Dead or Alive 6 Ships 350,000 Units Worldwide - Sales

Eh, this actually isn't that surprising if it doesn't include free copies redeemed. The free to play version was leaked by Microsoft shortly after the game released. It sort of makes sense then that if this doesn't count free copies that it would be so low. Team Ninja seems to want to make a profit off a GaaS model and not the actual game itself.

What free version?

@SuperRetroTurbe DoA6 Core Fighters, it is the base game but only 4 characters unlocked and you have to earn or pay for story tokens, you can just play one of the free characters all day long if you want.

What free version?

What free version?

What free version?

Idk why it posted multiple times but @Fury...yeah ok. That's what I thought but wasn't sure.

@AngryLittleAlchemist I doubt that, seeing as Shimbori stepped down as the game's director not that long ago. Clearly brought on by the game's performance. Plus, this was prior to the leak of Core Fighters too. 350,000 units worldwide, including Japan, is really disappointing. Not to mention that DOAX3S surpassed it in preorders too, so aye, I think it's due to backtracking and censorship.

Ok, I'm confused if you're saying the CEO stepped down before Core Fighters, or if you're saying that this report is about the games performance before the free edition was leaked. Both are wrong. In fact, the free edition of this game released like two weeks before March 31st, not only that but Core Fighters was leaked January 10th and was confirmed by the game's director January 30th. Even when it comes to pre-orders, this version was leaked two months before the game came out. This isn't even mentioning that free to play models are well known for DoA. I'm not saying bad marketing has nothing to do with it, but I really don't think what you're arguing negates the fact that, if these are sold copies, there's a valid reason for these copies sold to be as small as they are - alongside what possible marketing blunders there were.

Yes, we knew that Core Fighters was coming, but not two weeks after the launch of the game.

https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2019/04/dead-or-alive-6-only-moved-350000-copies-in-first-month-40-fewer-units-than-dead-or-alive-5/82998/

Yes, we knew that Core Fighters was coming, but not two weeks after the game's launch. A few months, maybe a year down the line, sure, but not so soon. It was clearly brought forward so quickly because of the disappointing performance of the full game. I mean, shit, DOA5's F2P version came a year after the complete game launched. There's a new article on the One Angry Gamer site that covers all this too.

Honestly, looking back on this discussion I'm not sure what you're even arguing at this point though. Because all I said was that the shipment numbers weren't surprising if they only included non-free copies, and that it sort of makes sense especially when you look at the fact that the game has a free version (again assuming this is only non-free versions) and the game puts monetization models for profit earnings over the games' sales itself. You replied that you "doubt that" but didn't explain what you're doubting. Just because I'm saying these sales are not surprising doesn't mean I'm saying that they fit with Koei Tecmo's expectations (though I honestly doubt they expected too much more, there was no reason to think a niche series like this would expand, niche series expand when they have big marketing pushes and this had no such thing).

I'm not saying it isn't because of marketing or inconsistent statements made by the developers. But I simply don't find these sales surprising, I honestly don't see why it shouldn't be expected that a series that was always niche got worse sales when it finally releases a sequel 7 years later .... 7 years later ... most big franchises would already lose momentum at that point.

I also feel like the importance of monetization models shouldn't be underplayed. If you're going to put as much emphasis on models like microtransactions as DOA has - you're going to focus on pushing that more than just regular game sales. These sales are still mediocre and probably disappointing, but let's be real, it's not like they are putting all their resources to marketing the game itself. A large portion of where they want their revenue to come from is outside just the games sales but repeated purchases. People are much more sensitive to bad monetization models now then they were in 2012.

Frankly, One Angry Gamer is a pretty bad site and most of their articles I've read are poorly written so I'm not really sure why i'd take their word. Even if they had great points to make about the game they suffer from confirmation bias, they basically try to chalk up any games failings on it being too SJW.

Hey, man. You replied to me. I said my piece with my first comment. The negative press caused by Shimbori's backtracking did a number on the game. One Angry Gamer might be an absolute shitshow of a site, but that article sums all of this up perfectly. When you censor and tone down a series like DOA, which made it's name through wacky and sexual content, you turn your back on the core audience and hardcore fans who made the series a success. And that's why shit like this happens. DOAX3 outperforms DOA6 on Steam all the time as well.


"You replied that you "doubt that" but didn't explain what you're doubting." I doubt that they didn't want to make a profit off the full-priced game.

Oh don't get me wrong I'm not mad or offended lol I'm just asking because I realized that your reply to me was actually pretty vague and I don't think I even disagree with you necessarily I just don't think it's just that.

I also think they expected more, although I'm not sure if the game was profitable or not. Keep in mind there's a difference between being disappointed in sales and those sales not turning a profit. I just think that there are a lot of factors that sort of make this conclusion logical and it wasn't too unexpected. I think I somewhat agree with your conclusion, I just don't think the sjw thing was the only factor, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was overplayed. The games actual content is pretty raunchy iirc anyways.