@DarXyde

"Do you mean to say that silence indisputably denotes bad news?"

Considering that the silence is accompanied by the game dropping off the charts unexpectedly fast, it's looking likely that it is. If this was MS it's to be expected, but Sony are not the sort to shy away from announcing sales data.

"It's fine if you do, as long you are willing to apply that metric to the green team who has been very mum these past few d̶a̶y̶s̶ m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶s̶ years about sales"

If your asking for consistency you've got it. MS sales aren't where they used to be, so they don't release sales data. So is it now fine to acknowledge similar might be happening with Death Stranding? Or do we need to also bring Nintendo into this to make sure those fragile egos stay secure? This game got unbelievable levels of hype long before it was even officially announced. Considering the level of free publicity, it is definitely interesting to see no additional announcements regarding its sales data.

Jester

They?

Who, the media?

The same media that put out scathing Death Stranding articles daily prior to release?

The same media that questioned whether or not Kojima off leash was a good thing?

Or Kotaku who wrote articles about how TGA was rigged for Death Stranding despite it not even winning game of the year?

Stevivor who looked as if he was being paid to rip the game with his utter contempt for it and his laughable score?

IGN (US) who was the only IGN outlet to rip the game and score it poorly (6.8) while literally rigging their game of the year voting by adding DS late to the poll, then telling ppl not to vote for it, and finally removing the game of the year contest all together after DS won?

Or the countless media personalities that inexplicably campaigned against the game on social media in a way I have never seen for a polished and complete title with no microtransactions.

You guys act like the media was always completely in Death Stranding's corner and that they've carried this unworthy game.

Truth is, the media has questioned this game at every turn and a large number of ppl have launched a campaign to rigorously troll both the IP and even Kojima.

I feel like a startling number of media members have actually hurt the game. Overall, I think the game deserves a higher Metacritic and I believe the negative campaigning had a detrimental affect on the game's sales and ppl's perception of it. All of the "walking Sim" and "boring" nonsense really damaged the casual perception of the game. Then, the claims that TGA was rigged attempted to take its awards credibility away.

I haven't seen ppl campaign this hard to ruin a game since perhaps Battlefront 2 or No Man's Sky and both of those games had glaring issues at launch. While the vitriol was perhaps a bit strong, BF2 did attempt to implement egregious loot boxes and NMS was far from complete at the time it launched. That's why it's so disheartening to see such a venomous campaign against a polished and beautiful game that preaches love and implements no microtransactions or offensive practices.

TK-66,

"Considering that the silence is accompanied by the game dropping off the charts unexpectedly fast, it's looking likely that it is."

My comment asks DaDrunkenJester to commit to his absolutism, not ask you to speculate that "it's looking likely[.]" This point of yours is not particularly contributory.

"If this was MS it's to be expected, but Sony are not the sort to shy away from announcing sales data."

Fair. Like I said, it's possible that it didn't pull the desired sales. I wouldn't even rule that out as unlikely.

"If your asking for consistency you've got it. MS sales aren't where they used to be, so they don't release sales data. So is it now fine to acknowledge similar might be happening with Death Stranding?

Nowhere did I deny that this is certainly a possibility for Death Stranding. In my original reply, I clearly stated, "I don't know much about the sales of Death Stranding. It is possible that it underperformed commercially as you suggest."

"Or do we need to also bring Nintendo into this to make sure those fragile egos stay secure?"

In case you're unfamiliar with DaDrunkenJester, this individual is likely an Xbox fanboy who is literally in every Death Stranding article just to talk about how much s/he dislikes Death Stranding. Nintendo is doing fine and their games do pretty well. I would know: I love my Switch, along with the exclusives I praise often enough. There's no ego here, but I do believe you've mischaracterized me.

"This game got unbelievable levels of hype long before it was even officially announced. Considering the level of free publicity, it is definitely interesting to see no additional announcements regarding its sales data."

That would likely be due to developer credit. People knew Kojima was making a new game which is enough to warrant excitement. It's similar to knowing Naughty Dog is making a new IP and, without details, people are already on board. It's not unusual. With regard to sales data, as I've already said, totally a possibility it didn't perform to expectations. In hindsight, it makes sense: the game was talked about, but no one knew what was going on for the longest time, which probably didn't help either. The narrative trailers were confusing, we just knew we had a lot of movie stars. Add to the fact that there was a generous embargo for such a divisive title, a PC announcement, and that it's a pretty different kind of game, I would say underperforming was always a possibility. You can also say that the internet hype does not really translate into sales. Those on message boards, forums, news sites, etc. are better informed consumers. You've got plenty of people who do not know who Hideo Kojima is. Games like Zone of Enders might do a lot better if people knew that it's from the creator of MGS. Alternatively, Rising, which was not made by Kojima, does not have concrete sales figures, but Kojima made a passing comment about being content with its performance.

@DarXyde

"Do you mean to say that silence indisputably denotes bad news? It's fine if you do, as long you are willing to apply that metric to the green team who has been very mum these past few d̶a̶y̶s̶ m̶o̶n̶t̶h̶s̶ years about sales, switching metrics entirely (unless, of course, they're not dead last because they like to, as you say, scream about sales)."

Yes, MS switching to MAU instead of sales numbers and staying mostly quiet about stuff is a direct result of their poor performance in console and software sales. But now that MS in general is moving to MUA in most of their metrics and moving to more of a service based platform, it makes sense, but yes the original snuff of announcements was due to that.

"I don't know much about the sales of Death Stranding. It is possible that it underperformed commercially as you suggest. The good news is that if it had to underperform, it's good that it happened with Sony as a publisher. Their resources are not bottomless (no one's is) but Sony is really good about partnerships. The hardest I've ever seen them come down on anyone was their own studio, Evolution, who—if we're being honest—really messed up with Driveclub's launch."

Yes, Sony has a better track record of continuing games even if the first doesn't hit projections. Hopefully we will see another The Order game because the franchise has potential for sure.

"Sincerely doubting we've seen the last partnership between Sony and Kojima Productions. If he's talking about his next project already, odds are, he and his studio are doing fine."

Sony or anybody isn't going to just drop Kojima after one game that may or may not have hit sales. For the record I don't want Kojima to fail, I love MGS (besides 5), MGS3 I still think is one of the best stealth games ever made. Death Stranding was an utter disappointment in game design for me and I really hope he doesn't continue this style of game for his next, but I am looking forward to what he does next.

For a new IP it sure is generating a lot of interest for a dull Fedex sim.