Sales of Rise of the Tomb Raider are appalingly bad

Well as to be unfortunately expected sales of Crystal dynamics new tomb raider game are worse than anyone expected with less than 60k sales out of the U.K. (Only region reporting data at the moment.

The worst part of all this is that it's both a great game and the future of the franchise may hang in the balance with this release.

The other real not nice part is Sony representative via Twitter have almost outright mocked the games poor sales stating that the game will sell just fine when it releases on ps4 next year.

Link for the curious http://wccftech.com/rise-tomb-raider-uk-sales-due-poor-release-timing-fine-ps4/

It didn't really have a chance launching next to Fallout.

What was Squeenix thinking releasing Tomb Raider right alongside Battlefront and Fallout? If anyone was going to lose, it was going to be them. Not too smart of a move.

I'm sure being only on one current gen platform and releasing the same day as Fallout 4 hindered sales quite a bit. I'm also not going to jump to conclusions based on what one PS employee is saying about just one region.

I feel for Crystal Dynamics, but this is also just poor form on Sony's part given earlier this year:

Bummer, man, Crystal Dynamics is a fantastic developer and they've never been a hitmaker. I really, really like pretty much every game they've ever done.

Seems this one would've done way better launching earlier in the year.

@csl316: Not a hitmaker? I know it was an initial disappointment, but Tomb Raider 2013 was at 8.5 million lifetime sales in April.

That's a genuine bummer. But yeah, Fallout 4 and Battlefront. Whaddayagonnado.

That tweet's just rude, and not in the fun way. Just comes across as real dickish. BUT HEY THAT'S TWITTER AMIRITE.

Why do people do this to themselves? Does nobody pull aside a senior executive and say 'so that release date we wanted? Fallout's the same day'? Doesn't anybody explain why Tomb Raider is going to get hip checked over the boards because of Fallout?

I don't think there are a lot of franchises or developers that you need to move aside for, I can count maybe five or six, but when you happen to be releasing day and date with one of them, you either move or get run over by a Mack truck.

I have no idea if Star Wars is still a cash cow in the video game space, but Fallout kicked Call of Duty's ass in sales this time out, so I have to wonder just what the hell Squeenix was thinking.

Yeah I'm sure being the 4th best selling game in the UK at the moment must be real tough for them...

Seriously. That Sony rep is just an idiot. The game is selling fine. The help from Microsoft financially to get the game made must have been more than enough than to miss holiday sales on other platforms. And when this comes out on other platforms and sells fine again, inevitably no one will care about this.

Looks like it was crushed by the competition. Even though I don't care about the other games that were released recently, I'm happy to see this game fail. I hope this leads to a proper Tomb Raider with the solitude, exploration and puzzle platforming of Anniversary, all improved of course. I think a Max Payne like combat system would be fitting as well. It suits her to be agile and stylish during combat. What they're doing with Tomb Raider now is a waste. I thought the reboot was pretty mediocre, bordering on bad. I believe the series has amazing potential. I wouldn't mind a lower budget reboot if it meant the game wouldn't be so generic and insipid.

Here's a link to sales figures from the uk at least

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2015/11/16/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-sales/

Not surprising, like most people said Fallout 4 kinda crushed the competition that week. Even the last starcraft expansion sorta took a back seat to fallout 4.

Historically, I mean. They've had success in the past, but Legacy of Kain and Gex never did gang busters. Their work on the Tomb Raider series has done pretty well in comparison, but even those have gone up and down.

"Well, this game is coming out on PS4 and PC as well eventually right? I'm getting Fallout 4 instead."

This new Tomb Raider game failing won't result in the devs turning around and going "our sales dropped off dramatically, so we better pander to an even more niche audience". It's bizarre that you'd even jump to that conclusion. The only thing that can come of this game failing is Tomb Raider dying for a second time.

That being said, I don't think this game will be a massive failure. It'll get renewed popularity when it releases on PC and PS4. Tomb Raider has always been a Playstation thing. Still, fucking awful timing to be releasing next to Fallout 4 and Battlefront. I have a feeling that some Microsoft executives would have gotten pissed if it was pushed forward into 2016 because that would ruin their timed exclusive - so they just decided to release it and watch it crash. A lose-lose.

