Rockstar's latest bests Blizzard's technically troubled dungeon crawler by 8,000 physical sales; outperforms Max Payne 2's first week 10:1.
Max Payne 3 outdid its predecessor by a factor of 10:1 in its first week on sale, pipping Diablo III to the UK All-Formats number one. It was the second-biggest launch of the year so far--just behind Mass Effect 3, and Take 2's first number one since LA Noire hit the top spot in 2011.
The official sales charts include only physical sales, however, as digital downloads are not tracked as part of the main chart. In stores and from traditional online retailers, 11 percent of Diablo III's sales were of the limited collector's edition, compared to 2 percent for Max Payne 3.
FIFA Street kept up its strong performance, slotting in at three, refusing to budge from the top five despite a 17 percent drop in sales. Last week's number one, Sniper Elite V2, saw a 68 percent drop in sales as it found itself in fourth place.
FIFA 12 rounded out the top five following an eight percent drop in sales, while Prototype 2 dropped to six after a 15 percent decline in sales. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 bucked the trend to post a 21 percent rise in sales and reenter the top 10 at seven, sneaking ahead of Battlefield 3, which saw sales slip 2 percent.
The top 10 was rounded off by Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics.
Alex Sassoon Coby has been involved in tech and video games journalism for the better part of a decade. He likes his games hard, his meat raw, and his women on wheels.
I loved Max Payne 1 & 2, they will always stay in my memory! When i saw MP3 with a bald Max and brazil theme i was SO dissapointed... until, i played the game! It actually IS a truly Max Payne game and rockstar deserves a big BRAVO for their job on MP3. The game actually deserves it's price (not 10 bucks i heard from someone) and it's way much better than kiddo games (as it has become thanks to blizzard) like D3.
yes sure if you combine PC,360, and PS3 sells (~99.9% of console sells are physical copies) but if you break that up and count digital sells as well. MP3 on PC probably didn't sell anywhere close to D3, MP3 on 360 probably didn't sell any where close to D3, and MP3 on PS3 probably didn't sell anywhere close to D3.
also
What PC gamer buys physical copies any more? I'm sure if anyone other than R* and Blizzard knew their digital sales numbers as well I'm sure blizzard ripped R* a new one even if you combine all 3 systems for MP3.
to bad D3 sucked my balls though. MP3 looks like a decent game when it hits 10 bucks on steam.
Max Payne 3 was a good game in its own rights, however, I still prefer the old Max Payne games since they were more film noir.
@Shanks_D_Chop It is very easy to criticize someone but it is equally difficult to place yourself in their shoes and then think. Yes I appreciate Blizzard for doing their job because nowadays most devs don't even take their own job seriously let aside admitting their faults and apologizing from their fan base.
As for technical issues, in PC gaming it is almost impossible to produce a perfect game due to different hardware configurations, softwares, drivers, operating systems etc.... No matter how much time a dev put in their game (We all know how much time Blizzard put in their games don't we ?) It is still not possible to produce a perfect game and when a game becomes always online then it becomes even more difficult to predict issues, stability problems etc... that can occur.
With that said I don't think it is fair to call it a "technically troubled" game just because it faced one week of launch issues (server side mostly). The game is young and keeping that fact in mind it is quiet stable for it's age.
Also every PC game suffers from bugs/issues on some configurations, to call a game "technically troubled" just because it is suffering on some machines then every PC game will be regarded as "technically troubled". The only real trouble I faced with Diablo 3 is the Blizzard down loader crashing during download continuously other than that the game is very stable for me... I won't call it a "technically troubled" game and if it is running good on yours + my machine then it is not luck, it means the game has potential to run fine provided it gets every resource/requirement it needs.
@Tahir_Ahmad
"With that said I don't think it is fair to call it a "technically troubled" game just because it faced one week of launch issues"
Call the game technically bugged is a compliment due to the real problems that game is facing.
@Tahir_Ahmad See, you'd almost have a point but despite YOU telling ME to try and see things from the dev's perspective you are still just looking at this situation from YOUR standpoint.
It may be longer this time but your argument still comes down to "it is so because I said so" and not even in an artful way.
