Remember when Uncharted was the scrappy underdog in a world dominated by Halo and Gears of War? No more. Sony has announced today that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End has sold over 8.7 million copies globally to date. That's a staggering figure when you consider that the title has only just enjoyed its first holiday, and will probably continue to sell well throughout the remainder of the generation.
The game was bundled heavily over the holidays, but plenty of other titles are too, and they never come close to reaching a figure like this. The release will comfortably cross the 10 million sales tally before it's even a year old, and it could easily go on to outsell historical first-party juggernauts like Gran Turismo 3. Honestly, it's hard to put into context just how frighteningly large this figure is.
Of course, it does raise a key question: can Sony let the franchise go? Naughty Dog is preparing spin-off Uncharted: The Lost Legacy for release this year, and these astounding numbers may have a little something to do with its evolution from DLC to fully-fledged standalone title. Looking forward, though, there may be some boardroom battles over whether Drake really has hung up his half-tuck for good.
Comments 43
Mental numbers!
You mean it wasn't a juggernaut before?
@DerMeister Uncharted 3 did very well, but I think the perception has always been that it's not quite in the upper-echelon of top sellers. It is now, though.
Stunning numbers, and well deserved.
@get2sammyb I suppose so. Especially globally. For that I'll admit that these figures are very impressive.
I don't know if the series itself will end. If it doesn't, I hope it doesn't involve Nate so that it won't wear out it's welcome.
Insane number.
I think it's better to retire the series now while it still hot and visit the series again in the far future, like maybe ps5 launch, rather than stubbornly make another sequel again and again and finally make people sick of it. Like halo 5 and gear 4 that sold 75% less compared to it's more popular predecessor. Sometimes it's best to let it go and focus for a new ip for a while, like the last of us 2.
I'm down for another expansion adventure with sam and sully though, just let nate rest with his family
@wiiware I think they should leave it, too. Y'know what, I think they will as well. At least for a few years.
Uncharted stopped being an underdog after 2. The second game sold very well, 3 dominated the charts, even the NPD, the month it released, hell even Golden Abyss managed to top over a mil and that was a portable spinoff from a different developer on a platform that sold piss poor. Great numbers for Uncharted 4 but nothing shocking at all. What it does more than anything is stress to highlight, especially here in North America, how much roles have reversed between Sony and MS this generation compared to last. While Sony continues to grow its brands, MS is dropping the ball on some of its biggest. Halo 5's poor sales for that series doesn't shock me but Gears 4 should've sold much better than it did considering it's a great game. There's still something MS isn't doing right compared to Sony and that's why I think Scorpio will be a brand new system and not a mid-gen refresh (that's what the One S is for), because an entirely new start is needed. If Sony plays its cards right, PS5 may not be needed until 2019 because the amount of quality games in the near and distant future is pretty staggering. Even with some that are obviously for 2018, Sony has more than enough to make 2017 a strong year.
@DLB3
I think if they're going to milk it, they should do what they're doing with Lost Legacy. Focus on some of the side characters (a younger Sully in the lead would be awesome) in a nice story expansion that a smaller team inside Naughty Dog could make while the 'A' team focuses on the next big production.
@DLB3
I agree. It ended on a perfect note, no reason to push things further. I also think Naughty Dog's best work usually happens on newer IPs. I don't mind that we're getting The Last of Us Part II but after that I hope the next game is an entirely new IP.
It doesn't deserve all these sales. Uncharted 4 is a slow paced, boring, talky game filled with dull puzzles, dull climbing and platforming. Rise of the Tomb Raider should've sold 8.5 million. that game is eminently better than the Uncharted franchise.
@DLB3
Not having the original developer behind a series can certainly hurt, won't argue that. Still, one of the main people involved with Gears of War 4 was the series co-creator, and the game showed that The Coalition clearly understands what makes the series tick. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that MS, no matter what it does, has just not been able to generate excitement like it did last gen. The Scorpio can change that if handled right. The terrible first impression left by the Xbox One reveal hurt that console and any exclusives, no matter how good, that were going to release on it. First impressions matter in this industry more than Sony, MS or Nintendo seem to think sometimes.
@MadAussieBloke that's very unfair.. it's unfair that people ignored it on XB1. and now it's not selling well on ps4. it's without a doubt a superior game in every way than the boring ass Uncharted 4. Uncharted 4 is a boring AF game.. even Ratchet and Clank is more fun. even COD IW campaign is more fun than Uncharted 4 campaign.
Incredible. Didn't Uncharted 3 do 7 million lifetime?
I still think Uncharted 4 is THE game to own a PS4 for.
No doubt it will continue to sell and become the best selling PS exclusive of all time.
I hope Nate stays retired. Give me a brand new adventure starring [BLANK] in 2021.
@portalplayer2 No.
@Fight_Teza_Fight u're wrong.. Uncharted 4 sucks. people should get Tomb Raider and RoTR instead.
"....there may be some boardroom battles over whether Drake really has hung up his half-tuck for good."
