EA has big sales expectations for its new shooter, Star Wars Battlefront 2, predicting that the game will ship 14 million copies around the world in just five months. But unfortunately for the publisher, early sales figures suggest that the game could miss that target.
Retailers in the UK have now begun to report their sales figures for the boxed (non-digital) version of Star Wars Battlefront 2. These sales figures showed a decline of 61% compared to the boxed sales figures of Star Wars Battlefront which released in 2015.
Retailers also confirm that Star Wars Battlefront 2's sales were down 50% compared to Battlefield 1 which released last year and was an immediate success. Star Wars Battlefront 2 also failed to take the top spot in the UK sales charts, as it debuted at number two while Call of Duty: WW2 was number one.
It should be noted that some of the sales decline can be attributed to digital sales. Each year, more and more players choose to download their games instead of purchasing boxed copies at retail, and this will have had a slight effect on Star Wars Battlefront 2's sales.
But the sales may have also been heavily impacted by the ongoing controversy surrounding the game's microtransactions and loot boxes. Although EA did drop microtransactions from the game, this decision was only announced the day before the game was released.
As the controversy had been raging on for days and even weeks before the microtransactions were ditched, many would-be Star Wars Battlefront 2 players had already made their minds up on the game and had chosen not to buy it. On social media, there were reports of people canceling their pre-orders in direct response to EA's decision to include microtransactions and loot boxes in the first place.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 may still meet its 14 million sales target yet, as EA has already suggested that the game could receive a discount to coincide with the release of the new Star Wars movie. Moviegoers who enjoy Star Wars: The Last Jedi and want to be part of the action may well flock to stores to buy the game.
However, the sales numbers out of the UK will certainly give EA and other publishers pause. The huge decline in sales does appear (at this stage) to be a direct result of the microtransaction controversy and other companies may be hesitant to include the business model in their games as a result.
Star Wars Battlefront 2 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz