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How many sold - 7/9/2002 9:05:07 PM   
MarkS

 

Posts: 30
Joined: 6/4/2002
Status: offline 		Are there any numbers out there on the number of UV units that have been sold.
I'm just wondering how big the serious wargamer neighborhood is.
How many units must be sold to make these guys a profit, and urge them to keep making these EXCELLENT games.

BZ Matrix
Post #: 1
- 7/10/2002 12:18:45 AM   
jhdeerslayer


Posts: 1194
Joined: 5/25/2002
From: Michigan
Status: offline 		My experience with this is that companies do not release this info for competitive reasons.

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 2
re - 7/10/2002 1:02:05 AM   
MarkS

 

Posts: 30
Joined: 6/4/2002
Status: offline 		Not looking for exact numbers.
Are we talking hundreds, thousands, ten thousands......

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 3
- 7/10/2002 1:22:05 AM   
jhdeerslayer


Posts: 1194
Joined: 5/25/2002
From: Michigan
Status: offline 		I've seen some people make estimates based on members on a forum like this and speculate that maybe only 10% of the players out there actually use the forum but that 10% is probably debatable also.... Couldn't find a member count for UV alone on this site but didn't look too hard. :rolleyes:

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 4
- 7/10/2002 3:45:44 AM   
Spooky


Posts: 816
Joined: 4/1/2002
From: Froggy Land
Status: offline 		Well

The only info we have is that the first printing of UV copies has now been sold (even if some international dealers must still have some copies).

But we don't know the size of this first printing :( (probably between 1.000 & 2.500 copies - maybe more ?)

According to some other posts, we can assume that to be considered as a success by Matrix/2by3, UV must sell at least 10.000 copies.

Spooky

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 5
- 7/10/2002 3:49:16 AM   
dgaad

 

Posts: 864
Joined: 7/25/2001
From: Hockeytown
Status: offline 		According to recent estimate, over 24 billion copies of UV have been sold.

No, wait, I meant McDonald's hamburgers. Sorry.

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(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 6
re: burgers - 7/10/2002 4:10:21 AM   
USSMaine

 

Posts: 213
Joined: 12/23/2001
From: Maine (USA)
Status: offline 		24 billion burgers sold -

12 billion eaten -

4 million digested..........

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Post #: 7
Re: re: burgers - 7/10/2002 4:25:46 AM   
dgaad

 

Posts: 864
Joined: 7/25/2001
From: Hockeytown
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by USSMaine
[B]24 billion burgers sold -

12 billion eaten -

4 million digested.......... [/B][/QUOTE]

1 million regurgitated.

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Post #: 8
- 7/10/2002 5:02:51 AM   
siRkid


Posts: 6650
Joined: 1/29/2002
From: Orland FL
Status: offline 		Are the sales meeting , exciding or below expectations?

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Post #: 9
- 7/10/2002 6:02:34 AM   
bobarossa

 

Posts: 262
Joined: 6/11/2002
From: Columbus, Ohio USA
Status: offline 		Just before the game came out, someone at Matrix made a comment about how many games were pre-ordered during that brief $5 off offer. I think it was around a thousand. Maybe it is still in the archives somewhere.

Bob

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Post #: 10
- 7/10/2002 6:35:43 AM   
Didz


Posts: 728
Joined: 10/2/2001
From: UK
Status: offline 		Whilst it would be interesting to know how many copies of UV were sold it would hardly be an accurate reflection of the total size of the serious wargaming market.

UV will only appeal to those players with an interest in WWII Naval conflicts and a boardgaming background.

There is an much larger market of ex-tabletop Napoleonic wargamers whose interests have yet to be catered for by the computer gaming industry.

Not to mention the fact that such a game would draw in a huge new influx of new recruits who whilst not interested in turn based games would be attracted to a more dynamic wargame system.

The nearest the indsutry has come so far was with the Shogun Total War game whilst was a huge success despite its the fact that it was dealing with a period which does not have a huge following.

A lot of games have come close LGAA and 1813 being recent examples but nobody has quite got it right yet.

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Didz
Fortis balore et armis

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Post #: 11
- 7/10/2002 6:54:16 AM   
U2


Posts: 3332
Joined: 7/17/2001
From: Västerås,Sweden
Status: offline 		Hi

I have some faint memory of the first batch being 10 000 units. So if they must restock I guess its going fairly well. Not sure about the 10k but that number has been with me for some time or perhaps that was the goal.
Dan

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Post #: 12
- 7/10/2002 9:59:39 AM   
rdcotton

 

Posts: 18
Joined: 7/10/2002
From: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Status: offline 		Does anyone know when the next batch will ship?
I've placed my order but it's on backorder.

