http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/08/28/the-secret-world-sales-at-200-000-funcom-focused-on-the-future/

Doesn't sound great, at least they are optimistic.

Originally posted by MMOwanderer
You beat me to it Kuppa. Damm you!

<- victory dance lol

Originally posted by Kuppa

Originally posted by MMOwanderer
You beat me to it Kuppa. Damm you!

<- victory dance lol

And you already posted about GW2 too?

Next time, my friend, next time, victory shall be mine. *shakes fist in anger*

It was handled badly, I like the game but come on, rushing it out the door just a month ahead of GW2... that is just not smart. Had they waited and launched with a fully working game (bank, chat, quest bugs sorted) in just a few months after people got bored again with GW2 and the WoW expansion,  then they could have launched a decent niche game. 200k subs ain't going to set any records BUT that is still a quarter million in subs each month. Eve Online started way smaller and has been doing very well with it.

For the matter "The Longest Journey" was a sleep hit as well. But no, they bet the company on a rush job and lost out. 200k is really bad in this light, SWTOR style bad. And Funcom doesn't have several other mega projects that can compensate for any losses.

The game really deserved better, especially considering the gushing reviews GW2 is getting for a messy launch, crashing servers, constant shutdown, login issues denying people access for hours on end in Europe and A FUCKING MISSING BANK (Is it so hard to write? AoC didn't have it, TSW didn't have it and now GW2 too).

Ah well. Will see how long TSW lasts, don't regret buying it but this is the last change I have given Funcom, they employ some decent designers (who need better coding skills) but their business management sucks.

How is 200k subs not great?

I get sick of these "it must beat wow and cause blizzard to go out of business or its a failure" types...

200k is a good starting point...now they need to add more endgame stuff and more maps and grow that 200k

This is one of the few themeparks that actually insterests me, and as soon as i get a shiney new computer (soon) this will probably be my first themepark install on that system..possibly my only.

Also, just something ive noticed, a whole lot of GW2 players seem to be very focused on this game, perhaps once they grow tired of it youll see more of a sub pick up?  Not sure if its just people trying to stomp out percieved competition or whatnot...seems to be the style of posters on this site.  I mean i do recognize the OP as a valient defender of GW2 and am a little surprised to see the negative thread here on a game that has nothing to do with the one he plays...eventhough i dont think his "ah ha" negative info is actually negative at all...i think 200k is a great starting point for a new niche game with a touch of sandbox in it.

Originally posted by redman875

How is 200k subs not great?

~200k *sales*.  Based on their projections, subs are likely 50-100k - which is not what anyone expected.

Originally posted by redman875

How is 200k subs not great?

 

I get sick of these "it must beat wow and cause blizzard to go out of business or its a failure" types...

It's not great because it's under Funcom's expectations. Their predictions were about selling more than half a million copies, so selling only 200K is most likely very bad from a financial standpoint. That means this game will get less funding. That means fewer updates. That means fewer players. That means less funding. Et cetera. Having too few subs relatively to their budget is how MMOs die.

Originally posted by redman875

Also, just something ive noticed, a whole lot of GW2 players seem to be very focused on this game, perhaps once they grow tired of it youll see more of a sub pick up? 

Yeah, I'm probably going to pick this up in a few months to play through the story, after I've played GW2 so much I don't feel like playing it every day. GW2's B2P model makes playing a second MMO quite easy. Still, even if people stop playing GW2 for one reason or another, there's no guarantee they'll switch to TSW.

Originally posted by fallenlords
In typical Funcom fashion they are laying the blame at the door of NCSoft and Blizzard, for annoucing when they did.

GW2 and MoP would have impacted sales a lot.  Just need to look at the number of people who said they held of purchasing, simply because GW2's launch was so near.

A wise move would have been to pushed TSW's launch back to (late) October.  Which would have drawn people, after the hype of the other two.   It would also have had its raid by then.

Originally posted by Yamota
Wow that sounds low, considering AoC sold like 750k copies in the first one or two months. I guess people learn as I personally did not buy this game because of the lacklustre experience I had in AoC.

Yeah, AoC lost more subs in the first couple of month than TSW sold boxes. Not good news for FC.

Originally posted by grapevine

 

GW2 and MoP would have impacted sales a lot.  Just need to look at the number of people who said they held of purchasing, simply because GW2's launch was so near.

 

A wise move would have been to pushed TSW's launch back to (late) October.  Which would have drawn people, after the hype of the other two.   It would also have had its raid by then.

It's not 200k subs, it's 200k sales.  Even with 60% retention (which would be on the high end) that's 120k subs.  It's most likely a bit lower than that, but what exactly it is, we don't know, but we do know it isn't 200k (no game has a 100% retention rate, and many people have admitted on forums that they are leaving, or have left, TSO already).  It's a disaster scenario for Funcom, unfortunately, in terms of what they budgeted for the game and targeted for it.  It's a fun game, and its fans will always love it, but as an AAA MMO from the financial perspective it's clearly a disaster.