Last month saw the release of two should-be blockbuster games from Microsoft and Sony respectively. Each abbreviated as GoW; the latest Gears and God of War are prequels and the fourth main entries in their respective series. Both have silly subtitles, and both have failed to live up to retail expectations.
According to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz, both games have sold rather poorly – unable to match the success of their predecessors, both critically and commercially.
“War, What Is It Good For? Not Much,” the analyst mused. “We had expected sales trends to improve in March due to a strong core lineup. However, while some titles appear to have done well, including Square Enix’ ‘Tomb Raider’ (est. 696K console units in 33 days) and Take-Two’s ‘Bioshock Infinite’ (est. 665K console units in 10 days), two historically strong franchises appear to have significantly underperformed.
“We estimate Microsoft’s ‘Gears of War: Judgment’ sold just 425K units, vs. first month sales of over 2MM for ‘Gears of War 3’ in September 2011, and we estimate Sony’s ‘God of War: Ascension’ sold just 360K units, vs. first month sales of over 1.1MM for ‘God of War 3’ in March 2010. Both titles received fairly mediocre reviews.”
That’s quite a stark contrast in sales figures – but I can’t say I’m particularly surprised. while both Gears of War 3 and God of War 3 served as finales to a trilogy, their follow-ups just felt wholly unnecessary, telling stories that didn’t need to be told – and came across as pointless cash-ins.
Are any of you fans of either series who’ve skipped over the latest games? If so, why?
Last Updated: April 17, 2013
OVG
April 17, 2013 at 09:09
But what they dont tell you is thanks to all the milking of old engines and IP they still made a profit lol
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 17, 2013 at 09:18
You know what the world has forgotten and in dire need of? BLACKTHORNE!!!!
Skyblue
April 17, 2013 at 11:23
First level password QP7R (Sega 32X version anyway) 😉
Admiral Chief Erwin
April 17, 2013 at 11:33
Last level password…..
NOT GONNA GIVE YA, play the game!
(or google, :P)
matthurstrsa
April 17, 2013 at 13:18
Kickstart that!
Purple_Dragon
April 17, 2013 at 09:24
God of War Ascension was a pretty good game but it was missing something, a spark or something. You also had the feeling that you had seen all this before. It didn’t really bring anything new to the series.
I thought it would have been better to maybe have a modern god of war or something like that.
Rincethis: Spellalicious
April 17, 2013 at 09:33
I must say I loved the Gears of War series. I had a blast being a chuck of meat able to hold a gun and a 4-word-sentence together. But I didn’t need ANOTHER. I am sure I’ll get it in the bargain bin…
Brett Gunter
April 17, 2013 at 09:33
HUGE gears fan, but I certainly did skip out on Judgement. Why? I always felt the game was meant to be a TRILOGY! No more after that! And I refused to be part of the cash cow this round.
On a personal note, I also was somewhat uninspired by the ending of it all. I know it was never going to be what I’d hoped for (I wanted the humans to lose the war), but it felt a bit too much of a cop out.
Anon A Mouse
April 17, 2013 at 09:42
Skipped God of War. GoW3 was already long in the tooth and started to feel forced. Might still get it when it’s in the bargain bin. That being said, l always buy games when they start going under the R300 mark but some (Like Syndicate) I wait for truly bargain bin prices before I buy, this might just be one of them.
Eetcarr
April 17, 2013 at 09:43
Is an 80 & 79 on metacritic considered mediocre? Hectic
matthurstrsa
April 17, 2013 at 13:18
85 tends to be the minimum these days for great game. Standards are very high.
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
April 17, 2013 at 13:23
I think that has more to do with the scale being fundamentally broken, than standards.
matthurstrsa
April 17, 2013 at 13:26
I agree with you, I meant people’s standards are high in terms of review scores, thus referring to 79 and 80 as mediocre.
OVG
April 17, 2013 at 10:11
on-line multi-player cash cows.
FoxOneZA - The Chosen One
April 17, 2013 at 10:18
The marketing budget is inversely proportional to the quality of the game.
OVG
April 17, 2013 at 10:23
Roger that 🙂
umar bastra
April 17, 2013 at 10:11
was a fan of god of war but there too many other, more original games that interested me and God of War was just becoming too stale for me
FoxOneZA - The Chosen One
April 17, 2013 at 10:17
Let’s hope MS and Sony drop these titles in the forthcoming generation. GEARS, like the original Halo will never be forgotten for setting the graphics bar this generation and making a B-Grade story AAA.
The next-gen is going to look pretty but will graphics drive the sales of such mediocre games forward?
eXpZA
April 17, 2013 at 10:55
“their follow-ups just felt wholly unnecessary, telling stories that didn’t need to be told” Jeez you’ve nailed it spot on. Let them rest in glory.
Wtf101
April 17, 2013 at 10:56
I skipped Gears 4 cause I did not want to play the same game for the fourth time. Oh, I do not mind replaying a game. I have played Mass Effect 2 at least five times now. But Bioware don’t charge me R600.00 a pop if I click Start New Game.
With Gears I get a new cover, a new disc, a new dent in my bank account. But it is the exact same game as the previous ones. Snakes in the grass, alas.
Skyblue
April 17, 2013 at 11:25
LOL! I also found myself having serious deja-vu while playing the sequels to Gears, always felt a bit too “samey”. God of War was better in that respect but I have no interest in the new title.
Ultimo_Cleric_N7
April 17, 2013 at 10:57
God of War was AMAZING…violent but great. But GoW 3 served as a good finale for the series. While it left the door open for a sequel, I feel that the story should have ended there. Prequels always are an anti climax after a great trilogy.
Tbone187
April 17, 2013 at 11:10
Overkill settling in…All that’s left now is a spin off instead: GOD of Peace…
Jonah Cash
April 17, 2013 at 14:44
Played the first 3 gears!! Skipped this one, cause I wanted to play Tomb Raider!! Will get it when it starts hitting the R300 – R350 price tag…..
SilverMantis69
April 18, 2013 at 07:52
I love both Gears & GOW but I refuse to fork out close to R700.00 for a game that might only be as long as 10 hours.