Analyst: Assassin's Creed 2 to sell 8.5 million by April

by David Hinkle on Jan 12th 2010 6:00PM

Considering Assassin's Creed 2 managed to stab 1.6 million wallets in its opening week alone, 8.5 million units sold by March isn't that crazy of a forecast. Add star talent and some upcoming DLC to give the game a second wind, and that potential sales figure seems somewhat reasonable -- even for a titlle that doesn't feature machine guns, 'nades and nukes.

When we saw Stern Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia call that very number over on Industry Gamers, we kinda shrugged and thought, "Sure, it's possible." Bhatia says Assassin's Creed 2 was initially off to a slower-than-expected start (thanks Modern Warfare 2!), but for the December quarter, its sales expectations rose "from [roughly] 5.5 million units to 6.5 million units." Thus, Stern Agee raised its sales forecast from 7.5 million to 8.5 million units by the end of March. Hey, we told you the game was good!

Source

Tags: arvind-bhatia, assassins-creed, assassins-creed-2, Microsoft, sales, stern-agee, ubisoft, ubisoft-montreal, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (34)

Nice to know that people have managed to get over the first one, AC2 really is fantastic.

I agree, AC2 is fantastic... I'm going take it in strides for this, but I still prefer the first game. Less is more, IMO.

you know, I liked the first one better too. I could never really pin a finger on it, other than the combat didn't seem as fluid or engaging, but I just enjoyed it more, ya dig?

Yea been playing through AC2. The gameplay and story is SOOOO much better than that crap first game. Thankfully the missions and story aren't so repetitive (although there are too many times where you still gotta do 3 of something to get the quest done). I just hope there is an ending this time.

I just unlocked Altair's armor, I'm on like memory part 9 now. My only complaints about the game is the climbing isn't as intuitive as fluid as Uncharted 2, and the combat isn't as awesome as Demon's Souls. But great game so far anyway.

@ The Dark Wayne

I liked parts of the first better. Call it tedious but having to go actually GET the info on your marks rather than just finding someone to tell you everything all the time was more fun to me. They should have left in small amounts of the older system I think to mix things up.

this game was boring and repetitive in a matter of hours. even more so than other games. i played through the entire thing and was struggling to find the will to finish...

Yep, I have to say that I am glad this game is selling well. I liked the original okay, but this one really surprised me. I felt that it improved almost everything I did not like about AC1. It still had some minor issues, but overall it was an outstanding game.

Blow FTW

agreed... both the movie and...

shit, got distracted by the ninjas in my lawn. my bad

I'm still trying to figure out why people think AC1 is so much worse than AC2. I popped in AC1 last night and played around, and I still think it's very well done. Sure, it doesn't have the RPG upgrading that AC2 has, but I don't think that made that much of a difference. The controls are still solid, the AI the same, and the battles are just as fun in AC1.

Probably because to advance the story you have to do the same few generic missions over and over and over with each target. With AC2 you're blowing straight through a storyline, and even if some of the missions have similar action, the action is well explained and integrated into the overall narrative.

Other things that Assassin's Creed 2 did much better:

* You no longer have to hold down a button to walk.
* You're no longer instantly recognized and can go incognito, allowing for easier traversing of the large environments.
* The combat system is far more fluid and interesting.
* The story is leagues better.
* The game is physically more stable, less crashing and better graphical presentation.
* Improved controls means I spent less time wondering why the guy on the screen jumped into strange locations.
* Better hidden secrets.

That and I didn't get bored with AC2 halfway through like I did with AC1.

Another thing that I think AC2 did much better, at least from my perspective, is to make the protagonist a likable character. Ezio was much more lively, passionate, and interesting to me than Altair, who came across as a bit of a stiff.

Still not that attached to future Desmond, but he doesn't occupy much of the game anyway.

I finished the first one with suffering and pain. But Assassin Creed 2 is pretty awesome, definitely one of my favorites of the past year :)

It's refreshing to see those numbers next to the name of a good game for once. It's strange but AC1 and 2 aren't really the type of games that the mass market would like, yet it still sells well. I guess every now and then they surprise even me.

These open-world-y kinda games are very mass market.

I agree, these games are very mass market, from how they're advertised to the accessible gameplay.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Got AC2 last night for PS3. I never played the first one so I can't compare but it seems like a decent game so far. I don't really like the combat and climbing compared to games like Batman: AA and Uncharted 2, respectively (I just got the sword so combat may get better for me).

I hate to stir up the fanboys but my game doesn't look as good as the screen shots. Is this another shitty PS3 port? If so I'm mad because I have a 360 too.

character models look like shit period in the game. Especially the faces. The combat is rubbish too, and the controls are garbage.

The differences between the PS3 & X360 versions are tiny.

Combat gets more enjoyable as Ezio becomes better-trained. Give him time... at your stage of progress, he's little more than a highly athletic brawler.

I guess everyone's experience varies. I thought the climbing was fine, and free-running is very rewarding when you get the hang of it. For me, I feel like hot-stepping across rooftops should feel somewhat perilous, so I didn't mind the fact that it was possible to miss a jump if you weren't careful.

The controls are garbage I agree. Many times I have jumped off of the wrong building or randomly just jumped on top of somebody.

I'm sure they could stream-line this much better in the future.

I played this before Uncharted 2, and after when I went to Uncharted, I did not like the wall climbing or anything at all.

There are times where it feels like the controls aren't responding well, but I think it's a bit extreme to say they're garbage.

Ok, so I have progressed a little further into the game and I am liking it more and more. I think combat still blows but I am getting a good hang on the climbing and running.

And to talk further about the graphics; they look great but I will say that subjects that are in the distance, or even just a little further away than Ezio, just look horrible. Not really like they are out of focus, they look like they are missing their textures.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great game so far and I recommend.

I picked up my copy when Amazon dropped the price to $40 in December. Haven't played it yet, but I loved the first one.

Good for them. I bought it for cheap and it was pretty fun, but not THAT good. I hope they start work on Beyond Good and Evil 2 though. I don't really give a shit about any of the other Ubisoft games including this one.

Waiting for the PC version- coming very soon :D Woot.

It's all part of "their" plan.

Anticipating a kick ass PC version soon, i'll add to those numbers eventually.

If I had more than two pockets I'd let this game take my money thrice.

I actually just beat this a few minutes ago. I was one of the few that loved the first and something about the first one's charm just isn't there this time around. Though I do think the game itself is better all around.

Regardless of results it should be better than the first

I think AC2 is awesome! The first one not so much, well at first it was awesome but it got repetitive imo but it that's just me cuz it sold well, so what do I know.

I really want the download content, shame we have to wait.

I love this game and I love the art for this post. Way to go Hinky-bear.

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Analyst: Assassin's Creed 2 to sell 8.5 million by April

Reader Comments (34)

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