Would you leave the house when you've got J-Lo waiting for you in the bedroom? Didn't think so either...
@portalplayer2 Go and play Fez, puzzles, platforming and a great story - that games better than both!
The problem for Uncharted is it will always be compared to and looked on as a Tomb Raider knockoff so I get the comparison. But they can both coexist. They are both good games developed by great developers. But exclusivity deals on an enemy platform will always pee fans off and obviously get less coverage on this boss website.
That is quite impressive but not entirely surprising figures. I don't think anyone ever considered it to be a 'scrappy underdog' compared to other exclusives - maybe compared to the established Tomb Raider...
I really don't think we have seen the last of Uncharted at all. We may well have played Nathan Drakes last great adventure but that doesn't mean the end of the franchise - there are a few possibilities left open at the end of 4 that could take the lead or even a new cast list altogether. The standalone appeared not to feature any of the characters that you may have expected from 4's main storyline. Naughty Dog though have showed they can bring characters to life and so I am sure they could successfully bring a new cast to Uncharted. Maybe the 'Drake' lineage was a bit limiting in bringing something 'new' each time.
Tomb Raider appears to be moving in a different direction with quite a bit of RPG elements and central hubs so offers something different. Yes they may have 'similar' plots of hunting treasure and being a third person action/adventure but they are also quite different too so can co-exist.
Next up for Naughty Dog is the Last of Us (as a main game) so they have a break and time to think about where Uncharted could go in the future but I would be surprised if U4 was the last game in the franchise...
I strongly suspect we'll be seeing more of Drake and Sully. Sully found Drake when the latter was a teen so there are many years in between that could be filled up with those two - a lot of saving each others necks to build the strong bond they already had when we first meet them in first Uncharted
8.7million is a healthy amount however considering wee are now at 53million ps4s sold to me that counts as a failure overall...it should have sold twice that amount...especially as let's face it uncharted is their flagship game.
@scorpioMKD Gran Turismo 3, the best selling exclusive title sold less than 15 million with an install base of 155 million in its lifetime (attach rate <9.6 %)
Uncharted 4 8.7 million with an install base of 53.4 million (attach rate <16.3 %)
Halo 3 did ~13 million with an install base of 85.6 million (attach rate <15.2 %)
1) Not everyone plays the same games
2) Uncharted 4's been out for 7 months
3) Pretty sure Sony and Naughty Dog are laughing all the way to the bank riding this 'failure'
Awesome figures but puny in comparison to the GTA5 juggernaut! (yes I know that's multi-platform though)
@scorpioMKD You have to look at this realistically, though. Very few games make it past the 5 million mark - even multiplatform ones. The only console games that are basically guaranteed to pass the 10 million mark consistently are the likes of Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and FIFA.
As far as exclusives are concerned, Uncharted is basically top of the pile right now in terms of sales.
It still amazes me mind that with the number of consoles sold, the number isn't far greater for such a great game. Dont get me wrong, I am in no way understating what a phenomenal achievement this is because my goodness it has done well. But there is an active userbase of around fifty million people who own a ps4 and dont yet own the game. obviously uncharted wont be for everyone, but you would hope a good chunk of those plan to pick up a copy down the road
I can't get excited for numbers for a bundled game. PS4 sold 6 million over the holiday, probably 4 million of those came bundled with the fame. Plus there was a launch hundle, 1TB HDD in the UK.
I still think it would have sold well, it's a main selling point in owning a PS4, but probably about 2 million is tacked on from the holiday bundle sales.
Boy people seem to hate success don't they?
LIke it or loathe it, the game has done well considering it is the fourth game in a franchise. The game is well made, beautiful and well polished. I wish more would follow ND's example.
As for whether it is the last UC? I doubt it but I think it will or should be the last Nathan Drake adventure. The story has ended, and ended well, for that. Spin off characters though? Count me in.
@portalplayer2 Completely disagree with you. While UC4 never hit UC2's heights, and the series should definitely be put on ice, there's no question the writers know how to offer full-rounded characters, and the gunplay's been refined to within an inch of its life, while the climbing/character animation is seamless. By comparison, the story for Tomb Raider was terrible, the characters completely 2 dimensional, the animations clunky as hell and the gunplay way off. The hidden tombs weren't even remotely challenging either. The environments looked nice etc, but I was bored senseless for most of it. Plus it holds your hand the entire way through - UC4 may not have been hugely challenging, but TR signposted every climbable area with those dumb white painted walls, identical to those in the reboot. At least UC4 evolved from the previous games' predilection for yellow pipes. The route was always obvious, but that was through reading the environment, not because you saw a wall or rock in the middle of a forest illogically painted white. There are parts where you're supposedly in a tomb/city lost for hundreds of years and yet...well hot damn there's a handy white-painted wall. Terrible, lazy design.
@get2sammyb I think that's true in America but Uncharted games have outsold Halo in Europe.
For a game that's not even a year old it's staggering.
@Rob_230 It's been like this for every console, unless you have a game packed in with every system (like Wii Sports) then only a percentage of the install base will buy more games.
