Homefront sales: Xbox 70%, PS3 26%

By Robert Purchese Published 21 March, 2011

What was your Korea choice?

Nearly three-quarters of UK opening-weekend Homefront sales were made on Xbox 360.

A titanic 70 per cent of copies were sold for Xbox 360, leaving 26 per cent for PS3 and four per cent for PC, according to Chart-Track (a company that doesn't include sales for digital services like Steam).

Homefront entered the UK all-formats chart today at number one, recording the biggest home console launch of the year, beating out Dragon Age II and Dead Space 2.

But why were the results so skewed? Because Microsoft has treated Homefront like royalty; heavily marketing the game due to an Xbox 360 downloadable content exclusivity deal.

Homefront's UK success follows a thunderous US launch, where THQ's big-budget shooter sold 375,000 copies in just one day. To put that into perspective, Ninja Theory's Enslaved - a game favoured by critics - failed to break 500,000 lifetime sales.

Homefront scraped 6/10 on Eurogamer - a short campaign being recitified somewhat by the impressive multiplayer segment.

Eurogamer's Digital Foundry assessed all three versions - PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 - in an effort to tell you which is best.

Which version of Homefront is better - PS3 or Xbox 360?

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (63) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • TheEarlOfZinger #1 1 year ago

    me = 0%

  • carlitoswagon #2 1 year ago

    me = % when drops to £20

  • EmiliasHorse #3 1 year ago

    Maybe more PS3 owners read reviews before running to the shops drooling for another FPS.

  • WiseGuy #4 1 year ago

    Killzone 3 would have been a factor

  • rojjer #5 1 year ago

    Or more PS3 pirates out there now? That's actually more likely.

  • J0rdan_KZ #6 1 year ago

    FYI: You can't buy Homefront in the UK on Steam, but it still requires it to play it. From what I've played of it on the PC, it's a solid title.

  • Jolly_Armadillo #7 1 year ago

    @emilia

    Plus the 360s larger American "HOORRAH" install base

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #8 1 year ago

    KZ3 is clearly a factor, plus 360 only owners haven't had a lot of choice for AAA games this year so far, this is about as close as its got.

  • dingo75 #9 1 year ago

    recording the biggest home console launch of the year, beating out Dragon Age II and Dead Space 2.

    Oh the irony. :p

  • Mkwone #10 1 year ago

    360 owners more gullible?

  • Moribundman #11 1 year ago

    Speaking as an Xbox fanboy who prefers RPGs and sandboxers I have to say that just says a lot about yer regular xbox fanboy really...

    Meatheaded redneck wet dream FPS = massive share of market on Xbox.

    Who'da thunk... ;-)

  • RobotRocker #12 1 year ago

    I'm more interested to see the return/trade-in percentage.

  • des #13 1 year ago

    "But why were the results so skewed? Because Microsoft has treated Homefront like royalty; heavily marketing the game due to an Xbox 360 downloadable content exclusivity deal. "

    Yeah sure...
    Tons of games have some exclusivity deals and yet they are never close to that ratio.Dead Space 2 had some PS3 exclusive deal and 360 version sold more.
    Might as well blame PS3 piracy...things are not black and white,tons of heavily marketed games fail to meet their expectations

    In this case game simply resonated well with 360 core MP shooter audience.

  • eltonpr0n #14 1 year ago

    Isn't this the second "guess what a game sold better on the 360" news article in the last week?

    Honestly who really cares outside the developer and platform holder which sku attached better.

    I look forward to the Crysis 2 sold more on the 360 news article next week.
    Edited by eltonpr0n at 21/03/11 @ 11:21

  • dwalker109 #15 1 year ago

    I actually though this was XBox exclusive until about a week before launch - based solely on marketing (and not being particularly interested in it).

  • DavoTheDiv #16 1 year ago

    Think it says a lot about both consoles demographics. Plus, PS3 owners have probably just shelled out for Killzone 3
    Edited by DavoTheDiv at 21/03/11 @ 11:26

  • Lee_Morris #17 1 year ago

    Of course most multiplatform skus skew in favour of the 360 but that is a massive amount even with the marketing MS has paid for.

