PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

[MrArlingtonBeach]

I saw this come through my news feeds today - during a Take-Two earnings call, it was mentioned that PGA 2K21 has sold about 2 million copies.

Apparently this was not expected by the company's CEO Strauss Zelnick.

"And I'd like to say that, that we're not surprised. But I am personally a little bit surprised we--it's done fantastically well, we've sold around 2 million units or so which is a fantastic result. And we're just really getting started."

Anyway, this almost assures that more PGA games will come thru via 2K, and one would assume that HB Studios will be along for the ride, too.

While I have had plenty of hang-ups with this game, I am glad that a licensed golf video game is having success and that golf gaming might have a future ahead of it.

[BrownsFan72]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

Good game and great news for Golf games.

[scagwi]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

I love it!

More and more likely that someone like EA might jump back with numbers like that!

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

I love it!

More and more likely that someone like EA might jump back with numbers like that!

It is amazing to me that PGA 2K21 sold so much better than Tiger Woods 14 and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. From what I can gather, between both X360 and PS3 versions, TW14 only sold 300,000 copies or so. And Rory McIlroy sold about 800,000 copies on PS4 and Xbox One combined.

I guess the lack of a real PGA TOUR game for this many years really played into that. I don't count TGC 2019 as a PGA TOUR game, because the integration was so meager and lacking.

I do have concerns about the PGA TOUR franchise from 2K, as the CEO mentioned in the call that he sees the franchise as "profitable". And to me, that means more paid DLC, as that's how these companies make their money now days.

[pietasterp]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

It is amazing to me that PGA 2K21 sold so much better than Tiger Woods 14 and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. From what I can gather, between both X360 and PS3 versions, TW14 only sold 300,000 copies or so. And Rory McIlroy sold about 800,000 copies on PS4 and Xbox One combined.

I guess the lack of a real PGA TOUR game for this many years really played into that. I don't count TGC 2019 as a PGA TOUR game, because the integration was so meager and lacking.

I do have concerns about the PGA TOUR franchise from 2K, as the CEO mentioned in the call that he sees the franchise as "profitable". And to me, that means more paid DLC, as that's how these companies make their money now days.

There's no question that microtransactions, or "recurring consumer spending" as 2K euphemistically likes to call it, is the whole of the business model in the gaming industry at this point. That having been said, no one can change that at this point, so if they keep improving that game and hopefully get it to the level approaching the quality of an NBA2K (which they are a long way away from), so much the better I guess.

But all that being said, I am sorta glad the game did well. It affirms what I always sort of believed, which is there is a market for a golf game out there that isn't battleships on the course and lightning strikes when you hit a good drive. The Tiger Woods series fizzled because they were making golf games for consumers that existed only in the minds of the EA marketing people (the mythical horde of 'casual' golf gamers). Golf isn't football and never will be; if you're making a golf game, you should be making it for people that are serious about the sport. There are at least ~2 million people like that out there, so if that's encouraging enough to continue, let's hope more join the party.

Only rumors and innuendo about EA jumping back in, but clearly we aren't the only ones that took notice of the news of PGA2K's better-than-expected showing:

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pga-tour-2k21-sells-2-million-copies-could-become-2ks-next-sports-franchise/1100-6487278/

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

No doubt that this is good news for all of us, who like to play "simulation-style" video game golf.

I do think a few factors made PGA 2K21 a bigger hit than expected - not least of all is the pandemic. Golf in general is experiencing a resurgence, thanks to its natural allowance as an outside activity that is that inherently allows for social distancing. A golf video game, then, takes it one step further, as you don't even have to leave your house to play.

My hope is that, no matter if it's a future 2K game or a new EA entry, that the companies don't go full-on paid DLC, making much of the game "pay to play". I am OK with the way 2K21 has gone about DLC - a new course for free, while offering some new clothes/clubs and a few other things you can pay for, but don't need. I don't find the "Clubhouse Pass" worth it, but if someone pays for it, I'm not at a disadvantage.

But if they start offering items that offer bonuses or perks that you can't get otherwise, while leaving other areas of the game untouched from year to year, then - for me personally - my interest will wane.

[bigkev]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

2 Million copies is insane, HB has struck gold convincing 2K to be their publisher. Unless EA can develop a course creator, they will never be able to compete with that. It kind of show a company can do extremely well with a crappy career mode, if there's tons of courses available created by users. Don't even have to bother communicating or fixing bugs, just let the users create contents.

[scagwi]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

2 Million copies is insane, HB has struck gold convincing 2K to be their publisher. Unless EA can develop a course creator, they will never be able to compete with that. It kind of show a company can do extremely well with a crappy career mode, if there's tons of courses available created by users. Don't even have to bother communicating or fixing bugs, just let the users create contents.

