I’m busy playing through Shadow of Mordor at the moment, and I quite like it. I think the brutal and rewarding combat’s excellent, the Nemesis system is genius and I love how each orc has an element of individuality. Beyond that though, I feel there’s something missing – something I can’t quite put my finger on. Still, I’m rather enjoying killing and/or branding everything I can get my grubby ranger hands on in Mordor – so I’m glad to see it’s doing pretty well. Maybe.
According to the dubious numbers spat forth by much-maligned internet sales figure guessers, VGChartz, Shadow of Mordor sold through 850 thousand copies in its first week at retail. This of course only accounts for physical copies and not the wraith-like ones that have made their way to computers and consoles via digital distribution. According to VGChartz, 362,97 copies found their way in to US homes, with 303,802 units setting up camp in Europe and the rest of the world. Over three quarters of a million copies of a a game sold in a week doesn’t really sound like a lot when compared to games Call of Duty but it’s pretty good numbers for a game that’s essentially a new IP, that had a limited marketing budget and many people had no idea even existed. Thanks to word of mouth and the hopefully long-tail sales, shifted physical units should at this point be well in excess of a million copies.
Going a little further; The PlayStation 4 version was apparently the best selling, with 554,230 units sold worldwide at retail. The Xbox One is home to 265,969 units, while the PC version sold through just 34,733 units. That low number could be attributed to two things; the old chestnut that is rampant PC piracy, and the fact that savvy PC gamers use Steam and other similar services for their games, eschewing outdated and outmoded things like physical media.
Whichever the distribution method, let’s hope the game continues to do well. Derivative as it may be, Developer Monolith has some great ideas in play in Shadow of Mordor that could be further refined when it comes to an inevitable sequel. The game was released at the end of September in the US, and on 3 October in the rest of the world, for PC and the new consoles. An old-gen version of the game is still on its way, though it’ll be missing much of what makes the game fun to play, with the game’s most ambitious featured scaled back on those ancient consoles.
Last Updated: October 21, 2014
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 21, 2014 at 13:40
MOARDOR NOLF!
Silent Gamer
October 21, 2014 at 13:44
…
RinceThis
October 21, 2014 at 13:52
I wonder how many playthroughs ol OvG has had, I think he did at least 10 for LOU. Will be picking this game up next year!
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 21, 2014 at 14:01
You should consider buying it too.
OVG
October 21, 2014 at 16:50
40Hours 100%.
So to the people who say its repetitive, thats 8x a cod GAME.
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 21, 2014 at 13:57
Well it’s no.5 on Steam’s top selling list at the moment. So it’s doing okay on PC.
I just wonder about all those poor orcphans.
Hammersteyn
October 21, 2014 at 14:03
hahaha
Admiral Chief 0
October 21, 2014 at 14:43
Hah, orcphans, punny!
Mielies the Magnificent
October 21, 2014 at 14:06
Assassins Shadow Creed of Mordor. Was excited to explore places such as Orodruin, Barad Dur and the pass of Cirith Ungol. Even just to see them would have been great. Still, really is a very fun game.
Rags
October 21, 2014 at 14:58
Yeah man, now they have the mechanics in place we need a skyrim sized world.
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
October 21, 2014 at 15:04
YES YES YES YE SYES
Robert Barton
November 29, 2014 at 06:22
Expect that in the sequel which is most likely coming due to the large sales data
Hammersteyn
October 21, 2014 at 14:06
Why even bother releasing games on the PC? Everything is pirated anyways and calling them savvy?
*Runs*
Alien Emperor Trevor
October 21, 2014 at 14:10
Savvy, savvy?
James Anderton
October 21, 2014 at 14:23
My steam library begs to differ *sob*. Oh backlog, you temptress.
Hammersteyn
October 21, 2014 at 14:26
hahaha
Admiral Chief 0
October 21, 2014 at 14:43
LOL well said dude, same here
WitWolfy
October 21, 2014 at 15:23
Sounds like my PS+ library lol
Rags
October 21, 2014 at 14:53
http://steamcharts.com/app/241930
Add at least 50k for steam.
WitWolfy
October 21, 2014 at 15:18
GOOD, it deserves it.
FoxOneZA
October 21, 2014 at 15:19
If this was a Square Enix game that number would be too low.
OVG
October 21, 2014 at 16:53
Will have to sell it out as an XBone exclusive with the sequel to make up for the loss.
th3SiCn3ss
October 21, 2014 at 15:32
Game was absolutely brilliant, got it the same time as Alien Isolation & being a huge Aliens fan, AI had to take a back seat for SOM. Unfortunately the “save delete” bug came along & I lost about 4-5hrs of gameplay.
Buuuuuut that didn’t stop me from completing the game 100% & I’m only missing 5 Steam achievements, yay for me…….
OVG
October 21, 2014 at 16:55
WETTA studios all over it. It has that Heavenly Sword vibe with a sprinkle of Odyssey to the West.
Very surprised that Andy Circus did not play Golem after his great roll as Monkey. KUDOS to the replacement.
Jonah Cash
October 21, 2014 at 17:19
I don’t know if I am broken but the button layout for this game is making me go insane!! And you can’t just fall off ledges you have to hold in O…. If I move forward and there is a ledge chances are very good I want to go down!!!!! I am trying to play it by just playing the story missions, but even that wore thin after 3 hours on Saturday….
CAE9872
October 21, 2014 at 18:03
Geoff – I know maths isn’t your first passion but 362,97 copies made it into American homes. I am not so sure about that!!!
EDIT – wait its the noughts again ain’t it?
Mark Treloar
October 22, 2014 at 06:40
If any honest reviewer had told me how it ends I would have saved my money.
Nikola
October 22, 2014 at 13:52
Game is good gameplay smooth and awesome, Orcs look fantastic and Nemesis system was brilliant but the game really never did much for me really story was horribly weak which I guess I can understand LOTR has been done so much but also the level of difficulty at least with the main boss fights I felt there was no challenging tactic at all, But I think the main flaw of the game is the story just too weak like Destiny has a weak story but progression and gear hunting keeps u coming back this just felt unsatisfying once I finished it..None the less it is worth a playthorgh
Jerry B
October 23, 2014 at 05:04
850k for the first week is pretty good for a new IP. Although I gotta admit I thought it would have ended up being a bit more than that. I noticed the game was downloaded quite a bit on KAT and there’s a bunch of other places to get it as well so that’s probably why the incredibly low number of PC sales. Still a nice number of sales though. I’m sure they’ll make it up some more with the last 2 console releases in November.