LittleBigPlanet sales continue to disappoint
LittleBigPlanet may be Sony's new flagship game for the PlayStation 3, but sales aren't what they might have hoped.
According to new figures released by the NPD group, which gathers sales figures from stores throughout the US, the game has struggled to make a major impact on the market this year despite Sony's marketing campaign and Q4 release slot.
In the US in fact the game, which Sony has adopted as the public face of the PlayStation 3, sold only 205,000 copies when it was released in October. That figure was then expected to raise as Christmas got closer, especially considering that the game was recalled shortly after release, but sales actually dropped sharply.
In November the game sold just 141,000 copies in the US, dropping out of the Top 20 completely according to a sales report on Gamasutra.
In the UK meanwhile sales have been a little better, with the game recently getting a 58 percent sales boost and rising from 29th to 16th in the Top 20 All Formats chart, but every title above it is either a Wii, Xbox 360 or PC release.
LittleBigPlanet is still an awesome game however and you can read more about it in out full LBP review, but it seems that people just aren't interested in a non-violent and original IP this Christmas. That's a trend that might also explain the poor sales for Mirror's Edge.
Have you played the game? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums Reply...don't have the foggiest what this game is about (based on the TV and print advertisements)
Maybe as a Gamer I'm not the target audience though.
I'll have to read your review, hadn't seen it.
Conclude from that what you will (in game : dress up your character, paint stickers on things etc)... Hmmm. A great platformer but with too much a hint of Barbie perhaps ?
I always though the installed base for Wii/xbox/pc is a lot larger respectively than that for PS3. How would anyone expect a PS3 game to outsell the others then?
(The game does look awesome, but that's certainly no reason to buy a PS3 if I don't have one)
Also I only one ONE person who actually has LBP (a woman, incidentally!).
Sorry Sony.
That was more than a few years ago...I remember it when I bought my first PC running Windows 3.1. Epic times.
And one of the faults is that it's exclusive. I recall saying to the missus the other night, that if it was on the 360, i'd be tempted to give it a crack, but I can't justify buying a PS3 for a game that might turn out to be good.
Because it was a very major release and those kind of releases are expected to sell bucket loads. This was a game that almost every PS3 owner was expected to buy, which would have stomped the other games sales, even if it's on the PS3.
You're right, Ben, about the platform though. If it was a Wii game, it would have done much better.
Agreed I wouldnt want it if I had a PS3, why would I want to spend all my time making levels? Why would that attract normal consumers as well? They want to pick up and play not faff about, so I wouldnt say it gets any market.
Still isnt a killer game on the PS3 yet.
which shows that PS3 games in general dont sell well, or PS3s for that matter
bundle in a cheap controller or two i'd buy it asap
The adverts ive seen on TV a rubbish imo 'hi im blah blah creator of the janice planet, you start in her frozen heart and die' WTF ok so being able to build pretty much what you like is a core part of the game but there must be a better way to market it than that!
Its a shame because from what ive seen/played its a great game, and its a refreshing break from all the majority of drivvle on the ps3.
I'm waiting for the ad "This is my planet. It took me 56 hours to make, and lets face it, its still a little bit pants"
Why is it all of a sudden everyone cares about the casual market? They have never really supported sony like us hardcore gamers... so why are they kissing there ass?
There are (potentially) millions more of them than there are of us. If Sony can successfully turn non-gamers into casual gamers, they'll be rolling in money, like Nintendo. And once that happens, you can bet that they'll forget the hardcore market even exists. Like Nintendo.
And for comments about 360 games selling better, that may be true, but the margin isn't that huge in the long run. 3 million copies of Assassin's Creed for PS3 sold next to 5 million given the user base difference is great on both fronts. DMC4 sold better on PS3. CoD4 is inching on 4 million on PS3 so far, seriously you guys are blowing things way out of proportion.
I would have thought the PC was the ideal system for LBP, what with the number of dedicated modders out there on PC. Most Wii players might buy it for the platforming and try some simple decoration, but I can't see a lot of them putting in the hours to make a great level.
Maybe if the platforming game were released on Wii and the level editor were released on PC, with levels downloadable on the Wii, it would all come together.
