Fallout 3 nukes UK competition, outsells previous franchise installments

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 4th 2008 at 11:45AM }

Although it's still a couple weeks before the US NPD data comes in, Fallout 3 is doing quite well for itself over in the UK. The title has climbed to the top of the PS3, Xbox 360, PC and overall charts in the region. We find it hard to believe, but GI.biz reports the game has already surpassed the combined regional sales of Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

The division in Fallout 3 sales across platforms is 55% on Xbox 360, 28% on PS3 and 17% on PC (of course, the division does not count pirated copies). First week sales were also 57% higher than Oblivion's initial performance, which makes sense, considering the smaller install base of the Xbox 360 at that time (not to mention the late arrival of a PS3 version).

Tags: bethesda, bethesda-softworks, fallout-3, sales, uk

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Chin-Poh @ Nov 4th 2008 11:49AM

Of course its going to see more and have more attention than the previous games, being this was developed by Bethesda and the success of TES: Oblivion.

I'll bet a large majority of Fallout 3 players have never played the first two games and some may have tried them due to the "halo effect", but now find them too dated to play. Not that its a bad thing, this game has nothing to do with the previous two games story-wise.

Chin-Poh @ Nov 4th 2008 11:50AM

But even though this game is quite different from the first two, it has one important thing in common, its sucking away hours of my life! ARGGGHGHGHGHGH!!!! :(

Muu @ Nov 4th 2008 12:03PM

Killing radscorpions and other melee-only mobs are certainly easier this time around. Unfortunately, that ease of getting around has led to more time lost playing this thing.

Jakka @ Nov 4th 2008 12:05PM

I'd have to agree.Although I hate to come off as a graphic whore, the interface and graphics are definitely not the kind of thing I'd spend 80+ hours looking at.

The series definitely needs a remake.

tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 4th 2008 11:50AM

And well deserved I should say. This is easily my goty so far, and I may as well crown it cause I don't see anything that I haven't played yet topping it.

AwesomeTown @ Nov 4th 2008 12:43PM

Same here. As good as I think Gears2 will be, I just don't see myself playing it as much as I would like. Fallout 3 is just too good. I've been playing a good amount but I really haven't even scratched the surface.

Dillon @ Nov 4th 2008 12:53PM

Strong contender, but I'm holding out for Left 4 Dead.

Park Zero @ Nov 4th 2008 12:03PM

This is my game of the last ten years. That’s how long I waited to leave the vault and travel the wastes again. Great job to Bethesda for bringing my favorite franchise back from the dead.

Chin-Poh @ Nov 4th 2008 12:04PM

My bro's telling me there's already some mods for the PC version, I rented the 360 version and that convinced him to buy the PC version.

If someone can remake 1/2 with 3's engine, I'll go crazy.

Jakka @ Nov 4th 2008 12:08PM

Don't think that's possible, no matter how flexible the engine is.

Chin-Poh @ Nov 4th 2008 12:33PM

I do know the PC version will get some very nice mods just like Oblivion did.

Haggard @ Nov 4th 2008 2:38PM

It can't be too hard to remake 1 or 2 in full 3D with the Fallout 3 engine.

Well ok, it'd take ages, but most of the textures, assets and sound files already exist.

Mike @ Nov 4th 2008 12:04PM

"of course, the division does not count pirated copies"

Oh good, cause you know since this post was about Fallout 3 sales I thought the figures were including all the pirated copies.

WiiFTW @ Nov 4th 2008 12:16PM

lol if they did that for Spore than EA's stock would not have dropped.

Levi @ Nov 4th 2008 12:05PM

I read the article wrong at first, and was SO ready to scroll down and say "FALLOUT TACTICS WAS NOT THE SEQUEL TO FALLOUT!!" then I realised that "it's sequel" was just an item in the list.

