Skyrim PC sales : V

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:38 pm

Will Steam ever release the numbers so we can know for sure, and if not WHY?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:17 pm

Both Bethesda and Valve are private companies so they won't release the numbers unless they want to or see any reason to do so. Which I doubt they ever will.

» Sun Jun 10, 2012 2:15 am

I think this question may be directed at the wrong people.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:54 pm

I think it would be a pretty safe bet to look at peak Steam play stats for Skyrim and approximate that.

Probably within the first few weeks for sales.

Then multiply that figure by 2 or 3 when factoring in other measures for PC play.

I would venture that a very large portion of players operate Skyrim for the PC version than on any other single platform.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:56 pm

I'm pretty sure all the people who have played the previous elder scrolls games tried to get it on the pc if possible.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:33 pm

I'm pretty sure all the people who have played the previous elder scrolls games tried to get it on the pc if possible.

Very good observation. Creation Kit is glorious!

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 4:03 pm

I know some who went and bought it for consoles because they didn't want steam tied to their games.

» Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:38 am

Steam never releases sales, but they did say Skyrim was the fastest selling game in Steam's history out selling all other titles 3-1 or something like that. So i think it's safe to say the PC version sold well enough, although the 360 sales will dwarf the PC.

» Sun Jun 10, 2012 1:41 am

...So i think it's safe to say the PC version sold well enough, although the 360 sales will dwarf the PC.

I have no proof but I don't believe this to be true.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:43 pm

I have no proof but I don't believe this to be true.

Not that Todd never lies, but i believe it was him that said 90% of their audience is on the console.

» Sun Jun 10, 2012 1:43 am

Consider all the games on Steam, how much Valve's games sold, how popular all those titles are, and then consider they said Skyrim was the fastest selling game on the platform.

We're probably talking equal to or more than the sales on console platforms.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 2:33 pm

I think PC sales outperformed consoles that is why I am so curious. They are just afraid to tell us, because PC consumers tend to be vocal and demanding.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:30 pm

Not that Todd never lies, but i believe it was him that said 90% of their audience is on the console.

Todd Howard is a notorious XBOX fan by his own admission.

Its very hard to approximate the figures of people that bought the game for console because of Steam and those that play Skyrim for PC through alternative means.

These are ethereal numbers, pure speculation... though linking any hard numbers for this would likely get me banned.

I think its a pretty safe bet to assume that there are just as many PC players as any other single platform.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:37 pm

I think PC sales outperformed consoles that is why I am so curious. They are just afraid to tell us, because PC consumers tend to be vocal and demanding.

I'm not so sure sales did actually.

I know plenty of people that didn't buy Skyrim for PC because of Steam.

It is rather biased to assume that because Skyrim was a leading demo in the Steam marketplace that it is a commentary on PC vs Console.

360 and PS3 sales combined? Probably dwarf the PC market.

On a singular level, factoring in the anti-Steam sentiment... its probably much closer.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:51 pm

I'm not so sure sales did actually.

I know plenty of people that didn't buy Skyrim for PC because of Steam.

It is rather biased to assume that because Skyrim was a leading demo in the Steam marketplace that it is a commentary on PC vs Console.

360 and PS3 sales combined? Probably dwarf the PC market.

On a singular level, factoring in the anti-Steam sentiment... its probably much closer.

Considering one can't even play Skyrim on PC without Steam, I'd say whatever numbers you can muster from it would be accurate to the PC market for the game as a whole.

The only PC sales figures they have are those made in brick and mortar stores by people who purchased physical copies. And if you're going to buy a Steam game, why would you go to the store and do it? The people buying for convenience digitally probably far outweigh those with the "I just like having a phyiscal copy" sentiment.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 6:57 pm

Considering one can't even play Skyrim on PC without Steam, I'd say whatever numbers you can muster from it would be accurate to the PC market for the game as a whole.

The only PC sales figures they have are those made in brick and mortar stores by people who purchased physical copies. And if you're going to buy a Steam game, why would you go to the store and do it? The people buying for convenience digitally probably far outweigh those with the "I just like having a phyiscal copy" sentiment.

Any idea how the ration is here for recent steam based games?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:12 pm

I'm not so sure sales did actually.

I know plenty of people that didn't buy Skyrim for PC because of Steam.

It is rather biased to assume that because Skyrim was a leading demo in the Steam marketplace that it is a commentary on PC vs Console.

360 and PS3 sales combined? Probably dwarf the PC market.

On a singular level, factoring in the anti-Steam sentiment... its probably much closer.

The anti-steam sentiment comes from a vocal minority of people who got VAC banned because of cheating, hacking, credit card fraud, griefing or similiar. In which case, I'm glad it is on steam

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:59 pm

Not that Todd never lies, but i believe it was him that said 90% of their audience is on the console.

Sure. Their target audience. Despite the best efforts of the industry, PC gaming refuses to die. They hate the PC because of piracy and they want this segment of the market to go away.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:04 am

The anti-steam sentiment comes from a vocal minority of people who got VAC banned because of cheating, hacking, credit card fraud, griefing or similiar. In which case, I'm glad it is on steam :smile:

Minority? I have never been banned from Steam, nor have many other commentators...

Please re-assess this.

Jesus, I wish I could link figures without breaking Bethesda Works Forum rules.

» Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:46 am

Considering one can't even play Skyrim on PC without Steam, I'd say whatever numbers you can muster from it would be accurate to the PC market for the game as a whole.

The only PC sales figures they have are those made in brick and mortar stores by people who purchased physical copies. And if you're going to buy a Steam game, why would you go to the store and do it? The people buying for convenience digitally probably far outweigh those with the "I just like having a phyiscal copy" sentiment.

Doubtful.

The dismissal of people preferring a physical copy is quite frightening in my opinion.

Lets hope Steam never goes bankrupt, nes pas?

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 10:59 am

The anti-steam sentiment comes from a vocal minority of people who got VAC banned because of cheating, hacking, credit card fraud, griefing or similiar. In which case, I'm glad it is on steam :smile:

Must be...

I'm no big Steam fan myself, but to avoid buying Skyrim for PC just because you have to play it through Steam is just over the top IMO. Miss out on the mods? Screw that!

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:31 pm

I bought it for my 360 instead of my PC because of steam,many people did that and 360's sales were off the charts according to retailers .

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 3:28 pm

I bought it for my 360 instead of my PC because of steam,many people did that and 360's sales were off the charts according to retailers .

But such a large part of Steam subscribers bought and still play Skyrim!

There can be no other logical conclusion than to assume that the entire market approves of Steam!

/sarcasm

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:22 pm

~~Steam did release the figures. 5 million Skyrim users loged into steam.~~

Edit: Scratch that. 5 million steam users not Skyrim users. I wonder why they put this link uner the Game news.

» Sat Jun 09, 2012 9:54 am

Doubtful.

The dismissal of people preferring a physical copy is quite frightening in my opinion.

Lets hope Steam never goes bankrupt, nes pas?

I'm only commenting based on what its player numbers tell me.

Dismissing those people makes sense in Skyrim's case because it's a Steamworks game. Most people buying it would know beforehand that Steam was required, and therefore consider that when buying the game. This undoubtedly would've lead to a large number of them, possibly well over 50%, buying digitally.

It wouldn't be such a big factor if Steam wasn't required for activation, but since it was, you have to consider that when looking at just how many people DID buy the game, and how few bought physical PC copies by comparison.