The GTA 5 PS4 and Xbox One preorders are slowing down already after nearly a year of waiting. Could this mean that Rockstar’s Guinness World Record holder is already losing its audience?
Watch Dogs had an almost similar result, but in the case of Ubisoft’s last killer IP, nobody had played it before. Are Grand Theft Auto 5 players simply getting bored with it before it has a chance to shine with next gen glory? Perhaps more gamers are simply waiting for a GTA 5 PC port, where the 1080p 60fps benchmark is irrelevant?
It’s unknown exactly why preorders are dropping off, unless everybody who was waiting for them simply put their preorder in already. It has been assumed that most people already own the game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and simply don’t want to pay the full price again to get better visuals. People are still buying the new consoles regularly, while most of us already own the last generation consoles. The potential consumer base might simply not be big enough yet, and Rockstar hasn’t offered a discount for those who already own it.
The GTA 5 PS4 and Xbox One preorders could also be slowing down because gamers may simply be looking for something original, not the same gameplay we’ve seen for the last decade. While sandbox titles with the option to steal cars and beat up random citizens has always been a big seller, it may just be getting old.
The new consoles haven’t shown their full potential yet, a given considering the cycle usually seen in every console’s lifespan. It wasn’t until the second entry on the new consoles that even Call of Duty and Battlefield began to show signs that it may be time to change how the game presents itself.
Grand Theft Auto 5 definitely gave us new ideas this time, but it’s a new generation of consoles and gamers may be craving more than what Rockstar already gave them last year. GTA 5 on PS4 and Xbox One might need to add something that the previous generation versions didn’t.
http://t.co/Bez8SiTqbi GTA 5 PS4 And Xbox One Pre-Orders Are Slowing Down http://t.co/OMP6nduwIv Stock Alert $CMGO
— Zack (@GamasutraZack) June 30, 2014
Online multiplayer and multiple protagonists have already been done, and it might have sold better if the games had been launch titles on Sony and Microsoft’s latest consoles.
Nintendo has gone for years trying to scrape extra sales from HD remakes of older games like DuckTales and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker . But it wasn’t until they gave us a true next-gen game like Mario Kart 8 that the sales started rolling in.
Rockstar might have to kick the GTA 5 PS4 and Xbox One ports up a notch if they expect gamers to upgrade to a higher definition version of what they already own.
[image via officialplaystationmagazine]