63,000 copies sounds bad on paper, but in context I don't think it's disastrous. For reference, the last game shipped around 180,000 retail copies in the UK during its first week — that means sales of ROTTR are tracking at about 1/3 the previous game. That's not terrible when you factor in that it's only shipping on one platform, the reduced console install base and the industry's shift towards digital sales. I bet it does fine in the long run.

@456nto: Yeah. Maybe they hoped it'd be seen as different enough from the other releases to still get a good amount of attention from folks who enjoy that sort of game. Problem is most people are probably just fine either waiting for a PC/PS4 release or a sale.

That first game was pretty good, but the new series never struck me as hitting it off to the point where its sequel would be a big marquee release that people would rush out to get at launch.

@456nto: If Tomb Raider dies again won't that technically be the third time it died? By the way. I am totally for Tomb Raider dying a horrible death if it mean the return of Legacy of Kain.

Fault who ever decided to release it going up against Fallout and only 3 weeks after Halo 5 and have it as an exclusive. Didn't anyone in the PR department wondered about that?As other people stated. This game will get renewed interest when it releases on PC and PS4.

I got the impression that the original game wound up doing decently over it's lifespan. Like when there was a dry patch for games and the priced dipped a little they wound up doing alright didn't they? Also I wonder how that PS4 re-release sold.

But yeah, launching that game in November in general didn't seem like the greatest idea but when you have Fallout 4, Battlefront 3, Black Ops 3, and (in late October but still) Halo 5 all in close proximity... ouff.

I still don't quite understand the exclusivity deal that happened. I get that Tomb Raider '13 was a pretty okay game (I liked it), but what exactly was Microsoft's expectation here? That the sequel would be a big enough game to push Xbox One units if it was presented as a platform exclusive? If anyone loses out here, it's Microsoft, as whatever amount they paid to secure the exclusive release period will likely be not worth it. I doubt that Square is sweating over this.

They will most likely see a huge surge in sales once they release on PC and PS4, for two three main reasons.

-Wider user base

-They won't be competing with Fallout AND FREAKING STAR WARS IN THE SAME YEAR THAT EPISODE 7 IS COMING OUT WHO THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO STAY TO THIS RELEASE DATE.

-Very positive reviews

I'm sure Xbox was willing to take a gamble on lower sales figures by having something exclusive out for the holidays as a PR move for the console as a whole. Lifetime sales for Tomb Raider will be fine, especially once it's ported. For now, Microsoft can shout off the rooftops that they had the console to buy (in their estimation, I'd imagine) during the holidays, especially if they continue to only acknowledge Nintendo at the periphery.

@adequatelyprepared: I think it was mostly done to 'round out their portfolio'. Microsoft did this before when they put Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey out on the Xbox 360 to attract JRPG fans who would always choose for Sony or Nintendo.

The Xbox 360 exclusives were targeted to the dude bro's who like to shoot guns and race cars. (Gears, Halo, Forza). A lot of those people already know which console they would buy because they want to play the new installment of those franchises. However, if you're not really into shooters and Forza, you're probably not going to buy a Microsoft console.

By doing an exclusivity deal with Tomb Raider, they buy a sequel to a game that a lot of people played and have fond memories of. Also, they give the people an alternative to Uncharted and show that the Xbox One gives it's players more than just shooters and Forza.

yeah, honestly i would consider the source on this information. the first game sold like 180k on three platforms in the uk, and this sold 60k on one. i'm sure expectations were changed to reflect that. plus this game has two more platform launches over the next year, so it's a bit early to label it as a disaster

Maybe I'm not in the right circles but I haven't seen much promotion for this. Again, its battling for space with Fallout, Battlefield, CoD and Halo (which Microsoft will always push) so either they have modest expectations in mind or they're aiming to kickstart that cycle with the PC and Playstation launches.

There was literally no hype for the game once it was decided that it would be xbox exclusive for a year. I have no idea what the game is about and I haven't even seen a single trailer for it and yet Tomb Raider 2013 was #2 on my GOTY list. Fallout 4 had nothing to do with the dehype because I don't even care about Fallout 4 or Battlefield Starwars.

They are able to track excitement/interest with all their marketing research and clearly all signs pointed to the game being a big flop. What better way to hide the public's disinterest by putting it up against other major releases? By doing that you can say that sales were impacted by the other big releases. Why else would they choose to not change the release date by a few weeks?

