Astro Bot has Outperformed 'Basically Every New 3D Platform Game' Besides Mario in Europe - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 November 2024 / 3,508 Views
Astro Bot debuted in fourth place on the European charts for the month of September. This was enough for the launch to be 34 percent higher than 2022's Sonic Frontiers, 52 percent higher than 2020's Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, and 7.5 percent higher than 2021's Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
The head of GamesIndustry Christopher Dring via Twitter stated launch sales for Astro Bot are better than pretty much all non-Mario platformers in the last 10 years in Europe.
"Astro Bot has done better than basically every new 3D platform game in the last 10 years (Mario aside)," said Dring. "Its true success won't be known for years, but it's had a strong start for the genre."
Dring added he is not allowed to share exact figures due to an agreement with the trade badies, but he does have access to them.
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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Crash 4 sold over 5M, right?
If Astro Bot also crosses 5M that's a big win IMO
What I donāt understand is why platformers donāt sell better? Mario is the biggest name in gaming, yet not even he can bring the genre to the highs of shooters, RPGs, Action-Adventure, etc. Games always review well and sell for cheapā¦it doesnāt make sense. (In any case, Iām happy for Astroās success. :) )
Trends. Platformers were the shooters of the 80's and 90's, but not anymore. Still, they're doing pretty well overall.
Yeah I think platformers just worked better, in general, in 2D. Outside of Mario they've never had the same kind of audience in 3D. Meanwhile 3D opened up whole new genres that became popular. Lots of platformers out there these days, but there's a reason why most of them are retro style indie games.
Same thing happened with fighting games. 2D fighting games were all the rage in the 90s, while the mechanics of 3D fighting games just don't have the same appeal. So within a few years, after the novelty of 3D fighters wore off, the genre basically collapsed, and today Smash Bros, played on a 2D plane, is basically the only huge fighting series, and even that is because it's more of a multiplayer party game than the one vs one combo-fests that fighting games were back in the 90s.
Tekken remains popular. It sells better than Street Fighter and has large casual and competitive playerbases. Other traditional 3D fighters unfortunately collapsed or failed to grow, which is a problem plaguing many Japanese games. Western games took over the industry.
Arena 3D fighters like Dragon Ball Xenoverse and now Sparking Zero are big too.
Making a new 3D fighting game is a risk that isn't an already tried and tested format it seems. Smash Bros might be one of the biggest but even it hasn't had a new series entry for 6 years. SF and Tekken have both remained strong, and Arc seem to churn a banger of a fighting game out every few years but they seem like master in their craft for the most part.
You can see Capcom testing the waters with all these collections but I do not think we'll get a new Star Gladiator or Rival Schools from it. I think Tekken and Licenced gamed games is all we will have now in terms of 3d fighting for a while.
The shift in gaming mentality and probably not building a large audience for them outside of Nintendo platforms. Sony probably could build that up (again?) with some effort, but its Sony so....Last of Us remaster joke goes here.
Many people just consider the gameplay loop repetitive and unfun. Mario has a emotional value for many because it was among the first game they played
It's a genre that kinda peaked already. We have an entire generation of gamers who never played platformers and are simply not interested in them. I tried to make my BF play Astro (he plays mostly shooters, RPGs and strategy games) and he got bored after 30 minutes
Personally, I'll be fine if I never play another platformer in my lifetime. They do not hold my attention and rarely do they engage my imagination. Most of them are simply about memorizing patterns, which you repeat over and over until you get it right. That style of gaming is not for me, which is probably why I didn't care all that much about videogames until the PS1. I've also grown to dislike the old style of gaming which was very much about reaching the end of a bunch of separate levels that didn't feel connected.
I think a lot of people prefer something that at least appears to be more dynamic. That's why the industry has grown, because there are more styles of games to choose from and more games available that represent each style.
Also, honestly, people are no longer programmed to like a particular type of game by having it included with their system by default.
I prefer platformers, because I like the mechanic of being told exactly what my goal is, showing me said goal, and then challenging me by saying, basically, "Can you beat it?" It's why I will always prefer 2D Mario to 2D Zelda, as much as I love the latter. Nothing frustrates me more than not knowing where to go. It has always driven me insane lol.
You will love Ubisoft games then
To each their own. Personally Playing platformers is breath of air from the 100 hour slogs that are many games these days with dozens of different systems and tutorials that require explanation and many unnecessary quest that artificially extend playtime. not saying those games are bad, but sometimes going back to the simple stuff is nice. I personally had lots of fun with Astrobot.
Nice to hear! I wonder if that includes Kirby and the Forgotten Land though, with digital included I would expect that to be a higher looking at the debut. But regardless a good start and I'm sure it'll have better legs than the games mentioned here.
I think it might outsell Forgotten Land in many regions/countries, but Japan will put Kirby's totals well ahead.
Yeah, I've no doubt Kirby and the Forgotten Land will be ahead worldwide, but Astro Bot could very well be close or ahead in Europe and America sales. It's just those Japan sales for Kirby will easily cancel out everything else.
I'm glad Astro Bot is doing good though - it's my GOTY so far. I haven't played the SH2 Remake yet or completed Black Myth: Wukong (which may prove too hard for me!)
What I'm saying is that the figure which Christopher Dring provides likely does not include Kirby: That is, I'm responding to OP's question. I never said it won't outsell Forgotten Lands LTD. (In fact, on many forum posts here, I have explicitly stated that I (boldly) project Astro will sell through 10mil LTD).
I'm not saying you said that. Just sharing how well I personally think it can do. 10 million sounds too optimistic but who knows...
I'm pretty sure Dring's figures include Kirby physical sales (digital is probably extrapolated). Didn't follow his EU report comments, but he did mention Kirby in the UK report.
I see. šš»
Chris' reference is based on EU numbers only. I don't think he has data on Japan or US, that hasn't already been made public.
yep made that edit alrdy in my op responding to UF. My bad. Iām pretty sure Kirby sales data is publically available for EU? Could just take a glance at that and see if it is realistic.
Just for the record I've also predicted 10m+ previously. Most games that garner a lot of attention through GOTY awards reach that mark eventually, It Takes Two for example.
we seem to be in agreement then š¤
Just like that the latest UK charts and Famitsu, Asstrobot not even charting anymore. So much for the " Like Nintendo Evergreen Game" Facts.
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