Found this over at our friends at Sporeum. GigaOM figures that the chances that Spore will sell well aren't that big. I think the guy didn't do his research properly. There are easily a 100 Spore fansites in just about any language you can think of which to me is always a good indication of how popular a game will be. He does have a point in this paragraph though:
The Sims sold 3.2 million copies in the US, and about as much worldwide, but if I were to guess, Spore will ultimately sell far below those numbers– somewhere between Black and White7, Peter Molyneux’s similarly-ambitious (and quirky) god game (530,000 units sold in America) and Wright’s Sim City 3000 Unlimited (1.1 million copies sold). Let’s say 750,000 units. Which would make it a giant bestseller, to be sure, but certainly not the savior of the company’s market valuation that Probst imagines it to be. Whether those numbers would financially justify the game’s 7 year production cycle or the tens of millions spent during that time, or the millions spent by EA to promote it, is hard to say, as well.
I'm no expert but I would say that Spore -will- outsell Sim City 3000, but it will not outsell The Sims. Some 1.5 million copies perhaps? That is double what the author of the article estimates BUT - and this is where he has a point - it also may not be enough for the game to be really profitable.
Time will tell I guess. The full article can be found at GigaOM.
November 9th, 2006 by Falconer - 15 Comments - Share it!
Dafool - November 9th, 2006 - 15:06
Well, for once Ea is going to be helping Spore. When the time rolls around expect EA to advertising their buts off for it. And we all know that good advertising can make or break a game.
Techleo - November 9th, 2006 - 18:06 I suspect spore will produce a huge amount of hype once its released. The game is very very easy to advertise in my opinion. Well in anycase most of the people I know who game plan on getting spore. I see it selling at least 1 million copies. Not quite as many as The Sims though.
- November 10th, 2006 - 05:41
Yeah, i dont think it will beat the sims, but i think it will do alot better than sim city 3000...
Everyone i have mentioned the game to has ended up totally bewildered by the concept and in need of more info. As soon as this thing goes gold im pritty sure it will take off like a personally designed saucer....
Stri - November 10th, 2006 - 13:42
Spore may be a 'word of mouth' game. If it plays to the same extent that it is innovative then word of mouth may carry it.
I also think sometimes games don't sell well initially but over times people look back and realize just what a ground breaking and fun idea it is. Spore may be a game which sells more in later seasons. Either way it's got my cash even though I've not the PC to play it on yet. Which is why I'm all the more eager to see the system specification as soon as possible.
onedeath7 - November 17th, 2006 - 06:05
Everyone I talk to wants spore.
Hot_Head - November 17th, 2006 - 23:37
Of course Spore will sell...
I'm buying it
Lyndy1962 - November 24th, 2006 - 16:44
I don't think that spore was ever suppose to be a "best seller". From my understanding of it, the game was intended to research for a new game engine. Not for the sake of itself but for future game models. I think the idea to actually release the game to the public was something that happened only recently within the last year and half. Granted they are putting alot of money into the development of the game and probably more than they originally had planned. However, If they are able to create a working program that cuts cost by 75% on all future games, then they can actually lose money on Spore and still be way ahead.
- January 18th, 2007 - 19:22
I think spore will be as popular as the sims but not more popular. What excites me about spore is that is is the start of having games with alot more content. Although they havent really advertised spore. I just found out about spore a month ago. I actually was told about it from somone online.
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I suspect spore will produce a huge amount of hype once its released. The game is very very easy to advertise in my opinion. Well in anycase most of the people I know who game plan on getting spore. I see it selling at least 1 million copies.