Sony clearly knows something if they are that confident that it's going to sell fine on the PS4. I know I'll start paying attention to the game once it gets a solid PS4 release date and I'm sure many others will do the same.

I just have no idea why they would release it in the middle of November next to Fallout 4, every time companies do this I just shrug and think "What the fuck do you expect". It sucks because I really like Tomb Raider and really want to play the game but, I just picked up Fallout 4, seriously why that date.

Because Uncharted 4 was originally set to release Fall 2015, and this was Microsoft's counter to that. Guess there was some reason why they didn't (or couldn't) move Tomb Raider when Uncharted got delayed into next year?

I can only assume they considered limited sales figures out the gate till the game rereleases on PS4 right? That would only make since from the publisher's perspective. And I would assume the money Microsoft fronted to make it exclusive made up for limited sales. Because that would make sense to.

@haruko: The Sony rep is probably not wrong. I have both an Xbox One and PS4, and I'm perfectly fine waiting for it to come out on the PS4 next year. If given the choice between playing a game this year or playing it with a DS4 instead of an XO controller, I will choose the latter almost every time.

Pulling a senior executive aside and saying "hey, this might be a bad decision" is probably a good way to get fired or at least find yourself in hot water, even if he is a fucking idiot.

Releasing a console exclusive alongside Fallout, Star Wars, and Call of Duty is an inexcusably terrible idea. We're probably missing a lot of information on how release dates are decided, so I don't know how November 11, 2015 was chosen, but it's a terrible release date. February or March would have been way better.

Still, I bet it will do fine in the long run. I've seen enough mention of it for me to believe that it will sell well enough by the end of next year. Besides, as it stands, the game's going to actually have three releases - one on Xbone, one on PC, and one on PS4, all at separate times of the year, so maybe it will get the sales it deserves at some point.

Yeah that dickish tweet was uncalled for. Also I'm surprised it sold that low but maybe it might pick up some steam since received some pretty positive reviews? Isn't the PC version coming out early next year? Hope it does better.

Well to be honest if Tomb Raider HAD released on PS4 this month there'd be no way I'd buy Fallout 4. In fact the only reason I got it was to have something to play for a month even though I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it all that much.

Console exclusivity sucks, but it is what it is. Cool win for Xbox owners and a bit of a wait for Playstations people. In the long run I'm sure it will have helped Microsoft push some bundles this season, I know I was very tempted and in fact remain tempted to pick up a Tomb Raider bundle for Christmas even though it really makes no sense for me to own both systems. At least PS4 folk will get to actually play it eventually unlike something like Bloodborne that will remain exclusive, and then hopefully Crystal Dynamics can recoup the other half of the profits that will enable them to keep making these games.

i think that's all HIGHLY speculative. big games release on the same day all of the time. what did you want them to do once the fallout date was announced? it's not as easy as just calling retailers and saying hold it for another few days. marketing strategy's, and just business in general, does not work like that.

also we know the sales in one region for this game. a region, mind you, that historically heavily favours sony. this is all just hyperbole based on a fraction of data and a mean spirited tweet

I kinda wondered if Holiday 2015 was too crowded. Got to be kinda worried about Xenoblade as well... To be honest 2016 in general is already starting too look real crowded too. It's a shame that some of these titles couldn't have come out in 2013/2014 when everyone was begging for AAA titles.

Given the choice between Tomb raider or Fallout 4, I'd definitely buy Tomb Raider. But Microsoft and Square Enix didn't give me that choice.

I really do hope sales pick up, because it looks fantastic and I can't wait to play it on PC. I'd hate for a great game and great series to get ruined because one of their execs made a couple boneheaded decisions.

That's a real shame.

Unfortunately i say that as someone who did indeed buy Fallout 4 and Battlefront and am "waiting" to buy this one :p

Aren't sales numbers always super unreliable due to digital sales and whatnot? Also, I have no idea, but how useful are UK-only statistics even if they were 100% reliable? This all just seems dumb.

Awful release timing but yeah it really sucks that it isn't selling well right now. I wasn't a big fan of the first but Rise is a pretty great sequel and I've put a decent amount of time into it so far. Hopefully sales and the PC/PS4 release will do well.

Not to mention on one console whereas those other two launched for everything but the Wii U. What a poorly thought out launch window.

