Take-Two have announced the sales of Battleborn are “very encouraging”, though they aren’t encouraging enough to draw conclusions on just yet.
Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two, had this to say about Battleborn at Take-Two’s earnings call last night: “The scores are good, consumers like it, a lot of people playing it and really loving the gameplay, but I wouldn’t want you to draw the conclusion that the Battleborn curve is necessarily the Borderlands curve. We just don’t have any of that information yet.”
By drawing conclusions, Take-Two are referring to how Battleborn will sell throughout its lifespan. The original Borderlands sold rather poorly at first, but the rate of sales was consistent and eventually it rose to incredible heights. There’s nothing to suggest Battleborn will follow the same trajectory of Borderlands, though the game’s initial sales have in fact been higher than those of Borderlands. At least that is something positive to take away.
From any other publisher’s perspective, one might consider Battleborn’s sales incredibly disappointing. Judging by this post on the Gearbox forums, players are starting to get worried that the population is already dwindling and sales don’t seem to be picking up at all.
It’s not surprising Take-Two aren’t drawing conclusions on Battleborn just yet. Gearbox have invested more in this one title than they did in Borderlands 1 and 2 combined. The amount of time and money invested is not being reflected in the game’s sales.
Our review of Battleborn will be arriving shortly, so stay tuned for that.