LA Noire sold 899K units in US during May

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jun 16th 2011 2:50PM

MarketWatch reveals that Rockstar's L.A. Noire sold 899,000 units during its May debut. The stat, which NPD no longer regularly reports, was below the million-unit expectation by analysts and far below that of Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption premiere during the same month last year.

Red Dead Redemption 1.5 million units during the month of May 2010, going on to become a blockbuster for Take-Two and unintentionally killing game sales of any premiere for months after. There is speculation that the Call of Duty: Black Ops "Escalation" DLC, which premiered in early May, could have chiseled into Noire's numbers.

Despite L.A. Noire not reaching RDR sales in its first month, it did have a solid debut in the States and abroad, so Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick isn't wrong when he says the game is a "powerful new franchise" for the company.

Source: MarketWatch

Tags: LA-Noire, microsoft, npd, playstation, ps3, Rockstar, Rockstar-Games, sales, Take-Two, xbox

Reader Comments (47)

too bad... L.A. Noire is a much better game than RDR

@ShadowSoldier89 It will still sell 3 million globally. Not exactly a bust.

People like cowboys more than noire is what it boils down to.

@Fire Walk With Me very true, I was just hoping it would outsell RDR, because im the seemingly rare person that thought RDR was pretty terrible

@ShadowSoldier89 Why did you get down voted? I've really enjoyed LA noir which presented an innovative original game play and a descent story .... unlike RDR which was good ... but just more of the same old GTA style in pretty much everything

@Fire Walk With Me

People like mustaches more than noire is what it boils down to.

@Fire Walk With Me

Actually game is already at 3 million world wide. I think this will pass 5 million by end of the year.

PS3 is around 1.36 million
XBOX 360 at around 1.49 million

Holiday season should give it a nice boost too.

Also game sold combined 415k last week. So sales are going strong and since there are no major releases planned in near future there is nothing in L.A. Noire way.

@ShadowSoldier89

I agree. I like L.A. Noire more. Still, 900,000 in a month is nothing to scoff at.

@ShadowSoldier89

L.A. Noire better than RDR? Possibly. I can respect that. RDR being terrible? You lost all credibility.

@ShadowSoldier89

Come on people, I'll say it for everybody. That what happens when developers make the PS3 the lead console. There.. it wasn't hard!

Well RDR had a great single player, as well as co-op and multiplayer to make people want to play with their friends.

I think most people have simply figured out that the price point of games should be $50 and dont mind waiting a little while.

@Fire Walk With Me And I've figured out that I can never ever wait.

@Miranda Lawson i dont mind living beside you people i think we can both work together to build a bridge of peace

@Fire Walk With Me Yes, while you pay now and I wait for you to bring it to me. Both bases are covered.

@Fire Walk With Me

well said. exact reason i havent bought it yet. i will own this game soon though... just like all those backlog games

@Fire Walk With Me

If your price point for a game is $50 then you should checkout AMAZON.com, it is a internet store that sells video games and other products. They offer FREE shipping, they don't charge sales tax (although that will change in CA if governor Brown signs new budget) and they just had L.A. Noire for $39.99 yesterday on their website, oh it is AMAZON.com once again.

Enjoy and you are welcome.

Almost a million units in just a few weeks? That's something truly remarkable. Team Bondi & Rockstar hit a home run with this one

I think it had a better showing in Europe and the UK, seemed to be top of the UK charts for quite a while and it's still strong over here anyway

@(Unverified) the UK market is miniscule compared to the US market. Go to Europe and go shopping. It is like game retail doesn't exist at all compared to the US.

That's good to hear! I still have yet to pick up the game, but it's definately on my "must-buy" list when I get the cash.

Not shocking, given the lack of multiplayer and the fact that it's an original IP. Still not bad, though.

I got Noire and already returned it. What a SNORE. Why put a giant awesome environment in a game if I can't do whatever I want in it (that was a rhetorical question)? I appreciatye Noire going out and trying something new here, but it certainly isn't for everyone. To many cut scenes.

test

Congrats Big R!

That's kind sad, And RDR only sold over 5 million? The big Take-two games are becoming a little big to much of a gamble i see.

@powerrangerporno

Let's say developer collects $30 a copy. Then selling 5 million units is $150 million dollars of revenue.

Since L.A. Noire cost around $50 million that is $100 million of profit.

Currently game sold 3 million copies world wide. So $40 million profit as of this writing.

Now if you can show me an investment that brings you close to 100% return please do. Now yes development took 5 years. So profit is more like 20% but if sales hit 5 million then ROI goes to 40% that is simply AMAZING profit, since currently your bank offers you what 1.25%-1.75%.