Difference is Sony had pinned hopes on LBP shifting boxes not just copies of the game, MS has halo and the fact that its cheap to do that. I don't disagree, the sales are fine for just another game but this was going to be the new face of the PS3, if Super Mario sold to this level Ninty would be disappointed.
As for the Wii.. Two points here :
1) The game would have to dumbed down (probably 2D rather than 3D) to work ok on the Wii. And who knows how the wacky controller would end up working.
2) 3rd party titles on the Wii still have a habit of not selling anyway.
... my wife's sister is a perfect example. She bought a Wii for the 'kids'. The most complex game they have played is carnival funfair (shovel ware at its very best). The kids dont even respond when the LBP adverts have been on TV. Go figure.
3) Why would anyone in their right mind make an exclusive game nowadays ? Its a sure fire way to reduce your own sales by a massive proportion if you target the console that has sold the least overall !
i agree with previous commenters saying this game hasn't been marketed well. the ads are hilarious, but they don't sell the game. you see the ad, then laugh and forget what it was for. both serious and casual gamers like sidescrolling platformers, and this is a very good one, but the ads all seem to purposely hide the genre. why not tell people what it is? i haven't seen a single ad for LBP that gives any indication of the gameplay.
In the past year of watching TV i've seen maybe 5 or 6 PS3 commercials. About 3 or 4 of them for MGS4. Thats in the past 12 months! Just 6 commercials!
But even still, LBP has been selling good anyways.
Sales up to Dec 06
They certainly made me excited about the game.
As supertoad said, the ads don't really indicate what the game is all about. Whilst they depict that it could be fun, it's not exactly selling itself.
Are you kidding? The original PlayStation was the first casual console since the old Ataris. It was the advent of style over substance gaming and marketing, except few people seemed to notice because most of it was in 3D and therefore 'better' and "Ooh, shiny". They weren't splashing the name and logo everywhere to appeal to the traditional market. The PlayStation name was seen in as widely divergent areas then as Red Bull is now, trying to bring in the outsiders by tempting them with a brand. The PlayStation 2 may have been more "hardcore" (for want of a better term) but only because Sony then had a brand which had a loyal audience and it could therefore afford to pursue the rest of the market.
The game is fun without doing any of that, biggest problem is the piss poor advertising, if this was on wii or 360 MS and Ninty would of marketed the **** out of it with clever ads etc, Sony needs to hire the same ad companies as theres is bollox.
Its a class title, OK, personally I don't think it deserves all its hype if you take the creation side out of it but the fact it make the missus piss her pants etc, its worth it.
I have to say though I reckon some of these companies/analysts need to take a good look at the market, just because it hasn't done 2 mill in a week doesn't make it poor, i'm sure MM will do OK if it only does 500k by Christmas and another 500k next year.
http://www.charttrack.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/archive/index_test.jsp&ct=110032&arch=t&lyr=2008&year=2008&week=50
LBP is the #1 selling game so far on the PS3 itself in the UK for the same week.
http://www.charttrack.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/archive/index_test.jsp&ct=110031&arch=t&lyr=2008&year=2008&week=50
NeoGAF link.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=345549
- Publicity. I see myself as an avid gamer and I kept hearing the game mentioned before release. But frankly, I had no idea what it was, nor was I even interested in buying something that had the main character look like a sack doll, until I saw it on a BBC programme. People I know who end up buying this all got interested from word-of-mouth, or have actually played it.
- It's a kind of game you won't stay up all night to finish, but it's also the sort of stuff that you'll keep returning to when in the mood. The laid-back style of gameplay obviously doesn't make this the perfect "hard-selling" title.
- PS3 exclusive. If this were for the PC, i can imagine the sort of sales it'll get. Not many people own a PS3 because it's expensive, and most people who do are more into action and sports games. As for the Japanese market, it's RPGs (and not puzzle-based platform games) that usually top the charts.
But should Sony sweat? I don't know, but if sales of PS3 improves, Little Big Planet might still be a winner for its long-term appeal. And one thing I guess Sony never expected: was playing this with my little niece and she absolutely loves the freestyle approach to the game. Might turn out to be a good title for parents to play with their young kids, but then again, how many families own a PS3?
i don't think anybody's saying that. and if they are they're stupid and can safely be ignored.
