NPD: The Witcher 3 Topped Software Sales in May

[Lizzy Finnegan]

NPD: The Witcher 3 Topped Software Sales in May

According to the latest NPD Group report, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt claimed the top spot for software sales last month.

The Witcher 3 was not only the number one game for the month of May, it also had the best-selling first month unit sales for RPGs for the current generation of consoles. There is no surprise to this considering the recent announcement by CD Projekt Red.

In a recent took the top spot [http://thewitcher.com/news/view/1056] for UK sales for three consecutive weeks.

Marcin Iwiński, co-founder of CD Projekt Red, wrote that the success is a "sign that we did something right," and promised to harness the "positive energy" into upcoming expansions.

"I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the four million gamers worldwide who bought The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the first two weeks from launch. Four million RPG fans spending their hard-earned money on our game is a sign that we did something right, and you can be sure that we'll harness all that positive energy and make the upcoming expansions worthy of the grand adventure that you're telling us Wild Hunt already is! Until then, keep on enjoying Wild Hunt, do not forget to grab your weekly set of free DLCs, and stay tuned for constant updates and enhancement to the game we are continuously working on."

The top 10 games for May, according to the NPD Group, are as follows:

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Mortal Kombat X
Grand Theft Auto V
Minecraft
Splatoon
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
NBA 2K15
FIFA 15
MLB 15: The Show
Super Smash Bros.


Permalink

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

The Stat about first month RPG sales is crazy. Witcher 1 and 2 were quite niche and alienating, with its third entry performing better than the 3rd Dragon Age and what is essentially a Miyazaki Souls game. Also this being done on consoles for a historically PC franchise who's first game did not appear on any console. Hats off to CD, I Haven't played Wild Hunt but all signs point to them deserving it.

 

[Wiggum Esquilax]

How

the hell

is Minecraft still on that list?!

 

[Dragonbums]

Pretty impressive that Splatoon made top 5 despite being a new IP surrounded by much more established and popular IP's from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Also to note with Splatoon is that it ranked top in Japan for two weeks now and is going super strong over there. I think it got like 200k in sales.

On that note, glad to see Witcher doing well. While I may not ever find myself getting the games, I am interested in the story. I heard that at least the first book is translated and available to purchase? I'm probably gonna look into that. I've been lacking in novels to read and right now the Game of Throne books are too expensive for me right now. ( I have a bad habit of bulk buying series because fuck waiting.)

 

[Dragonbums]

How

the hell

is Minecraft still on that list?!

Hey man, when you are literally on every single platform device known to mankind (except Nintendo apparently.) It's really hard to NOT make it on the top 5 consistently.

 

[Metalrocks]

well done CD. but i still wait for a extended edition as it was with part 2. also, would be cheaper. have to sit on the money.

 

[The Madman]

Good to hear, Witcher 3 deserves it. Damned good game!

On that note, glad to see Witcher doing well. While I may not ever find myself getting the games, I am interested in the story. I heard that at least the first book is translated and available to purchase? I'm probably gonna look into that. I've been lacking in novels to read and right now the Game of Throne books are too expensive for me right now. ( I have a bad habit of bulk buying series because fuck waiting.)

The first couple books have been translated to english and are available in bookstores while there are fan-translations available of all the books not yet officially translated. It's a big enough series that if you want to read them there are means to read all the books. Heck, if you want you can even try watching the terrible Witcher movie and show, though I'd obviously recommend against those.

If nothing else The Last Wish is a good read. It's a collection of short stories featuring Geralt and actually make for some pretty good light reading.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Man, people are still buying GTA V?

Kinda reminds me of a Playstation magazine I used to get, how every single week they would do a top 20 best sellers and GTA: SA was on the top of it for almost 2 years. XD

Still, good to hear that they managed to hit gold for their efforts

 

[mysecondlife]

I'm happy for them. Its a fantastic game made by developers who doesn't show contempt for the customers and it's a success very well deserved.

Also, please please please fix the crafting bugs.

