Rise of the Tomb Raider
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Tomb Raider – 5,495,033
Rise of the Tomb Raider – 2,491,210
Last week, leaked data from Valve revealed the player estimates for over 13,000 games on Steam. The information has provided a valuable resource for examing the landscape of PC game sales, so we’re looking into the data to determine which sequels were able to recapture the volume of players garnered by their predecessors.
Despite failing to hit expectations in its first month, Square Enix’s Tomb Raider reboot has become the best selling game in the series’ history, selling more than eleven million copies since its release in 2013. Even with that being the case, the sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, has had less than half the number of unique players on Steam. It’s still said to have sold more than seven million copies across all platforms, but a more than 50% drop-off on PC is surprising, even if it’s been out for nearly half the amount of time.
The issue certainly can’t be attributed to quality —Rise built on everything that was great about the reboot. What might have handicapped it was launching just four days after Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and the same day as Fallout 4. And over on console, Rise was a timed Xbox One exclusive, which surely wouldn’t have done anything for its performance.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – 4,468,234
Middle-earth: Shadow of War – 952,284
The dramatic difference in player count between Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War is plain to see. Sure, it hasn’t been out for anywhere near the same amount of time, but the disparity so substantial that we doubt the same time on the market would make up the difference.
Could it be that a fallout following the much-publicized microtransaction debacle saw the franchises’ community abandon the sequel? Perhaps, or it could be that the shift in gameplay design that placed a more of an emphasis on base-siege might have turned its many gamers off. We’ll never be sure of the hard sales data, most likely, but it does seem as though Shadow of War didn’t find anywhere near the same community as Mordor.
Just Cause 3
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Just Cause 2 – 4,161,156
Just Cause 3 – 2,345,094
There was a five-year break between Just Cause 2 and 3, and while the latter continued the series’ trademark over-the-top fun sandbox action, it doesn’t seem to have resonated with anywhere near the same volume of players on PC this time around. While it’s difficult to assess exactly what that could be, one problem with the third game is that is didn’t review spectacularly, settling at 74 on PC on Metacritic. In particular, critics cited a poor narrative structure and a host of technical issues as flaws.
Perhaps Just Cause 3 was hurt by its similarity to the previous game, or other maybe open-world games such as Ubisoft’s own Far Cry series offering a more compelling alternative?
Call of Duty: Black Ops II & III
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Call of Duty: Black Ops – 3,759,377
Call of Duty: Black Ops II – 2,998,561
Call of Duty: Black Ops III – 3,021,623
The Black Ops series has generally been the better selling Call of Duty franchise over the last five years or so, with the first in the sub-series recording almost four million unique users on Steam. However, it seems like the series has dropped off since then, with II & III recording just under and just over three million players respectively. Those decreases could just be down to general Call of Duty fatigue, which has been clear with other sub-series, such as Infinite Warfare. Alternatively, it could be down to simple things like that fact that II and III are more recent titles or each year’s competition during the busy fall release window. Also, since Call of Duty as a series has a massive console audience, players migrating to consoles might be a reason why the unique player figures reduced for the sequels.
Dishonored 2
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Dishonored – 3,700,352
Dishonored 2 – 1,127,089
The first Dishonored game was popular enough that Bethesda was willing to develop a sequel that built on the quality of the original. With less than a third of the original game’s number of unique Steam users, however, Dishonored 2 was picked up by far fewer people on Steam that the first. We don’t know how well the console versions sold, of course, but that’s quite the drop-off. Releasing during a busy fall period when a lot of gamers’ minds are on big, multiplayer experiences, maybe wasn’t a wise strategy. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare launched one week prior, and Pokemon Sun and Moon and Watch Dogs 2 just one week later. It’s possible that it was swallowed by the competition, at least on Steam.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
South Park: The Stick of Truth – 2,533,584
South Park: The Fractured But Whole – 320,160
The tough the development of The Stick of Truth was much publicized prior to the game’s release —creators of the original show involved with the development of the game once joked about its possible cancellation, saying, “Oh, good, it’s over!” Needless to say, then, the green light of a sequel revealed just over a year after the first game’s release came as somewhat of a surprise. One reason fewer people have played the game on PC might have been the lack of differences between the two games. Aside from the combat refinements and the story switch-up, the game remained largely the same. For example, the map was the same due to obvious limitations of the TV show, and the combat style felt familiar.
