Although not explicitly stated by Capcom, this growth can be attributed to Mega Man 11's continued momentum. The title was recently said to have "performed well" through the end of the First Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2019 (see page 5 of Capcom's Consolidated Results).
As for Mega Man 11's sales, we unfortunately do not have an updated figure. It does appear, however, that the title did not manage to achieve Platinum status this past quarter after all (i.e sell one million units). Rest assured, though, Mega Man 11 is close. Very close. When we last checked in, Mega Man 11 moved a solid 870,000 units. On the flipside, Mega Man X Legacy Collection was at 920,000 units. Mega Man X Legacy Collection did not reach Platinum status this past quarter, either. Nevertheless it appears both titles, together, sold enough this previous quarter to push the franchise to 35 million units. Not bad at all.
Do you want to know something really great? The Mega Man franchise stagnated at 32 million units in June 2018. In nearly one year's time, it has grown 3 million units. We haven't seen momentum like that in a very long time. Needless to say, you can fully expect more Mega Man games in the future.
Source: Capcom IR
Every time I read "you can expect more Mega Man games" I am filled with joy. There was a time not too long ago that I was worried I would never see another game in the series.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, as a Rockman player since the NES, Rockman 11 was a fiasco. That's why it hadn't bigger sales. Those prototype images (within another Rockman style & recyclying MM9 stages) would be the way to go.
ReplyDelete11 was terrible. I didn't even bother finishing it. Mega Man and Bass? Sure. Mega Man X6? Okay. Mega Man Network Transmission? Can eventually do. But 11 was messed up on so many levels - the 2.5D, the Gears, stages pushing the envelope on tedium, and the music (how did they manage to mess that up?!?).
Deletethe 2.5d was fine. You cant expect them to keep making 8-bit games forever. we're in 2019.
Deletei kinda had problem with the music. like, the tunes where fine, but they should'nt have gone for the...i don't know techno-thingy stile. i prefer their instrumental version, for exemple.
Considering what advertisement it got, the type of game it is and all, i'd say it sold decently. And while you're clearly not the only one who did not enjoy it, it did not get particularly trashed by critics and player and was well-received overall, so i don't think the game being a fiasco, or even remotely bad had a impact on sales.
DeleteCan't say I agree there. I really enjoyed MM11. Played well, sounded good, looked good, and whatever complaints I had about it were minor at best. After the disappointment that was Mighty No. 9, MM11 was definitely a success in my eyes.
DeleteYou say MM11 was a fiasco and that's why sales weren't bigger, but the game's sales are actually on the high end for Mega Man. Very few Mega Man games have broke one million sales and we know that the last reported sales for the game put 11 only 130,000 away from doing that. Mega Man has never been a high selling franchise and MM11 failing to change that isn't indictive of MM11 doing something wrong. It just means a Mega Man game was a Mega Man game.
DeleteI always wonder if the creators of games actually ever watch the youtube reviews and critiques of their games. There is a lot of stuff that people pointed out that could have improved the game, but 11 was a great step in the direction towards reviving the franchise.
ReplyDeleteSticking to the basics isn't exactly a novel thing that would "revive" a franchise that was only somewhat alive when it was new. That said, it's a solid strategy given the demanding gameplay and cartoony nature of the franchise (and root-sticking did very well for DMC5).
DeleteBut making Mega Man appeal to modern audiences is not an easy task. Mega Man X was a bandage compared to how
successful MMBN/Rockman EXE completed a modernization. Even then, MMBN/Rockman EXE couldn't pull off anything more than toy merchandise.
We're going to need more than mobile retreads (although more MMBN is always a great thing) to put Mega Man back in the limelight.
This is great news! We haven't seen quarterly sales figures like this since Battle Network was in its heyday essentially 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe people above me crack me up. MM11 was a fiasco? Terrible? Worse than X6? LOL. It was a solid game with a few weaknesses but has literally brought the franchise out of the dark ages of merch and re-releases.
I've really enjoyed what I've played of Mega Man 11 so far. Only complaint from me is that some of the stages go on just a tad too long.
