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Uncharted: A Sales History - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 16 May 2012 / 49,922 Views

Welcome to this week’s edition of “A Sales History.” This week we will be taking a look at the sales history of the Uncharted franchise developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Last week we looked at sales history of Gears of War and the week before that God of War. If there is a particular franchise (no matter how obscure) you want to see the sales history for, requests are always welcome.

The Uncharted franchise is a third person shooter that is currently a Sony exclusive. The three main games in the series have been released on the PlayStation 3, with one released as a launch title for the PlayStation Vita. It is also the biggest exclusive franchise that was first released on the PlayStation 3.

Sales Overview

Uncharted A Sales History Total Sales Graph

While it may not look it, the graph above does show the Uncharted franchise has seen steady sales. Uncharted: Golden Abyss is on the PlayStation Vita, which has a tiny install base compared to the PlayStation 3 which is what the other games are available for. The numbers are total sales and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has only been out for 27 week, compared to two and a half and four and a half years for the other games. To see sales for the equal time frames look below. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has sold 1.35 million units more than the original, which shows that the franchise has increased in popularity.

Uncharted A Sales History Total Sales Chart

In the chart above, the Uncharted franchise has achieved lifetime to date sales of 14.59 million. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is currently selling more than the previous two games. It sold 29,341 units in the most recent week, while Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune sold 4,268 units and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves sold 8,646 units. If it continues to outsell the second game on an average of 20,000 units a week, it will take about 68 weeks to pass it, an average of 15,000 a week about 90 weeks to outsell it, and an overage of 10,000 a week about 136 weeks to outsell it. Even with the current generation in its twilight years, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception will most likely pass Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to become the bestselling Uncharted game.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss was released as a launch title for the PlayStation Vita and has sold 555,321 units to date. It is also the bestselling Vita game to date. 28 percent of Vita’s owners have bought Golden Abyss, compared to the nine percent of PlayStation 3 owners who have purchased Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Weekly Sales

Uncharted A Sales History Weekly Sales

Looking at the weekly sales of the three games shows a distinct pattern. Each game has outsold the first week sales of the previous game in the series. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune sold just 30,215 units in its first week. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves sold 876,089 units in its first week. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception first week sales outsold the previous game by 55 percent, with sales of 1,359,289.

The gap between the three games has shrunk since their opening week, meaning that the games get more frontloaded which is in line with the increased user base of the PlayStation 3. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has sold 4,234,075 units to date, which is 27 weeks. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves sold 3,257,900 units in its first 27 weeks and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune sold 1,498,097 nits. It took Uncharted 2: Among Thieves sold 3,257,900 61 weeks to reach the same number of units sold.

Predictions for Future Releases

There is currently no other Uncharted game announced; however with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception 3 just released last November and each game in the series released two years apart, another game won’t be released until Holiday 2013 at the earliest. Current rumors put the release of the next generation PlayStation during the same time frame, so it could mean it will be a launch title. If that is true, it would mean opening week sales ranging from 200,000 to 300,000 depending upon how many consoles Sony is able to ship. Lifetime sales should be in line with the rest of the franchise, again it depends on how well the console sells.

Naughty Dog could decide to wait until there are more consoles sold like with the first Uncharted which was released in the PlayStation 3’s second holiday. There were 6.01 million PlayStation 3’s sold at the time it was released. If the next Uncharted game is released one year after the next generation releases, opening week sales of the game should be somewhere between the first game and the second game, due to the franchises growth in popularity. First week sales would most likely be around 500,000.

Likewise the next Uncharted could be released on the PlayStation 3 if Sony decides to wait beyond 2013 to releases their next generation home console. That would most likely put opening week sales between the second and third game and lifetime sales. That would put the opening week around the one million mark. Lifetime sales depend on when Sony releases their next generation home console. If it’s released one year after the next Uncharted that could cut lifetime sales short to 4 – 4.5 million, otherwise it will most likely sell around five million.

Contact VGChartz at wdangelo@vgchartz.com


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23 Comments
VGKing (on 16 May 2012)

I hope they save Uncharted 4 for the PS4.
It would definitely make me and many other people, early adopters.

  • +6
shanbcn (on 16 May 2012)

UC series has already shipped 17.32 as of April 12, 2012. So must likely breakdown shipped figure is. UC2 shipped 6m, while both UC1&UC3 5m. Rest of it for UC:GA.

  • +6
SnakeDrake (on 16 May 2012)

Sony hit gold on with this franchise

  • +4
thewastedyouth (on 16 May 2012)

AWESOME, I love looking at how games sell

you guys should do Metal Gear Solid, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell

lots of games and I want to see how they have done as years have passed

  • +2
Marks (on 20 May 2012)

Great franchise, well deserving of every sale. I would love to see both Uncharted 2 and 3 go hit 6 million sales!

  • +1
torok (on 17 May 2012)

Amazing franchise, got Uncharted 3 yesterday.

  • +1
Iveyboi (on 17 May 2012)

Gears and Uncharted did it for gamers this gen and the sales reflect that...

  • +1
binary solo (on 17 May 2012)

I would think launch PS4 in March and have Uncharted 4 ready to go for the first holidays. Get a few million install base, and give the Holidays a game to really drive sales.

  • +1
Squall_Leonhart (on 16 May 2012)

I would love to see the Final Fantasy games or Ratchet & Clank games :-D

  • +1
Sal.Paradise (on 16 May 2012)

Your sales are off by a wide margin, vgchartz people, an ND member confirmed that the series has sold 17.3 million via twitter.
Nevertheless, nice article.

  • +1
Aj_habfan Sal.Paradise (on 16 May 2012)

Shipped. I imagine spread across 5 games there will be lots on shelves. The 5th game being the combo pack of Uncharted 1 + 2, that isn't even being tracked by vgchartz. I imagine if you added those sales the vgchartz number would be pushing 15M.

  • -1
Aj_habfan Sal.Paradise (on 16 May 2012)

I also believe an Uncharted Trilogy was released in Europe, but can't confirm that.

  • 0
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duckypwns Sal.Paradise (on 21 May 2012)

Hm. Interesting take on the scenario at hand, AJ. Yes. Very interesting.

  • +1
cusman (on 17 May 2012)

I am all for U4 going on PS4, but I am not really done with PS3. I don't feel it needs an update like I feel toward my Wii while I eagerly await the Wii U.

  • 0
snowy4manutd (on 17 May 2012)

Totally agree should keep 4 for ps4, the last of us should be naughty dogs final crowning glory on ps3.

  • 0
yum123 (on 17 May 2012)

a full final fantasy one would be great

  • 0
Spedfrom (on 19 May 2012)

That is currently a Sony exclusive? Currently? And when will it ever stop being a Sony exclusive? Would you say Mario is currently a Nintendo exclusive?

  • -1
Mr Puggsly (on 17 May 2012)

More like A Bundle History. Am I right?

  • -5
Mr Puggsly (on 17 May 2012)

More like A Bundle History. Am I right?

  • -5
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