SH III sales figures

[Bilge_Rat]

This may be old news. In this post, it was mentioned that SH III sold 26,500 copies.

http://www.battlefront.com/discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=52;t=000222;p=2#000 028

Scroll up the page and read the post byMOON. He works for Battlefront.

[Gizzmoe]

Other sources say that more than 80000 copies were sold world-wide.

[oscar19681]

If this is so i dont understand why there will be no expansion pack

[Seeadler]

If this is so i dont understand why there will be no expansion pack
...because for most published games today the magical borderline for the breakeven is at 100.000 - 120.000 sold copies.

[Bilge_Rat]

So, is it 26,500 or 80,000? Battlefront is a serious company. I don't think they would just pull a number out of thin air.

And if it is just 26,500, what does that mean for SH 4?

[Type941]

I know Need For Speed Underground sold 7million copies or so. You decide if a 30000 figure is any good, my guess is - not. But than again, I don't know the average for this niche (no clue). However I can be pretty sure that sims in general still sell more, like 10tacle 'GTR'. Subsims - well, I'm sure it sold more than Sub Command or DW, but probably not as many as SH2. Would be interesting to hear someone comment who's actually more knowledgeable in the industry.

[Gizzmoe]

So, is it 26,500 or 80,000? Battlefront is a serious company. I don't think they would just pull a number out of thin air.

Moon is an employee of Battlefront, that alone doesn´t make him an expert.

I´ve bought the first two copies of SH3 in a local store the day it came out (they had 15 on display), 24 hours later they were sold out. I´ve read a few reports were it was the same. Walmart and many other big shops sold SH3. So what do you think is a more reasonable number: 26500 or 80000 copies sold in 6 months?

[Bilge_Rat]

So, is it 26,500 or 80,000? Battlefront is a serious company. I don't think they would just pull a number out of thin air.

Moon is an employee of Battlefront, that alone doesn´t make him an expert.

I´ve bought the first two copies of SH3 in a local store the day it came out (they had 15 on display), 24 hours later they were sold out. I´ve read a few reports were it was the same. Walmart and many other big shops sold SH3. So what do you think is a more reasonable number: 26500 or 80000 copies sold in 6 months?

Actually MOON, aka Martin Van Balkorn, is the head of the marketing department at Battlefront, which is both a developper and publisher of wargames(it also publishes Dangerous Waters), so he knows the industry. I did him a disservice by referring to him as a mere employee.

I am just wondering where the 80,000 figure comes from since I have not seen it before.

[martes86]

80.000 wouldn't be a great number for them, I guess.
Even in the old days, best sellers got to sell a million copies or even more (see Command & Conquer or Doom, for example). Now that the computer stuff has evolved very fast in the last 10 years, with millions of freaks :-j playing computer games, those numbers can be even bigger than "a simple million". So for the present day, 80.000 is a small number. :roll:

[CWorth]

Either way you look at it 30,000 or 80,000 just is not a very large number in sales.Actually is quite low if you compare it to other game sales from other companies.And Ubi must not make that much after the middle man takes out his share of the profits.The sales really dont warrent putting any money into the game any longer.Some companies would see 30,000-80,000 copies sold as good..other will see it as a failure.

Submarine simulations are a very small minority niche group in the large sheme of PC gaming..hence not a large profit return to the developers.Where FPS games like Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 etc tend to sell in the million+ category of sales along with the RTS games genere.

[martes86]

hence not a large profit return to the developers.

I would better say "not a large profit return to the distributors". The developers already got their profit: we love the game and supported them. :up:

[Seeadler]

I am just wondering where the 80,000 figure comes from since I have not seen it before.
The 80.000 was such a side note in a game-news about SH3 published by german gaming magazine some weeks ago.

[Type941]

The developers already got their profit: we love the game and supported them. :up:

You can't buy food with " :up: "

:-j

[martes86]

You can't buy food with " :up: "

:-j

Certainly not... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Bilge_Rat]

I am just wondering where the 80,000 figure comes from since I have not seen it before.
The 80.000 was such a side note in a game-news about SH3 published by german gaming magazine some weeks ago.

Thanks, duly noted.

[Kristian]

Other sources say that more than 80000 copies were sold world-wide.

This amount was sold only in Germany (perhaps are the best sales that Ubi ever had in Germany with one of its titles on a single platform). The sales are a little bit better at a worldwide scale.

