A six-year-old open-world RPG just outsold Halo: Campaign Evolved for the week between July 28 to August 4, at least on Steam. This is obviously not a great look for the new Halo: Combat Evolved remake, but it reflects on the open-world RPG in question very favorably. In fact, this RPG was the second best-selling game on Steam for this period, while the new Halo release came in third. The number one best-selling Steam game for this period was Mistfall Hunter, a new dark fantasy RPG.
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Right behind it — the aforementioned six-year-old open-world RPG — is CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, a steady presence in the top 20 of the Steam Top Sellers chart, and one of the top 20 best-selling video games of all time. Suffice it to say, it’s not surprising to see Cyberpunk 2077 outselling new releases, especially whilst on sale, but it is still noteworthy. It’s not like it’s a common thing on Steam, though. The only other RPG in the same ballpark in this regard is Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s a great reflection on the quality of the open-world RPG and CD Projekt Red’s work to salvage it after a horrific and controversial launch that at one point saw it removed entirely from the PlayStation Store. It’s not a good reflection on Halo: Campaign Evolved, though.
Halo: Campaign Evolved a Flop?
Halo: Campaign Evolved launched on July 28, so this period reflects its full launch week sales. Meanwhile, the #1 game for the week, Mistfall Hunter, had one less day on the market. And while Mistfall Hunter is doing well for what it is, it’s not a major new release. Halo should be beating it.
There are a few things to consider, though. For one, Halo: Campaign Evolved is available via Xbox Game Pass, which canablizes game sales. However, so is Cyberpunk 2077, and so is Mistfall Hunter. So, this excuse doesn’t excuse much. What’s more relevant is the fact that Halo: Campaign Evolved was available a few days prior to this via early acess, which did lead to a large number of pre-orders, and these pre-orders would presumably not be reflected in sales starting on July 28.
Calling Halo: Campaign Evolved a flop is likely an overstatment, but it’s certainly a disappointment. All data shows it sold lightly on Steam, as well as PS5, despite being the debut for the series on PlayStation. And there’s been substantial blowback about various aspects of the game, especially the writing and cutscenes.
As for Cyberpunk 2077, it’s not exactly obvious why it continues to sell so well. Of course, it’s a great open-word RPG, but this can’t explain away everything. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners has no doubt helped sell many copies as well. What about Cyberpunk 2077, in particular, keeps it going so strong, six years later? It seems to be a basket of variables, and for what it is worth, the same thing happened with the studio’s previous game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt Red now has the best and the fourth best-selling RPG games of all time, so there is clearly something about its games that really resonates with gamers.