@sparky_buzzsaw said:

Thank you for seeing this beyond week one sales.

The way the thread title calls the sales 'appallingly bad' seems dramatic. Especially as we don't have worldwide figures. Does that include digital? As others have said, when it comes to PC it will do fine and when it comes to PS4 it will probably be a 'game of the year edition' and do fine too.

The real question is whether Microsoft believe their timed exclusivity was worth it, and they probably won't have an answer until the end of the holiday season. As crazy as it looks to us from the outside, Microsoft isn't run by lemurs in suits. Of course they knew they were putting this up against Fallout and then Battlefront and decided that they were fine with that. They announced the date at E3 this year, pretty much same time Fallout got a date. I would love to know all the ins-and-outs of the before and after stages of console exclusivity, exactly for situations like this. I just think it's way too soon to deem the game a failure.

TR2013 launched in March with little competition, and on 3 platforms. I'm sure both Square and MS accounted for releasing during the holidays on only one platform. They wouldn't have done it if it were going to hurt them. I just wonder how it's going to pay off for Microsoft. When deciding on which hardware to buy, is anyone going to think "Well XB1 does have Tomb Raider..."? It's a great game, but a system seller? I guess time will tell.

The UK actually has historically favoured xbox.

Maybe it's selling like shit now, but MS sweetened the pot for square enix to make this happen, so they did this knowing full well sales would, probably, be pretty poor. I think it will do fine as Christmas gets closer and PC/ps4 come into the equation next year.

Well, I bought it.

@twinsun: yes, only reason Xbox One has kept in the race in Europe at all is because it does relatively well in the UK in comparison. In the rest of the continent it's being outsold something like 10:1.

Who actually decided when to release this game? MS or SE? Either way, they put it out to die in such a way that could only have been intentional, surely.

@mike: And right after Halo 5, the one game that just by the promise of existing probably sold more Xbox Ones than any other game. Regardless of Halo 5 being any use or not, releasing an exclusive title so close to a release of a flagship franchise was just insane on their part.

@sparky_buzzsaw: Will it? Squeenix already made it very clear how unhappy they are with the original sales of the game and like some people speculated you'd have to think Microsofts exclusivity deal and whatever they gave for that has to be one of the main reasons the game got made? I think it'll sell well when it comes out on everything else but I don't know if it'll be enough to keep Squeenix happy about making them.

@slag: I'm worried about Xenoblade because it's a WiiU game, not because of the other games out this holiday season.

Going on what everyone who's played this game has said, I really hope this game ends up doing well 'cause it sounds fantastic. I can't fathom how they didn't just decide to push it into early December and get away from the world-swallower that is Fallout and the huge branding machine of Star Wars. That said, I have actually seen a decent amount of advertising - I'm getting almost as many ads for it on YouTube as I am for Fallout and Battlefront. I just hope that it gets its due - the upside seems to be that it has had fantastic critical reception, so maybe post-GotYs a lot of the "core" audience (who pay attention to those sorts of things) will decide to check it out and/or tell their friends.

It's a game that should've been pushed to at least January. Launching around Fallout, COD, Star Wars Battlefront, and Assassin's Creed was just too much. I suspect they did this to ensure that the PS4 version could come out holiday 2016, assuming the exclusivity deal was for 12 months. Anyway, I bought it. It's a great game and deserves to sell well. If nothing else, I hope this discourages these kinds of deals in the future, as they don't really benefit us in any way.

OK um

Sales figures from a single region, especially for the system which has almost all its marketing and indeed features restricted to the U.S. (i.e. not the region shown) seems..poor material to pass judgement on.

I mean whats the user base of X1 owners in the UK? I.E. What is its % vs in over all "It has X% of xbox 1's owned world wide) and how does its ownership compare to America in the (X% of americans own an xbox 1) vs x% of UK. How does the last games sales figures in the UK compare? Were they reflective of the sales figures for how the last tomb raider did? How about other games in that genre? How about the other games that came out that week, did they sell better or worse in the UK compared to elsewhere. How many people in the UK choose to buy the games on the X1 compared to other consoles and...

On and on and on. See what I mean? Without a bunch more facts everything being discussed here is complete speculation. This is like basing how well the overall stockmarket is doing based on a single companies over all stock for a single weekly period.