Player stats, sales, and reception speculation thread

[protocol7]

Ok sure, but if we set aside the negative appearing data and news for just a moment, is there any data or news pointing to things going well commercially or critically? I guess we can count them admitting the UI had major problems as good news pointing to a commercial success if you like, but I was looking for something more like evidence things might be going well more directly.

I’m just trying to have a different sort of angle on the conversation.. maybe not possible right now?

 

[stealth_nsk]

Ok sure, but if we set aside the negative appearing data and news for just a moment, is there any data or news pointing to things going well commercially or critically? I guess we can count them admitting the UI had major problems, but I was looking for something more like evidence things might be going well.

I’m just trying to have a different sort of angle on the conversation.. maybe not possible?

We could have some wild speculations based on indirect data, but it's not very convincing for both good and bad news.

Recently someone posted here an insight that drop in player number after Civ7 release affected not only Civ7, but all civ games total. There are different possible explanations, but one of the most convincing is that significant amount of civ players moved to other platforms and play Civ7 there. That's an example of "good news" speculations, but it's as indirect as the rest of the news.

 

[AD1730]

Player reviews are roughly the same as on release. Player count follows normal trend, the fall in number of players follows the same proportions as previous games (except they had spikes during early sales, while Civ7 didn't have any sales yet). Nothing here is any news at all.

Firaxis admitting UI problems (which were clear on release) are hardly bad news. Look more like positive ones to me.

Your claim was that there was no news. I refuted that claim. Now you characterize all that news as positive. Definition of shifting the goalposts.

 

[Siptah]

Ok sure, but if we set aside the negative appearing data and news for just a moment, is there any data or news pointing to things going well commercially or critically? I guess we can count them admitting the UI had major problems as good news pointing to a commercial success if you like, but I was looking for something more like evidence things might be going well more directly.

I’m just trying to have a different sort of angle on the conversation.. maybe not possible right now?

I dunno. Is reaching a million estimated sales a positive news? Or is it bad because it took longer than expected? Or is it so much less than expected that it counts as no positive news at all? I‘m repeating myself, but we may see something in the report by TT. Last year, they highlighted some over- and some underperforming games.

Is positive reception of the patches by the people that are still playing a positive news? Depends on perspective, probably.

I don‘t think we‘ll see any news from critiques until a first major expansion - or a 2.0 kind of patch. But if any of this happens, it won‘t be this year, I think.

I‘m curious when we‘ll see the first discount and what it does to sales numbers. Right now, it seems that there still around 5k sales per week. Which definitely seems low, but at the same time I’m surprised anybody is buying right now for full price and not at release, after first reviews, or at a discount.

 

[stealth_nsk]

Your claim was that there was no news. I refuted that claim. Now you characterize all that news as positive. Definition of shifting the goalposts.

I characterize most of them as not news at all. Continuing trends doesn't look like news to me.

And for Firaxis admitting the problems - yes, it's probably subjective, but I struggle to see how it could be considered bad news (I totally understand how it could be viewed as neutral).

 

[Lazy sweeper]

Today Steam db chart indicate Civ VI as the clear winner with 44K players
You see the light blue line at about 25K players? That is Age of Empire: Definitive Edition Remastered... 2nd place... a CivIII like, Isometric game...
Civ V sits at about 20K players below AOE...
Civ VII is in fourth place with 14K players.
Civ IV and Civ III almost identical 1.5K players...

Idk... At this point if I was Firaxis-2K I would start thinking doing a Civ III - Remastered edition....

 

[protocol7]

One thing I know for sure is if you look at the Steam charts, nothing anywhere close to Civ7’s ranking gives any kind of impression of a recent AAA title. It’s currently sitting just under something called “Russian Fishing 4.”

But I guess as far as positive data and news articles we will have to stay tuned for a bit to see it anything shows up that looks hopeful.

 

[Lazy sweeper]

One thing I know for sure is if you look at the Steam charts, nothing anywhere close to Civ7’s ranking gives any kind of impression of a recent AAA title. It’s currently sitting just under something called “Russian Fishing 4.”

But I guess as far as positive data and news articles we will have to stay tuned for a bit to see it anything shows up that looks hopeful.

Civ VII is about to be smoked by a Russian Salmon makes quite a threat...

 

[protocol7]

Civ VII is about to be smoked by a Russian Salmon makes quite a threat...

I had to look .. it came out in 2018 no less. Some nice aged smoked Russian salmon.

All you can do is laugh so as not to cry.

 

[misesfan]

What really grinds my gears is that Clair Obscur is going to make all the monies, and Civ 7 is wallowing below the top 100 played on SteamDB. Shows what happens when you care about your audience and put out a finished, polished product. I think Firaxis has cashed in on all their good will that they have built up for the past 30 years - I certainly wont buy another of their games day one.

