It's well established, courtesy of Nintendo shouting it from the rooftops, that the launch of Fire Emblem Fates in North America has been successful. Over 300,000 sales between Birthright, Conquest and Special Editions in the launch weekend alone made it the most successful ever US debut for the series, for example.
The February NPD results - which only cover physical retail sales of new game copies in the US - further reinforce this positive launch. As you can see in the top 10 below Birthright is one of only two single-format titles that made the list - the presence of Street Fighter V in this category is courtesy of the lack of physical copies sold for the PC version.
- Far Cry: Primal (PS4, Xbox One)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Xbox One, PS4, 360, PS3, PC)
- Grand Theft Auto V (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
- Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm (PS4, Xbox One)
- NBA 2K16 (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3)
- Lego Marvel Avengers (PS4, 360, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, 3DS, Vita)
- Street Fighter V (PS4)
- Minecraft (360, Xbox One, PS4, PS3)
- Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright (3DS)
- Fallout 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
It's also noted that combining the multiple editions of Fates would see it chart even higher, as highlighted by NPD analyst Liam Callahan.
If sales for Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, and the special edition for Fire Emblem Fates were combined, this title would have ranked third for new physical software sales. The combined first month sales of Fire Emblem Fates would more than triple the first month sales of the next-highest game within the franchise, Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Despite those positives, February was actually a poor month for new (physically packaged) game and hardware sales in the US, with declines in sales. The NPD results, of course, don't reflect on download sales, though it was confirmed that Wii U and 3DS hardware sales were down on February 2015's results; the latter is to be expected, as the New Nintendo 3DS XL launched in North America in that equivalent window last year.
Great news for Fire Emblem Fates, nevertheless - it seems that the dual release has paid off.
[source venturebeat.com]
Comments 83
This is great news after Awakening being the potentially final game in the series. It's really great to see this series getting some recognition. I look forward to future releases!
Very well deserved hopefully it all works out in Europe when it comes over here!
Yes, but now can you make more SEs please, Nintendo? ;_; I wanna give you my money, why won't you take it?
Absolutely fantastic games, really happy to see they are doing well even with the "controversies". While I hope they never do a duel release again (I think it is fine every now and again like the Zelda Oracle games), I hope they also are not afraid to mix it up a bit more as I have a few minor complaints with it and think they can really hammer those out in the next title.
I'm scared of future Nintendo of America localized games now. Seems they will get the message that even if they butcher a game on localization that people won't mind and will still buy the games.
The lack of physical PC copies for Street Fighter means nothing. The game flopped.
PS4 retail was <210k. Steamspy shows that SF V sold 130k worldwide. NeoGaf users did the math, and the PC version only sold 56k in NA.
According to Nintendo, Fire Emblem Fates sold just under 400k including digital. Retail was at 315k according to NPD, so it sold a bit under 85k digitally.
This means that PS4 digital sales of SFV would have needed to be over 100k to come close to Fire Emblem.
We now live in a world where Fire Emblem outsells Street Fighter in the US. Crazy.
I'm like to think that all the pseudo "controversy" about the game really was just a big advertisement stunt.
Nintendo has been playing us all.
@MarinoKadame I think people overestimated this "butchering". I understand a fair bit of Japanese (also got to play around with a friend's import copy) and while a number of supports have been tweaked the overall story translations are solid. It is only a few things they really had to nip in the butt like the Soleil supports with the Avatar (Soleil in general requires a lot of cultural understanding in the first place to even understand the original S-rank support).
Is it worth downloading or getting a physical copy. Are the cartridge art covers different?
@jeb_leeds Each game comes with a unique case and cart. I went digital because my local store was not stocked to meet the demand. I have no regrets going digital at all... well except for the fact I have an OG Awakening 3DS and it is now in need of a SD card upgrade.
It mostly comes down to if you have the space on your SD card/If you prefer physical over digital and even then you still need to download Conquest/Birthright and Revelations if you did not get the SE.
Nice to see FE finally get the sales it deserves but it's a shame those sales had to come from one of the weaker games in the series overall. Especially considering the utterly abysmal "localization".
