{"id":20895,"date":"2026-08-26T08:03:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T08:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=20895"},"modified":"2026-08-26T08:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T08:03:21","slug":"fave-or-flop-a-guide-to-gauging-video-game-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=20895","title":{"rendered":"Fave or flop? A guide to gauging video game success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p>The video game industry is notoriously tight-lipped about its numbers, filled with members-only metrics like wishlists, pre-orders and player numbers, so it can be hard to know which games have actually proven popular and turned a profit.<\/p>\n<p>Industry associations such as France\u2019s SELL periodically release sales figures based on data taken from game publishers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Private research firms also make their own estimates, based for example on publisher or public data as well as their own user panels and rankings.<\/p>\n<p>But publishers and studios often highlight indicators that are most favourable to their messaging, which vary depending on the type of game, experts told AFP ahead of the Gamescom trade show now underway in Cologne, Germany.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here is a look at some of the proffered gauges, and how to read them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Wishlists \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Online stores operated by console makers as well as gaming platforms like Steam or Epic open \u201cwishlists\u201d for players to register their interest before a game is available to play.<\/p>\n<p>Some publishers tout wishlist numbers when they pass an impressive threshold, usually at least a million.<\/p>\n<p>But Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics, a consulting firm, told AFP the indicator usually had remarkably little to do with actual sales, particularly for big-budget releases known as AAA in industry parlance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever, ever, ever kind of look at wishlists as a reflection of the sales,\u201d Elliott said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor some very lucky indie games or something like that with lower price points, maybe they can convert 40 percent of their wishlist at launch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut for an AAA game, usually it\u2019s under 10 percent or even under five percent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Pre-orders \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Pre-orders are a more reliable indicator, Elliot said, but he warned against simply converting sales volume into a definitive amount of revenue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegional pricing and discounts mean that huge unit count can actually be a small amount of revenue or the other way around,\u201d he said. \u201cA game might cost $70 in the US and then cost the equivalent of $30 in China.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And a million copies sold for $10 each will of course not generate the same revenue as a game sold for $70.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrilling down a bit deeper into, like, where the units, the players, the copies sold come from is super important,\u201d Elliot said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Number of players \u2013<\/p>\n<p>A publisher reporting a game\u2019s number of players rather than its sales is often seeking to disguise a game\u2019s true performance, Elliot said, particularly if it comes bundled with a subscription service \u2014 increasing the number of players without any necessary effect on sales.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not going to say \u2018sneaky\u2019, but you\u2019re obfuscating how well your game is doing when you do that,\u201d Elliott said.<\/p>\n<p>Many users on social media also track the \u201cconcurrent users\u201d figure provided by Steam, one of the few statistics available online.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConcurrent is very helpful,\u201d said Joost van Dreunen, a professor at New York University\u2019s Stern School of Business and a specialist in video game economics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s where the audience attention is right now. But it doesn\u2019t say anything directionally about where they came from or where they\u2019re going next,\u201d van Dreunen said.<\/p>\n<p>Also, Steam\u2019s figures cover only users on its own platform, not those on other providers or consoles.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 Playing time \u2013<\/p>\n<p>Playing time is the key metric to watch for free-to-play titles such as \u201cFortnite\u201d and \u201cRoblox\u201d, games that make add-ons available for purchase, von Dreunen said, with developers battling for players\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s free-to-play, you look for retention,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 The buzz\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n<p>Fan groups, YouTube previews and social media chatter are also increasingly important for knowing how much of a splash a game has made, or might make.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the last year or two, my attention has really gone towards, what\u2019s the organic groundswell?\u201d von Dreunen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat tends to be a strong indicator for success once the game gets to the store.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The number of views on YouTube and Twitch related to a title after a few weeks, and streamers sticking with particular games for a while, can also be among the indicators of success.<\/p>\n<p>For Elliott at Alinea Analytics, however, such data can give only a general picture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s better than nothing,\u201d he said, but \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of noise in that data\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; 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background:#ff9ecd; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114305\" data-width=\"250\" data-height=\"250\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114305});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:139px; background:#c792ea; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114302\" data-width=\"133\" data-height=\"139\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114302});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:125px; background:#91e7ac; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Fave or flop? A guide to gauging video game success<br \/>\n<br \/>#Fave #flop #guide #gauging #video #game #success<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The video game industry is notoriously tight-lipped about its numbers, filled with members-only metrics like&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[15551,1544,232,15552,6456,7164,550],"class_list":["post-20895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-fave","tag-flop","tag-game","tag-gauging","tag-guide","tag-success","tag-video"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",768,486,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75-300x190.jpg",300,190,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",640,405,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",640,405,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",768,486,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",768,486,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",768,486,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",768,486,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75.jpg",768,486,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ebcc6360e16a83e4ec03c4bc70624060fe7e0a75-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}