Shenmue 3 Sales

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I get that the Chinese market for single player games is very small and we shouldn’t hope for much in terms of sales, but I do wonder why they’ve spent so much time courting China if they’re not expecting a return on their efforts. I feel like Yu Suzuki really is spending a lot of time courting investors and investments and there may be a lot more going on behind the scenes that will ensure a continued flow of Shenmue games... How many times now have they gone over there to promote this game? Seems like a lot of effort for not a lot of sales
 
mjqjazzbar said:
I get that the Chinese market for single player games is very small and we shouldn’t hope for much in terms of sales, but I do wonder why they’ve spent so much time courting China if they’re not expecting a return on their efforts. I feel like Yu Suzuki really is spending a lot of time courting investors and investments and there may be a lot more going on behind the scenes that will ensure a continued flow of Shenmue games... How many times now have they gone over there to promote this game? Seems like a lot of effort for not a lot of sales
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China market for home console has finally opened up this gen. Prior to that, yeah mostly was PC stuff. China Hero project is basically been Sony's attempt at marketing and helping Chinese developed games for consoles.

I imagine these two games will eventually make its way to consoles not just PC, since their previous titles are on PS4:

These two series alone are big in China.
 
Budgiecat said:
China market for home console has finally opened up this gen. Prior to that, yeah mostly was PC stuff. China Hero project is basically been Sony's attempt at marketing and helping Chinese developed games for consoles.

I imagine these two games will eventually make its way to consoles not just PC, since their previous titles are on PS4:

These two series alone are big in China.
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Those 2 are big in China and China alone and both are historically PC games. Even though the console market has grown since a few years ago it is still quite miniscule. It's a shame too because I'd love to see their RPGs like the examples you gave above get more English releases. The ones that have gotten localized have been very poor with broken English. Hopefully China can come through for Shenmue but I have my doubts.
 
currypowder84 said:
Those 2 are big in China and China alone and both are historically PC games. Even though the console market has grown since a few years ago it is still quite miniscule. It's a shame too because I'd love to see their RPGs like the examples you gave above get more English releases. The ones that have gotten localized have been very poor with broken English. Hopefully China can come through for Shenmue but I have my doubts.
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Yeah thats my biggest gripes for them: the poor English translations. Even when they make sense, the dialogue comes off very flat and stiff. The other problem is the complete lack of marketing. I have both previous titles on my PS4 though.
Graphically the newest entries being made for both look really impressive but its going to take improvements on both of those issues: translation and marketing, in order to win over the West. Even fans of Japanese games in the West seem to despise anything Chinese made, not to mention the whole anti Chinese political climate going on in the West so it'll be a tough climb (for the West).

However, my post was aimed at China market. If these two series are huge in China, and China has been promoting console sales ever since the ban lift, then it stands to reason they have a better chance at helping boost the console scene in China. Just like how FF VII helped boost Sony's PS1 console back in the West in the 90's.
 
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anyway the retail situation of Shenmue 3 is quite weird, at least in Italy: on Amazon.it it's sold out again. I went to a couple of big generic stores (those that sell computer, videogames, tv and so on) and asked. They said they never received the game. The distributor didn't have enough copies and sent them to only a few stores. Then I contacted two videogame shops, and I was told that they could receive only a few copies and absolutely zero collector's editions. I wonder what does this all mean? Maybe Koch media didn't have trust un the Italian market? Or maybe they want to push digital sales only? I mean... finding a retail copy of Shenmue 3 here is getting quite difficult. If Amazon does not replenish their stock soon, I wouldn't know where to buy the copies I want to give as Christmas gifts to my friends on Christmas :(:( and in general, a situation like this in the weeks before Christmas is really silly...
 
Budgiecat said:
Yeah thats my biggest gripes for them: the poor English translations. Even when they make sense, the dialogue comes off very flat and stiff. The other problem is the complete lack of marketing. I have both previous titles on my PS4 though.
Graphically the newest entries being made for both look really impressive but its going to take improvements on both of those issues: translation and marketing, in order to win over the West. Even fans of Japanese games in the West seem to despise anything Chinese made, not to mention the whole anti Chinese political climate going on in the West so it'll be a tough climb (for the West).

