Number of copies sold?

K

Kalfor

Spaceman
Anyone knows how many copies were sold of the most recent space sims around? I have been looking on the net, but came back with very little info on Space Sims for some reason :p
Games like Tachyon, Starlancer, Freelancer...
Now I only managed to find 3 radically different numbers:
WCP - 750.000
X Beyond the Frontier - 200.000 (in Europe)
Freespace2 - 30.000

If you guys know the numbers or where to find them, please give me a hand here
and thanks
 
All I know is that assholes keep out bidding me for WC4 on ebay, and I have'nt had a chance to play it yet.
 
Half.com has a ready number of copies of WC4 waiting for you, McGruff. The only thing not seen there often is the two more rare games: Kilrathi Saga and Prophecy Gold.
 
In Germany, the game "X2-The thread" sold around 20.000 times the last few weeks.

Wing Commander 3 and 4 sold around 80.000 times in germany.
 
30,000 is a bit high for Freespace 2 - the highest number I've ever heard was 22,000.

(To add to the knowledge base, 17,000 and 28,000 for Tachyon and StarLancer, respectively).
 
Here are all the NPD numbers that I have. These come from a UseNet post by Desslock. (http://makeashorterlink.com/?K49526067)

Code: 
1997:
X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter (Balance of Power)        333,608 units ($15,333,000)
Wing Commander Prophecy (and gold)               210,000 units  ($7,110,000)

1998
Descent Freespace (Freespace 1)  (and gold)      147,158 units  ($4,563,000)
Freespace expansion pack (alone)                  23,000 units    ($404,000)

Independence War                                  61,000 units  ($2,210,000)
Interplay Re-release of Battlecruiser 3000        41,037 units    ($405,000)

1999
X-Wing Alliance                                  235,920 units  ($7,457,000)
FreeSpace 2   (including game of the year)        83,484 units  ($2,703,000)
Independence War Deluxe                           23,000 units    ($487,000)

2000
Tachyon                                           61,200 units  ($2,112,000)
Starlancer                                        27,390 units  ($1,147,000)
Allegiance                                        12,700 units    ($443,000)
X-Beyond the Frontier                             10,834 units    ($295,000)

2001
Independence War 2                                10,069 units    ($407,000)

Since these are NPD numbers, they represent US and Canadian retailers only. I think the trend is more reliable than the specific numbers.
 
whoops, sorry, was it WCPSO that came out in ´99? Anyway, the numbers Milo presented seem wrong.
 
Nope, SO came out in '98.

The numbers Milo posted do seem high in some cases (FS2) and low in others (XvT and WCP).
 
Starkey said:
Yeah, WCP was released in 1999, not ´97.
Click to expand...
No, in the USA at least, it was released in 1997. I've found Usenet posts containing reviews that date back to December of that year. I seem to remember I got a copy of it for Christmas.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
The numbers Milo posted do seem high in some cases (FS2) and low in others (XvT and WCP).
Click to expand...
It depends on who you want to believe. Sales numbers in this industry are always exaggerated and hidden and often outright lied about. Publishers will often quote sell-in numbers instead of sell-through. "Yeah, we shipped 900,000 copies of our mega-hit BrandX Shooter!" Of course, if the game turns out to be a retail flop, they're not going to issue a press release saying "100,000 copies were purchased at full price, another 50,000 in the bargain bin, and the rest went into a land-fill in Arizona."

The NPD numbers, while limited, are at least fairly impartial. They should never be higher than actual sell-through.
 
My only source for sales numbers is the Priviateer Online proposal that analyizes the space sim market circa 1999.
 
and I still want to see that Priv online stuff you got :)

thanks everyone for the input, it will come handy in the meeting tonight
 
I'd still like to see those Freelancer sales numbers. I haven't even begun to see anything of the kind.
 
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