Was Victoria 3 Successful?

Channel:

Spudgun Official

Subscribers:

37,000

Published on March 24, 2023 3:00:17 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS4lhXaan9w

Game:

Victoria 3 (2022)

Duration: 33:24

67,721 views

3,766

A detailed look at Victoria 3’s launch, sales, reception & playercount. Paradox seems to have a habit of being… misleading, to put it mildly. I take aim at pre-ordering, and prove that people were duped into buying an unfinished product with minimal ability to refund it through marketing. I do an in-depth analysis of Victoria 3’s playercount figures by comparing them to other games, as well as demolishing Paradox’s own playercount graph that they released during the making of the video.

Patch 1.2 came out, which fixes many of Victoria 3’s problems and does a u-turn on their hated direction of removing AI capitalist building, something which Piechucker warned them about from the very beginning. I originally made this video to discuss patch 1.2 but I went deeper and did a full retrospective on Victoria 3’s success or failure.

This video also paves the way for Victoria 3’s future. I analyse whether or not it’s possible for Victoria 3 to make a comeback and reach the playercount of Paradox’s earlier releases through expansions and updates. Everything in this video is what I genuinely believe to be the truth, based on factual and accurate sources.

More Victoria 3 videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhJpK3gw2nb-nCkDB8Z3ITWJzcRuQ3z6t

00:00 Intro
02:53 The Leak
06:18 500,000 Copies Sold… Since launch?
09:28 No Refunds
11:39 Pre-Ordering
14:28 Xbox Game Pass Removal
16:15 Best Strategy/Sim Game 2022
17:23 Steam Reviews
19:32 Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
23:57 Playercount Comparisons & Talking Points
32:32 Outro

Links & Sources:
My stream of the patch 1.2 beta, trying out strategic objectives Feb 16: https://youtu.be/4RYo394hueU
Our discussion stream on “Everything we know so far” from Victoria 3, May 25th 2021, Piechucker calls autonomous investment at around 47 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/live/dfcSpP3za0g?feature=share
Martin’s statement on the leak: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/developer-thoughts-on-the-victoria-3-leak.1521391/
My Victoria 3 leak video (reupload after removing leak footage): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78TSMThTf-M&ab_channel=SpudgunOfficial
Paradox statement on 500,000 sales & game awards nomination: https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/game
The main article about Victoria 3 sales that I showed: https://gamerant.com/victoria-3-sales-paradox/ I’m not citing every single one that I put in the video, you can find them
Victoria 3 becomes steam bestseller before release: https://www.reddit.com/r/victoria3/comments/ycj665/victoria_3_is_currently_2_global_bestseller_on/
Techraptor article “Victoria 3 Sales Cross 500,000 Despite Mixed Fan Reaction”: https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/victoria-3-sales-cross-500k-despite-mixed-fan-reaction
Xbox Game Pass trailer for Victoria 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuSfFn7nbtI&t=2s&ab_channel=Xbox
Forum thread entitled “Victoria 3 on steam” announcing removal from Xbox Game Pass: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/victoria-3-on-steam.1540234/
Our coverage of Paradox’s first Victoria 3 gameplay stream + release date / pre-orders announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r_0K9u3uvM&ab_channel=SpudgunOfficial
“I beg everyone not to pre-purchase Victoria 3”: https://www.reddit.com/r/paradoxplaza/comments/nik18j/i_beg_everyone_not_to_prepurchase_victoria_3/
“Remember, no pre-order” downvoted reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/victoria3/comments/x182o5/remember_no_preorder/
“Remember: Never pre-order” bait thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/victoria3/comments/xww9e4/remember_never_preorder/
“The line goes up!” Paradox posts players per day graph to show effect of patch 1.2 on playercount: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/threads/the-line-goes-up.1575191/
Steam charts: https://steamcharts.com/app/529340
SteamDB: https://steamdb.info/charts/

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