Doom for Switch Sells an Estimated 81,000 Units First Week at Retail - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 January 2018 / 20,458 Views

The first-person shooter from publisher Bethesda Softworks and developer id Software - Doom - sold 80,897 units first week at retail on the Nintendo Switch, according to our estimates. First week sales can be viewed on the VGChartz Global Weekly Chart for the week ending November 11.

Breaking down the sales by region, the game sold best in the US with 47,364 units sold (59%), compared to 21,877 units sold in Europe (27%). Looking more closely at Europe, the game sold an estimated 3,564 units in the UK, 4,851 units in Germany, and 5,301 units in France.

To compare, Doom sold 455,607 units in its first week on the PlayStation 4 and 205,127 units on the Xbox One. The PlayStation 4 version has sold 2.26 million units to date, while the Xbox One version has sold 1.10 million units.

Doom released for the Nintendo Switch worldwide on November 10, 2017. It also released worldwide on May 13, 2016 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

38 Comments

xMetroid (on 02 January 2018)

It is really not bad at all the game is probably passed 100k with the digital sales. Let's see if the second week is good since the game was well receive it might have good legs. It's still a port of a 1 year old game that sold 1.1 million copies on a 30 million install base, so almost 100k first week for a 60$ year old port with less marketing on a smaller install base is good.

Flilix (on 02 January 2018)

80k isn't too bad. It will sell at least a few hundreds of thousands lifetime, and Skyrim will definitely be over a million.

Ultravolt (on 02 January 2018)

They're not amazing numbers, but when you take into account the fact the Switch is still new, and installed base is not as high as the others, it ain't that bad. I could see the port selling close to or over 100,000 by the end of December, really. At my local Wal-Mart, it was sold out during the week before Christmas, so i'm still optimistic.

Flilix Ultravolt (on 02 January 2018)

100,000? You mean in the US alone?

Gemmol31 Ultravolt (on 02 January 2018)

you saying from November 10 2017 to right now in January 1st 2018, it will only sell 100,000..........remember this article is telling you the first week sales that happen in november, and I bet its much higher than 100k you claim

Ultravolt Ultravolt (on 02 January 2018)

Oops, I didn't fully realize they're only first week sales. In that case, i'd definitely expect it to be more. Also, I didn't take into account the digital sales.

curl-6 (on 02 January 2018)

Black Ops on Wii opened at 89k and went on to sell over a million; Doom's first week is likely over that including digital.

StuOhQ curl-6 (on 02 January 2018)

It should honestly have better legs than the PS4/XBO versions, since there is less direct competition FPS-wise. Payday 2 won't be out until February. I wouldn't be surprised it it's north of 500k WW by then.

StuOhQ curl-6 (on 02 January 2018)

After a moment of reflection, 500k seems absurd. It will absolutely be over 300k by that point when you factor in digital. It was on the top 10 US eShop charts for about a month, and does seem to need re-supply at my local stores (the same cannot be said of many Switch titles).

bowserthedog (on 02 January 2018)

Not bad at all considering the install base for the Switch at the time of release. I consider this game a success if and when it surpasses 300k sold on Switch. Its just that port cost they need to make up for.

KLAMarine (on 02 January 2018)

At first this looked low but I was expecting higher numbers for PS4 and X1.

Seriously disappointing because the SP is great! In an age of a focus on MP, I hope Doom with a focus on SP begins to see higher numbers moving forward.

KLAMarine KLAMarine (on 02 January 2018)

Buy Doom people! Whatever platform you own, buy this game. It's a good game!

Ganoncrotch KLAMarine (on 02 January 2018)

Already did and can attest to this message, the single player campaign is fantastic. Think I'm heading towards the final stages now on the Switch but still a ton more content to enjoy in that game. 21 blood gigs of it on the little Switch!

Gamer147 (on 02 January 2018)

Not bad. Hopefully it gets over 250k sales. I think Skyrim will have great numbers and Bethesda will continue to do business with Nintendo.

bowserthedog (on 02 January 2018)

Junojun (on 03 January 2018)

This was released on Nov 10 and the data is from the week of Nov 11. So 80,000 in just 2 days is not bad when all else is considered.

itsyounghavok (on 03 January 2018)

So this is 81k in just 1 day? That's pretty damn good on an install base of under 10 million at the time. I cant wait to hear something official from Bethesda on the sales of this and Skyrim, both of which I purchased on the day of release.

luisliu (on 02 January 2018)

80k is very good under these circumstances. Switch could definitely be a legitimate platform alternative for every single multiplatform game thanks to its ability to provide portability with plausible compromise. I think it will ultimately come down to the willingness of 3rd party to optimize their games with increasing system requirements to a platform with lower specs. As a PS4 and PC gamer, the only thing holding me back from purchasing a Switch is the fact that I don't have enough time to play on a third platform. With third party support coupled with strong appeal of exclusive titles, Switch could hit the right note and gain the status of primary gaming platform for many gamers.

KeithC1990 (on 03 January 2018)

This is a tough one to judge, the sales look low, and I actually think that it won't have that much legs to it considering how quick it dropped from the Eshop charts, and physical UK sales charts.

Either way it released within very close proximity to LA Noire, Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Fire Emblem Warriors and Super Mario Odyssey.