@IceClimbers it also had a virtually unprecedented 86% drop in sales from its debut week to its second week in the UK, and from what I hear it didn't do well either in Japan. This hopefully means that publishers like Capcom will learn from this and stop taking us for granted that they can release borderline early access games and we'll just buy them on name alone regardless, though given Capcom's history they're more likely to give up trying entirely if Resident Evil 6 taught us anything, especially considering this game needed outside funding from Sony in the first place.
I do not see this game having much longevity either as its peek on Steam borders regularly on 5k or worse and console owners have never been known to support a model like this, they'll just buy the next shiny new overhyped thingy they see advertised on TV and Street Fighter V will be lucky to get success in the pre-owned market, let alone strong sales new in 5-6 months.
Capcom's biggest flop ever? Might well be, considering Resident Evil 6 sold like 7-8 million and was deemed disappointing. This game probably will sell a quarter of that. Ouchie.
Great to see Fire Emblem doing so well, although I do worry the message it sends that that can make so many of us pay twice for what is essentially the same game.
Not really Nintendo related, but I continue to be amazed at the success of the PS4. You'd think it would be dropping off after setting such a record-breaking pace, but the numbers are going up, not down. And in February!
@TheLastLugia 86% is not unprecedented. It's pretty common with any big game between week 1 and 2.
@Peach64 I think this will be a onetime deal. This is not the first Nintendo franchise to do a duel release and drop the concept after a single entry. Zelda Oracle of Ages and Seasons being just an example. I think we are only getting nervous because of the Pokemon sized elephant in the room. Having finished Conquest about two weeks ago and finishing off Birthright as we speak they are indeed two very different games when it comes to difficulty and narrative. A fun experiment which I do not think they will go forward with based on Nintendo's history (excluding Pokemon which mind you is having a much harder time justifying duel releases in this era of internet trading).
@TheLastLugia Yeah, it flopped pretty hard. It was a long time coming though when you consider all of the versions of SFIV, the tactics they pulled with SF x Tekken, etc. The lack of content in SFV was the cherry on top, and the huge backlash will likely kill its legs.
@Peach64 At this point there's the PS4, and then there's everything else.
Microsoft's PR was pretty telling. A lot of focus on Windows 10 devices. I have a feeling we'll be seeing Xbox transition from being a traditional dedicated console into more of a service/app. May not be right now, but down the line I see that happening. The writing is on the wall for the Xbox One.
If the rumors for NX pan out, then Sony would be the only one with a traditional console.
On a side note, according to Nintendo, the VC releases of Pokemon RBY smashed the 1st week sales record on the eShop, which was previously held by Smash 3DS.
So glad this excellent series is doing well. Fates is SUCH a good game too. Took the series to a new level
@Peach64
Did you buy and play both versions?
I can assure you this is no Pokemon release. They are indeed very different games.
Amazing game. It has pretty much consumed my free time.
And there's the DLC to come later... oh boy. I wonder how much I will clock between the 3 entries.
@IceClimbers Is there new rumours going round about it not being a traditional console? I don't really keep up with them.I've just read though that Activision are supposedly in talks with Nintendo about making Destiny 2's beta exclusive to NX.I find that really hard to believe.
@OorWullie No, there's not new rumors. I was referring to the whole "multiple form factor ecosystem" rumor. That's technically not a traditional console.
@IceClimbers Wow..... I feel as though Nintendo of America were just lucky that Street Fighter V was just plain bad. If the opposite were to happen, Fates wouldn't have even come to half of what V could have easily had.
I can't recollect what NoA did to market this game everywhere. I'm still shocked that this game hasn't reached a million yet.
Also, why the hell they can't combine the three games instead of looking at the one that sold the most? Yeah sure the games are separate and different but since the Special Edition counts as one entire set, why?
Enjoying Conquest so far btw!
I'm happy that FE has become an important series. I like Fates, and from what I seen, the controversy regarding the games helped it instead of dimishing sales. I just hope they return to the single format - getting the SE was a bit annoying.
