XBLA sales – booms and busts
For indie developers, XBLA (and PSN) seem to be viable platforms, but there are warning signs that all is not well. Here at the top 20 XBLA sellers.
Top Arcade Titles of 2008 (Full Versions purchased)
Note: Bolded are original games from indie studios.
- Castle Crashers
- Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
- Braid
- A Kingdom for Keflings
- UNO
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
- Fable II Pub Games
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Bionic Commando: Rearmed
- Worms
- SOULCALIBUR
- Portal: Still Alive
- DOOM
- 1942: Joint Strike
- Bomberman Live
- MEGA MAN 9
- N+
- Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3
- Marble Blast Ultra
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
If you dig deeper using sales data from vgchartz have been some busts… either mediocre sales or outright big busts considering the cost of development + VMC testing and ESRB + PEGI ratings.
The following 50 games probably have lost money. I’d say sub-10,000 units is pretty pathetic (saleswise) and definitely very concerning. A few here are recent releases (Age of Booty, Vigilante 8 Arcade, etc.) that will likely recoup by the end of 2009. I do not believe in long-tail for XBLA games as new releases drastically push down sales figures of previous releases.
Note: Bolded are original games from indie studios.
| Name | Price | Units LTD | Revenue LTD | |
| CrazyMouse | $5.00 | 1,766 | $8,832 | |
| Shotest Shogi | $10.00 | 2,412 | $24,120 | |
| Shred Nebula | $10.00 | 2,861 | $28,608 | |
| Double D Dodgeball | $10.00 | 3,504 | $35,040 | |
| Beat ‘N Groovy | $10.00 | 4,090 | $40,896 | |
| Frogger 2 | $10.00 | 4,750 | $47,496 | |
| Shadow Assault/Tenchu | $10.00 | 4,800 | $48,000 | |
| Go! Go! Break Steady | $10.00 | 6,002 | $60,024 | |
| Live Draft Tracker | $5.00 | 6,672 | $33,360 | |
| Coffeetime Crosswords | $10.00 | 7,250 | $72,504 | |
| RocketBowl | $10.00 | 7,608 | $76,080 | |
| Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball | $10.00 | 8,470 | $84,696 | |
| RooGoo | $10.00 | 8,686 | $86,864 | |
| MLB Stickball | $10.00 | 8,777 | $87,768 | |
| Live Score Tracker | $1.00 | 9,638 | $9,638 | |
| TiQal | $10.00 | 10,112 | $101,116 | |
| Discs of Tron | $5.00 | 10,596 | $52,978 | |
| War World | $10.00 | 10,714 | $107,136 | |
| Penny Arcade Adventures 2 | 15 | 10,838 | $162,576 | |
| Bliss Island | $5.00 | 10,876 | $54,382 | |
| Elements of Destruction | $10.00 | 10,975 | $109,752 | |
| Screwjumper! | $10.00 | 11,009 | $110,093 | |
| Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader | $15.00 | 11,465 | $171,972 | |
| Shrek ‘N’ Roll | $10.00 | 11,607 | $116,069 | |
| Gin Rummy | $5.00 | 11,784 | $58,920 | |
| Rocketmen: AoE | $10.00 | 11,925 | $119,254 | |
| Tempest | $5.00 | 12,085 | $60,425 | |
| Domino Master | $10.00 | 12,420 | $124,200 | |
| StreetTrace: NYC | $10.00 | 13,344 | $133,110 | |
| Rocky & Bullwinkle | $10.00 | 13,444 | $134,438 | |
| Warlords | $5.00 | 13,495 | $67,476 | |
| Happy Tree Friends: FA | $10.00 | 13,661 | $136,608 | |
| Geon: Emotions | $10.00 | 14,289 | $142,890 | |
| Wits & Wagers | $10.00 | 14,947 | $149,472 | |
| Aces of the Galaxy | $10.00 | 15,154 | $151,536 | |
| Sealife Safari | $19.00 | 15,154 | $194,779 | |
| Vigilante 8 Arcade | $10.00 | 15,293 | $152,928 | |
| Samurai Shodown 2 | $10.00 | 15,379 | $153,792 | |
| Lost Cities | $10.00 | 15,606 | $156,055 | |
| Cyberball 2072 | $5.00 | 15,934 | $79,669 | |
| Battlezone | $5.00 | 16,002 | $80,010 | |
| Schizoid | $10.00 | 17,148 | $171,480 | |
| Spongebob Underpants Slam! | $10.00 | 19,489 | $194,886 | |
| Space Giraffe | $5.00 | 19,934 | $99,669 | |
| Age of Booty | $10.00 | 21,581 | $215,808 | |
| Gripshift | $10.00 | 21,690 | $216,897 | |
| Wing Commander: Arena | $10.00 | 22,970 | $228,152 | |
| Ecco: The Dolphin | $5.00 | 23,677 | $118,386 | |
| Yie Ar Kung Fu | $5.00 | 23,679 | $118,395 | |
| Commanders: AotG | $10.00 | 25,053 | $250,531 | |
Again, considering cost of development is anywhere between $200K to $600K for a XBLA title, the above sales figures are horrible.
Add comment January 5th, 2009