Namco Bandai has revealed its first quarterly financial report, sadly showing the disappointing sales of their latest update of the Soulcalibur series. On the 30th June, Soulcalibur V's sales were reported to be standing at 1.38 million copies. Soulcalibur IV accumulated 2.3 million sales in eight months, a million more units than Soulcalibur V, though bear in mind it has only been on sale for six months.
Overall, Namco Bandai netted 13.8 billion yen (roughly £113 million) from software sales during the first financial quarter and 108 billion yen (£894 million) in total from sales their toy retailing and arcade sectors. This equated to a profit of 45 billion yen (£370 million), which is 31% higher than the first quarter of 2011.
Soulcalibur V received some great reviews; we credited Namco Bandai's latest fighter with an excellent score of 8/10, commenting that the gameplay "shines as brightly as the holy blade the game is named after" and that there had never been a better time for series newcomers to join the Soulcalibur party.
What will this mean for Soulcalibur VI? Only time — and hopefully more sales — will tell.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 9
i'll be honest, I didn't even know they released this game until I went into my gamestop, accidently seen a glimpse of the game and it on for $19.99 I might still get it, I LOVE Soul Calibur!!!
Why wasn't there a demo? SC4 had one
I thought SC IV was the last game. I did not even know this existed.
The comments say all that needs to be said on this subject!
Wow, I thought it would have done better. It's a really fun game!
It was alright, but the game seemed very nerfed in comparison to its predecessors. The character creator was fantastic though
Random reasons off the top of my head 4 sold better than 5 -
4 was the first "next gen" ed. on PS3 so a big improvement over 3 on the PS2
4 had Star Wars characters so all the fanbois bought it
4 had less competition in the fighting genre, 5 had Mortal Combat
4 had better marketing?
4 had a better release window?
4 had a better price/ pre-order bonus/ add-ons/ etc. ?
Not sure if all of the above are wrong or right, just saying there are lots of reasons off the top of my head why 4 sold better than 5, none of which have anything to do with game quality.
For someone who's been playing since the game was called Soul Edge in the arcade, I can tell you at least my own opinion why the game didn't do as well:
Soul Calibur has always had a very technical and defensive-focused gameplay. It was designed in such a way to simulate weapon-combat, with parries, blocks, and deflections that rewarded quick timing, smart attacks, and less button mashing.
However, in SCV, they decided to implement the ideas from the newest Mortal Kombat, and added super abilities with a charging meter. That's fine, but they also ruthlessly punished blocking, and required parries to use that same meter. Essentially, they reward always attacking, but there is no corresponding reward for blocking, so the fights must always be about attacking, instead of quick reflexes and good timing.
Add to that a neutered (and pointless) story mode, the removal of a number of classic characters (Where the hell is Seong Mina?), and all the pieces come together to show how to quickly make a game unattractive to your older fanbase, while at the same time too alien to attract new fans.
V is ok, I just did not enjoy has much. Not the biggest Soul Caliber fan anyways.
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