For a start, did you see Blizz's original 'apology' post on the D3 forums? It wasn't exactly a very good apology, I don't recall seeing an actual 'sorry' anywhere. It was a very standard PR response.
And yes, it's tricky to make games for PCs given their variety but the day that particular excuse starts getting wheeled out each time there's a shoddy release is a sad day for video games as it means all pre-tense of doing the best job they can goes out the window. People all around the world everyday, in all kinds of jobs, get given tricky situations to navigate and everyday people manage just fine. It's what truly defines professionals against those who just coast and wing it. So Blizzard should can the excuses and get on with it because, face it, they've got a sweet job. Made sweeter by the fact that they are almost at the point, thanks to viewpoints like yours, where they can respond to nearly any criticism of technical performance with "it's tricky". No-one wants perfect, just correctly functional.
And your last point about the game having 'potential to run fine etc'... That's a non-point. As in, it makes no difference whatsoever to what we are talking about. A hypothetical rig can run anything so why even bring it up?
@Shanks_D_Chop My point is very much clear my friend that I don't think it is a "technically troubled" game. Maybe for one week yes because of enormous amount of people trying to get in but as I said before that's a special case which can occur with any online game other than that the game is working just fine... even the online part is working very well provided you have a good internet connection off course.
As for Blizzard's apology what do you want ? do you want them to say exactly the same words which you have in mind ? a "hypothetical apology" perhaps ? in my opinion that was an acceptable apology because they said that they "regret" the issues and they openly admitted that their preparations were not enough for launch. Obviously PR is important but they don't necessarily have to say "sorry" to make it a non-PR apology.
I am assuming that you are a PC gamer and have much knowledge about PC gaming then what happened to your judgement ? Do you regard this game as a "Shoddy release" ? really ? then what should we call Ubisoft PC games ?
I don't think a game which is in development for 10+ years and is a PC exclusive is a shoddy release. The Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 are also PC time exclusive/focused games and they also faced tons of issues but are slowly getting better do you call them "technically troubled" as well ? This is the nature of PC gaming, issues will occur and they will get fixed. Blizzard took relatively less time is fixing them that is why I am appreciating their work.
You are continuously pin pointing my "viewpoint", I can also say the same for you. You are not even considering dev's perspective, the amount of QA they do with PC exclusives and do you think they wanted the launch to go like this ? after so many years of development I think they wanted a super smooth launch but their online projections were not accurate and they admitted it, these kind of issues don't signify a "technically troubled" game or a "shoddy release".
Regarding my last point, it does make difference because I am countering your statement that this game has issues that are limiting it's potential so I am saying it has the potential to run fine provided you fulfil it's requirements and I don't think we have hypothetical rigs.
@Shanks_D_Chop
A "technically troubled" game is something that has bugs in itself. Diablo 3 don't have any major bugs in the game, it only faced launch time issues because of enormous amount of people trying to login and play on their servers and since the game has "always online" requirement most people think that these are technical issues but in fact they are "server stability" issues and they have nothing to do with anything technical in the game, the game itself is technically very sound. All the lags, disconnections, unable to login problems are part of "server stability". And they fixed most of them within one week, I call it a great effort from Blizzard because one week of fixing time is very small for a game that has online audience as large as 6.3 Million.
1 Like @Tahir_Ahmad A great effort... for doing their job? Yeah, I'm glad that the lion's share of issues I encountered are now dealt with but I'm not going to applaud Blizzard for getting around to doing their job.
You're rather simply refuting the fact that they had issues too. A technically troubled game is a game that is held back from it's potential by ANY 'technical troubles'. Server issues count. On an 'always online' game I think it's safe to say that server stability comes under technical issues.
There clearly are bugs within the game itself as there have been so many reports of users suffering from them. And the fact that Blizzard have been fixing them. You and I are lucky, clearly, that no major bugs have crippled our game play. But to say that such problems are non-existant, simply because you've not encountered them, isn't giving the situation a very considered view.
How are these even comparable as games. What a pointless article, and people like @RedDragonRob and @hilikus00 - you're the reason the gamespot community is oft ridiculed....