  • LazyNinjaUk #18 1 year ago

    I prefer my 360 for most games and for me, it wasn't "oh another FPS *fap* fap* fap*" it was more like "well, there's been fuck all else out this month".......... fap* fap* fap*

  • captainrentboy #19 1 year ago

    As has already been said, it's pretty bloody obvious that Killzone 3 is a factor in the skewed sales.
    As for the game, it's pretty lousy, I'm not one for online gaming anymore, so I haven't seen what that's like, but the campaign is ugly as shit and buggy as hell.
    Thankfully I can pretty much swap it for Crysis 2 on Fri, so didn't lose out on any money.

  • miiiguel #20 1 year ago

    Jolly_Armadillo: Charttrack is for UK only. UK is not US of A. Yet.
    Edited by miiiguel at 21/03/11 @ 11:30

  • asphaltcowboy #21 1 year ago

    Well there's no accounting for taste!

  • chrisjm #22 1 year ago

    i like the ascii picture from our spammer

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  • Machiavellian #23 1 year ago

    Maybe more PS3 owners read reviews before running to the shops drooling for another FPS.

    Probably because on the 360 it's getting advertised. I have seem a few commercial showing the 360 as the system to buy the game on. Also if I am doubtful that KZ3 is the cause because it's not burning up the charts at all from what I can see.

  • onyxbox #24 1 year ago

    360 is the home of Call of Duty... this game to a lot of people looks a bit like Call of Duty so it's no suprise that it appealed more to the 360 community.. that and the usual bombardment of MS 'Available on XBox 360' adverts that have been on TV featuring the game.

  • Tryhard #25 1 year ago

    I might be able to tell you how good the MP was if the servers would actually allow me into a game,or give me anything above one red bar.Good to go back and blast around Bad Company 2 MP again.

  • supermackem #26 1 year ago

    Yep higher install base and more of that base not really having bought an fps since cod blops might have something to do with it. Kz3 is still fresh to me and with crysis 2 out next week plus im still enjoying mag i decided not to bother with this either on 360 or ps3. Reviews mad that pretty easy to do.

  • Silvz #27 1 year ago

    It's not that difficult to understand. If you want to play a game online then you buy the 360 version. That's why I only have exclusives on my PS3, anything that's multiplayer and multi-platform is bought for the 360, just common sense to buy the better version really.

  • richyroo #28 1 year ago

    Ive already bought LBP2, Dead Space 2 and Killzone 3 this year. Homefront didnt even get a look in by me.

    Whats the 360 had this far? Theres your skewed figures right there!!

  • inutaihanyou #29 1 year ago

    And Xbox 360 users don't have taste? This is going a bit too far now..

    I thought it was common knowledge that if there's a FPS with online component coming out, one usually gets the 360 version

  • king26 #30 1 year ago

    Killzone has to be the main reason for this

  • superstu1337 #31 1 year ago

    This is why it always makes more sense to get a 360 title over the PS3; obviously not counting exclusives to PS3. The online community will always be larger on 360 and allow you to get more out of your game!

  • cowell #32 1 year ago

    Fanboy-ism aside, clearly there has been stuff for 360 owners to buy this year. Almost a third of all software sales have been on 360 this year, all the other formats lag a fair bit behind

  • Moribundman #33 1 year ago

    Re Killzone "obviously" being a factor... That would presuppose that all PS3 owners can only afford one game a month and all have marginally better taste than a 15 year old redneck patriot with a hard on.

  • richyroo #34 1 year ago

    @cowell

    I own both a 360 and PS3. Please tell me what has been worth buying this year for the 360, because I seemed to of missed those titles.
    I bought Dead Space 2 for my PS3 because of the inclusion of extraction, so you cant count that, or Bulletstorm because its crap!
    Edited by richyroo at 21/03/11 @ 11:50

  • Darren #35 1 year ago

    I chose not to buy the game at all. I must say that I feel very good about that!!! :p

  • M_of_the_sys #36 1 year ago

    @superstu1337

    Do you really think you'll notice the difference between 26% and 70% (in the UK alone) being online? It's not like 26% will be a small amount of people to play with.
    Edited by M_of_the_sys at 21/03/11 @ 11:51

  • FortysixterUK #37 1 year ago

    Yep...a buyer for me when its £20.00....