The major flaw in sales of Silent Hunter III was in US. I think Ubi didn’t expect such poor sales in US (approx 24.000 copies)

The advantage of a game as Silent Hunter III is that the amounts of sales are constant even if are low and this could mean that SHIII could become profitable if will keep its price unaltered.

[Kristian]

The developers already got their profit: we love the game and supported them. :up:

You can't buy food with " :up: "

:-j

Both these are true…

Rock will never die… so will happen with SH Franchise if Ubi will know how to manage this brand. And if they will give to it more support. Is very hard to find dedicated Dev Teams and you could risk losing them.

[martes86]

Rock will never die… so will happen with SH Franchise if Ubi will know how to manage this brand. And if they will give to it more support. Is very hard to find dedicated Dev Teams and you could risk losing them.

I fully agree with you. :D

[ReM]

I don't believe to 26500 copies sold stories ! I remember that SHIII actuallly entered the top 10 of German game sales a couple of months ago.....

Below you can find the recent software top 20 from Dynabyte, a chain that sells software all over the Netherlands.......

Look what game is at number 7! It is situated right among socalled 'top' games..........albeit at a reduced price.
I have no doubts that SHII is a good seller, maybe not a -best-seller


1 De Sims 2 Nachtleven

2 World of Warcraft 2mnd Timecard

3 Dungeon Siege 2

4 World of Warcraft Euro Versie 44,95

5 Battlefield 2 DVD 51,95

6 Guild Wars 42,50

7 Silent Hunter 3 DVD 19,95

8 Call of Duty Dlx 24,95

9 Settlers Heritage of Kings 19,95

10 De Sims 2 Special Edition DVD Actie 59,95

11 GTR FIA GT Racing 29,95

12 Grand Theft Auto San Andreas 49,95

13 Brothers in Arms DVD 29,95

14 Burnout Legends PSP 54,95

15 Guild Wars Collectors Edition 59,95

16 Sacred Gold 29,95

17 Battlefield 2 Commanders Edit DVD 64,95

18 Coded Arms PSP 49,95

19 Stronghold 2 29,95

20 Flightsimulator 2004 Century Flight 47,50

[Beery]

The major flaw in sales of Silent Hunter III was in US. I think Ubi didn’t expect such poor sales in US (approx 24.000 copies)...

Ubisoft shouldn't be surprised. They dropped the ball when it came to US marketing pre-release, and they never even got any meaningful coverage in the US gaming press post-release. If they don't market the product it won't sell. It's as simple as that. Given the fact that it never got any real marketing, I'm surprised the game did as well as it did here in the US.

[John Channing]

The 26,500 figure was based upon the first few weeks of sales, and was somewhat suspect at the time. Unfortunately that figure has stuck in people's minds and will not go away.

The gaming press tends to review sales figures the same way that the entertainment press reviews movie sales figures. If a title doesn't sell tons of copies in it's opening weeks they tend to write it off. Comparing a niche title like Sh3 with a title with massive advance pomotion just isn't logical. Games like MOH and Splinter Cell have so much pre-launch publicity that demand is created well in advance of the release, leading to large first week sales. Using the same metric to measure SH3 is not reasonable. Remember too that all of that advance publicity incurs costs that have to be recouped through extra sales. It's not how much you make on a product that detemines it's fate... it's how much you keep.

Perhaps a more reliable statement came from a UbiSoft official on the UbiSoft forum where he stated that UbiSoft was very happy with the sales figures for Silent Hunter 3, given the niche nature of the product.

It is more likely that plans for an add-on have been rolled into Silent Hunter 4.

JCC

[Shadow9216]

By way of anecdotal evidence, WalMart had a few copies the other day, still selling for almost $40. So did Target- neither company tends to keep items on the shelves long enough to gather dust.

[John Channing]

Here is the quote from a UbiSoft official regaarding the figure of 26,500 units sold...

"You'd be surprised actually. Ubisoft likes to invest in smaller niche titles (look at our support for the flight sim market) and not always go for the big blockbuster (although they're nice too). Compared to something like FIFA, SH3 sold very little, but for what it is - a very niche title - it sold very, very well"

JCC

[Egan]

Here is the quote from a UbiSoft official regaarding the figure of 26,500 units sold...

