How many people bought HL2?

[Garric]

The latest rumour on the block that Hl2 sold very well on the opening day: 2 million steam preorders, and about 500,000 retail sales. But now the sales have slowed down... Right now, only 3 million coppies have been sold, and the most HL2 is going to sell is 4 million. So, can somone back up this information, or discuss the sales of HL2?

Also, the piracy has finally got Half Life 2, same as steam account sharing.

And this kind of makes sense, since anyone who really wanted it that bad preordered it on steam.. :dork: :dork: :dork:

 

[jet jaguar]

The original Half-Life continued to sell well YEARS after it's original release. Don't worry, HL2 will sell nearly 10 million copies before it's all done.

 

[Garric]

The original Half-Life continued to sell well YEARS after it's original release. Don't worry, HL2 will sell nearly 10 million copies before it's all done.

Most of those sales were attributed because Counter-Strike came out. Unless valve pulls some kind of killer mod out of their ass that's better than counter strike, I doubt HL2 is going to sell.

 

[f|uke]

Whats with the angry face, grumpy guss?

HL2 will continue to sell as:

People upgrade their computers
Word of mouth spreads
Mods are released

HL2 is simply the top of the line game, with none coming to challenge it for a while. It will continue to sell.

I bet theres a post-christmas burst as well as people 1) cash in gift certificates, and 2) find out nobody gave them HL2 for xmas.

 

[Tantalus]

Whats with the angry face, grumpy guss?

HL2 will continue to sell as:

People upgrade their computers
Word of mouth spreads
Mods are released

HL2 is simply the top of the line game, with none coming to challenge it for a while. It will continue to sell.

Yes, I have some friend who say they'll buy HL2 as soon as mods start coming out. Personally, i think 'Entropy' looks the most promising...

 

[CookieCuttah]

Everyone has "some friends" and eventually it stacks up to a shitload of people

 

[Ownzed]

Did HL2 sales beat Halo 2 sales??

 

[CookieCuttah]

Probably not since Xbox is cheaper.

 

[StardogChampion]

I wonder how it compares to the release of HL1, seeing the figures of that might help your pain Garric, since HL2 has probably sold loads more.

 

[VaKo]

For all half life 2's flaws, its still the only game since Half Life 1 or Deus Ex 1 that i've actually wanted to buy. Its actually worth spending money on.

Yeah, piracy is wrong and sick and will make you addicted to heroin. But if your a university student you don't want to go out buying games you know nothing about. Bills, food and "miscellaneous entertainment costs" come first.
Example:

Doom 3, meh... to dark... downloaded it... played it a bit, then unistalled it. Good engine but it got old fast. Also *really* bad to play if you happen to be on pills. Only time a computer sent me screaming into the street.

Deus Ex 2: Cool... i'll go an get a coffee while the next frame is rendered... hmm... maybe i'll watch a movie... ...I'm dead? What do you mean i'm dead?! I haven't done anything yet!!

In short, half life 2 will probally sell in low volume for a couple of years.

 

[CookieCuttah]

It will add up to a large sum eventually and valve will be happy....Doom 3 was kind of not scary/predictable and not that good looking. It was all too perfect and shiny...I prefer hl2's more rough looks where the world actually looks like it does outside...With mud and rust...
As for games...There was nothing to play until hl2 came along ,halleluja.

 

[LittleB]

Doom 3, meh... to dark... downloaded it... played it a bit, then unistalled it. Good engine but it got old fast. Also *really* bad to play if you happen to be on pills. Only time a computer sent me screaming into the street.

Hahahahaha dumbass

 

[Garric]

Ok, think of it this way: My target store has sold 3 coppies max. They have a 3x10 stack on a shelf, they wanted to sell alot of HL2 because it was supposed to be big so they bought a crapload of them copies into the store. Only 3 spots are missing. I asked the salesman and he said "only a few of that game have been sold".

 

[Murray_H]

I bought the game today, but because of the authentication thing not working with my connection, i'm going down as many warez routes to bypass steam as possible.....but with no luck so far

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Is that a port blocking issue?

 

[Murray_H]

Is that a port blocking issue?