What data are you using to support the notion that the course creator / tons of courses are what is making the difference?

The course creator has been there from TGC1 -- the differences now are 2K exposure, Pro golfers, more polish and PGA stuff, gear/apparel -- no?

I confused why, at this juncture and on this particular release, we'd give credit for the success to a feature that's always been there.

I'm not at all convinced that mainstream fans who are into the PGA Tour, real golfers, gear/apparel oriented features care much about "endless courses", so long as they have 20 or 30+ good (ideally great) ones.

[bigkev]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

2K exposure is huge, that's making THE difference for HB. Without them, the game would never have been successful. They have the TGC Tour and Societies, using creator courses to make their own career mode. With EA, we were limited in Country Clubs with the courses available in the game. It's unlimited with 2K21. Still for a guy like me who wants the real deal, well 2k21 is not for me. At this time, I'm in the minority when it comes to the golf genre. Just have to look at the EA sales for TW14.

[lions67]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

It is amazing to me that PGA 2K21 sold so much better than Tiger Woods 14 and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. From what I can gather, between both X360 and PS3 versions, TW14 only sold 300,000 copies or so. And Rory McIlroy sold about 800,000 copies on PS4 and Xbox One combined.

I guess the lack of a real PGA TOUR game for this many years really played into that. I don't count TGC 2019 as a PGA TOUR game, because the integration was so meager and lacking.

I do have concerns about the PGA TOUR franchise from 2K, as the CEO mentioned in the call that he sees the franchise as "profitable". And to me, that means more paid DLC, as that's how these companies make their money now days.

2 million copies.
I don’t think HB/2K care about your concerns.
This is game is selling and it’s getting all the accolades.
To me, that says they have done something right.
The game is great despite its flaws. Maybe they will finally get on a new engine and fix those flaws for the next game.
Which I hope is still another year away!
Yearly releases are bad for sports games.

[lions67]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

What data are you using to support the notion that the course creator / tons of courses are what is making the difference?

The course creator has been there from TGC1 -- the differences now are 2K exposure, Pro golfers, more polish and PGA stuff, gear/apparel -- no?

I confused why, at this juncture and on this particular release, we'd give credit for the success to a feature that's always been there.

I'm not at all convinced that mainstream fans who are into the PGA Tour, real golfers, gear/apparel oriented features care much about "endless courses", so long as they have 20 or 30+ good (ideally great) ones.

Don’t be sour.
Give the game some credit.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

2 million copies.
I don’t think HB/2K care about your concerns.
This is game is selling and it’s getting all the accolades.
To me, that says they have done something right.
The game is great despite its flaws. Maybe they will finally get on a new engine and fix those flaws for the next game.
Which I hope is still another year away!
Yearly releases are bad for sports games.

They will care if they are expecting this to be a franchise, as the CEO mentioned in the call.

They haven't fixed hardly any issues, especially ones related to career mode. They don't communicate about anything - 2K or HB Studios. 2K Support is worthless...I've reached out to them multiple times about blue screen crashes on PS4, the career mode score glitches, etc., and it's the same canned responses each time.

I have enjoyed this game, especially creating courses, but I've given up on career mode and even trying to play online.

PGA 2K21 is fine, and it probably is still my favorite console golf game after Tiger Woods 14. But it's lacking in several areas and I, for one, am not sold on any future games released by the same publisher/developer combo. If they tack on lots more paid DLC, then that really seals the deal for me.

It's great that 2K21 has sold well. But they best not rest on their laurels when their next game comes out.

[scagwi]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

Don’t be sour.
Give the game some credit.

lol

"Sour"?

I'm not the least bit sour.

I'm a fan of golf games doing well - all of them - have been since the early 90's.

[scagwi]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

2K exposure is huge, that's making THE difference for HB. Without them, the game would never have been successful.

Absolutely true.

To me the real story here is yet to be told.

Are they planning to fix issues or just pump out DLC?

Will there be a true next gen version?

Is this a real commitment from them for the future/long term, or is the CEO just jazzed about unexpected revenue they plan to pocket and not really re-invest?

Lots of unanswered questions here.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Re: PGA TOUR 2K21 - 2 Million Copies Sold

I do think another reason PGA 2K21 sold so well is because the real-life PGA TOUR was one of the first major sports leagues to resume play after taking time off at the start of the pandemic.

People who may not have been as into pro golf found themselves watching a tourney on a Sunday afternoon. And, perhaps, as they were looking up info on golfers and the TOUR, they found out that a PGA game was on the way.

I'm not saying that 2K can't catch lightning in a bottle twice and make PGA 2K22 or 2K23 or whatever it will be called a good game, one that will sell well once again. But I do think there were outside factors at play that helped 2K21 become more popular than even 2K expected.