As a matter of fact I am getting more and more annoyed with this games and nintendos stupid policy. Has anyone in Europe been able to preorder the special edition? If so, please tell me where. I was even thinking to give this one a pass should I not be able to buy the special edition.
@FierceRagnar But it is good? Also congrats Intelligent Systems!
I dont actually need a special edition, all I want is a 3in1 physical edition. Is it really so hard? Guess nintendo likes to suckerpunch their fans...
I know everyone hates on the localization or whatever, but I actually liked this game even more than Awakening. In fact, it's now one of my favorite games of all time! Call me whatever you want, but I thought the characters and writing in this game were top notch. Everyone has their opinions though, which I totally get.
@NinjaWaddleDee Most people did. The people whining about the "censorship"- a single minigame out of a dozen being moved from A to S rank- and a creepy homosexuality joke that doesnt translate well haven't actually played the game. I played one level this morning, and already have 28 A-S rank conversations to go through. The size of this game is insane. I've already put more hours into it than in Fallout 4...
@NinjaWaddleDee Most people did. The people whining about the "censorship"- a single minigame out of a dozen being moved from A to S rank- and a creepy homosexuality joke that doesnt translate well haven't actually played the game. I played one level this morning, and already have 28 A-S rank conversations to go through. The size of this game is insane. I've already put more hours into it than in Fallout 4...
@Gridatttack @NinjaWaddleDee Most people did. The people whining about the "censorship"- a single minigame out of a dozen being moved from A to S rank- and a creepy homosexuality joke that doesnt translate well haven't actually played the game. I played one level this morning, and already have 28 A-S rank conversations to go through. The size of this game is insane. I've already put more hours into it than in Fallout 4...
@DarthNocturnal
exactly, something is very wrong. This is actually the first time I got mad at nintendo. I mean, nintendo has been critisized for a lot of things in the past, I DIDNT CARE. Of course the have been arrogant for a long time, I can live with that as long as they bring out great games. But this is pushing the limit. Fine, make a special edition with like 100 copies that has an unimportant gimmick but make a 3in1 for everyone.
@Captain05crunch My comment would be exactly the same.
I'm not happy with what was done in the localization so I'm going to try out the fan patch with a game cart from japan but I hope people who got it enjoy the game for what it is.
Good for fire Emblem Fates, such a good game. There are other games that I need to play but I am so hooked on FE. I have Birthright, but someday I will pick up Conquest. As for Street Fighter V, I love that game too. I put in a good amount of online matches and even started playing rank. The gameplay is great, but it lacks content. Survival mode isn't enough for single player content and those characters story modes were nice to look at but that was way too easy and once you beat that its really no point going back to. The new update that's coming is a good start, and if Capcom learned their lesson they will throw in an Arcade mode.
This is my first Fire Emblem game and am loving it so far.
Thanks to all who recommended I start with the Birthright campaign, it's awesome so far.
Really good FE Fates sales. It would have been the 3rd best selling game of the month the sales of all the versions were combined.
Just to show how things have improved since Awakening, FE Fates Conquest alone outsold FE Awakening, and Conquest isn't even the best selling version.
I'm also pleasantly surprised that Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow VC broke eShop sales records...I mean, obviously those titles were revolutionary hits, but they are old and a bit overpriced. Would have expected Smash 3DS to keep that record, but it looks like Pokémon's appeal is far greater.
I'm kind of hoping a future title takes a more classic approach with a non-avatar main character (I'd be fine with doing away with the avatar for a few games)and maybe brings back weapon weight, limited uses, et cetera. It'd be cool if they did one that harkened back to the GBA games. Maybe even a third game set in Elibe? One can dream...
That said, Fates is really really good. I'm on chapter 11 of Hoshido on Lunatic classic (chapter 10 took forever and chapter 9 was quite difficult as well). I just hope I can play through these games without caving and lowering the difficulty.
Wouldn't mind a Shining Force remake.
How is Minecraft still on here? Please spare me the "it's a great game", I'm just surprised that after this huge start for FE:f that it was still beaten out, by a 360 game that's ancient now. The charts are a bore anyway, GTA V for the 200th week, CoD for the 12th year in a row, another lego/far cry/etc similar thing agaaaain.