ReplyDeleteAdd more stages *game's too long, keep it the same *game is stagnant, make stages longer *stage design is bad cause of length, keep stage length the same *why is this 30$ series never evolves, add side modes for the stages *that time should have went to making more main game content.
DeleteI think it's impossible to win, personally I hate the length of most Mega Man games, I wish they had 20 more stages without sacrificing the traditional length, but I know if that were to ever happen, there would be riots from Mega Man fans about how the games too long and all the criticisms that come with that. I think Mega Man games were able to get away with shorter games in the earlier gens because of their presentation qualities compensating as an excuse with things like graphics pushing NES memory, the difficulty of sprite animation in the 32bit era and such, but now 11 NES length stages and a few challenge modes just seems like a rip-off to me unless the game is absurdly gorgeous or costs like 10-15$.
Then price it low. Same for On-Rails Starfox. Why is this such a bleeding difficult concept?
Delete@AnonymousMay 22, 2019 at 4:41 PM
DeleteThat's quite a few hypothetical reactions you made up in response to a fair and valid criticism that was politely worded and following praise.
Everybody is gonna have their preferences and yours are just fine too, but I disagree with the notion that it's "impossible to win." There are just going to have to be some growing pains or experimentation.
No lie I beat the main game in a day, not even the whole day, I ate chicken and went for a jog away from the game and everything that day. Then completed the challenges the next day.
DeleteDidn't really have a replay value insensitive to top scores or anything either.
Mega Man 11 was an okay game. Nothing spectacular, but not exactly bad either. The stages felt Mega Man-esque anf the Robot Master designs were all good, so nothing wrong there. Yet I haven't played it all the way through more than once, because I honestly just haven't felt like doing so. Why? I have no idea.
ReplyDeletePS: The soundtrack was definitely below average overall. There were only a couple of noteworthy songs in the entire game.
So: do I want the series to continue? Naturally. Do I want the devs to do better? Heck yes.
This is just my opinion and nothing more, but I always find it a little odd when people criticize 11's soundtrack. Almost all the songs are pretty catchy to me. When I imagine what a modern-day Classic Mega Man soundtrack should sound like, 11 is exactly it.
DeleteSmash Ultimate did that job better, and it wasn't even a Mega Man game. 11's music is far, far too focused on techno and forgets about the rock roots (including strong percussion and even stronger lead instruments) that made those tracks gold.
Delete@TAG: Well then, you don't know Megaman. The only track that came anywhere close to feeling like a MM track was Tundraman. Like Anon said, it needs to focus more on the rock 'n' roll side of things.
Delete@Anonymous 7:11
DeleteYou truly don't know Megaman either
A lot of stage music from the original 6 NES games did not have Rock and Roll music. They had "Catchy music".
I agree with TAG. Several of the songs were catchy. Blast Man, Block Man, Dr. Wily's stage, several other themes too.
Mega Man names are themed after music. The music is not themed exclusively Rock and Roll...
Mega Man is selling well in the past year. THAT'S the point of this. Not peoples nitpicks on what they like or don't like in 11.
@Anon 7:11 AM: Tundra Man... I hate that track, one of my least favorite pieces of music in the game, thing sounds so forced and try hard. The best tracks in the game are the ones that don't sound hyper energetic or less instrumentally gimmicky and kinda sound boring but go well with the stage and gradually becomes addictive, like Block Man or Acid Man. I will say tho that for me this soundtrack is just barely OK...
DeleteWell, since Capcom, themselves, are satisfied with the sales of Mega Man 11, there's really no excuse for them to not go through with adding Proto Man and Bass DLC now.
ReplyDelete"Needless to say, you can fully expect more Mega Man games in the future."
ReplyDeleteCan we really? Remembering Capcom's unrealistic sales expectations combined with that mobile game you've been hinting at don't really inspire confidence.
They've expressed they are pleased with 11's sales and are spending this year "working on what comes next". These mobile games have been in development for a couple years now.
DeleteSorry for being annoying skeptic #1923, but I take your word for it on these things (not as gospel, don't worry), I look forward to what they have in the pipeline.
DeleteI'd thought Mega Man 11 did justice besides the legacy collections :)
ReplyDelete