Wed, Jun 15, 2011 | 16:12 BST

Analyst expects Duke Nukem Forever to sell close to 2 million units

Games industry analyst Arvind Bhatia with Sterne Agee stated in the firm’s latest industry note that he expects Duke Nukem Forever to move between 1.5 and 2 million units, but that actual sales may hit nearer the lower end of the estimate.

Bhatia also said (via Gamasutra) that store checks indicated to the firm that first day sales were a bit “mediocre” in the US, but the analyst said 2K’s conservative estimates in its “unit assumptions on Duke Nukem,” will not reflect negatively on the company. He believes this is due to the fact the game “is a one-off title for Take-Two,” and because original development occurred outside of the studio.

Today, Marketwatch reported that shares of Take-Two stock fell 4 percent yesterday due in part to lower-than-expected sales of L.A. Noire and low review scores for DNF. It was also noted, however, stock prices were also a reflection of NPD’s monthly report issued on Monday.

Despite yesterday’s loss, stock in the firm is still up 20 percent for the year, despite a 15 percent loss since mid-May.

The Duke launched in the UK last week, and quickly topped the sales charts.

Current Metacritic ratings for the title are as follows: PC – 57, Xbox 360 – 56, and PS3 – 48.

11 comments

#1

Blerk
15/06/11, 4:20 pm

And trade-in close to 1.95 million.

#2

Xuchilbara
15/06/11, 4:40 pm

Yea… I am going to agree with Blerk here… It’s sad how many gamers just go out and buy everything these days. Makes for a lot of trash in the market.

#3

IL DUCE
15/06/11, 4:43 pm

What did people really expect anyway? Its a miracle the game even came out…it was legitimately cancelled a year or two ago, not to mention its hard to keep a game up to date and relevant with a horrid development like Duke had, nothing that last twelve to fourteen years in on and off development with lack of funding is bound to fail and 99.9% of those games never make it out and get canned much earlier in development…I commend gearbox for taking this game out of the grave and just putting it together to actually be released…while outdated I haven’t heard much about the game being buggy, maybe the mechanics are archaic as well as some features and the graphics may not be the nicest but give credit where credit is due…they avoided duke nukem forever from forever being the face of vaporware and a joke of the industry so that if a future title is developed it will get the proper funding and probably be a successful game where if DNF didn’t release it would probably never be green lit and be seen as a joke of the industry if it was…I’m going to rent DNF and probably have some fun just messing with, look forward to what Gearbox will do with a Duke game fully developed by them…

#4

Christopher Jack
15/06/11, 4:57 pm

I played the demo & thought meh, this overly generic shit would have been perfect a decade ago but times change & I commend Gearbox in their attempt to modernize it but it was never, EVER going to work out. I’ve been impressed with many of their previous games like the PC port of Halo & Borderlands & I’m also excited for Alien Colonial Marines & can’t wait for them to announce the sequel to Borderlands-apparently called Borderworlds.

#5

DaMan
15/06/11, 6:37 pm

Probably about right, ~750k per each of two consoles.

RIP poor bastard Duke Nukem. Not the best way to end the career, but oh well.

#6

psybass
15/06/11, 7:12 pm

yep, they used well the old duke nukem game reputation.

#7

rashoxod
15/06/11, 7:27 pm

I would feel sorry for “Vanquish” and “Enslaved” if that really Happened….

#8

Bluesky377
15/06/11, 8:16 pm

After all the years you would have thought they would have had a better game.
It is very mediocre, selling on name only, and not playability.
was like paying for a merc and getting a hyundai

#9

Phoenixblight
15/06/11, 8:19 pm

@8 Uh no they kept missing milestones and changing direction and engines thats why it never made it out the door and Gearbox had to polish the game to make it workable.

#10

bzahediasl
15/06/11, 10:48 pm

i think duke nukem just one failure for video games and for 2k

#11

gamestx
16/06/11, 3:22 am

Worst 1st person shooter in recent years. Need to remove this crap from my memory of Duke Nukem.

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