Title, I'm looking at Vgchartz right now and it has sold 4 million on the PS3 and 7.5 million on the Xbox 360, and it states that it has sold 2.92 million on PC. Now the funny part to this is that Vgchartz doesn't include sales from Steam as Valve withhold the numbers, so that is 2.92 million physical copies. Is it safe to assume that it has sold over 4.5 million directly through Steam, and may actually be the lead platform for sales (and if so, by far the lead platform for profit)?
Is it possible Skyrim sold more on PC than any other platform?
- Thread starter Omaeka
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Seems very unlikely that it would have sold that many on Steam imo, but anything posted here is just speculation.
As ever Steam doesn't release sale figures, but there you go, but over a year and a half ago over 5 million accounts have it, Steam itself had 54 million active accounts as of 6 months ago. Doesn't seem that far fetched being as popular as it is, but I guess we will never know
It's daft to include PC in comparison figures like that when it doesn't include digital copies.
It's like stating console hard copies while ignoring some of the largest game retailers... it's just not worth the paper it's written on.
Still, I bet the console fanboys are yelling "Told ya so"
It's like stating console hard copies while ignoring some of the largest game retailers... it's just not worth the paper it's written on.
Still, I bet the console fanboys are yelling "Told ya so"
Does it include digital copies on 360 or ps3?
Do the steam numbers include the people who bought hard copies and installed it via steam? (dont have skyrim so dont know if its steam bound)
Too many options to make a valid opinion other than the PS3 version seriously undersold copmared to the Xbox version, which knowing the issues it had on PS3 isnt suprising.
Do the steam numbers include the people who bought hard copies and installed it via steam? (dont have skyrim so dont know if its steam bound)
Too many options to make a valid opinion other than the PS3 version seriously undersold copmared to the Xbox version, which knowing the issues it had on PS3 isnt suprising.
Even if it does, that would still mean the PC represents a bigger market share than the PS3's 4million. That in itself is an achievement regardless!
It's a Steamworks game, so you must have Steam to play it.
If this is correct:
Then it means there's at least 5 million copies of it sold, as boxed copies only work on Steam. But I'd imagine it's not unrealistic that it could have topped 7.5 million copies by now, especially since there's been various sales since January 2012.
Yeah, the 2.92 is purely retail copies bought in shops and I don't know of a single person who got the game retail nor heard of any so it's reasonable to consider the 2.92 a fraction of the overall sales, maybe as little as 25%.
If the PC is the superior platform for sales, then it's by far the best one for profit too because a copy sold on Steam is worth a lot more to Bethesda than one sold somewhere like Gamestop, which the majority of console games are. With this being said though, how do they justify focusing so hard on consoles with their games and giving the PC users next to nothing extra to play with. The usual excuse is that the consoles bring in so much more money and higher figures that the PC is an afterthought but that isn't the case here. Maybe they are just lazy.
It isn't crazy to speculate that the percentage of console gamers who buy digitally is as small, if not smaller, than the percentage of PC gamers who buy physical copies, especially for games that are Steamworks. I imagine that Windows bought them in much more revenue than the consoles combined, same goes for Battlefield as well, 3 million on PC vs 12 combined consoles but Origin doesn't release sales figures either, so again thats 3 million retail copies which is bound to be just a fraction.
I'd take a bet that the real reason for developers putting so little into PC is that a large number of the potential customers aren't the types to buy **** games and will research on what to avoid.
If the PC is the superior platform for sales, then it's by far the best one for profit too because a copy sold on Steam is worth a lot more to Bethesda than one sold somewhere like Gamestop, which the majority of console games are. With this being said though, how do they justify focusing so hard on consoles with their games and giving the PC users next to nothing extra to play with. The usual excuse is that the consoles bring in so much more money and higher figures that the PC is an afterthought but that isn't the case here. Maybe they are just lazy.
It isn't crazy to speculate that the percentage of console gamers who buy digitally is as small, if not smaller, than the percentage of PC gamers who buy physical copies, especially for games that are Steamworks. I imagine that Windows bought them in much more revenue than the consoles combined, same goes for Battlefield as well, 3 million on PC vs 12 combined consoles but Origin doesn't release sales figures either, so again thats 3 million retail copies which is bound to be just a fraction.
I'd take a bet that the real reason for developers putting so little into PC is that a large number of the potential customers aren't the types to buy **** games and will research on what to avoid.
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I bought mine retail because it was significantly cheaper than any digital copy I could find.
You also need to appreciate that Skyrim is the way it is because Bethesda are lazy, not because of consoles.
They know full well that people will accept their PC variants in poor shape, and know full well that the community will fix or modify any weak aspects.
Their logic is probably along the lines of, why invest more time in to the PC version when they can get away with not. All they need to do is make sure their games are easily modded to fix any issues and people will lap it up from them.
You also need to appreciate that Skyrim is the way it is because Bethesda are lazy, not because of consoles.
They know full well that people will accept their PC variants in poor shape, and know full well that the community will fix or modify any weak aspects.
Their logic is probably along the lines of, why invest more time in to the PC version when they can get away with not. All they need to do is make sure their games are easily modded to fix any issues and people will lap it up from them.
Maybe, maybe not. Unless someone has some hard information it's really difficult to get anything meaningful from speculation.
Is it? Got some numbers?
When you say they are 'putting so little into PC' what do you mean?
In summary what you're saying is that game companies make a bunch of crap games and target console gamers because they'll buy it. But you're disappointed that they're not bringing those games to you, the PC gamer?
I bought mine retail because i wanted the map of Skyrim that came with it, i never even used the DVD, just used the code on Steam and it dl'ed.
Really wish they would combine digital sales with retail though, i wonder why they dont do it?
Really wish they would combine digital sales with retail though, i wonder why they dont do it?
