How do Civ3 sales compare to Civ2 sales?

TCO · May 5, 2002, 02:55

Has Civ3 been a market failure in comparison to Civ2. Is it selling a lot less? Anybody have the data?

notyoueither · May 5, 2002, 03:09

No comment.

TCO · May 5, 2002, 03:15

At least tell me what you mean by that...

notyoueither · May 5, 2002, 03:18

...

Grrr · May 5, 2002, 03:21

For some reason I don't see our Firaxian Ambassador giving to much away

.

korn469 · May 5, 2002, 03:27

ok here is what we know

according to activision
both smac and ctp sold around 500k copies

we also know that smac spent 4 weeks in the NPD top ten chart

when civ3 first came out it was the #1 and #2 selling game for the first week and then it spent over twice as long in the top ten as what SMAC did

as far as what civ2 did, the only information i know is that before civ3 the Civ franchise had sold 4 million games

now which games were included in that number is a mystery

low end civ1, civ2
high end civ1, civnet, civ2, all civ2 expansion packs, civ2:mge, civ:tot, civ:ctp, smac, and all of the console versions of civ

you can buy the information from NPD but it costs like 5,000 dollars i've heard for a report

asleepathewheel · May 5, 2002, 03:30

Quote:

Originally posted by korn469

you can buy the information from NPD but it costs like 5,000 dollars i've heard for a report

What/ who is NPD? Maybe Markos will chip in the 5 grand for the stats.

notyoueither · May 5, 2002, 03:33

The exchange I mimicked was from the chat.

No comment.

No comment.

No comment.

'OK. If there is something major in the works, just say 'No comment.'

...

What Jeff did say is that 'they are very happy.'

Firaxis ambassador?

Grrr · May 5, 2002, 03:40

I have now figured out why the members of Firaxis' staff don't post here much. Markos and Ming regard 'no comment' as spam and send them to Mingapulco.

korn469 · May 5, 2002, 03:41

Quote:

The NPD Group is an innovative global market information company that leading manufacturers, retailers, resellers, distributors and operators turn to for essential market information across a broad range of industries. As the gold standard for measuring product movement and consumer behavior in each industry tracked, NPD offers unparalleled information for better business decisions. Clients use this business-critical insight to uncover market opportunities, to strengthen channel relationships and to benchmark industry performance.
The NPD Group clients encompass more than 1,000 manufacturers and operators, including many Fortune 500 companies, representing a wide span of industries. NPD clients include Dell, General Electric, Intel, Levi Strauss & Co., Mattel, Nike, Sony, Unilever, VF Corporation, Warner Brothers and many others. Its retail partnerships cover more than 400 retailers worldwide.

Since 1967 The NPD Group has demonstrated leadership and innovation wtih numerous industry firsts, including the introduction of industry tracking in markets beyond packaged goods. Its new flagship brands, the NPD Worlds, continue The NPD Group's tradition of leveraging the latest technologies to deliver essential market information.

Through a network of worldwide offices and via partnerships with leading international information providers, The NPD Group offers its clients access to industry-specific market information in more than 60 countries around the world. The NPD Group is headquartered in Port Washington, New York and has offices and affiliates in Chicago, Greensboro, Houston, London, Madrid, Milan, New York, Nuremberg, Paris, Reston, Tokyo and Toronto. The firm employs 800 employees worldwide.

www.npd.com

asleepathewheel · May 5, 2002, 03:45

Quote:

Originally posted by korn469

www.npd.com

Thanks Korn, that's pretty cool. too bad its a little pricey for the curious individual, at least for this curious individual.

korn469 · May 5, 2002, 03:53

no problem

hehe if i had a trust fund i'd get the information for us but sadly i'm lower middle class

TCO · May 5, 2002, 04:07

Who is the Firaxian ambassador.

Thanks for what stats we did get.

I can't see paying for the report.

Grrr · May 5, 2002, 04:27

NotYouEither is the Firaxian ambassador.

Peter Triggs · May 5, 2002, 06:54

If they'd sold a lot of copies, they'd br telling everyone about it. They're not saying anything. Therefore...

MarkG · May 5, 2002, 09:45

the "civ franchise" numbers probably include civ1, civ2 and the expansions(and mge and tot). not smac and certainly not ctp.

Boris Godunov · May 5, 2002, 10:18

I think that, relative to this point in Civ2's career (6 months after release?), I will wager that Civ3 is ahead in sales. That's simply because their are more gamers out there and more who are familiar with the Civ titles than were when Civ2 came out. Civ3 also got much more publicity than Civ2 did (I was a big Civ1 fan, and didn't know Civ2 was even in the works until I saw it on the store shelves and nearly collapsed in spasmodic joy).

Coracle · May 5, 2002, 14:30

Like a parasite, Civ 3 has fed on the great reputation of Civ 2 along with Sid's now sullied name. That helped its sales, along with rushing the beta product for the Holiday buying season.

You can also be assured that a year after its release Civ 3 will be disappointing compared to the legs of Civ 2.

TCO · May 5, 2002, 15:25

I just have a sense that you are right.

Civ3 got a big initial pop...but won't have civ2 legs...

MarkG · May 5, 2002, 17:31

at some point some people will have to realize some things

like for example that no "beta product" can stay in the top 10-20 selling games in the US for 5 months, no matter its title or designer...

i think i'm going to change my sig...

Immortal Wombat · May 5, 2002, 17:44

Its wrong.

Grrr · May 5, 2002, 23:54

So are you suggesting that Civ 3 is not beta, Markos?

I suppose it could be alpha

player1 · May 6, 2002, 03:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Grrr
So are you suggesting that Civ 3 is not beta, Markos?

I suppose it could be alpha

No, it a FINISHED product. (at least with 1.21f patch)

But, it's a product with REDUCED number of features.

You could call it Civ3 lite.

At least until XP comes.