@Dankykong the legs on some of these titles is unreal. It's crazy that GTAV and Minecraft are still selling that many units at retail. Talk about cash printing machines.
@Dankykong Because kids these days eat up anything with the name minecraft.
The hidden story here is after consoles selling less in 2015 than they did in 2014, were now seeing the start of 2016 being down on 2015.
To me this suggests that a lot of the core gamers who were going to buy a PS4 or an XB1 have done so, and both companies are having trouble convincing the casual gamers to swap their iPads. I don't think VR is going to be that budget game changer, but it will be interesting to see if there will be a Skylanders/Guitar Hero/ Just Dance moment this year to get the big numbers of sold consoles people think will be sold.
love this game
@TheLastLugia The only lesson Capcom will learn with these results is they'll never make another Street Fighter ever again. It's a shame to see such a prestigious series dying like that because Ono is an incompetent idiot obsessed by cheap cashgrabs.
@russellohh I know, this game is a masterpiece. And the fact that I have 2 more games left to play for only 20 bucks each is amazing. Conquest was just so good! I can't wait to start birthright soon!
@Mr_Zurkon Told ya it was awesome!
@russellohh I've played Fates. Its excellent. But that doesn't change the fact that the localization is sloppy and that the censorship is extensive and extremely unnecessary.
@Ralizah petting wafus shouldnt be in there in the first place glad they removed
It's funny...
I'm a person who owns a physical copy of Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, played through both GBA games, and yet does not own either half of Fates, or it's DLC campaign.
I didn't want to pay $80 for the full game, and couldn't decide which half of the game I wanted to play for the price of a full game.
Also, I didn't like any of the new ideas or changes... like face petting, dragon-born super powers, pheonix (baby) mode and reduction in challenge...re-using and wedging in the marriage and offspring mechanic for what is presumably a whole other story that also must use the same time travel mechanic....?...or?
So FIre Emblem is now a big hit with the waifu lover crowd and visual novel fans...but at what price to the real fans?
@Camilla Where to start...? You could pet everyone, so talking about "wafus" is really just a strawman to begin with. Moreover, it was an optional feature, and, as such, was never forced on the player. It really showed off the live 2D art and made the "my room" portion of Fates an actual minigame and not just a rushed cutscene like we have now.
If Nintendo was worried about its reception, they should have just included an option to enable or disable the petting. That way, everyone would have been happy.
@Ralizan happy for wat having a feature that shouldnt be in a fire emblem game in the first place and besides removing it had no effect on the rest of the game you re making a big deal out of it and the only game i question about being censored was fatal frame which shouldnt be censored
@FierceRagnar You want them to make it go BACK to what made it almost died off? You can't see that, they way it WAS had no future, so they HAD to change it.
bravo nintendo! nice work there. that's what great promotion gets you. also, i think corrin's publicized entry into smash helped a lot more than it will ever be given credit for.
The localization is sloppy, but this isn't the worst a Fire Emblem game went through to get to the states, just the most vocal.
That aside, I finished Birthright and now playing Conquest. I'll say as someone who didn't care for the 'waifu/husbando' mechanics all the sensitive fans keep complaining about, Conquest is one of the best FE games mechanically. I really love how they brought back alternate mission types, I find the majority of characters likeable, and while the story is a bit flat I don't think the writing is all that bad.
Worst part is, even though I've been playing the series for a few years now, I suck at tactical games. Conquest is a bit on the easy side with Normal/Casual, but anything past that is beyond me. I feel like a 'filthy casual' playing on such a low difficulty... at least I'm not playing Pheonix, I guess. I just wish there were difficulty options between Normal, Hard, and Lunatic because I feel the difference between each one is a bit drastic.
SFV sales will increase when they actually finish the ******* game. What an insult to charge full price for that crap.
Well deserved sales for Nintendo's greatest series.