 

[RyQ_TMC]

On that note, glad to see Witcher doing well. While I may not ever find myself getting the games, I am interested in the story. I heard that at least the first book is translated and available to purchase? I'm probably gonna look into that. I've been lacking in novels to read and right now the Game of Throne books are too expensive for me right now. ( I have a bad habit of bulk buying series because fuck waiting.)

The first short story collection, The Last Wish, had been released back in 2007, to coincide with the first game, and now it's been re-released for some sweet TW3 bucks (it's made it to the NYT Bestseller list). The first three books of the saga are also out (books 4 and 5 are slated for 2016-17).

The second short story collection is out in the UK, American release is slated for December.

So yeah, there's several Witcher books you can read right now. I don't know how good the translation is though, in Poland the books benefit from loads of Polish slang terms and call-outs to history/politics.

well done CD. but i still wait for a extended edition as it was with part 2. also, would be cheaper. have to sit on the money.

I don't think an EE is likely this time around. Keep in mind that both TW1 and TW2 received some severe criticism at launch and the EEs were primarily ways to address the worst issues (like the dearth of character models in TW1, or weirdly structured tutorial in TW2). Now that everyone and their mum is singing TW3's praises, the best you can hope for is probably a bundle with all the 16 free and 2 paid DLCs.

It definitely will get cheaper though.

 

[Amaror]

They definitly deserve every sale they got and much more. I can't remember the last time i have been this well entertained which such a high quality over such a long time without any dips in fun or motivation to go on.
I have played over 70 hours of the Witcher 3, have still plenty of stuff to do and can't wait to play again, because it's just so much fun.
Also i can't remember the last time a quest allowed me to

Spoiler

throw a baby into a burning oven.

That's a 10/10 just for that scene.
Hehe, people who don't know the quest most likely think me a horrible person right now. Oh, well.

 

[Thyunda]

Pretty impressive that Splatoon made top 5 despite being a new IP surrounded by much more established and popular IP's from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

Also to note with Splatoon is that it ranked top in Japan for two weeks now and is going super strong over there. I think it got like 200k in sales.

On that note, glad to see Witcher doing well. While I may not ever find myself getting the games, I am interested in the story. I heard that at least the first book is translated and available to purchase? I'm probably gonna look into that. I've been lacking in novels to read and right now the Game of Throne books are too expensive for me right now. ( I have a bad habit of bulk buying series because fuck waiting.)

I got the first book (The Last Wish) just this morning and started reading straightaway, because I also own Metro 2033, which was translated by somebody who apparently didn't know what metaphors were and I was concerned Sapkowski might be similarly mistranslated. My fears were not justified - the version translated by Danusia Stok (I don't know if there are other official versions) works perfectly.

They definitly deserve every sale they got and much more. I can't remember the last time i have been this well entertained which such a high quality over such a long time without any dips in fun or motivation to go on.
I have played over 70 hours of the Witcher 3, have still plenty of stuff to do and can't wait to play again, because it's just so much fun.
Also i can't remember the last time a quest allowed me to

Spoiler

throw a baby into a burning oven.

That's a 10/10 just for that scene.
Hehe, people who don't know the quest most likely think me a horrible person right now. Oh, well.

I really hope that oven had an open back or something.

Spoiler

The reveal was that the jarl's baby was safe...BUT WHO WAS OVEN?

 

[Amaror]

I got the first book (The Last Wish) just this morning and started reading straightaway, because I also own Metro 2033, which was translated by somebody who apparently didn't know what metaphors were and I was concerned Sapkowski might be similarly mistranslated. My fears were not justified - the version translated by Danusia Stok (I don't know if there are other official versions) works perfectly.

Yeah, they are pretty well translated. What i personally think was the coolest thing was in one of the books was a pretty neat Reference to a ballad of a german Poet. It was "Erlkönig" from Goethe.

 

[Thyunda]

I got the first book (The Last Wish) just this morning and started reading straightaway, because I also own Metro 2033, which was translated by somebody who apparently didn't know what metaphors were and I was concerned Sapkowski might be similarly mistranslated. My fears were not justified - the version translated by Danusia Stok (I don't know if there are other official versions) works perfectly.