It’s worth noting that Stick of Truth’s figures may have been augmented by the fact that it was included with pre-orders of the sequel, and The Fractured But Whole may have suffered from being released during a busy fall period, which could also have led to the lower figures.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Batman: Arkham Asylum – 2,240,464
Batman: Arkham City – 2,467,996
Batman: Arkham Knight – 1,396,715
Before the Arkham series began, we hadn’t seen licensed superhero games emerge as leaders in the open-world action genre. The games’ magnificent storytelling and brutal combat made for one of the best superhero series ever. Asylum was great if a little too contained, but City opened the world up, offering you more ways to play as the caped crusader. Knight continued the quality, aside from the frustrating and overused tank levels, but its unique Steam user numbers are lower than the games that came before it. And there’s very likely one reason and one reason only for that: it was broken on PC when it launched. It was so broken in fact, that it was pulled from Steam completely after its launch in the summer of 2015, only to be re-released a short while later alongside a hefty patch. These issues clearly led to people not buying the game on PC, and the time it was unavailable would have had a huge impact on sales figures.
Mafia III
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Mafia II – 2,312,872
Mafia III – 855,604
Beginning all the way back in 2002, the Mafia series transports players to an American city, usually during a historically interesting time period, and tells a story about the mobs that were in control at the time. Mafia II took the series to new heights, so excitement was high for the long-awaited third game, but the newly leaked Steam figures suggest that fewer people played it than the second game.
Probably the main factor in Mafia III selling less than the previous game in the series is poor reviews, in comparison to Mafia II. It settled at 62 on Metacritic, whereas II settled at 77. On the face of it, Mafia III had plenty going for it: a beautiful open world, an interesting narrative premise, and plenty the promise of plenty of content. Looks can be deceiving, though. Despite a solid foundation, may critics technical hiccups, and its mission structure was also flagged as repetitive. Its mixed reception seems to have held Mafia III back, and in a busy launch window in which other major titles were launching, it seems as though the game was abandoned in favor of other options.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Wolfenstein: The New Order – 1,819,928
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – 549,457
There’s no doubting that Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a phenomenal shooter. In fact, it won our Best First-Person Shooter of 2017 award last year. Our takeaway —which you can read in our full review —was that the solid shooting, brutal action, and fantastic story, was a real step up from The New Order. Despite the overwhelmingly positive critical reception, however, The New Colossus struggled at retail, and just 30 days after release was put on sale for a whopping 50% discount.
As the Steam data clearly shows, the game amassed less than a third of the registered Steam users than its predecessor, and it seems likely that its release date was partly to blame. The New Colossus released, now infamously, on Oct. 27, 2017 —the same day as Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Super Mario Odyssey, two juggernaut franchises.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Sequels That Didn’t Surpass Their Predecessors, According to Steam
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – 1,358,070
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – 1,155,405
After its release, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was “put on hiatus,” but the newly leaked Steam figures suggest that it didn’t sell significantly worse than the previous game did.
Perhaps the failure to build on Human Revolution’s success is down to games like Dishonored and Prey offering a similar gameplay experience in an arguably more fluid and compelling way. Mankind Divided’s iteration on the formula wasn’t drastic. The open-world was quite small, especially in comparison to the blockbuster environments many gamers are used to, and some reviews criticized a lack of narrative substance.
If Square Enix was hoping for a resurgence for the series off the back of the brilliant Human Revolution, it doesn’t seem to have met the mark. Perhaps that’s why it has been put to one side for now while the studio looks towards other projects such as the upcoming Marvel game.
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