  • Fab4 #38 1 year ago

    "This is why it always makes more sense to get a 360 title over the PS3; obviously not counting exclusives to PS3. The online community will always be larger on 360 and allow you to get more out of your game!"

    Nice argument, until you realise the difference in community numbers is made up from fuckwit griefers.

    Note: I'm not saying PS3 doesnt have them. I'm saying it doesnt matter what size the community is, if the majority of them are cunts.

  • molekiller #39 1 year ago

    @richyroo

    So what's been worth buying on PS3? LBP2? Meh, no thanks, not spending my money on that... Killzone 3? Sorry I had enough boring corridor fps' with Killzone 2 and Black Ops for a while... Bulletstorm is way more fun than both RegularZones. At least it tries something original.

  • cowell #40 1 year ago

    @richyroo

    I'm just stating a fact from looking at the numbers. 360 is running away with the software sales regardless of the various format exclusives that PS3 has had. Looks like gamers prefer to go for 360 when its a multiformat release - Bulletstorm, Dragon Age 2, Homefront are the biggest examples this year.

    Sports games are a bit more balanced - Fight Night and Top Spin are much closer. I guess PS3 players like their sport games?!

  • richyroo #41 1 year ago

    @molekiller

    So you would play another FPS in Bulletstorm than the wonderfully creative LBP2.....interesting.

    Your honor, here I present the problem with todays generation of gamers.

  • yupyup #42 1 year ago

    I've read nothing to believe PS3 owners are capable of reading.

  • molekiller #43 1 year ago

    @richyroo

    I'm playing since the atari 2600/Commdore 64 days, if I'm a "today generation gamer" I don't know what are the people having a PS2 as first console... I played the first LBP and I didn't like it at all. If such a game has crappy controls it's ruined unless you buy it to create levels, which I find boring as hell. I'd rather play Minecraft.
    Edited by molekiller at 21/03/11 @ 12:04

  • Widge #44 1 year ago

    People like shooters with realistic characters and in realistic settings. I remember years back trying to recommend Halo 2 to a mate, to be shot down in favour of Call Of Duty. Its all aliens and fake guns is apparently a turn off. This is probably why something like Enslaved is a hard sell. Something nice and real like driving a car or shooting contemporary soldiers is far less risky for people who really don’t have a clue to buy into and get excited about.

    Monkey man story done by the fella behind The Beach? No ta. Some sort of defence of the USA? OK THEN.

  • SomaticSense #45 1 year ago

    GamesProgrammer: KZ3 is clearly a factor, plus 360 only owners haven't had a lot of choice for AAA games this year so far, this is about as close as its got.

    You're kidding right?

    We are only in March, and only last year could be argued as having a better release schedule by this point, probably in at least the past couple of decades.

  • patch #46 1 year ago

    Personally, I've had LBP2 and Killzone 3 so far this year, with Motorstorm: Apocalypse, Portal 2 and Crysis 2 coming soon, then Infamous 2 in June. I just don't have enough spare cash to spend on much else. There hasn't been anything on the 360 to interest me this year, suppose I could get Crysis 2 on it. If I didn't have my PS3, I guess I'd think about getting something like Homefront (if I ignore the review score EG gave it).

  • Moribundman #47 1 year ago

    @superstu1337 Agreed on one level, but it also means you're more likely to run into a bunch of screeching wanker kids online as well. The more copies you sell, the more likely the game is going to get into the hands of the sort of kids its supposed to be restricted from being sold to. Or the sort of adults who still act like them.

  • rojjer #48 1 year ago

    90% of the users commenting on this haven't played the game. PS3 or otherwise.

    Stop passing judgement on a game that you, frankly, quite obviously haven't played.

  • mungolikebeans #49 1 year ago

    Bizarre.

    Format sales aside, the fact that this sold so many full stop is odd.

    Homefront is poo-poo.

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #50 1 year ago

    @SomaticSense

    Yeah i wasnt having a go at the 360 lineup for the entire year i know it will have good games this year, but so far its been a bit of a drowt and there will be a lot of gamers out there where only a couple of good titles in 3 months is not enough.