But doesn't it look like "and it's sequel, Fallout Tactics" at first?

yifes @ Nov 4th 2008 7:58PM

Fallout Tactics and fallout 3 are both made by different companies than the originals, both change the gameplay drastically, and both have plots that have very little to do with the originals. So why would you get mad when Fallout tactics is as much of a "sequel" to the originals as Fallout 3?

Levi @ Nov 5th 2008 7:52AM

...because Fallout tactics isn't the sequel to Fallout... Fallout 2 is....

Plus, Tactics would be considered a spinoff, not a sequel. Mario 3 changed the gameplay from Mario 1, but it is a true sequel and Mario RPG is not, it's a spinoff. Just an example. Ya catch me? :)

Kevin @ Nov 4th 2008 12:06PM

"The division in Fallout 3 sales across platforms is 55% on Xbox 360, 28% on PS3 and 17% on PC (of course, the division does not count pirated copies)."

Pirated copies are not sales, and will never be included. Steam copies are usually not included in sales.

Dirty @ Nov 4th 2008 12:10PM

Im losing too much sleep because of this damn game.

LeadBoxx @ Nov 4th 2008 12:14PM

Me too! I'll keep saying I'll put it down in 30 minutes. Next thing I know, 5 hours have past.

Joeshie @ Nov 4th 2008 12:18PM

Of course it outsold the previous Fallouts. They probably spent more on advertising for Fallout 3 than was spent on creating all of the previous Fallouts.

Haggard @ Nov 4th 2008 2:40PM

True. Plus, Fallout's market was hardcore PC gaming roleplayers in the mid-90's.

While I'm sure at the time that was a fair proportion of gamers, it certainly wasn't going to go quadruple-platinum.

Jack of No Trades 85 @ Nov 4th 2008 12:18PM

This game is full of greatness. Can't get enough of it. It is the best game I have played this year. Well worth the money.

Oh and I can't believe IGN rated Gears 2 & Resistance 2 higher than Fallout 3. Fucking dumb.....

Mr Khan @ Nov 4th 2008 12:43PM

That's the mystique of ratings. Your assessment is probably correct, but you can't state why you think it should be rated higher other than the fact that you think it's a better game. Otherwise it just gets bogged down into a whole "apples aren't oranges or carrots" thing that always happens when people talk about GoTY

It could just be that those two scores got inflated, as tends to happen with first-party major console titles, or because of the many nagging flaws of Fallout 3 that are there, but don't hinder the experience

Haggard @ Nov 4th 2008 2:58PM

The loading screen is a bit ugly, -3% off that score!

RiccochetJ @ Nov 4th 2008 12:22PM

I'm having a really hard time getting into this game. I played for about 3 hours and had to turn it off due to sheer boredom and annoyance.

Right now I'm just seeing all the parts that I utterly despised about Oblivion. Seriously considering just trading it in.

Does anyone have any tips or an area that will really suck me in? I really want to like this game, but it's making it difficult for me by being Oblivion with guns (or at least that's how it feels right now)

Chin-Poh @ Nov 4th 2008 12:26PM

Like Fallout 2 for me, it starts off slow in the beginning and frustrating but definitely gets better later on. I've just discovered Vault 112 right now.

Stink Snake @ Nov 4th 2008 12:52PM

The difficulty curve is way off, the game starts by throwing you up against a brick wall, soon it will take two shots to kill anything, then one shot and heads roll, and finally it will take two shots to kill most everything as the enemies scale with you as you level up.

I didn't like the game for the first few hours then I loved the game, then I beat it and hit the wall at around 25 hours with 6 side missions left and don't see myself playing Fallout again any time soon.

Mark C @ Nov 4th 2008 2:14PM

@Stink Snake

They don't *exactly* scale. Not like they did in Oblivion, at least.

Clarification on how scaling works in FO3:
http://planetfallout.gamespy.com/wiki/Does_Fallout_3_Have_Level_Scaling_Like_Oblivion%3F

Personally it hasn't bothered me yet. GOTY contender.