@megafitch A pointless article? Oh, right, the statistics mean nothing to you as you are simply a consumer of video game entertainment. And since this all means nothing to you, it must be pointless?
I don't think you read the article properly. It's not an article comparing the merits of the two games, they just use that as a baited hook. Looks like plenty of fish went for it too. And that's why the gaming community is ridiculed. For people blowing off steam over something they've not actually taken the trouble to understand... people like you.
1 Like It was only a matter of time before the games industry grew up - adult gamers (now the vast majority) need mature themes in their games to sustain attention, not fighting monsters, zombies, dragons or saving princesses, although fantasy games have a place, more mature storylines, e.g. Red Dead Redemption or Max Payne 3, are the future it's just a pity that devs other than R* are so slow to catch on, or have so little life experience to craft interesting stories. I guess technical, computer skills and a deep understanding of humanity don't go well with eachother. Shame
@gavin78 You think R* plots are more mature? What, because they are 'gritty' and 'realistic'? Please... For someone talking about a 'deep understanding of humanity', I don't think you've got one.
1 Like @gavin78 I for one love to fight monsters, zombies, and dragons and I am one that has grown up with gaming. I think the quality of most games have gone down and the said types of games feel they can just slap crap together and sell. I haven't played Max Payne 3, but RDR was amazing.
@gavin78 You are way off with your comment. Diablo 3 sold 6.3 million units after a week. Max Payne 3 does not seem to be beating that number. Good luck staying in your fantasy land. :)
this is stupid article lol. 3.5m in first 24 hours. of course most of those whud be through download clients .
so including a stat on physical sales is stupid get outta here. diablo has prolly sold 5m at this point in time.
On physical sales, sure MP will beat Diablo.
Diablo 3 will only be available in physical media @ June 7th
1 Like Here we are. Did a little research, found out some Diablo III figures inclusive of digital sales since Gamespot couldn't be arsed to.
"Blizzard has announced that Diablo III is the fastest selling PC game of all time, shifting 3.5m copies worldwide in its first 24 hours.
An additional 1.2 copies were distributed to owners of the World of Warcraft Annual Pass, taking the total day one userbase to 4.7m.
By the end of its first week on sale the total number of sales had grown to a staggering 6.3m units."
@GryphonICD Gamespot do now in fact have an article about this very fact. As I have repeatedly pointed out that they would...
I dont know about max payne cover system. I mean the game was all about going head in to any fight by just dving and slowing time. Now its cover with dive. ehh...
diaiblo is 50 quid, no way i spending that much for a game i will probably just play on the side
4 Like I will never have the opportunity to play Diablo III because a line has been crossed. If I pay for a game, then I should be able to play it any time I choose without the internet. Oh well. The final capstone on making software game purchases for this player. Diablo iii will expand until diablo iV. Then what? A useless game no one can replay. Go for MAX instead.
@dlkcoil01 Even with an internet connection the game is still unplayable at time due to lag spikes.
@dlkcoil01 As Electroban points out, D2 is still online after 12 years. And maybe they DO turn it off at some point and it becomes solo only... tell me, do you really expect to STILL be playing Max Payne 3 in 12 years time? It's an unreasonable comparison.
@dlkcoil01 You can still play diablo 2 online to this day thats after 12 years, so sweet oppinion on the whole useless game thing.
I would, also, like to add that D3 will maybe feature modding like most PC games and that one of those mods will probably include manual distribution of Stat points. I wouldn't see why they wouldn't allow modding as they gave SC2 players the tools they used to make the game.
@Jefftiffy How are you gonna mod when you have to be on the internet all the time. It checks your copy every time you log in.
1 Like I have seen gameplay from Max Payne 3. And I have played Diablo 3. Diablo 3 seems to be the more addicting and well thought out game. It definitely has thereplayablitiy as now there is an Inferno mode on top of the old 3. Max Payne 3 is a game that most people pick up play through and put down for awhile while I can see myself playing D3 for a long time (not even half way through story as my first class and already put 10 hours in). You have to remember taht Diablo 3 is going to get more classes and items eventaully and possibly a 5th act like Diablo 2(further expanding replayability).