    If i hadnt had LBP2, Killzone3, DeadSpace 2 to play i might of bought Bullet storm to tide me over for a bit, but Homefront thats just been no where near my radar with all the other great games there are to play, for multi format owners.

  • lazyboyblue #51 1 year ago

    Decided to take a punt on Homefront and I have to say I'm glad I did. Multiplayer heavon plain and simple.
    Agree, single player is shite though - too short. I've played demos that last longer.

  • aidey6 #52 1 year ago

    As others have said it'd be down to the marketing, as I also thought this was an exclusive 360 title, I recall seeing the ads on EG page and never noticed any mention of it being on PS3.

    It's good that enw IP is selling well, hopefullly any shortcomings will be rectified in the pending sequel

  • byakuya83 #53 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 10:03:41 30-03-2012

  • Ranger101 #54 1 year ago

    The multiplayer is pretty good - if you haven't been spoiled by BC2. Heli vs Heli dog fights are fun, and the ground war isn't too bad either. The lack of destruction is a big negative though: What's that? You have a BIG TANK with BIG SHOTS? I have a wooden fence I can hide behind for cover! HAHA!

    A team based multiplayer shooter doing well on an online service setup for team based games? Shocking.

  • chanandler #55 1 year ago

    I have to say that the last 2 games I bought (test drive 2 and dragon age 2) were hard to find in a lot of the stores I visited on xbox but there were always ps3 copies available.

  • sfp_noodle #56 1 year ago

    Hardly surprising. Has there EVER been a multiplatform shooter that sold more on the PS3 than the 360? I think not. The 360 is known for it's shooters. The pad was designed with them in mind. It's a console built for the shooter genre. Not to mention MS pay for dibs on any multiplatform shooter. The likes of COD and other high profile shooters (Crysis 2 being an exception showing Pc footage since console versions are so poor) are advertised on the 360 99% of the time.

    Does it matter though? I think not. Like others have said, even if Killzone 3 hasn't been setting the charts alight, it's an exclusive game and it's a bloody good one at that. Haven't put it down since launch. When they have that and an average military shooter to choose from, the choice is obvious. 360 owners on the hand have had nothing major so far outside of Dead Space 2 (horrer shooter), Homefront (all too familiar military shooter) and Crysis 2 (promising shooter with dated MP.) In contrast, PS3 has the delightful LBP2, a strong online FPS in Killzone 3 and would also have had the excellent racer Motorstorm Apocalypse had it not been for the unfortunate events in Japan recently. Plus there's Infamous 2 coming out soon which also looks promising. There's just far more variety on offer on the PS3 this year. The 360 hasn't had much love from MS and most games have been shooters since 2011 began. It's going through it's biggest drought since launch.

  • KDR_11k #57 1 year ago

    Is it Microsoft's marketing or maybe PS3 gamers getting their MP FPS fix from Killzone 3?

  • king26 #58 1 year ago

    As well as Killzone 3 Homefront was up against Yakuza 4 and people waiting for Motorstorm Apocalypse, Not everyone can afford loads of games so maybe these high quality exclusives were more appealing, they were to me

  • SteveHolt #59 1 year ago

    I thought the "DA2 sold more on x360" thread was funnier. Boo. Hiss.

  • Bander #60 1 year ago

    Everyone has missed the more important story.

    Homefront became the biggest selling game of the year. As such, the investors and analysts completely fucked up.

    Instead of pointing and laughing at whatever we imagine a typical 360 or PS3 user to be, I'm going to be laughing at the lazy analysts that didn't look beyond the Metacritic score.

  • risseer #61 1 year ago

    Well i could careless why would anyone buy this junk.It looks bad the single player is crappy the only thing thats any good is the Mp.If your a Ps3 owner you don't even look at this garbage not when Kz3 just came out.

  • Turbotim3 #62 1 year ago

    killzone 3 you moron. i cant believe this is even a story.also it just shows you how starved xbox owners are to buy that piece if crap of a game

  • makariel #63 1 year ago

    I just bought Killzone 3. But even if I wouldn't have my interest in Homefront is zero, since I don't play much multiplayer and 4 hours of singleplayer is a joke.