Sony downplays poor LittleBigPlanet sales

"Sackboy hasn't even hit his stride yet"

19 November 2008 9:41 GMT / By Verity Burns

Despite being one of the most anticipated games of the year, and receiving the thumbs up from gamers and critics alike, LittleBigPlanet hasn't exactly stormed the charts like one might have expected.

It entered the all-format charts at a debut position of 4, but then fell nearly out of the top 20 this week, just clinging in at number 19.

However, Sony apparently sees this as a positive thing, commenting that it is "pleased" with sales for LittleBigPlanet thus far, and believes that "Sackboy hasn't even hit his stride yet".

"We're really pleased with the initial reaction to LittleBigPlanet, which has been our highest scoring game ever, I believe, with a Metacritic score of 95 per cent and a huge list of 10/10s or 100 per cent scores. We are also pleased with its commercial performance," a spokesperson for Sony UK said.

"In other times of the year [LBP] would be a clear number one, so you have to put the chart in context. This is an incredibly volatile time of year and the chart reflects that."

Sony also acknowledged the difficulty in launching an original IP, but believes that LBP has held up better than many before it.

"Our industry is littered with examples of brand new innovative titles that have been lauded by the critics but have sold dismally. LittleBigPlanet has broken this stereotype by not only being brilliant and original, but also by selling really well on a global basis," continued the spokesperson.

"LBP is breaking many preconceptions. There are some games that are hardcore experiences where the kudos lies in getting it first. LBP is excellent on day one but even better as time goes by."

Over 80,000 community-created levels are now live on LittleBigPlanet, and despite community frustration over the deletion of some levels too closely resembling other games or brands, the number continues to rise daily.

And as for Sony's hope that LBP would be a hardware seller in the run-up to Christmas, it seems they are still hopeful of this thanks to a massive marketing campaign due to roll out in December.

"This game gets better and better as an experience and as a value proposition. It's also a game that will benefit enormously from word of mouth and from people trying it out with friends or in-store; it drips fun and charm in equal measure," said the spokesperson.

"Also, the bulk of our marketing including our six figure TV advertising campaign doesn't roll out until December, so we genuinely believe that Sackboy hasn't even hit his stride yet."

Full tags

Gaming, PS3, LittleBigPlanet, Sony, Media Molecule, Games industry, Game charts