Arguably the best new IP of the generation, the Uncharted series is one of the biggest franchises published by Sony Computer Entertainment, with it not only being a critical hit, but a commercial one.
Sony have now revealed in an interview to Industry Gamers just how well the game has sold, with the product marketing manager for Uncharted 3, Asad Quizilbash, saying:
[It has] sold over 13 Million units globally.
Quizilbash doesn’t specify whether he means sold to customers, or sold to retailers, similar to how it was initially claimed that Uncharted 3 sold 3.8 million on its first day, but actually shipped that number.
Billy Pidgeon, analyst for M2 Research, gave his thoughts on the series:
Uncharted 3 is tremendously important to Sony. The game was highly anticipated due to the progressive quality of the two previous games and extremely positive preview coverage in the specialty press. Uncharted 3 continued to surpass expectations as the game neared release, winning multiple awards at E3, and on release, reviews have attained a Metacritic score of 92, and demand was sufficient to justify shipping 3.8M units on day one.
Continuing:
As an exclusive, Uncharted 3 has system selling potential and will keep millions of PS3s active. The franchise has improved consistently with each iteration, and the game is one of the most positive examples of blending cinematic and game development disciplines. Uncharted 3, like its predecessors, has the potential to reach a wider audience due to the integration of classic action film plot elements with strong characters.
But Pidgeon did note that the fact that the game is aimed towards core gamers may alienate casual gamers:
Players with little gaming experience, however, may find the game too difficult as the gameplay is more hardcore than casual.
Overall, Pidgeon was positive about the franchise:
The franchise may prove to be an evergreen for PS3. Uncharted could also play an important role in Sony’s PS Vita launch, as a new version of the game is one of the strongest demos on Sony’s new handheld.
Colin Sebastian, analyst for RW Baird, on the other hand, was less enthusiastic about the series:
I think Uncharted 3 is a great game, but largely overshadowed by other titles such as Call of Duty and Batman. That said, it’s certainly an important tentpole for the PS3, and given the success of Kinect and increasing importance of Xbox Live in digital media, Sony has to have a strong first party line-up of core video games. Given that video games are now expected to provide ‘services’ along with the initial purchase, such as add-on content and micro-transactions, we will have to wait and see if Sony can be as sophisticated as other platforms to offer a high level of follow-on content. This is an area as well where Sony can potentially make more money off of their first party titles.
Are you one of the 13 million? Let us know in the comments below.