Affirmative

 

[hewhowearspants]

Everyone has "some friends" and eventually it stacks up to a shitload of people

QFE

I myself have "some friends" who are waiting for the end of semester/Christmas to get their HL2. And I know they'll be getting it.

 

[koopa]

I think HL2 has a few problems in the whole PR department. It doesn't have the glamour of Halo or, critically, the mainstream appeal of GTA San Andreas. The whole Steam/piracy/etc issues have probably marred things a bit. I suspect the game is seen as a bit 'old'. The limited replay value has meant that word of mouth on the net has died down quickly (since we've all finished it and there's no new big MP). Around the local shops today I note that already other games are taking the most prominent places.

It's clearly far from a disaster, but I doubt it's going to be the huge seller that HL1 was. Time has moved on, and I'm not sure HL2 has done quite enough to really catch the imagination.

 

[Milkman]

Alot of people are still trying to upgrade their computers so that they can play HL2. Two of my friends are doing that right now and when they are done, you can +2 to the total sales count.

 

[Narcolepsy]

It's clearly far from a disaster, but I doubt it's going to be the huge seller that HL1 was. Time has moved on, and I'm not sure HL2 has done quite enough to really catch the imagination.

This game will pick up steam (ahahaha... sorry) later on due to word of mouth. When Game of the Year awards start pouring in, people start getting new computers, and Steam has a few of its bugs ironed out, this game will take its rightful place as a critical and fan-annointed classic.

 

[diluted]

Doom 3, meh... to dark... downloaded it... played it a bit, then unistalled it. Good engine but it got old fast. Also *really* bad to play if you happen to be on pills. Only time a computer sent me screaming into the street.

Hmm, I know what you mean. Although in my case, I had just come off of pills (anti-depressants) so I was already feeling a bit edgy/anxious, then I got Doom3. Played it for about an hour before I simply couldn't take anymore, I was a nervous wreck. Still haven't finished the game, but I don't intent to, it's boring anyway.

 

[63]

HL2 will get a sales boost after January when HL2 wins another 50+ GOTY awards...

 

[VaKo]

Hmm, I know what you mean. Although in my case, I had just come off of pills (anti-depressants) so I was already feeling a bit edgy/anxious, then I got Doom3. Played it for about an hour before I simply couldn't take anymore, I was a nervous wreck. Still haven't finished the game, but I don't intent to, it's boring anyway.

In my case it was coming down from a mixture of LSA and ecstasy. I was wandering down a coridor, looking at the pretty graphics and suddenly its dark and lots of *somethings* are ripping me to pieces.

I just ran.

 

[Psychanalysis05%]

Most of those sales were attributed because Counter-Strike came out. Unless valve pulls some kind of killer mod out of their ass that's better than counter strike, I doubt HL2 is going to sell.

Direct quote from somebody I used to know: "Half Life had a single player mode?"

Urge to kill...rising...

 

[destrukt]

and those 2 million, they weren't even confirmed purchases or something weren't they ?

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Affirmative

Is it only for registering or is steam completely blocked?

 

[Murray_H]

Is it only for registering or is steam completely blocked?

Completely blocked, it loads up to the screen to login or create a new account, then it says it can't be done in offline mode

 

[CriYam]

Obviously HL1 had to sell better. After 2 years of being on the market you think people bought it for the game itself or all the mods they were hearing about?

 

[The Monkey]

They should have pointed out more that CS:S is included...

 

[Heppyruk]

Ok, think of it this way: My target store has sold 3 coppies max. They have a 3x10 stack on a shelf, they wanted to sell alot of HL2 because it was supposed to be big so they bought a crapload of them copies into the store. Only 3 spots are missing. I asked the salesman and he said "only a few of that game have been sold".

Thats very interesting as i live in England and when i went to town it took me half an hour 2 get the game as most places were sold out. Mind you it was the day after HL2 came out.

 

[oldagerocker]

Half-life 2 will continue to sell as the mods come out, even if people who arent fans of half-life dont buy it now, they will when the good mods are released, and allot of people are still upgrading. I was lucky i prepared for the release and got a hl2 ready pc in time.

I think Half-life 2 will sell over 10 million copies within the next 3 years.

