It’s a sad fact that quality doesn’t always ensure commercial success, with highly rated games like ICO and Heavenly Sword failing to sell even a fraction of more heavily marketed, mainstream titles. The Uncharted series, however, has managed to sell well and be regarded as one of the best franchises of the generation – a truly remarkable feat.
According to Sony, the third game in the trilogy, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, “has smashed sales expectations to become one of the best-selling titles of 2011, putting the third installment on a clear course to be the biggest selling game in the trilogy”. Sony boasts that on day one, Uncharted 3 sold 3.8 million copies globally – but it’s important to note that the publisher is actually talking about shipped figures.
Nick Caplin, head of communications at SCEE, said:
Uncharted 3 is a blockbuster and these incredible sales figures reflect that. Consumers are clearly as eager to play the game as critics were to heap praise upon it, and the team at Naughty Dog deserve this fantastic reception at retail.
Some of the success can be attributed to the largest marketing campaign ever by SCEE in the UK, as well as strong support from Japan. The first two Uncharted games managed to sell a combined total of 8 million as of October.