However, my post was aimed at China market. If these two series are huge in China, and China has been promoting console sales ever since the ban lift, then it stands to reason they have a better chance at helping boost the console scene in China. Just like how FF VII helped boost Sony's PS1 console back in the West in the 90's.
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Yea I hope they do localization for Sword and Fairy 7 and XYS 7. The last installments were not good so hope the next ones are good.

Hope the Chinese themes and local can draw in some sales for Shenmue in China. Yu Suzuki has been doing good promotion for it there.
 
It bombed in the UK no other way to put it. No stock issues but straight out the top 40.

Hopefully not the end of the series but should never have been exclusive and shouldn't have signed with Epic.
 
The Wolf King said:
It bombed in the UK no other way to put it. No stock issues but straight out the top 40.

Hopefully not the end of the series but should never have been exclusive and shouldn't have signed with Epic.
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Not saying the Epic decision was right or not but we don't know the full details around the deal.

Shenmue 3 has been top 3 seller on the Epic store since it released, so that's something.
 
Budgiecat said:
Do you think it woulda been a top 3 selling on Steam?
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Hard to say, steam has way more in their catalog obviously. Also with Halo MCC just releasing, I would guess it wouldn't have.

They also get a bigger cut from the Epic store, so you kind of see why so many developers make that decision.
 
currypowder84 said:
Hard to say, steam has way more in their catalog obviously. Also with Halo MCC just releasing, I would guess it wouldn't have.
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Yeah thats kinda what I figured.

Still, it'd be interesting to know just how many people actually use EGS compared to Steam.
And so if we know that, then we can maybe surmise how much it'd have done on Steam despite those other titles being its competition.
Like, yeah you got more games meaning more for competition, but then you have a bigger install base overall too...

They also get a bigger cut from the Epic store, so you kind of see why so many developers make that decision.
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Yeah I know

The extra 3 million didnt hurt either :sneaky:
 
Well, we know that at least a hundred million people use the EGS because they are Fortnite PC players. That's some number...
 
I don't know all the details of the Epic deal and can't explore an alternate universe where the game launched on Steam and blah blah blah... But I will say that I think a lot of the online opposition to the game is rooted in the Epic deal. I feel like there's a lot more people that would've been open to giving the game a shot if not for that deal, even among people that were just going to play on PS4 anyways. I feel it would've been a lot easier to sell on word of mouth, generate SOME level of hype, etc if that whole ordeal never happened.

Just my hunch, not claiming to know anything with certainty.
 
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It’s also the usual Xbox vs PS4 shit, which is why people keep mocking Sony’s 2015 E3.
 
Dietsoap said:
I don't know all the details of the Epic deal and can't explore an alternate universe where the game launched on Steam and blah blah blah... But I will say that I think a lot of the online opposition to the game is rooted in the Epic deal. I feel like there's a lot more people that would've been open to giving the game a shot if not for that deal, even among people that were just going to play on PS4 anyways. I feel it would've been a lot easier sell on worth of mouth, generate SOME level of hype, etc if that whole ordeal never happened.

Just my hunch, not claiming to know anything with certainty.
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I'll say this, the Epic deal contributed to an already shaky PR campaign. It gave ammunition. Now personally I couldn't give a monkeys what store front it's on and the majority of the noise was from a vocal few.

However it was bad press that came onto of the 2017 reveal and its added up, so our backs have been against the wall.

You raise an interesting point though. It's tough to make a definitive call on it. If sales are as good as #3 on epic then it could have justified the deal. I say if as I'm not sure how often their charts update.

We just have to wait and see.
 
Gjb1985 said:
People need to stop pointing to digital sales. If it's 17th in uk physical charts, it's not going to be magically 2nd in digital charts.
That's not how it works at all.
You seriously waited for that? Mine rook two weeks, but I pre ordered the collectors edition of course.
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Yeah but I was on vacation so by the time I got home I had recieved it
 
The Wolf King said:
Hopefully not the end of the series but should never have been exclusive and shouldn't have signed with Epic.
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Unfortunately it was always going to be exclusive, especially once Microsoft turned them down to put it on Xbox. Of course more platforms = more sales but Sony came in and gave support (maybe not as much as they should have long term) to get things off the ground.
 
Honestly considering all the marketing mistakes that were made during development I wouldn't have blamed SONY if they didn't want to cover it at all.
 
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