Yeah, they are pretty well translated. What i personally think was the coolest thing was in one of the books was a pretty neat Reference to a ballad of a german Poet. It was "Erlkönig" from Goethe.

Is that the same collection that appears in The Dresden Files during the Darkhallow?

 

[JayRPG]

Pretty impressive that Splatoon made top 5 despite being a new IP surrounded by much more established and popular IP's from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.

I think it's actually incredibly impressive Splatoon made top 5 when it only had 2 days of sales tracking for this chart, it was released right at the end of May, so it made number 5 without even half a weeks worth of sales; which is astounding given it is a Wii U exclusive.

I'd be interested to see what Wii U console sales look like for the last few weeks.

 

[Amaror]

I got the first book (The Last Wish) just this morning and started reading straightaway, because I also own Metro 2033, which was translated by somebody who apparently didn't know what metaphors were and I was concerned Sapkowski might be similarly mistranslated. My fears were not justified - the version translated by Danusia Stok (I don't know if there are other official versions) works perfectly.

Yeah, they are pretty well translated. What i personally think was the coolest thing was in one of the books was a pretty neat Reference to a ballad of a german Poet. It was "Erlkönig" from Goethe.

Is that the same collection that appears in The Dresden Files during the Darkhallow?

I never read The Desden Files, do they have an Erlkönig reference, too.
This is a adaption of the ballad to english, although i think it doesn't sound very good compared to the original:

Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely, he keepeth him warm.

"My son, wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."

"Oh, come, thou dear infant! oh come thou with me!
For many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
The words that the Erl-King now breathes in mine ear?"
"Be calm, dearest child, 'tis thy fancy deceives;
'Tis the sad wind that sighs through the withering leaves."

"Wilt go, then, dear infant, wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care;
My daughters by night their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."

"My father, my father, and dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters has brought here for me?"
"My darling, my darling, I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."

"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy!
And if thou'rt unwilling, then force I'll employ."
"My father, my father, he seizes me fast,
For sorely the Erl-King has hurt me at last."

The father now gallops, with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard with toil and with dread, ?
The child in his arms finds he motionless, dead.

It doesn't sound too alike in english but there was a scene in the books were Geralt was riding through the woods, i think with ciri, and the wording in the german translation was incredibly similar to the original version of the ballad, although with a different ending.

 

[Thyunda]

-snip-

I had to have a quick Google of it, despite the fact I'm supposed to be working on a research report. The Erlking in the Dresden-verse is leader of the Wild Hunt but the book I was referring to was called 'Die Lied der Erlking,' and contained in it everything known about the Erlking. The bad German is pointed out in-universe, in case you were wondering.

 

[danielcofour]

I really hope that oven had an open back or something.

Spoiler

The reveal was that the jarl's baby was safe...BUT WHO WAS OVEN?

This. Who/what was that. HOw?

 

[Amaror]

I really hope that oven had an open back or something.

Spoiler

The reveal was that the jarl's baby was safe...BUT WHO WAS OVEN?

This. Who/what was that. HOw?

I don't understand the question. Is there another quest were that is alive or something?

 

[Thyunda]

I really hope that oven had an open back or something.

Spoiler

The reveal was that the jarl's baby was safe...BUT WHO WAS OVEN?

This. Who/what was that. HOw?

I don't understand the question. Is there another quest were that is alive or something?

Spoiler

The baby in Cerys' arms was clearly crying, and she'd evidently snatched it in view of the jarl's guards to encourage pursuit. She hands it to Geralt, Geralt tosses it in the oven and casts Quen on the door so nobody can open it and fights off (brutally murders) the jarl's men. Jarl collapses in defeat, Cerys and the old guy reveal the baby Aki was safe all along. This is where it gets a bit weird - did Cerys carve a hole into the back of the oven so that they could pull Aki out before he was hurt, or was Aki in the old man's arms the whole time behind the wall? If so, who was the baby in Cerys' arms and why was it crying if it was fake? Did Geralt actually throw a peasant baby in the oven to fool the jarl and the hym into thinking it was his?