"You'd be surprised actually. Ubisoft likes to invest in smaller niche titles (look at our support for the flight sim market) and not always go for the big blockbuster (although they're nice too). Compared to something like FIFA, SH3 sold very little, but for what it is - a very niche title - it sold very, very well"

JCC

Yeah, that sounds on the money, I reckon.

As a good barometer of how popular it was you just have look at the explosion in new members here at subsim when it came out. Elsewhere I was seeing threads about Silent Hunter 3 in the most unlikely places (Such as on the Football Manager forums at Sports Interactive for example.) Compared to something like IL-2 it may not have shifted that many copies but compared to probably every other Sub sim in history I'm sure it did exceptionally well.

[vois2]

I've seen scores of copies of SH3 stock up and then disappear from my two local Best Buy stores. This has happened repeatedly, for months, and it still priced at US$40 there.

I agree with Beery that Ubi marketing performed in an abysmal manner for the U.S. release.

Whatever the situation might be on sales, I just hope work is continuing on a subsequent title for the line. This is a beautiful quality sub sim and we don't get those very often.

[vois2]

I've seen scores of copies of SH3 stock up and then disappear from my two local Best Buy stores. This has happened repeatedly, for months, and it still priced at US$40 there.

I agree with Beery that Ubi marketing performed in an abysmal manner for the U.S. release.

Whatever the situation might be on sales, I just hope work is continuing on a subsequent title for the line. This is a beautiful quality sub sim and we don't get those very often.

[Bilge_Rat]

It's nice to know SH III did so well, now I am looking forward to commanding a U.S. fleet boat in the pacific in SH IV :rock:

[CB..]

if only they'd go that one step further and release model editing and conversion tools--or cut a deal with the G-MAX group and include a gamepack for constructing new model files ala MSN's Flight Simulator and various other games--i'm sure this would instantly widen the appeal and allow for greater long term sales and limitless future expansion work--

just that one step further and we have the whole area normally reserved for Flight Sim and Combat Flight Sim communitys opened up--endless new ships subs cities aircraft anything you fancy--it's a different attitude perhaps--but folks would soon adapt to it and it would i'm sure draw a constant stream of new players into the sim--(just as Pacific Aces must surely have done with SH2- i've bought many a commercail flight sim expansion pack that was no were near as comprehensively done and implemented as PA)---it might get confusing at first to have dozens of these sorts of expansion packs around to choose from-- with people losing perhaps the normal continuity and atmosphere of the sim- but the original game would stil remain as it was--just the choices available would be vastly increased--and for those who like to model ships etc --what a hobby!! and that's what --I think--happens with niche market games and sims---they transcend the normal computer game genre and it's limited ability to satisfy long term (after all that's not in the design brief) and become what can only be called a good old fashioned Hobby--

my fingers are itching to model for SH3--if nothing else it's great fun noddling away in a modeling program, very engrossing-- i wish they'd gone that one step further and included the modeling kit

[ReM]

if only they'd go that one step further and release model editing and conversion tools--or cut a deal with the G-MAX group and include a gamepack for constructing new model files ala MSN's Flight Simulator and various other games--i'm sure this would instantly widen the appeal and allow for greater long term sales and limitless future expansion work--

just that one step further and we have the whole area normally reserved for Flight Sim and Combat Flight Sim communitys opened up--endless new ships subs cities aircraft anything you fancy--it's a different attitude perhaps--but folks would soon adapt to it and it would i'm sure draw a constant stream of new players into the sim--(just as Pacific Aces must surely have done with SH2- i've bought many a commercail flight sim expansion pack that was no were near as comprehensively done and implemented as PA)---it might get confusing at first to have dozens of these sorts of expansion packs around to choose from-- with people losing perhaps the normal continuity and atmosphere of the sim- but the original game would stil remain as it was--just the choices available would be vastly increased--and for those who like to model ships etc --what a hobby!! and that's what --I think--happens with niche market games and sims---they transcend the normal computer game genre and it's limited ability to satisfy long term (after all that's not in the design brief) and become what can only be called a good old fashioned Hobby--

my fingers are itching to model for SH3--if nothing else it's great fun noddling away in a modeling program, very engrossing-- i wish they'd gone that one step further and included the modeling kit

Wise words!

[Kristian]

Ubisoft shouldn't be surprised. They dropped the ball when it came to US marketing pre-release, and they never even got any meaningful coverage in the US gaming press post-release. If they don't market the product it won't sell. It's as simple as that. Given the fact that it never got any real marketing, I'm surprised the game did as well as it did here in the US.

