Michael Pachter Argues That God of War Is Easy to Pick up and Play
God of War is out, it’s been out for less than a week, and gamers are praising it more than they ever did the sun. No surprise, considering the critical reception – Sony Santa Monica’s handcrafted experience has reached a historic high of 95 of Metacritic. Still, were left to ponder just how well the game will perform commercially. According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, the sales will be incredibly high.
Specifically, Pachter stated that God of War for the PlayStation 4 will sell a minimum of 10 million units its lifetime. Minimum. We’ve seen previous Sony exclusives, like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4, sell really well following stellar reviews. Impressively, God of War managed to outscore every PS4 exclusive to date; thus, it would serve as little surprise if the game sold a correlating number of copies.
“It’s pretty well rated, and… I think 95 actually probably puts them in the 10 highest rated games of all time, I think the highest is Ocarina of Time? GTA got a 97. 95 is pretty universally a great, great game, so there’s minimal risk that anyone will buy it and be disappointed,” Pachter told GamingBolt. “I think that the gameplay is actually easy to pick up and play, and there’s a lot of little things in the game that can appeal to different niches of game players, there’s action, and adventure, puzzles, and a compelling story. It appeals to everyone, and I think making it a father-son story makes it similar to The Last of Us, which, again, brings in fans of that game too. So I think it will quite clearly be the number one bestselling PS4 exclusive.”
But the accessibility of God of War, compared to its predecessors, Pachter argues, will help it sell over 10 million units. Personally, I’m curious about how fast the game will sell. Obviously, the game merits wide acclaim, but it will be more interesting to see if a third-person action game that’s story-driven will provide an immediate appeal for a mass audience.
”I think 10 million units sounds like a low bar for it, actually,” Pachter continued. “Last that Sony announced, there were 70 million PS4s out there, so 10 sounds really reasonable. I’d say realistically, it could do as many as 20 million. Now that’s hard, because not everyone who has a PS4 will like an action game like God of War. But I’d say between 10 and 20 million, and I’d say 10 million is a low estimate. I think they will absolutely do 10 million [over the game’s lifetime].”
What are your projections of PS4’s God of War? Let us know in the comments below, and feel free to look at our walkthroughs of God of War. But if you have yet to buy the game, do check out our review.
Happy gaming.