Game publisher Take-Two is making quite a few promises lately. After reassuring fans that BioShock 4 is still in development, Take-Two's CEO Straus Zelnick has moved on to assuaging fears over the difficult launch of Civilization VII. Coming out of the gate with a rocky release on PC, due in part to UI issues, bugs, and poor sales, Civ 7 currently sits on Steam with a "mixed" user score. Analytics website Steam Charts tracks the current and historical playercount of Steam games, showing that compared to prior entries Civilization VI and Civilization V, VII has a dramatically lower amount of people playing it.

Zelnick claims that despite the "slow start" of Civ 7's launch, the game will eventually reach Take-Two's sales projections. The most recent quarterly financial report for the company does not disclose the current sales total for the game as of the time of writing.

So while we were off to a slow start and while we have had to make changes — and there are more changes coming — I feel like consumer uptake is better and better and we feel really good about the title. I think over time it's going to take its place in its civilization pantheon in a very successful, credible way.

Source

 

[ikynx]

Delusion much

 

[MariArch]

Sad part is they’re probably right. No punishment for turning in shitty work

 

[Noctosphere]

I'm waiting for them to lift the Denuvo. Even though I'd really want to play o way I'm paying 100$ for this...

 

[andersoncardoso]

Eventually LOL

 

[subcon959]

Whenever I feel the urge to play Civ I go for the original in DOS. It's still a good game I reckon.

 

[Lumstar]

Eventually LOL

It's the sort of game that'll remain available digitally on PC, for an extraordinarily long time.

 

[Noctosphere]

It's the sort of game that'll remain available digitally on PC, for an extraordinarily long time.

Are there still people who buy PC games physically?

 

[such]

Are there still people who buy PC games physically?

I don't think they exist at this point. I mean, it's kind of splitting hairs, but... you can buy a box with a code, and that's a physical item that'll gather dust on a shelf, not a physical game. You might as well print a cover yourself and stick it in box.

Some people try to stick their Steam backups or GOG installers onto sd cards, then print some covers and manufacture their own "physical" copies... I think I understand that more than buying physical boxes with digital games, especially given how poor these releases are these days. No feelies.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Are there still people who buy PC games physically?

don't know how i haven't seen physical pc games in any stores for a very long time. eb games was the last to hold onto them but eventually they dissed them too.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Things (the market) actually works the other way around.

Such comments from a CEO should worry their investors.

I mean when examples like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 exist, it's hard to dismiss the possibility entirely. Granted, perhaps those 2 examples are only outliers, but they were released in poor states and the devs promised to fix the releases, and they actually did so, and the end result was ultimately games that became successful over time despite very disappointing launches.

 

[Noctosphere]

don't know how i haven't seen physical pc games in any stores for a very long time. eb games was the last to hold onto them but eventually they dissed them too.

I still see some in stores like Walmart, but never games like Call of Duty or RDR or GTA. It's always very casual games like a collection of Solitaire, Backgammon and poker like games. I think the only "gamer game" I can still see poping up sometime in stores is World of Warcraft, especially when they release yet another new expansion.

 

[Chary]

Are there still people who buy PC games physically?

I mean, yes, but it's almost impossible at this point. The only physical PC games I've seen that aren't codes in a box were XCOM 2 and Farming Sim. It looks like LRG also does select PC-DVD releases, but like, anyone trying to buy physical on PC seems pretty out of luck at this point.

 

[Noctosphere]

I mean, yes, but it's almost impossible at this point. The only physical PC games I've seen that aren't codes in a box were XCOM 2 and Farming Sim. It looks like LRG also does select PC-DVD releases, but like, anyone trying to buy physical on PC seems pretty out of luck at this point.

And since video games keep getting heavier and heavier, nearly none of them (recent AAA) would fit on a double layered DVD. We would need AT LEAST a double layered (50GB) or a triple layered (100GB) Bluray for most of them, and some of them wouldn't even fit on them at all (unless we bring back the "multiple disc installation"). Combined with the fact that a lot of gamers no longer have an optical drive in their pc, unless we get an SD card or something like that in our boxes, I don't see PC physical games coming back anytime soon.

