 reaches 1 million players in 2 days

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