Azzanation (on 03 January 2018)

Maybe its a digital success?...

zippy (on 03 January 2018)

This would have cost peanuts to port, as all the assets are there and the Switch supports multiple scaleable engines. Also since release the Switch install base has gone up by the millions so its probably around or over 150k with digital sales.

SmokedHostage (on 02 January 2018)

Dang. I'd expected it to have legs though.

potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

Stuart23 potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

The Wii U multiplats had waaaay worse openings than that,and they had way worse legs than the average Switch third. This is a respectable opening.

Flilix potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

You have to consider that this game isn't that popular on other consoles either. Also, the Switch is still in its first year, so it will have decent legs.

potato_hamster potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

ZombiU Opened at 91K first week, and went on to sell a million+ for what that's worth. There was no ZombiU 2. They started a prototype but quickly cancelled it because Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that the Wii U-exclusive original was "not even close" to turning a profit and "there are no plans (or even desire) for a sequel."'

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-31-ubisofts-cancelled-zombiu-2-would-have-featured-co-op

This might be "okay for a Nintendo" console, but we haven't seen many third party developers take Nintendo consoles as serious development platforms for over a decade because "okay for Nintendo" frankly isn't good enough. You need to remember, third parties are all about maximizing their return on investment. The Switch as a platform needs to prove itself as an investment that's just as profitable as the PS4 or Xbox One, not as a platform where third parties do barely better than break even.

Perhaps because Doom is a port of a game rather than an original title, it's production costs might have been lower than a game like ZombiU and it might be much closer to turning a profit, or it might have made a profit already. Or, maybe the people at iD software are kicking themselves for not using the resources they used to make this to make DLC for Doom on the PS4/XB1/PC instead.

Look man, I have a Switch. I want third party games to do well. This is not doing well.

-7

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Ganoncrotch potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

You also do realize that this is "at retail" right? Considering the game was firmly stuck in the top 5-10 on both US and EU eshops for a good month after launch I'm sure Bethesda are well happy with this.

Also you are comparing a Exclusive which sold 91k copies at launch on a system with no digital downloads at the time, with a port to a system based around those, also not to mention that this is almost €5m Gross from retail alone of a port which sells for in the region of €10 on other platforms, even with a very modest suggestion of 20% more sales digitally that would be €6m Gross, compare that to PS4 selling the game for €10 it would need to make over half a million sales to equal this amount of gross revenue.

Stuart23 potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

You are comparing apples to oranges. ZombiU was an exclusive,this is a 1 year old port being sold at full price. First of all there is a huge difference of porting a game to build a game from the ground,ZombiU did had a bad launch for an exclusive and a new game,but this is neither a exclusive or a new game,investments were much lower (Also it is not counting digital on Doom,it probably above 100k including digital). If you reeeally want to compare to Wii U games,go check it out the multiplats. Go see how long it took for those to reach 80k.

Second of all, when we talk about late ports,there is no "rush" about getting a game like this day one. Legs should speak louder like they are woth the other Switch third parties, you will see a similar trend on Skyrim, it will have a slight better launch but not amazing,but it will keep holding. I sustain what I said,legs on Switch are way better than on Wii U.

Also Doom did not sold gangbusters on PS4/Xone. It is obvious it would have sold less on Switch being a late port so this is a realistic opening. I am not defending because it is "good opening for Nintendo",I am defending because it is a respectable opening when you take all the things into consideration.

And third

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potato_hamster potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

Counter point: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Somehow that sold 350K first week on PS4, after being out on XB1 and PC and selling for a fraction of the $60 price point it was selling on PS4, and it actually went on to sell better than it did on the XB1 even with the year head start, and that was a former multi-platform game that many people vowed to never buy because SEmade the deal with MS.

Yes, I know the install base on PS4 was much higher than the Switch is, but the Switch also has a very limited library at this point. It's one of the only FPS games available on the system.

Slice it however way you want, these numbers aren't great. These numbers show that the Switch might be where third party games go to die, just like the Wii and Wii U before it. I really hope it's not the case, but people need to be supporting these games more than they're doing so if they want third party developers to take their limited resources and pour them into making Switch games in the future.

-5

Stuart23 potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

I will maintain what I said: this is not a bad opening. I am not saying anywhere that this is amazing but it is also not an disaster. Rise of Tomb Raider is an exception of that rule because it was part of that weird exclusivity deal,but late ports are NOT froantloaded, again,the legs should speak higher than the opening like they are currently being with most Switch titles. Also, I am not worried about thirds on Wii U when pretty much every third supporting the system besides EA and Activision(That both just had 1 game really) already came out to say how great their games are selling on the system with a few already increasing their support. Switch is no Wii U,people are buying the games and software sales are much healthier than it was back in Wii U's first year. Wait how this game will perform next few weeks before getting all pessimistic.

Liquid_faction potato_hamster (on 02 January 2018)

I agree with this, I don't understand why this has so many down votes when its a valid criticism. What people don't understand is that when a company makes a game for a console, if it doesn't sell well regardless of circumstance, they're less likely to support it. This is exactly what happened with Mass Effect 3, Watchdogs, Black Ops II on the Wii U. Those games came out a year before on other platforms, so why would you buy it again for the Wii U? The publishers didn't care that there was 20 others ways you could play the game outside of the Wii U, all they saw was that it didn't sell the way they wanted to, and that lead them to stop supporting the Wii U.