Sigh same old arguments:
PC games often sell at very deep discounts which boost sales volume but not profits.
PC games have piracy at higher levels than consoles.
Consoles typicaly outsell PC games because of mass appeal and mass marketing, yes they maybe worse but they are accessable.
I just dont get the whole Console, PC thing, You dont get car forums where people with lambos and moaning that ford focus are ruining the roads for everyone and should not be aloud to buy petrol.
PC for your High end High cost ENTHUSIAST market.
Console is gaming for gamers.
I always think of PS Vs Xbox like Ford vs Vauxhall..... were both a bit getto but we can pull some good tricks out of the bag now and then, and overall get used to it casue 90% of what you see on the road is going to be us.
PC games often sell at very deep discounts which boost sales volume but not profits.
PC games have piracy at higher levels than consoles.
Consoles typicaly outsell PC games because of mass appeal and mass marketing, yes they maybe worse but they are accessable.
I just dont get the whole Console, PC thing, You dont get car forums where people with lambos and moaning that ford focus are ruining the roads for everyone and should not be aloud to buy petrol.
PC for your High end High cost ENTHUSIAST market.
Console is gaming for gamers.
I always think of PS Vs Xbox like Ford vs Vauxhall..... were both a bit getto but we can pull some good tricks out of the bag now and then, and overall get used to it casue 90% of what you see on the road is going to be us.
Something we'll never have, because they won't release digital sales figures anytime soon. It's a shame because Vgchartz is very popular, yet any Steamworks title has poor sales compared to the other platforms. Maybe that's where all the developers get their research from, wouldn't surprised me.
Valve's cut is what, 20-25%? The extra £10 on consoles is to flat-out cover the licence cost to the system developers, then you have storage fees, transport & shipping fees, the retailers cut and the hit from pre-owned sales. Consoles are only profitable if your game sells by the shed-load. If PC can catch it a platform up in sales figures, it'll blow it away on actual revenue.
Skyrim had might as well be a port, if it wasn't for mods their wouldn't be a huge reason to own it on PC over consoles other than it being cheaper.
No, the summary is that developers have gotten really lazy. I can't remember the last time I saw a game that looked respectably better than the console variants, despite having how much extra potential power to play with? Their excuse for that is sales and financial viability, I'm calling b/s on that.
Not really complaining about consoles tbh, just speculating whether or not the whole 'there is more money in consoles' crap is wrong, if your game is good. Weird comparison to make to the cars, on the subject though, being a PC gamer is like owning an exotic, fast car yes, but the reason everyone is equal on the roads is safety, what's the excuse for the PC platform being held back by the consoles, now we're on that subject?
The only way to use this a metaphor, is a track day event. Imagine paying a premium to own an exotic car, only to be stuck on the track going 55mph behind a thousand 70 year olds in Volvos, you'd be annoyed.
Haha I always thought that, maybe Bethesda knew exactly what they were doing when they created the data files structure from Morrowind onwards.
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They must have sold a lot on pc. The fact that its still selling on the pc and in the top sellers list on steam. I'm sure that isnt the case for the consoles(second hand market). On pc they get more profits on the sales, on more longer term sales.
Yeah but track days are paying a premium to use your high end toy to its full (or in my case as full as you dare) potential.
Your right about the safety element but are speed limits etc set based on the elite or the norm or even worse the worst case.
70mph as a lot faster in terms of safety when it was introduced thant it is now, do 70 in my first car felt like taking your life in your hands, doing 90 in my current car feels like sitting in my living room.
Anyway enough of the metaphor you know what im saying.
Gaming design is never going to be ultra elite spec, Crysis 1 suffered when it tried that (but strangley also profited at a later date when revisiting)
Whats the most downloaded skyrim mod and how many times was it downloaded?
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/607/?
2,837,560 Unique D/Ls
6,696,446 Total D/Ls
2.8million unique downloads on that and it might not even be the most popular mod, there doesn't seem to be a way to view the mods on that site by popularity.
We can assume not everyone with skyrim on the pc mods and we can assume not everyone with a pc would know how to install them anyway.
although not everyone who downloaded that mod will have a legit copy
steam makes it noob friendly but I bet steam doesn't show unique downloads and they never post sales figures
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/607/?
2,837,560 Unique D/Ls
6,696,446 Total D/Ls
2.8million unique downloads on that and it might not even be the most popular mod, there doesn't seem to be a way to view the mods on that site by popularity.
We can assume not everyone with skyrim on the pc mods and we can assume not everyone with a pc would know how to install them anyway.
although not everyone who downloaded that mod will have a legit copy
steam makes it noob friendly but I bet steam doesn't show unique downloads and they never post sales figures
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yea more than finished to an acceptable standard.
I bet if they delayed to add more polish and tweaks people would have whined it was taking forever so I guess they can't win either way.
with a game world so large you can't expect the closed testers to catch every single bug in the game
Not really. Errbody knows that release window sales are the most important. They aren't sold at deep discounts on release, but even at a lower release price they are still more profitable, especially when sold via digital content systems as there are less cuts being taken from the total price.
Steam's cut is 30% on average, probably more like 20% for big releases like Skyrim.
That means the publisher then gets 70-80% of the sale price.
That's significantly more than on consoles and typical retail.
This isn't proven as a fact.
It depends, it's actually a lot closer than people think. Sales on PC are actually very high, but due to the likes of Steam and Origin not releasing sales data, it's very hard to see just how high.
Enthusiast doesn't mean high cost, it never has and it never will.
What argument? It's undeniable that they do this, I still enjoyed it at release.
I'm quite tolerant myself, games being buggy and whatever don't induce butthurt rages from me, I just accept it for what it is.
That aside, it doesn't mean I can't objectively look at Skyrim and note the flaws it contained at release that they could have easily fixed.