 

[subcon959]

And since video games keep getting heavier and heavier, nearly none of them (recent AAA) would fit on a double layered DVD. We would need AT LEAST a double layered (50GB) or a triple layered (100GB) Bluray for most of them, and some of them wouldn't even fit on them at all (unless we bring back the "multiple disc installation"). Combined with the fact that a lot of gamers no longer have an optical drive in their pc, unless we get an SD card or something like that in our boxes, I don't see PC physical games coming back anytime soon.

Switch carts are basically SD cards so it could be done but I don't think there would be any demand since Steam and GOG are so much easier.

 

[Noctosphere]

Switch carts are basically SD cards so it could be done but I don't think there would be any demand since Steam and GOG are so much easier.

I get your point, but you know, Playstation Store, Nintendo Shop, XBox Live, they are also much easier. Yet, a lot of people (me included) complain about not owning games they buy, not having physical games (key card are not physical games), so why not bringing back physical PC games?

 

[CMDreamer]

I mean when examples like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 exist, it's hard to dismiss the possibility entirely. Granted, perhaps those 2 examples are only outliers, but they were released in poor states and the devs promised to fix the releases, and they actually did so, and the end result was ultimately games that became successful over time despite very disappointing launches.

Civ7 afaik, is not a bad release, but a "dream" release, where the publisher's CEO states that the game will be a success, without considering the actual market flow.

The two examples you mention, are from games that at their release were all bugged (Civ7, is not, as in it is not bug infested, afaik), while CIv7 is just a game that hasn't received a warm welcome from players, not even from those that were hardcore fans, and its sales so far have proved that.

 

[such]

I used to imagine the hardcore Civ fan was essentially someone who gladly played these extremely long games and loved taking a... civ through the entirety of it, etc. Apparently, Firaxis considers hardcore Civ fans to be people who don't really like playing Civ all that much, and who consider the civilizations in Civilization largely superfluous. The cool reception pretty much reflects my own feelings: Civ7 isn't made to be enjoyed, it's meant to be a sort of guided competitive multiplayer experience served in bite-sized e-sports-like chunks.

I'm not interested in playing such a Civ game, and as a consequence I don't see myself buying it for any price. Which currently is what, $200? On that note, we've yet to get the customary "hey, the game is sort of fixed now in places" expansion that is overpriced for what it's offering as well, so it's all stuff that looks to have been made during base game development.

I've been playing these since the 90s, and I've never been this disinterested in a Civ game. Congrats on losing your core audience in pursuit of the imaginary... CoD teen? I'm not sure what they were imagining. Civs in Civ7 are closer to CoD operators than to civilizations in a Civ game.

 

[Skelletonike]

Are there still people who buy PC games physically?

I only bought Baldurs Gate for PC because the Collectors Editon had the game on physical Disks, otherwise I would have gotten it for any other system.

 

[TheGodMauro]

This game will never sell well unless they completely rework most aspects about it, as the changes they introduced in it go against what fans of the genre would want.

The appeal of 4X games is taking your humble start and watching it grow. The eras system not only invalidates this growth, as with every era you are forced to switch to a new Civ and to experience a soft reset, a change that in their minds was supposed to level the playing field and avoid late-game OP-ness, yet in reality in just makes it so that the entire game feels kinda pointless, and the winner is decided in the last era. Any momentum you build is reset, and it's not like you can advance beyond what your current era allows, you are expected to nod along and only follow the objetives of the era. Heck, even wars and military units get a reset, the best you keep to carry over between ages are some shitty bonuses if you don't fall behind.

Worse yet is that the ages are built to follow those specific objectives, which makes every single game play out the same. Your civ of choice no longer matters, because your playstyle on an era will be defined by the era. You'll always go to the new continent in the exploration age, you'll always chase one of the same 3 victory conditions in the modern age. This kills replayability, you've seen everything the game has to offer in a single playthrough, which is about a bad a cardinal sin as you can commit on a sandbox title.

Add in the weakest, most baffling leader selection the series has seen, because it just needed that extra kick to be even worse.

In the 6 months since release, the game already lost around 90% of the initial playerbase who, like me, were fans of the series who really got kicked on the balls and are not going back unless some huge changes are put in place. You can get rid of Denuvo, you can give it away on a bundle, it won't matter, the game as it is isn't worth playing.

 

[Bladexdsl]

The appeal of 4X games is taking your humble start and watching it grow. The eras system not only invalidates this growth, as with every era you are forced to switch to a new Civ and to experience a soft reset

i just removed it from my wishlist