In less than a day.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/microsoft-flight-simulator/top-seller

After it was confirmed Microsoft Flight Simulator would be coming to Steam, the simulation game has jumped straight to the of the Steam top sellers list.

Developer Asobo Studios announced the achievement on Twitter, with a screenshot that had Flight Simulator in the number one stop, ahead of shrunken action-adventure game Grounded. The two are in active contention for chart dominance, both currently hosting betas, as party battle royale game Fall Guys brings up the rear in third, itself holding another short beta following a huge showing last weekend.

It's in third place when I look on Steam, behind Grounded in first place and Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout in second, although I think both those titles launch in less than two days, so it's kind of understandable with anything which is currently flavour of the month. Statistics over a longer period reflecting lots of sales in total is the one to crow about, rather than an initial sales leap upon availability, which is almost inevitably gonna put any title in the top spot for a brief period.

Edited August 2, 20205 yr by Chock

Just now, Chock said:

Statistics over a longer period reflecting lots of sales in total is the statistic to crow about, rather than an initial sales leap upon availability which is almost inevitably gonna put any title in the top spot for a brief period.

If simple availability could put "any title" in the steam top ranks, there would be an awful lot of very happy developers out there........

4 minutes ago, HiFlyer said:

If simple availability could put "any title" in the steam top ranks, there would be an awful lot of very happy developers out there........

Depending on the period of time over which you measure it, it could. If I start selling sticky buns outside my house right now, and do so for five minutes and manage to sell two, and in that same period of five minutes FSX sells one copy on Steam, for the sampled period of time I have outstripped sales of FSX, in fact I've done it by 100 percent. This is what that current statistic on Steam is equivalent to. 

I'm not saying it won't sell a trucklooad, it almost certainly will, but that particular statistic they've highlighted on facetube is inevitably going to change very quickly as something else releases and its sales take a peak. It's the longer-term average figure which is the one they want to be a big one.

Edited August 2, 20205 yr by Chock

19 minutes ago, Chock said:

Steam, for the sampled period of time I have outstripped sales of FSX, in fact I've done it by 100 percent. This is what that current statistic on Steam is equivalent to. 

No, you really don't get a cookie just for showing up in a marketplace as commercially competitive as Steam, which literally has dozens of titles show up per day: the vast majority of which sink without a trace, and certainly without rising up to the top charts, even for an instant.

Chart toppers require a very high level of interest from potential purchasers like me, who base their interest not on newness of a title, but on generated buzz from articles, reviews, previews and videos.

If no such buzz exists, then we Steam denizens sit on our hands and wait for the user reviews from the volunteer guinea pigs. (or wait for a sale)

Its actually even worse than that for developers, because even if they manage to generate lots of interest and positive buzz before delivery, Steams generous return policies allow super painless no-questions-asked solutions to buyers regret if post-release consumer consensus disagrees strongly enough with pre-release publicity.

The reason that's almost certain not to happen with MSFS 2020 is that unlike some developers that attempt to restrict access before a products release date and thus contain possible nasty reviews, Asobo/Microsoft has done exactly the opposite, allowing thousands into the alpha/beta, allowing nearly unprecedented access and feedback from developers, courting the hell out of prominent influencers, and now allowing a flood of articles and videos to be unleashed.

People pre-purchasing at this point have totally swallowed the hook and have no intention of letting go.

That makes even just the initial surge of sales a very good indicator for Asobo that they have a winner on their hands.

Not even talking about whats probably also happening in other sales lanes right now, such as Gamepass....

OMG! It outsold Grounded (only in early access, no reviews on Metacritic yet), FAIRY TAIL (70 critics/4.1 users) and Destroy all Humans (73/8.9). Those other three games are also available on consoles, so Steam is probably not their major outlet for sales.

4 hours ago, jabloomf1230 said:

OMG! It outsold Grounded (only in early access, no reviews on Metacritic yet), FAIRY TAIL (70 critics/4.1 users) and Destroy all Humans (73/8.9). Those other three games are also available on consoles, so Steam is probably not their major outlet for sales.

Not sure if you are a gamer, but all of those games have enormous buzz at this time, and are highly anticipated. Fairytail for instance has a long and rich history, a worldwide legion of fans, is based on a famous and beloved manga series and people are waiting eagerly for the release.

Grounded is possibly one of the most anticipated games of the year, with almost too many videos to count on Youtube.

Destroy all humans is actually a remake of a very beloved cult classic game that many have been waiting for for a very long time, like the others, it is a title that will probably eclipse sales of every civilian flightsim ever released, combined......

I'll take what I can get as a win. We need more of these wins for our hobby. 

Steam’s user base is approaching 100 million on a monthly basis. To get to the top of the sales list two weeks before launch is a big thing, even if doesn’t stay that way. Add console sales to that and MS might even put themselves at risk of breaking even.

It's going to be very popular.  Not just with us simmers but with casual gamers who just want to virtually explore the Earth and sightsee.  

Actually in fairness, the new FS has now managed to move back up into the number one slot past those other two, as of a minute ago. Although the nearest contenders don't look that great to me, but then again, they're not aimed at me, so that's probably got more to do with that than whether they're any good.

Interesting to see how things change. I can recall being one of the few people on here on Avsim - and it's not that long ago - who was championing the idea of Flight Sim World going on Steam and pointing out how it would mean massive exposure to a large market, and the amount of vehement opposition to me saying that, was huge. You would have thought I'd just said I was off to drown a bag of kittens. If the FSW forum is still there and not archived, take a look.

Edited August 2, 20205 yr by Chock

I guess it's true... people on AVSIM nitpick EVERYTHING.

5 minutes ago, Farlis said:

I guess it's true... people on AVSIM nitpick EVERYTHING.

I think people are more inclined to nitpick stuff in the 'approach' period and it is what we're seeing now. And in fairness, some of it will be shown to be justified, and some not of course. Easy to understand why, lots of untried and unknown stuff on the way, and people are married to older stuff they've invested a lot of time and money in, etc.

I think now, as I did back then, Steam implementation can only be a good thing for the new MS sim. Certainly it'll give plenty of exposure it might otherwise not have had to some people.

 

 

52 minutes ago, HiFlyer said:

Not sure if you are a gamer, but all of those games have enormous buzz at this time, and are highly anticipated. Fairytail for instance has a long and rich history, a worldwide legion of fans, is based on a famous and beloved manga series and people are waiting eagerly for the release.

Grounded is possibly one of the most anticipated games of the year, with almost too many videos to count on Youtube.

Destroy all humans is actually a remake of a very beloved cult classic game that many have been waiting for for a very long time, like the others, it is a title that will probably eclipse sales of every civilian flightsim ever released, combined......

I guess that you missed my point that all three games are available on consoles.

Another post on avsim where one user says something, another adds valid criticism and overall solid logic all for the other person to get arrogant and show that they literally cannot accept any viewpoint other than their own.

Typical avsim....

 

Thread eventually turns into two people nitpicking eachother's threads and then the entire post is just word not allowed.

 

Good for asobo and Microsoft for getting to the top. That's no small feat for a title on steam. I'm glad i cancelled my Microsoft order and purchased through steam.