Diablo 3 definitely had more sales seeing as digital copies are very popular in America and theres no real set back to it seeing as they are requiring people to be connected to the Internet to play. Article doesn't really bother me just felt like I would point that out.
1 Like @JefftiffyThey are punishing people who buy software games legitimately. A good game I would want to play for years without big brother shutting me down and telling me to suck it up.
I am not saying I aree with the online only part. It sucks that a few assholes are the reason companies are restorting to this. I know if consoles could, they would incorporate this too.
1 Like @Jefftiffy "Max Payne 3 is a game that most people pick up play through and put down for awhile while I can see myself playing D3 for a long time (not even half way through story as my first class and already put 10 hours in)."
In Payne's defence I would say that it does start to become a matter of taste. We both enjoy Diablo 3 and will happily give hours to it. I've not played Max Payne 3 but it does look fun and I imagine I could easily lose quite some time to it. And I know people who thoroughly enjoy a game like Max Payne yet would find little satisfaction in Diablo.
1 Like I would have grabbed D3 if my computer could run it smoothly but instead I did grab Max Payne 3 and it's been a great game so far. I bet a lot of D3's sales are digital though, esp the digital collector's edition.
HAH. Rockstar's game so down on it's release it has to spotlight some tiny figure(8000 copies in a market that sells millions??) that's not even in the country of origin to begin with, as it's shining beacon of 'successful sales'. Seriously, I'm happy for the Max Payne fans that a new game was released and it far outshone it's predecessor, but grasping at straws to try to make news is just pathetic considering total sales of each game when compared(physical and digital) would make Rockstar's release laughable. As so many have stated, the majority of people recieved digital versions either as a pre-purchase or through Blizzards 'annual subscription to wow' promotion from last year's Blizzcon announcement. I can't point at any concrete figures but I'm probably understating the fact that Diablo 3 sales blew Max Payne 3 out of the water hands down across the globe. But, hey, kudos to you Rockstar on keeping the franchise alive while everyone really waits on Grand Theft Auto V.. lol
1 Like @RedDragonRob um....... 1) In no way is rockstar responsible for max payne out selling diablo articles. 2) Rockstar originated from London -.-
Well as for point 1, Rockstar Games/Studios created Max Payne.. so.. how are they not responsible for sales. And as for point 2... Rockstar Games originated in New York City in 1998. Rockstar London didn't come around til 7 years later in '05
>.<
@RedDragonRob Reading fail? He said R* aren't responsible for the article on sales. >.<
That must be embrassing, eh?
@RedDragonRob What's wrong with you? It's 8,000 physical copies MORE than Diablo 3. Not just 8,000.
Go see an eye doctor.
5 Like Ah, so sorry, let me try to get this straight. 8000 more PHYSICAL sales beats the hundreds of thousands of DIGITAL Diablo 3 sales that generated the same amount of money as a physical copy would?? Rockstar deliberately ONLY compared the physical retail sales because they knew if they counted total copies of each game sold (both PHYSICAL and DIGITAL) that Max Payne would be comparitively a joke. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Rockstar and enjoyed the Max Payne games but a company shouldn't try to skew their sales figures just to paint a pretty picture for news media and make it seem they're No. 1 overall.
The last I checked Max Payne selling X+8000 retail copies doesn't equal Diablo 3 selling only X retail copies plus..oh.. a few hundred thousand digital copies.
If you still can't get what I'm saying, feel free to reference Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/05/21/in-no-way-did-max-payne-outsell-diablo-3/
@RedDragonRob Well man, it's not Rockstar that did this statistic,While maybe they tracked their own sales, it was gamespot.com that put these two perticular games together, the writer of this article just put two and two together to say that in the article. However, Whether Diablo had tons of digital sales or not, beating a Blizzard release in any way is a huge deal, even if over all Blizzard did have more sales, having 8000 more hard-copy sales is impressive, as silly as it sounds. But still, that is just a stat that Alex Coby put together (More than likely, and if not him, just some other reporter.) could be wrong, but I doubt Rockstar would have put much weight in a stat like that, the games are completely different genres, they aren't actual competitors.
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