I would buy the game if there were more Special Editions, else I guess I'll have to wait a year or two year to play this : (
@Wexter Overall they cut most support dialogues or even over simplified them for no reasons. Like the whole story behind Sakura got kind of skipped in the localization. You can see most changes here.
Also the avatar Son is forever alone instead of being able to S support with only one girl in the Japanese version.
http://imgur.com/a/X2w49
@MarinoKadame Did I say they made no alterations to the original text? No, I did not, I did point out that they made a number of changes. Not a few, a number. Do not try to put words in my mouth on that one. I also said that it was the main story sections they kept rather faithful to the original Japanese. Secondly, this is not the first Fire Emblem, hell, not even the first video game to get this kind of treatment. As far as localizations go it is rather mixed. Not bastardised. Mixed. Some of the changes are good, some were mistakes. That is just the nature of the beast when it comes to taking something and trying to make it understandable for Western audiences. It is almost as if this is the first game that has come to peoples' attention that this kind of thing has happened to and only now do they care.
Also, I would also like to point out that I did say that some of those changes had to occur like Soleil. Whose S-Support makes no sense in English or Western culture without extensive knowledge of certain trends in female Japanese youth culture.
Edit: I would also like to ask if you read my post before posting that? Did I not say "hey I understand Japanese, I sat down with the game in Japanese. I'm aware of these changes yo". If not please reread my post. Thank you.
Hooray censorship...
It's good to know everyone here seems to be ok with the butchered localization.
Pleased to hear this After the failure of Code Name STEAM, this is a welcome success for Intelligent System and for Fire Emblem franchise in general.
Great to see the success of Fates. I still need to pick up the game myself but looks it just as fun as Awakening so I'll cave in and buy Conquest soon.
@IceClimbers
Ouch, those are terrible numbers for a game that got heavily promoted(and still does as I'm still seeing plenty of SFV ads on TV) and is on two platforms with massive install bases.
I love Fire Emblem, it's my favorite franchise, and Fates is close to be my number one on the series.
It's really amazing, the detail level is absurd and the character models is simply perfect when used in battle.
About SFV, the game is great, but the lack of features may turn off a lot of people. And maybe after SFIV with 3 or 4 editions people were angry with capcom.
@IceClimbers That really is crazy. I mean especially considering how close Fire Emblem came to getting shut down completely.
@FierceRagnar They did advertise it in the past, in fact Radiant Dawn was shown off at E3 2007 , no one cared there was a general apathy to the series outside existing fans. Which is a big difference to the first Nintendo Direct of 2015 where Fates was the most hyped game from it.
The difference between Awakening onwards and beforehand is that in the past there was almost nothing to advertise to new players after Blazing Sword where the concept was new for the west. People saw Radiant Dawn at the biggest gaming event on the at the time biggest gaming platform(Wii) and were apathetic to it. Whereas Awakening and Fates stood out during their reveals and had a lot more reasons for people to be interested when they were shown the game and told the features that they've ended up selling the best on Nintendo's lowest selling handheld.
@Action51 Conquest alone is a bigger, more challenging and also cheaper game than what Path of Radiance was at release. I personally care more about what exactly I'm getting and not just the way its sold. Just one version of Fates by itself is still the 2nd biggest Fire Emblem game and has more than 2 games worth of new mechanics/classes/skills/weapons and adjustments and refinements to the gameplay.
@Action51 - if you like the Radiant series, I'd suggest picking up Conquest. I didnt enjoy Awakening that much but Fates in general, and Conquest especially have been a better fit for me and I played Path and Dawn to death.
This success could give the wrong impresion to nintendo...
For example, they could think that shallow/cheesy characters are good, that multiple releases are a good idea, that dlc is a good practice or that shoved in children in the (mediocre to bad) story is the most clever mechanic ever...
@Melkac
It's not that people are "ok" with it, it's that people just don't care that much. Because as it stands, Fates is still perhaps the best game on the 3DS.
So it's not that people don't care, it's that they understand how to weigh pros and cons. Most, including myself, are not willing to forfeit the greatest game on this entire system over what is, to be perfectly honest, negligible to the overall picture. I voiced my dissatisfaction in the first article posted about the changes. Then I got over it.