 

[CookieCuttah]

Personally im glad that HL2 isn't being bought by 11 year old lil-bow wows. Seriously, last time I played Halo 2 I got so much bullshit...I would rather pay more for hl2 and have it sell less. Atleast I can play with mature people that way.

 

[koopa]

Half-life 2 will continue to sell as the mods come out, even if people who arent fans of half-life dont buy it now, they will when the good mods are released, and allot of people are still upgrading. I was lucky i prepared for the release and got a hl2 ready pc in time.

If you look at the teams who made really big popular mods... they got bought up by Valve. Also modding is far more widespread now than it was then. I think the modding talent pool is a bit more diluted this time, so I'm not expecting a new Counterstrike any time soon.

 

[Mr.Wotsit]

It's been really weird - I have barely seen any advertising for Half Life 2 in the shops over here in England, it's all been about Halo 2 and San Andreas. I can't remember how much attention Half Life 1 got though.

Basically we have no way of knowing how well it will do and you have to remember that anyone who comes on these boards and talks about it are pretty likely to have a slanted view on how it's going to do.
For CRAZY levels of success, you have to appeal to the mainstream and nobody here is really in that category.

 

[Some_God]

It's been really weird - I have barely seen any advertising for Half Life 2 in the shops over here in England, it's all been about Halo 2 and San Andreas. I can't remember how much attention Half Life 1 got though.

Basically we have no way of knowing how well it will do and you have to remember that anyone who comes on these boards and talks about it are pretty likely to have a slanted view on how it's going to do.
For CRAZY levels of success, you have to appeal to the mainstream and nobody here is really in that category.

Scariest avatar ever... 2nd to Shuzer's though.

 

[Garric]

Yes, for some reason, Valve has chosen not to put HL2 into the mainstream. Just my prediction: HL2 isn't going to sell as valve, and you expect it to. There are hundreds of mods coming out, and I doubt there will be many players to appreciate them. The community doesn't just stick to one game: They buy other games. Mods take a long time to develop. For example, in the last few months Max Payne released some killer mods, like that black and white crime drama, which actually feels like a full fledged game. It took them a few years to finish. How many people still have Max Payne on their computer?

People who didn't buy HL2 probably won't care about any mods. They will just buy another game.

 

[Ennui]

People will buy HL2 when their computers can run it beautifully.

Right now, it's going slowly... but it'll be a sleeper hit, no doubt about it.

 

[VaKo]

7years of waiting.... 20 hours playing it... then on to the next game. All the fanboy hype around it killed it IMHO.

Computer games are ending up like movies in that respect. Remeber how good the matrix was, we waited with baited breath for 2 & 3, once they were out and we'd seen them we were looking for the next movie.

 

[Narcolepsy]

People will buy HL2 when their computers can run it beautifully.

Right now, it's going slowly... but it'll be a sleeper hit, no doubt about it.

Exactly. It's just too far above the common denominator right now. And it's getting a lot of backlash from the community right now, for some reason.

 

[moggy]

7years of waiting.... 20 hours playing it... then on to the next game. All the fanboy hype around it killed it IMHO.

Computer games are ending up like movies in that respect. Remeber how good the matrix was, we waited with baited breath for 2 & 3, once they were out and we'd seen them we were looking for the next movie.

i certainly agree with you on that.

also i think the original games when they are released there is less hype like when HL was released in 1998 and the game had a mature overture and feel to it , also without confusion.

in these respects HL2 had too much pre hype which was not justified, it is a less mature game and is not as brutal in some aspects as the first game was, and the game itself is too confused, there are a lot of new gamers to half-life who on one hand cannot understand HL2 and its origins but on the other hand are all to whymsical and judgemental about the original and say things like " oh HL1 i played that the other day , it was a load of crap the graphics are naff"

most of this is down to just people being people and n00bs being n00bs, but there is a general lowering of standards in HL2 which i find disappointing.

i think that games in recent years suffer this because of a desire by the designers to make the games more openly appealing to say younger generations and also to encompass a wider market to get more sales, this causes a lowering of the game contents overall effectiveness as it becomes less mature and less sophisticated. the formula at present is a bad formula , and it is certainly not the formula that made these games great in the first place.