Ray

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 13
- 7/10/2002 1:08:21 PM   
Didz


Posts: 728
Joined: 10/2/2001
From: UK
Status: offline 		I'm curious what the cost of developing a game like UV is and how many sales have to be made in order to break even.

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Didz
Fortis balore et armis

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Post #: 14
- 7/10/2002 3:13:03 PM   
1089

 

Posts: 210
Joined: 7/4/2001
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by Didz
[B]I'm curious what the cost of developing a game like UV is and how many sales have to be made in order to break even. [/B][/QUOTE]

I seem to recall that someone posted that 5000 was the breakeven point, and I thought that seemed a little low. I think 10,000 was viewed as a successful game. I think they're going to do way better than that.

kp
:)

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The Earth is but a hollow nougat, reverberating with the sounds of the big bands... :cool:

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Post #: 15
- 7/10/2002 8:30:25 PM   
Paul Vebber


Posts: 11430
Joined: 3/29/2000
From: Portsmouth RI
Status: offline 		There are a number of reasons for keeping mum on sales figures.

One is of course competitive. Releasing numbers tends to invite inflated figures from competitiors and things like "retail equivalent" sales some folks have quoted and basically nobody knows "ground truth" anyway. It tends to get out of hand.

Another is the "self fulfilling prophesy" where a game off to a slow start dies becasue "if sales are that low it must be a lousy game". Again inviting sales inflation.

I think there is also an elemnet of pride in companies in general not wanting to admit that sales tend to be rather low.

There are retail data collectors that collect sales figures from retail. and I've seen those over teh last several years, and something like 2/3 of what we would consider "warames" sold under 1000 copies - though many were well past their prime.

Only a handful surpass the "10,000" barrier that has equated generally with "success" and only a handful in the history of computer wargaming have broken 50k. Generally you need in the range of 1000-2500 to "break even" though that depnds greatly on what your definition of "break even" is... TO fully recoup the time invested at a "market rate" takes 10's of thousands sold, to simply recoup the physical cost of a CD and packaging probably less than 1000, but if you factor in maintaining the website and all the business expenses, you probably need to be at the upper part of that breakeven range "on average". But that basically doesn't "make you any money" just allows you keep the business end in the black, at those sales figures the folks actually making the game are "working fro free". "Making a living" rates mean sales well into 5 figures. COmbat Mission is probably the only game that is bordering on that realm in the past few years.

As to how UV is doing, we obviously hope to breach the 10k barrier and go higher, but have a long way yo go to get there. Sales have been in line with our expectations, if perhaps a bit on the low side, but there are good days and bad days. The trend so far seems to be "a good thing".

From watching patch downloads one can get a general feel within +/- a factor of 2-3. Though for UV "auto patching" doesn't count so the patch figures there are only those that manually download it.

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 16
- 7/11/2002 12:30:08 AM   
Didz


Posts: 728
Joined: 10/2/2001
From: UK
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1089
[B]

I seem to recall that someone posted that 5000 was the breakeven point, and I thought that seemed a little low. I think 10,000 was viewed as a successful game. I think they're going to do way better than that.

kp
:) [/B][/QUOTE]

That would have to make the cost of development pretty low. 5000 at £40 a go is only £200K gross revenue.

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Didz
Fortis balore et armis

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Post #: 17
- 7/11/2002 12:57:07 AM   
Sonny

 

Posts: 2008
Joined: 4/3/2002
Status: offline 		Paul,

Thanks for the info. It is always nice to hear how things are going even if we don't get hard data, just as a curiosity.

Hope you exceed expectations and WitP also does well so the (real) strategy gaming industry keeps on putiing out interesting games.

I've been talking UV up to people I know but it is somewhat of a niche game. Maybe WitP will appeal to a broader range of strategists.

Keep makin' 'em and we'll keep buying them - even if we are a somewhat small market.:)

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 18
- 7/11/2002 1:01:38 AM   
dgaad

 

Posts: 864
Joined: 7/25/2001
From: Hockeytown
Status: offline 		It would seem to me that MOST owners of UV are in fact auto-patching. I know I am.

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Last time I checked, the forums were messed up. ;)

(in reply to MarkS)
Post #: 19
- 7/11/2002 6:03:14 AM   
1089

 

Posts: 210
Joined: 7/4/2001
From: Portland, OR
Status: offline 		[QUOTE]Originally posted by dgaad
[B]It would seem to me that MOST owners of UV are in fact auto-patching. I know I am. [/B][/QUOTE]

I actually went out and bought a new car. I got tired of patching the old one. ;)

kp

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The Earth is but a hollow nougat, reverberating with the sounds of the big bands... :cool:

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Post #: 20
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