Earlier today, UK based company Chart-Track revealed that Watch Dogs 2's week one sales were down a massive 80% from the first instalment. That's despite the fact that it took second place in the charts behind Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, but when you consider that's been on sale for three weeks, this really isn't a good result for Ubisoft and yet another video game sequel which has underperformed.
Dishonored 2 and Titanfall 2 are a couple of other recent examples, but this news has prompted Ubisoft to actually release an official statement about how Watch Dogs 2 has been performing so far.
"We’re incredibly happy with critics’ and players’ very positive reception of Watch Dogs 2, which should bolster support for the long-term success of the game. It is true that first-day and first-week sales for a number of big games, including Watch Dogs 2 and titles from our competitors, are comparatively lower than previous versions in previous years. However, we expect both week-two and week-three sales to be above traditional sales patterns. There is a trend toward games, especially high-quality games, having stronger and longer ‘tails’ as favorable reviews and word of mouth spread. Watch Dogs 2 is already considered a tremendous addition to the open-world action adventure series and we’re confident that millions of players are going to love it."
It's true that reviews have been very positive, but there's no getting around the fact that Watch Dogs 2 probably won't end up selling anywhere near as many copies as the first game. Does that mean we won't get a third? Time will tell, but this appears to be a worrying new trend for video game sequels...