For lack of a better term, casuals will buy say a PS4 and they will only buy a few games a year, probably CoD, Fifa (Madden in America) and the odd exclusive.
@ShogunRok Top of the exclusives pile? Son let me show you Pokemon and how well that shot off shelves.
But seriously, well done to Uncharted. Its a shame its such a departure from the Naughty Dog games I loved though, making it a very tough sell.
Im inclined to agree with @rjejr bundles helped. Slap a game in with the brick you play it on and it makes the dull brick look nicer. Perceived value for money and all that.
to be honest, i'm a bit sceptical about those numbers, unless it has bucked the general low ratio for console digital sales. post-black friday, GfK had UK retail sales numbers at around 500K, which would make it well below the UK's typical market share for overall videogame sales.
though i suppose, the last of us did hit 11 or 12 mill, or something like that..
Have had every Playstation since PS1, still never tried any of these.
@BLP_Software of course the same could be said about almost all Nintendo evergreen titles. They generally have an an insane attach ratio over the lifetime of their consoles. Of course, with the exception of the Wii, Nintendo sells less consoles than their competitors, and even in the case of the Wii, evergreen titles were the creme of the crop considering all the shovelware that was released on it, so sample size is kind of skewed.
Concerning Uncharted 4, surely that attach rate won't hold as more folks opt for PS4 Pros, but outstanding numbers nonetheless. Though I'm also inclined to agree with @rjejr that the pack in played a big part of its success over the holidays.
Great news for game console industry. Year on year we're hearing mobile games are taking over. But here's proof that a game brilliantly produced, excellent story and acting, development crafting with passion and care can grow the community. It stuck to its core elements... lengthy campaign, same brilliant game mechanics and decent multiplayer. If a tv series like family guy or friends or big bang theory can remain popular sticking to its core values then I think games like uncharted etc should go amazingly well. Maybe halo and gears failed because they tried to reinvent the story, removed main heroes, shortened campaign to like half!! GTA, Mass effect, red dead redemption etc show us games with long campaigns and strong stories just keep us intrigued. How many of us say to one another. ... man that game had an amazing story. Word of mouth is powerful. Mobile games can't give this feature!!!
@Sir_JBizzle
Is it possible having Uncharted 4 as a pack-in helped the PS4 over the holidays though. Everybody is so quick to write off this game's sales, it's utterly pathetic. I don't care if somebody doesn't like the game, but there is definitely a want to see Sony and Naughty Dog fail. Not surprisingly, it's the same group of people that wants everybody here to kiss Nintendo's backside.
@Gamer83 where in my comment did I kiss Nintendo's back side? Or even write off Uncharted 4's sales? Did I not mention they were outstanding numbers? Did you even truly read my comment?
All I questioned really was the attach rate not holding due to the Sony selling more of the Pro in the future. I also mentioned Nintendo's extremely small install base (in comparison to their contemporaries) skewing their attach rate on evergreen titles (as its generally all Nintendo has to bank on due to abysmal 3rd party support)
As a gamer, Why would I want to see Sony or Naughty dog fail? They make some of the best games in the industry. But c'mon. Almost 7 million PS4 sold over the holidays. Insane number. Absolutely that helped Uncharted 4's numbers. That's fact. Especially when you consider that Uncharted 4 has been a pack in for while (if I'm not misremembering)
@portalplayer2 If that was true sales on both platforms would reflect that, the new TR like it or not is a Uncharted rip-off.
@Sir_JBizzle
I don't know why anybody would want to see any company fail, but there certainly is a group that comes here to downplay everything Sony does, so what other conclusion can I draw from that? To address the point, of course Uncharted 4 is helped by being a pack-in, that's the same for any game, yet when I go on Nintendo Life and people are creaming themselves over Mario Kart 8 sales (which are impressive), I don't see a single post about how being a pack-in might've helped. Whatever, I guess I just need to accept that no matter what happens there's a segment here who will find some way to spin the news into something negative. The same group would be laughing their asses off if the game sold less than a mil. Bottomline, it's pathetic, the comments on this article should be nothing but positive.
@Gamer83 so... No room for objectivity? Gotcha. Well whatever group you're talking about, I'm not a part of it. So I'm not exactly sure why I'm being attacked, (unless I just happen to be the straw that broke the camel's back)
But whatevs. I'm not here to argue, I'm just here along with everyone else to give my 2 cents, whether it's positive, negative, or neutral and will continue to do exactly that, regardless of platform.
@Sir_JBizzle
There's a difference between objectivity and negativity just for the sake of negativity. Plenty of stuff to b*tch about it regards to PlayStation, anybody who comments here frequently enough knows I've posted more than my fair share of anger in regards to some of the bs that goes on. This isn't one of those cases where there needs to be so much negativity though but I guess we just can't give credit where it's due unless it happens to be a Nintendo exclusive. Seems to be the case at every website I visit.
@Gamer83
Although linear, story-driven adventures aren't exactly my cup of tea, I thought Uncharted 4 was a pretty good one. Happy to see it succeed.
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