Shadow of the Tomb Raider “Got Off to a Weak Start”, Says Square Enix
Shadow of the Tomb Raider managed to ship approximately 4.12 million units by the end of December 2018, according to comments made by the president of Square Enix, Yosuke Matsuda, earlier this month during a Q&A session.
Matsuda also mentioned that Just Cause 4’s initial sales “were below our expectations” but added that Square Enix plans to increase sales for the game in the future “by offering updates and through other initiatives.”
When asked why both games had such poor initial sales, Matsuda answered that neither game was able “to provide an experience that was novel enough” for consumers when compared to the competition.
“Also, while it is true that we are seeing a shift away from sales of boxes to digital downloads, with this many titles competing with one another, initial sales are definitely an important element in increasing user awareness,” Matsuda added. “For that reason, we do need to engage in a certain amount of advertising just ahead of a new title’s launch.”
Both Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Just Cause 4 didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it came to reviews so this sales news isn’t very surprising. Our review of the former described it as “underwhelming” while our review of the latter criticized the game for having “boring repetitive missions”.
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