Are LBP sales really that bad? A comparison…
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Every man and his dog seems to be talking about the ‘terrible’ sales LittleBigPlanet has enjoyed, but what is the truth behind the spin?
LBP has now sold more than one million units worldwide, and still the game’s performance has its detractors. Confusingly, we remember the sheer joy in the collective media when Motorstorm hit the one million mark.
So how has Sackboy done in comparison, and what are the differences in the marketplace since that milestone was reached by Evolution’s racer?
It may surprise you that Motorstorm took over 22 weeks to reach the one million unit mark. In comparison, LittleBigPlanet has made that mark in 5 weeks.
Of course, the games market has grown since then. Specifically, the PS3 had around 4.5 million units in the field around the time that Motorstorm joined the millionaire’s club, whereas LittleBigPlanet enjoys a client base of over 17.5 million units.
That counts against LittleBigPlanet in the eyes of many, because a similar attach rate would see sales of 2.1 million units by weeks 5 (Motorstorm had managed 555,000 in the same time frame; a 1 in 8 attach rate).
But it is also true that LittleBigPlanet has to compete with approximately 13 times as many games as Motorstorm did. And if you compare so-called ‘worth buying’ games, Motorstorm really only had four or five competitors when it released versus dozens that are available now.
Analysts we have spoken to still expect LittleBigPlanet to top 3.5 million units across the life of the product, about the same as Motorstorm has managed, and we have still to see the fruits of the ‘six figure marketing package’ Sony have promised.
So we ask you, is LBP really doing that badly? Especially in the current ‘crunch climate’, we would say ‘no’.
Agree/disagree – the comments await your thoughts…
I expect a BUMPER month in December for LBP. Lots of people are buying it as a Christmas present.
I think that it is to do with the slight difference in the situations (as you mention in the article) and expectations of the two games. In the instance of Motorstorm it was only released a short time after the release of the PS3 itself. No one really knew what to expect of PS3 games at the time so reaching 1 million copies sold would have been an achievement no matter how long it took to get there.
In the case of LBP everyone had such high expectations of the game. As people were expecting 2 million sales in those 5 weeks, 1 million would naturally be seen an underachievement. There was also so much hype surrounding the game (including the backing of MM by Sony) that people expect it to have done a lot better.
I see LBP as a marmite game. People either absolutely love or they discard it as childs play. Also the TV ads for the game do it no favours, so that combined with all the other games on the market doesn’t make it an ‘no-brainer’ purchase. I think that the million copies sold is a good achievement.
I agree with Brodiesan, LBP will be a hot christmas present.
I third Brodiesan. I expect a lot of young ‘uns will be getting their mitts on LBP over the next few weeks.
I agree with what people have said above. I also think Mm/Sony’s original idea of ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising will increase sales so i expect Jan/Feb to see a lot of units sell too. Imagine, Christmas day, all the family are round, the kids are playing with their new game and the adults are like “what’s that? It looks fun! Maybe we should get that game too?”
I’ve already increased sales by 4 after friends/family have played LBP at mine! Just waiting for commission cheque from Sony now…
Ultimately it will sell well and probably hit its original targets. I think people were just expecting a massive BANG and then a slow drop off but that has not happened. Probably due to the fact that the markets have changed and there are so many other great games out there.
Instead, I see LBP selling steadily over its lifetime and, as I say, hitting the targets comfortably. Maybe even surpassing them.
As for the Christmas present thing. I think some people are underestimating this. I’ve heard multiple people tell me that they were going to buy the game on launch day but had so much else to play, and knew that the servers were going to be hammered during its initial launch period, that they decided to get it for Christmas as a present from a loved one instead. It also has that “appeal” as a Christmas present due to its genre and likable nature. Parents are going to be happier buying Sackboy than Nathan Hale if you know what I mean!
i think that anyone getting a PS3 this year for X-mas will be getting this title over the next few months. I think January will be huge for this game! and if they keep making more DL content for this game, say a Drake costume or give us others a chance at the Kratos costume! might be nice. but they are doing great for a smaller size company