Sales figures - Where?

Sonarman · 02-17-10, 09:47 AM

Here is an interesting quote I found a whille back on the original SSI Silent Hunter by Joel Billings in the book "Interactivity in action"...

The product with the most potential for SSI is "Silent Hunter" , it's a world war ii submarine simulation, and submarine simulations sell really well. - Aces of the Deep sold a ton. Silent Hunter is an outstanding product in every way and we are thinking it may well become our all-time biggest seller.

That's quite a compliment and an eye-opener considering SSI's output at the time.

Heretic · 02-17-10, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonarman

Here is an interesting quote I found a whille back on the original SSI Silent Hunter by Joel Billings in the book "Interactivity in action"...

The product with the most potential for SSI is "Silent Hunter" , it's a world war ii submarine simulation, and submarine simulations sell really well. - Aces of the Deep sold a ton. Silent Hunter is an outstanding product in every way and we are thinking it may well become our all-time biggest seller.

That's quite a compliment and an eye-opener considering SSI's output at the time.

Back then , that was the case. PC games were made by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. Back in the day, wargames were a good size chunk of the market. I bought almost every Gary Grigsby game SSI produced. It was a niche market.

Ironicly, technology played a big role in killing that. Better hardware allowed better graphics and sound, etc. Development costs shot up, so they had to cater to a wider audience to stay in business. It became a mass medium with all the pros and cons that goes with it.

Joel and Gary are still around. Still making great games. Still a niche market.

Sonarman · 02-17-10, 09:59 AM

I wonder if those figures are US sales only, I remember EAST posting a while back that he had heard on the industry grapevine that the budget for SHIII was around 3 million dollars.

Based on the above 90K copies for SH3 x a full retail price of of $40 gives 3.6 million but only about a third of that or less would be Ubisoft's when you factor in distribution & retail. I doubt there would be a SH4 and SH5 based on those figures. And SH3 was considered a success by Ubi.

02-17-10, 09:47 AM	#1
Sonarman The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ayr,Scotland,UK Posts: 1,392 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 0	Here is an interesting quote I found a whille back on the original SSI Silent Hunter by Joel Billings in the book "Interactivity in action"... The product with the most potential for SSI is "Silent Hunter" , it's a world war ii submarine simulation, and submarine simulations sell really well. - Aces of the Deep sold a ton. Silent Hunter is an outstanding product in every way and we are thinking it may well become our all-time biggest seller. That's quite a compliment and an eye-opener considering SSI's output at the time. __________________ "The action is simulated...the excitement is real!" Microprose Simulation Software.

02-17-10, 09:59 AM	#3
Sonarman The Old Man Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ayr,Scotland,UK Posts: 1,392 Downloads: 79 Uploads: 0	I wonder if those figures are US sales only, I remember EAST posting a while back that he had heard on the industry grapevine that the budget for SHIII was around 3 million dollars. Based on the above 90K copies for SH3 x a full retail price of of $40 gives 3.6 million but only about a third of that or less would be Ubisoft's when you factor in distribution & retail. I doubt there would be a SH4 and SH5 based on those figures. And SH3 was considered a success by Ubi. __________________ "The action is simulated...the excitement is real!" Microprose Simulation Software.