In 2014, the biggest game launch for the year goes to Watch Dogs. Can Destiny dethrone it to become the new leader in terms of sales?
Before we talk about Destiny, let’s back up and look at the success Watch Dogs has received so far. Bear in mind, this is analyzing the game’s sales during launch and not what people thought of it.
Ubisoft announced that Watch Dogs sold over 4 million copies of the game during its first week. This is the biggest game launch for 2014 so far. Not to mention it is from a new IP as well. Ubisoft went on to further announce the game has now sold over 8 million copies. This is even without the release of the Wii U version.
Looking at 2014 as a whole so far, Watch Dogs is the leader at the moment in terms of overall sales. Games such as Titanfall, inFamous: Second Son and The Last of Us Remastered have sold pretty well so far. However, none of them have been able to outsell Watch Dogs at the moment. The only game that could get a bigger launch is Destiny.
A lot is riding on Destiny at the moment. The game has been marketed and hyped up for many years. It is also Bungie’s first game they are releasing in over four long years. Not to mention it’s being published by Activision. Activision has spent a ton of money both in the development for the game plus advertising it. Destiny has huge advertisements posted up in New York’s Times Square. That in itself would have cost a lot.
Both Watch Dogs and Destiny are new IPs so they are both on an even playing field on that department. One advantage Destiny has over Watch Dogs though is how Activision has marketed the game. Activison is trying really hard to market Destiny as the next “Halo” game. After all, it’s developed by Bungie so name dropping Halo is a given. Ubisoft wasn’t able to name drop Grand Theft Auto while advertising Watch Dogs.
Activision also name dropped Call of Duty to the advertisements of Destiny too. Name dropping may not be a big thing to hardcore gamers, but it will catch the interest of casuals. If Actvision just advertised Destiny on its own, casual gamers may not have cared. Name dropping Halo and Call of Duty will pique their interest as they’re franchises that are more well known. This is the same tactic Warner Bros. did with Man of Steel. They name dropped Christopher Nolan’s name so Batman fans would watch the film.
The one thing Watch Dogs has over Destiny is the fact that it has a PC version. It’s hard to tell how many PC gamers bought the game in its first week, but it’s a platform Destiny isn’t catering for. As of right now, Destiny is only available on the PS4, Xbox One, PS3 and Xbox 360. They are missing out on the PC crowd for now.
The one thing both Watch Dogs and Destiny did right is release their games in a good time of the year. Watch Dogs was released on May 27th when not many other blockbuster games were coming out. Destiny’s September 9th release date is pretty good. It’s only out during the same month as the likes of Disney Infinity 2.0, FIFA 15 and NHL 15. These games won’t hurt sales for the game I don’t think. This is not like October and November when more games are coming out at the same time.
Looking at all these factors so far, there is a good chance Destiny can sell well. Will it be able to beat Watch Dogs and sell over 4 million copies in one week? I’m going to take a chance and say that Destiny will beat Watch Dogs and could sell maybe 6 or 8 million copies or more in one week. I do feel that the involvement of Bungie and heavy advertising from Activision makes Destiny more recognizable to gamers than how Ubisoft marketed Watch Dogs.
What’s your opinion? Do you feel Destiny can dethrone Watch Dogs as 2014’s biggest game in sales so far?