 

[AD1730]

I characterize most of them as not news at all. Continuing trends doesn't look like news to me.

And for Firaxis admitting the problems - yes, it's probably subjective, but I struggle to see how it could be considered bad news (I totally understand how it could be viewed as neutral).

The reception staying the same despite multiple updates isn’t news? I’m sorry, but it’s really hard to have any sort of discussion with you when you constantly shift the goalposts. It seems like what is or isn’t news to you is dependent on whether you can somehow spin it to reflect positively on the game.

You often speak about speculation. At this point, there is far more evidence supporting that this game has been received poorly to this point than showing that it has been positively received. Perhaps they will come out with some strong numbers in the next earnings call, but that hasn’t happened yet. Thus, we must go off the evidence we have.

Please point me to some evidence that this game is being received well. And, before you go there, a lack of information shouldn’t automatically be interpreted as good (which is an assumption you often make), unless there is some standard in the industry that allows us to conclude as much.

 

[protocol7]

To be clear, by news I didn’t mean “a thing that has changed recently” but news articles, to go with any potential data.

 

[Siptah]

What really grinds my gears is that Clair Obscur is going to make all the monies, and Civ 7 is wallowing below the top 100 played on SteamDB. Shows what happens when you care about your audience and put out a finished, polished product. I think Firaxis has cashed in on all their good will that they have built up for the past 30 years - I certainly wont buy another of their games day one.

While I agree on the principle, I don‘t particularly like your example. Clair Obscure so far hasn‘t brought in the money civ 7 did. They sold similarly often, but civ 7 is more expensive per copy. Probably, it was also more expensive to make as well though. Still, we would have to see in some months if one of them really made more money than the other, and whether one dwarfs the other as you called it previously.

 

[protocol7]

Clair Obscur sold a million copies in 3 days, and its been out for a week or two now. Its daily peak is increasing every day, and there’s a smudge under 150,000 playing it at this exact moment. Reviews are over 90% positive. It seems to be a good example of what a very successful game launch looks like in 2025.

There was a point in time when civ was more Clair Obscur than Russian Fishing 4.

 

[Lazy sweeper]

While I agree on the principle, I don‘t particularly like your example. Clair Obscure so far hasn‘t brought in the money civ 7 did. They sold similarly often, but civ 7 is more expensive per copy. Probably, it was also more expensive to make as well though. Still, we would have to see in some months if one of them really made more money than the other, and whether one dwarfs the other as you called it previously.

Clair Obscure 33 do not dwarfs Civ VII simply because they are two different genres... It's like comparing Apples to Oranges...
There are lessons to be learned. I do not know if it's ok to talk about it here on Civ VII general discussion thought...

Maybe it's a subject for OffTopic...

 

[MutilationWave]

The reception staying the same despite multiple updates isn’t news? I’m sorry, but it’s really hard to have any sort of discussion with you when you constantly shift the goalposts. It seems like what is or isn’t news to you is dependent on whether you can somehow spin it to reflect positively on the game.

You often speak about speculation. At this point, there is far more evidence supporting that this game has been received poorly to this point than showing that it has been positively received. Perhaps they will come out with some strong numbers in the next earnings call, but that hasn’t happened yet. Thus, we must go off the evidence we have.

Please point me to some evidence that this game is being received well. And, before you go there, a lack of information shouldn’t automatically be interpreted as good (which is an assumption you often make), unless there is some standard in the industry that allows us to conclude as much.

I don't think you need to be so hard on them. I interpreted their comment to be more like 'Hey, all I see is bad news, can anyone share some good news?'

They're just tired of seeing the bad news, and I can't blame them.

Hope I'm not putting words in your mouth you didn't mean nsk.

 

[VGT]

make revenue that will dwarf anything Firaxis

Clair Obscure 33 do not dwarfs Civ VII simply because they are two different genres

Argument wasn't about the genre, but about revenue. In this case we can compare E33 even to Tesla if needed.

 

[protocol7]

It’s hard for all of us, nobody wants to see a franchise you love poop the bed. I’m tired of the bad news too, that’s why I asked if anyone had any new data or articles pointing in any other direction (and sadly, nobody did).

 

[Gori the Grey]

In this case we can compare E33 even to Tesla if needed.

Well ok, but even Civ VII compares well to Tesla, amirite?

 

[Verified_Confection_Being]

Well ok, but even Civ VII compares well to Tesla, amirite?

Tesla sold about 1.8m units last year at what, $60,000 on average? Think it's well and truly smoked Civ VII