Anthem has been an interesting case since its initial launch a few weeks ago, releasing to less than stellar reviews but managing to carve out its own fan base among certain online communities. Despite this passionate base, the game hasn't sold well in some regions, only selling 10% of what Destiny 1 did during its first week in the UK. However, it appears Anthem may be making up for it in a different market.
Anthem almost managed to completely sell out of physical copies during its first week in Japan, selling through 92%, or roughly 78,000, of its retail copies. This is especially interesting considering the audience, which typically doesn't opt for this type of game.
Bioware and EA games don't have much of a fan base in the region either, as they typically release westernized RPG's and shooters. This number is triple what the next most popular game, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe for the Switch, managed to sell through during the same week, which sold about 23,000 copies. It is also worth noting that these numbers are solely physical sales, and no digital sales were taken into account.
While it's great that Bioware has managed to find success in Japan, it likely won't do much to help stop the bleeding that the game has been experiencing in the West. Many fans have been vocal about the game's shortcomings online, voicing their disdain for everything from broken loot systems to buggy missions. The poor sales even prompted fear among some fans that BioWare would shut down. However, those concerns were later assuaged by Producer Michael Gamble.
It will be interesting to see how the game develops over the next few months, and if it's able to attract more of an audience, Japanese or otherwise. As of now, it's one of the worst reviewed Bioware games ever, but that doesn't mean that it won't be able to develop into something greater.
Anthem is, after all, a live service, and post-launch updates could make it a completely product from its launch version. Hopefully, the same level of success will occur in other regions for the action-RPG, for as some will argue, the game does have certain merits despite its flaws.
Anthem is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: Media Create (via Gaming Bolt)