In fact I think UBI wasn't confident on sales in US. US market is more action/FPS oriented. They couldn’t trust that SHIII is valuable enough to invest in US advertising. The sad truth is that the US Magazines give a lot of prize to the game but… the sales were poor.

UBI underestimated the value of SHIII that’s the truth. They give it away on US marketing this title without any advertising. And in this case the flaw on sales maybe hit the Dev Team.

Perhaps, with the noise made on Magazines, Game Reviews sites and on Sub Sim about Silent Hunter III, more guys will give it a try. In fact I already see that – some guys that never played a sub simulation now are fell in love with SHIII.

If this game will win the Best Simulation of The Year Title than we will have a true winner and this could be a new lesson to UBI marketing.

On the other hand you can’t compare Silent Hunter III with Splinter Cell or Prince of Persia (and in this case is normal that almost all the UBI marketing brains to be focused on those titles).

[Seeadler]

On the other hand you can’t compare Silent Hunter III with Splinter Cell or Prince of Persia (and in this case is normal that almost all the UBI marketing brains to be focused on those titles).
Thus the consequence for next Silent Hunter to get more sales in the US is to include more virtual heroes. Anatomically modelled still near to a type of Rambo or Conan and also with the voices of Arnold and Sylvester. The two then saves the world alone as Commander and CI in their Balao class submarine.
:lost:

[Kristian]

Thus the consequence for next Silent Hunter to get more sales in the US is to include more virtual heroes. Anatomically modelled still near to a type of Rambo or Conan and also with the voices of Arnold and Sylvester. The two then saves the world alone as Commander and CI in their Balao class submarine.
:lost:

This could be a valuable idea. :-j Don’t mention it twice cause it could happen to be taken seriously by UBI.

From what I know the American fight with aliens and saved the world/ blast a terrible meteor that come our way and save the world/ fight with dragons and save the world/ fight the Germans and save the world/ fight the Russian and save the world/ fight in Iraq and perhaps… will save the world too. :-j

I remember from my grandfather stories how desperately the Americans where waited in Romania after 1944 (mainly because the people here where so frightened by the Russian Army). The bad thing is that the Americans never come in Romania during WWII after the Romanians turn the weapons against Germany.

Now they have a base in Constanta… they finally arrive after 45 years of communism + other 13 years of cosmetic communism after the ‘90ies.

Americans are made to be heroes. Too bad that other nations doesn’t have this pride and don’t love their flags as the Americans loves their one.

So I understand finally US need for heroes. They have movies with fire fighters/ with cops/ with hokey player/ with football player and perhaps if they will make a movie with carpenters everybody would like to become a carpenter. :o

America rock's! :rock:

[jason210]

I'd like to see a reliable sales figure. 26000 sounds low - I would have thought the 80000 figure was closer. But without confirmation it's anybody's guess.

Either way 26000 or 80000 are not big sales, and whether it made a profit or not depends on how many man hours were put into the project, and and what kind of deal the developers had with the publishers / distributers. Again, without this information it's guesswork.

It would be interesting to know if this was sim successful, although a few months ago there as an article on a US based website that it was in the top ten worst selling games...

[Guizzy]

perhaps if they will make a movie with carpenters everybody would like to become a carpenter. :o

Well, there's this carpenter, this Jesus guy. I believe they made movies about him. :P

He's pretty popular in the US as far as I know.

[Jace11]

Anyone got figures on seawolves copies sold?

Just out of interest...

[Kristian]

Well, there's this carpenter, this Jesus guy. I believe they made movies about him. :P

He's pretty popular in the US as far as I know.

Well... that guy was definitely a hero... after I saw the hack and slash from Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” why in the nine heavens I should want to be him!?! :o

[AG124]

Does anybody have the sales figures for Canada? The price hasn't gone down here - it's still about $49 CDN, which is what I paid for it. The last time I was at Walmart (less than a month ago) there were at least 5 copies on the shelf (although they were buried behind copies of Vampire - The Masquerade Bloodlines). There were no copies at EB Games, "The Source", or Futureshop, although maybe that means they were sold out? :hmm:

[WARHEAD1]

I got my first copy at a local Game Spot store for $30. A month later i got a second copy for $25. This is the first ive heard of a SH-4. I only heard arumor of a pacific theater xpan pac. :D