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]

Good game and great news for Golf games.

[scagwi]

I love it!

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

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Quote: Originally Posted by scagwi

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]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrArlingtonBeach

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/pg.../1100-6487278/

[MrArlingtonBeach]

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]

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]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigkev

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.