Don't have the exact numbers but software sales were wayyy down last month. The Sims 4 debuted at number 8 on the top 10. That's pretty bad considering how old Minecraft is. Sims 4 barely made a dent. The Sims 4, the sequel to one of the best selling pc games of all time. And it barely cracked the top 10 of its debut month. So...are The Sims in trouble?



More sales data found here:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=913741

Keep in mind, that this only represents PHYSICAL copies. I believe MOST people purchased a digital copy (I don't personally know anyone IRL that purchased a physical copy.)

Hmm, maybe. But Sims also has a casual audience that tends to purchase physical. Also, I'm sure there's tons of digital sales of Destiny, FIFA, Madden, and Smash Brothers as well, and they still topped it. Being number 8 still isn't good news for EA.

If Sims 4 did well, EA would have been cheerleading the figures just as they did with previous games. They couldn't stop gushing about Sims 3 selling over a million in its first week. They haven't said a peep about sales but instead we've been hearing a lot from the Guru's doing damage control on their forums and asking for input.

Oh, I'm not saying that I disagree that sales for TS4 are lack-luster, just that a lot of those games up there aren't available on PC, so physical sales are going to be higher for those.

Yep. Not even a peep from EA or a press release on sale figures.

Sims 4 bombed or sold below expectations.

It may be bad when compared to Sims games in the past, but top ten is not bad at all. Game sales have been low, as most places and you yourself noted, and, as others pointed out, that's only for physical copies of the game sold. Downloaded versions are on the rise. I keep wondering when we will get some definitive data or if we ever will at all.

So, I'd agree with your statement that the sales were probably below what was expected, but it's not a bomb either.

I hope this doesn't mean they'll give up on the Sims franchise and not release updates or rights to it either.

It's not a flop, so why would they? I think we all get the best out of this: It seems to be enough for EPs and a TS5 but it's not enough to make them think they can pull such a stunt again. Well done!

But really, it isn't all that good as a sequel to what it was. I don't think I have seen one single player who says it's *better* than what they had. The best comments seem to be "it's still a load of fun anyway"

It's tons better than TS3, Inge. For people like me who couldn't stand TS3.

sad part is most people torrent the sims games >.< I personally bought the digital basic O.o I was trying to google to find digital sales... but found nothing... Also keep in mind! most simmers put so much work into sims 3 (which I wish I had bought! the mods are amazing!) Right now with sims 4 limited mods other then recolors...it might just not appeal to them ^_^

Maybe, I can see that, but strictly speaking you'd expect it to be an improvement technically on *all* its predecessors.

Hey, have we met?

I'm PhoenixFire88 and I have said on many occasions and will continue to say so that Sims 4 is WORLDS better than Sims 3 and that I like the graphics better than the Sims 2 ones.

Please refrain from absolutes, points of view different from your own might be valid.

Vg Chartz says it has sold 836,241 copies globally, up to the week of October 4th which is the most recent thing they have. They list this as the first 5 weeks of sales of the game. There is no other PC game which is anywhere close to this.

I would think that EA would consider this to be a success; it's possible to go back and look at sales for Sims3 EP's, and those numbers are appalling in comparison.

http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly/41917/Global/

On that sales list, I can see more than a fair few newly hyped games. Destiny was probably one of this years most major games, and don't forget sales were across four different consoles (last gen PS3 and XB360, this gen PS4 and XBONE). Madden, NFL, NHL? Yearly sports games that tend to do well and, again, multiple systems. Smash Bros, highly wanted, Nintendo first-party title, always going to sell well.

But yes, the main sticking point is sales of Minecraft on the PS3 and 360. 360 version was released in May 2012, PS3 December 2013. Almost a year to a year and a half of buying opportunity, and it still kicks TS4 to 8th place. That is the one that makes me wonder. Considering it only counts physical sales, odds are inclusion of digital sales would have pushed it higher, but by how much?

It's much better than what I had, which was Sims3 with all the EPs; also Sims2 with all the earliest EPs is what I had before that (which is a game I certainly will never play again).
I simply prefer Sims4 is all, it has some "charm" or "liveliness" on the sims themselves which is completely lacking in Sims3. Sims 4 sims are closer to a pixel representation of humans, whereas the previous games have pixel representations of cardboard cutout dolls or pixel representations of barbie dolls.

My takeaway from your post, Shimrod, is that not everyone is on the same page as to whether Sims 4 is better, worse, or the same as the previous installments. So, if we're looking for a reason sales may not be as high as hoped or expected for a Sims game, we may have to stretch some of our thinking. I propose (and don't really know, of course) that the fan base is getting fractured in what they want and like with each new generation of games. And what some will see as a step backwards, others will not.

Did you notice "I don't think I have seen" on my post? It was fairly obvious I was speaking about comments I personally have seen. Since seeing your post I will obviously not be able to say that again. Thank you for adding to my experience.

I am still waiting on numbers from EA/Origin before I can come to a conclusion. Strange nothing is posted so far.

Sorry was trying to qutoe Buffy and it didn't really work.

However you must been hiding under a rock if my post was the first in that matter you have ever seen. There are many, many people with that opinion here and in other forums (and no, I'm not talking about the official ones)

This sounds terrifying. Let's hope that EA won't kill The Sims' franchise

phoenixfire888, please stay on the topic of the thread rather than commenting on Inge's living conditions (attempt at humour). I agree it can sometimes be hard to find positive comments about TS4 on this site, however as you state, there are other forums. Now back on topic please.

I really hope this doesn't dent their spirits and break focus. I really think there are too many people that STILL haven't played, with too much to say about it. Potential buyers hear this crap and they scram. I'll admit when my wife first installed the game and got started, I was very snarky and skeptical about it and all the things that didn't make the game. As a LONG time player of every version before this one, I expected many things to vanish and I was right. But my assumption that those missing things would destroy my enjoyment was very wrong. Trade-offs were made and IMHO, it ends up being very entertaining after all. I'm definitely all-in with this game, and I wish a lot of the bad hype actually came from playing experience instead of what seems to be non-player holdouts echoing the same bad rumors they've been fed since day 1 before a lot of it was proven wrong.

TLDR: More copies will be sold once the detractors actually PLAY it.

The Sims has a strange place in the video game world. It's the 5th biggest selling franchise of all time yet it's hardly talked about outside of sites like this. Sounds like to me that the series has a large casual fanbase that are only aware of a game's existence by what they see on store shelves. Same thing with sports games - don't hear a peep of them on the web (well, from what I see anyway) but sell big every year.

Still, that doesn't really explain the low sales. Perhaps because of its shambolic marketing? I bet EA were counting on people to buy the game in droves on name alone. Hopefully those figures will be a slap in the face to get it together - and from the uncharacteristic generosity of the patches, it looks like it's working.