The other night while playing Socom, there was 2 guys on my team and we were talking about how Socom is the only game we really play except one of the guys says that the only other one thats good is LBP, and I said ya thats an awesome game. The third guy says, isnt that for little kids and stuff? Then we go on to tell him how amazing it is and it not just for kdis and stuff. He sounded interested.
Alot of people have absolutely no clue what the game is about. But I do think alot of people buying new console will see the game and pick it up because of that. They arent sure what it is, but it looks cool with the Sackboy on the cover.
hmmm wait... it's a console exclusive... Whats the excuse now?..
The success of a game is not down to how good it is, it's down to how good people think it will be. For the purpose of this discussion, those of us who haven't played it have far more valid opinions than someone who has, as your biased by your own experience. It may be a great game, but too many people don't know this, or even understand what the game is. If or when the right target audience latch onto the game, it may well shift millions, but for a game Sony hoped would hit the top of the all-format list and stay there for weeks on end, it's been a sour dissapointment.
Amen. There's a huge difference between a game that deserves to be at the top of the charts because of quality and the games that do reach the top because of good marketing. It's why games like Beyond Good and Evil and Planescape: Torment didn't do to well. With Beyond especially the game was't marketed at all and came at an odd time of year. It is a phenomenal game, but it missed the market and looked like a kids game so people thought it was some pappy Ubisoft rubbish. In reality it was anything but.
Thankfully, the game got a strong following among the journalists and critics who loved it and saw continued coverage over the following years, becoming a cult hit and finally getting a sequel. Maybe the same thing will happen with LBP.
It's definitely challenging. I'm still stuck on the Bunker level on the big turny-wheel-o-death(tm) - always gets me on the very last bit. Some of the online levels are cool. I'm coming up with some good ideas now, I've just got to think of a way to string them together into a playable level.
Even if both consoles could handle the game, it more than likely would've sold horrible on 360 b/c 360 owners have proven they don't want titles like LBP. Hell, look at Banjo Kazooie or Viva Piñata sales. They want the typical shooter, RPG or racer. I honestly don't believe it would've sold well on Wii either. Take BoomBlox for example: it sold horrid compared to what it should have considering it was a game that ALL Wii owners would enjoy.
LBP is selling bad b/c either
A) People are too lazy to either learn about it, thus not understanding why the game is worth the purchase
B) Sony's marketing wasn't good enough for TV adverts (I thought their PSN trailers were great though) C) The global economy is crap and people aren't willing to shell out $60 for an original IP (that may not be what they want)
or D) PS3's user base didn't want a game like LBP, they wanted another typical, expected shooter/racer/adventurer/etc.
Garry's Mod WINS.
I wish the same thing would have happened with Psychonauts. That was such a great experience on the Xbox but sold poorly due to bad marketting. The game was top notch, especially as a platformer, and the dark humor was icing on the cake.
Psychonauts was good and imaginative, but flawed as a game in a few places. Regardless, nothing stops Tim Schafer and we still have his Brutal Legend to look forward to.
It can be anything you want it to be ;)
TV advertising campaign is absolutely **** over here, if I saw it and didn't know much/anything about LBP, it would look completely uninteresting to me.
End of the day, Sony has to ask how many people are willing to pay hundreds for a PS3 just so they can play Little Big Planet. A few friends of mine who loved the game after trying it won't go out there and buy a PS3 just because of this. I think any one with a clear mind won't, not in these lean times.
Moreover, I might like Little Big Planet's gameplay, but how many other games for the PS3 belong to this genre? No one wants to end up buying an expensive console for just one game or two. Titles like GTA will sell because it's the sort of games most PS3 owners are weaned on.
There's already word that Little Big Planet might be ported to the PSP. Makes more sense, but Sony marketing should've seen that coming long ago.
the LBP hype was one of the reasons i chose to buy a PS3 over an xbox this november.
True, but the number of people still on the edge this late on is quite small. If that's what they were going for they should have done it before BioShock, Orange Box, Halo 3, Gears of War 2, etc all launched on the Xbox 360 with a lead on the PS3.
This is a truly fun game. Much better than playing far cry 2 and shooing someone in the head and they dont die...
there is just something about grabbing onto my friend and dragging him into a fire pit. That and working together to get something done, or racing to finish a level. Its just fun.