@kotag
Shallow and cheesy characters is a matter of opinion. I really enjoy the characters in this game. They are not as good as in Awakening but far better than that of the GBA games. Except Jaffar, I loved him.
Multiple releases. Well, you act as if Nintendo hasn't been doing multiple releases for the past 30 years. Take a look at Pokemon. Or Zelda Oracle games. At least with this multiple release they're actually separate games. And as long as they are separate games then why should anybody care if they make multiple releases?
DLC. I'm not sure if you've noticed but Nintendo jumped on the DLC bandwagon years ago, and there's nothing "bad" about it. Sure, it can be abused but so can anything else. And I recall boycotts and protests when third-party games on Wii U did not offer season passes on the eShop. So it seems that fans want DLC. They want more of a game they enjoy. I know I certainly do and I welcome DLC with open arms.
Shoved in children. This I agree with you one hundred percent, no question.
"The NPD results, of course, don't reflect on download sales"
I'd be interested in seeing the full numbers for Fates. It, in particular, could have a lot of eshop sales because of the "buy one, get one 50% off" deal. Regardless, this is great news for the future of the Fire Emblem series, which is great news for fans. Maybe Nintendo will even consider another console entry.
@MarinoKadame Makes me hope that there is always a delay between the japanese release and everything else. That way the fans have time to make a translation that doesn't butcher it.
@MarinoKadame Makes me hope that there is always a delay between the japanese release and everything else. That way the fans have time to make a translation that doesn't butcher it.
Sad people will eat anything up Nintendo, no matter how bad it is.
@JaxonH You're right on the DLC remark, my comment was just my dislike for it. But if people like it, thats good.
About the multiple releases, I know it has some good in it, but no matter how I see conquest or birthright , I can't see them as the real game's world or ending, just alternate universes... (I admit that's a problem of my own though)
And even though your're right about the matter of taste for the characters... I can't believe you just called awakening characters good.
Based in Cherche's class, appearance and personality I decided that she was my favorite character, so I wanted to know more about her...until Minerva appeared...in every. single. support.
Matter of opinion, it certainly is...
But to each their own. =)
Maybe they could use some of this money to make a new Advance Wars game? I hope they do at least (or at least a compilation of the previous games/or make the old games available on 3DS e-shop like they did with pokemon (yes, I have the games on the Wii U already, but I travel a lot).
@Syrek24 Resorting to name-calling right off the bat, huh? How kind of you.
Anyways, do you deny the Nintendo brand doesn't sell? As long as it's Nintendo and advertised properly, like this game was, it will sell regardless of quality.
@DoctorOverbuild You also google for news about Fire Emblem every day? The hype is real! (I'm Master Tactician on youtube BTW)
@Gerbwmu - I really enjoyed Awakening, but it's the stuff that they've kept and expended upon from Awakening that I'm most wary about.
Also...I'll probably wait until there is a price drop or promotion because I'm just not that excited and I feel the pricing and splitting up of the game is a cash grab.
@Larremannen yes I do! And thanks for checking out the channel man!
Meanwhile, in the UK...
Awesome! I'm glad the series is continuing to grow.
@Syrek24 I'm not arguing about the petting mini-game. One of my biggest problems with the game is how it was butchered into two (or three) and sold as full games. It is NOT a complete game. And yet people buy it. How exactly is it not incomplete?
Also, you seem unrealistically angry with me. What, did I murder your loved one or something?
@JaxonH By people not caring that much we'll get more bullshit like this from NoA. Look at Tokyo Mirage #FE, already censored. And if that wasn't enough, memes. Memes everywhere.
Because god knows people aren't tired of memes.
Reggie should just get demoted.
@ThomasBW84 Doing well doesn't excuse the job done at localization. People might actually be buying the game, so they can be heard. Nintendo should listen to the players. What was done, was censorship that is blatantly obvious. Like the "swimsuit" powerups taken out unnecessarily, that are key to gameplay too. There are character classes that are quite revealing and you can still do obscene camera views in the Accessory Shop.
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