Please do not write checks that your brain can't cash.

@kgoo867 expectations were 1 million in sales on the first month. We cannot go back in time so the expectation will never be met.

DSP!

Maybe those numbers would be higher if they ported to pc for us pc gamers... took them forever to port gta iv and RDR isn't even out on pc either yet. Though I did get RDR on 360 last year LANoire doesn't have the same appeal to me. I'll get it eventually though when the price drops a bit since it does looks interesting. Rock* we want GTA 5! maybe a Europe-ish one. =)

Not bad for such a different type of game. I think their expectations were a little too bold.

That image freaks me out every time.

You know what would rule?

A $99.99 Bluray with GTA IV, RDR, and Noir with all the DLCs. Call it a past, present, and really past Rockstar special edition

@Trilancer

L.A. Noire ate up an entire BD and three DVDs on 360. Probably won't happen regardless.

I loved both LA Noire and RDR but never could get into GTA.

There are multiple reasons why L.A. Noire is selling below Red Dead Redemption.

1. Noire is a less popular film genre than westerns.
2. The release came during a period of PSN outage.
3. There is no multiplayer in L.A. Noire, while there is in Red Dead Redemption
4. L.A. Noire has lower metacritic score than RDR, so less interest due to tha.
5. Needing to read emotions, a deemphasis on combat, and a general linearity in gameplay might have put off some players. It's more appealing to go where you want and shoot everyone in the face.

@rajendra82 if 3 is true why would point #2 matter?

@Fire Walk With Me
connecting to social club maybe?

I thought RDR was a much better game. I couldn't really get into the concept of L.A.Noire. Well made game, but not my cup of tea.

@kgoo867 its not my fault you are ****ing stupid. The stars spelled a curse word that starts with f and ends with uck and it was what your parents did when they made the ultimate mistake.

I'm playing L.A Noire right now and I'm finding it incredibly boring to play, it's the same thing over and over again, it's very repetitive. I thought RDR was much better and much more fun to play, the story also kept me engaged longer. Just my opinion.

la noire was great but it focused only on the singleplayer. since rdr had multiplayer you get a little more out of the game and i think that helped it sell.

if they had an open world multiplayer similar to A.P.B with cops vs criminals, but not to mmo like that would of definately brought the hardcore multiplayer loving crowd and la noire most likely would of sold better than rdr.

Below the magic million mark but still good numbers for a new IP and something that was different as well. In an industry which is ever reliant on the same FPSs and sequels, prequels and reboots, this was a breath of fresh air.

Well, maybe if it weren't a piece of shit, it could get some sales that weren't predetermined by hype and reviewers that believe that all that glitters really is gold.

i'm suprised it sold so well since its a rare game where the focus is more on thinking than mindless shooting.

a breath of fresh air in a smoggy fog

Also it causes systems to overheat

AAAHH!!

I was hoping it would've sold at least a million units but oh well. There's really no hope for creative games in an industry that's stuck in the shooter rut.

Dare to try something different kids. Play something that requires some thought for once. Sheesh.

L.A. Noire

LA Noire sold 899K units in US during May

Reader Comments (47)

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 2:56PM ShadowSoldier89 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:00PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:02PM ShadowSoldier89 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:40PM solidsnake8282 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:03PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:41PM pickupdoctor said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 5:08PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 5:16PM Mechazawa Prime said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 8:07PM southernpredator said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 2:56PM Hawaii Jeff said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 2:59PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:05PM Miranda Lawson said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:11PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:21PM Miranda Lawson said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:42PM PR0F3TA said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:55PM pickupdoctor said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:07PM Prboi said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:12PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:09PM MiceInATank said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:11PM Rollins said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:13PM Dshark said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:17PM MSKiller aka Sony4life said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:19PM MSKiller aka Sony4life said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:23PM powerrangerporno said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:48PM pickupdoctor said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:23PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:36PM Kazzahdrane said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:45PM Accessgranted said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 3:58PM Truant said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:04PM Red Runner said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:13PM Trilancer said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:44PM Red Runner said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:14PM Twiztdclwn4life said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 4:53PM rajendra82 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 5:33PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 6:02PM aconrad777 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 5:15PM Anarqi said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 5:31PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 5:36PM gamepete64 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 6:02PM aconrad777 said

Posted: Jun 16th 2011 6:43PM Hong Dong said

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Posted: Jun 16th 2011 7:01PM endgamer77 said

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Posted: Jun 17th 2011 2:29PM iceveiled said

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