Sales figures - Where?

[Onkel Neal]

I get my info from several distinct sources, some from some inside Ubisoft (not the devs), some independent of Ubi (marketing research groups), but I cannot say who. These are sources I have built over nearly ten years and I don't want to lose them. And I cannot say I know they are 100% accurate. But the different sources do have similar numbers.

SH2: ~95K
SH3: ~90K
SH4: ~50K

Those are US numbers, worldwide is something like 2X those figures.

[Bilge_Rat]

For SH1, I had read a long time ago, I believe in a Ubisoft press release announcing SH2, that SH1 had sold 300,000 units. Of course, that was a different time when the Sim market was stronger and there was no competition from consoles.

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

SH2: ~95K
SH3: ~90K
SH4: ~50K

On SH3, mr. Stevens may have forgotten his little sit-down with the SH4 Dev Team:

Subsim: Back in June 2005 CNN quoted the NPD Group’s April sales numbers at 26,600 units. Is that accurate? What does Ubisoft claim for sales numbers for SH3 to date?
SH4 Dev Team: The best thing about a simulation title is that the amount of sales tends to remain constant each month. SHIII sells well even one year after its release. We estimate Silent Hunter 3 sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.

http://www.subsim.com/ssr/sh4/sh4_interview1.php

Regarding SH4, I would also think the figures were influenced more by the theater, since in terms of game mechanics and features, SH3 and SH4 were the same. From what I have read previously, the two strongest markets for subsims are U.S.A. and Germany. I presume there is less interest in Germany for the Pacific theater.

The 1,500,000 total figure seems suspect, since after we remove the 600,000 for SH1 and SH3, that leaves 900,000 for SH2 and SH4.

However, even if the 1.5 milion sales figure for sh1 to 4 since 1996 is true, it is still only a blip on Ubisoft's balance sheet. Assassin's Creed 2 alone has sold 6,000,000 copies since november and Ubisoft is predicting total sales of Euros 860,000,000 (i.e. about U.S. $1.2 billion) this year.


http://www.ubisoftgroup.com/index.ph...TTBRJTI1M0Q%3D

[oscar19681]

A thread about sales figures? Man i feel like i,m watching wall street reports here!

[Sonarman]

At least it gets our minds off the dreaded DRM topic for a while!

[Hitman]

However, even if the 1.5 milion sales figure for sh1 to 4 since 1996 is true, it is still only a blip on Ubisoft's balance sheet. Assassin's Creed 2 alone has sold 6,000,000 copies since november and Ubisoft is predicting total sales of Euros 860,000,000 (i.e. about U.S. $1.2 billion) this year.

Yeah, I see how rightfully they are bothered about some people pirating their new SH5 ... would ruin them to care about the loyal customers of their niche market, would it?

[tater]

According to their annual reports, total sales have ~45% US, 49% Europe, and 6% the rest of the world.

Even doubled, those numbers are quite low. Low enough, in fact, that instead of us being beholden to them ("oh, please, oh please, sell use broken products that WE will finish for you—oh, and add ), invasive DRM schemes!"—they should be beholden to us.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by tater

According to their annual reports, total sales have ~45% US, 49% Europe, and 6% the rest of the world.

Even doubled, those numbers are quite low. Low enough, in fact, that instead of us being beholden to them ("oh, please, oh please, sell use broken products that WE will finish for you—oh, and add ), invasive DRM schemes!"—they should be beholden to us.

Er... those numbers are percentages. They aren't high or low. They add up to 100.

[FIREWALL]

Concerning SH3. I can account for 3 discs.

[Bilge_Rat]

I took a quick gander at the Ubi financial statements for 2008-09:

Highlights:

- sales: E 1,057 million
- funds re-invested
in game development: E 209 million
- sales from products developped in-house: 81% (60 out of 112)
- PC game sales: 9% of total sales (i.e. 81% from consoles)
-number of employees : 5,765 (83% or 4,790 in production)
-average age of employees: 31.2 years.

http://www.ubisoftgroup.com/index.php?p=195&art_id=

- Ubisoft's profits have gone down from E 110 million in 08 to E 68 million in 09 and they are forecasting a loss of (E 50 million) for 2010.

They have more important things to worry about than a boycott of SH5 by a few hundred consumers.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by FIREWALL

Concerning SH3. I can account for 3 discs.

There you go, spoiling the curve again.

Although I have to admit to two copies myself.

[tater]

Originally Posted by onelifecrisis

Er... those numbers are percentages. They aren't high or low. They add up to 100.

Neal's numbers were real numbers. SOmone suggested that might just ne US sales.

So take the 90k sales figure, assume it is just the US, and call it 200k, it's still not huge global sales.

[Onkel Neal]

Correct, they are US numbers, sorry. I have amended the post.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

For SH1, I had read a long time ago, I believe in a Ubisoft press release announcing SH2, that SH1 had sold 300,000 units. Of course, that was a different time when the Sim market was stronger and there was no competition from consoles.

On SH3, mr. Stevens may have forgotten his little sit-down with the SH4 Dev Team:

Subsim: Back in June 2005 CNN quoted the NPD Group’s April sales numbers at 26,600 units. Is that accurate? What does Ubisoft claim for sales numbers for SH3 to date?
SH4 Dev Team: The best thing about a simulation title is that the amount of sales tends to remain constant each month. SHIII sells well even one year after its release. We estimate Silent Hunter 3 sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.

See the part where I said sources "inside Ubisoft (not the devs)"?

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

See the part where I said sources "inside Ubisoft (not the devs)"?

oh, so it's even more of a niche product than I thought with around 90,000 sales for SH3.

[Onkel Neal]

Like I said, I cannot say with 100% accuracy, but I have seen them verified by different sources. Check on the web for niche game sales, for stuff like strategy games, etc. They don't sell many copies. That's why there are no more Nuke Subsims. EA said hell no, and when Sonalysts tried to go it on their own with Dangerous Waters, it did not sell well.

But, hey, no worries, I'm sure some indie developer is working on a nuke subsim as we speak. Any day now. Soon!