It’s been a while since we’ve covered an explicitly military game, so what better way to do that than to take a look at some Company of Heroes statistics and see how this iconic series has performed on the market since its release? Company of Heroes is a series of real-time strategy games set during the Second World War and feature various scenarios from the conflict where players have to manage their resources and create military units to emerge victorious. The games have been very well-received in the past and the newest installment was released in February 2023, so it’s high time we examine them a bit. Also, if you’re interested in more of what the gaming world has to offer, we can tell you all about competitive gaming, from esports revenue to the newest tournaments!
Company of Heroes key stats
This section is going to take a broad look at the Company of Heroes series to find some of the most relevant statistics, from sales and revenue numbers and all that boring stuff to issues with the games and the state of the series, followed by prospects of further releases and anything else we can find. While the Company of Heroes series is quite popular, it is a bit of a niche series and as such, it does not have much information surrounding it. However, we’ll try our best to get everything here.
The Company of Heroes franchise has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.
(Source: VG Insights, Relic Entertainment)
- Company of Heroes has sold 408,000 copies on Steam.
- Company of Heroes 2 has sold 7.4 million copies on Steam.
- Company of Heroes 3 has sold 316,000 copies on Steam.
From this first line of statistics, we can clearly see that one of the three Company of Heroes games is more popular than the rest, and that is Company of Heroes 2. The game is highly rated and is a fairly complete RTS experience that you can’t really go wrong with, so this isn’t really a surprise. Since Company of Heroes 3 has been released just recently, so we’ve yet to see the numbers that the game generates in the future.
The Company of Heroes series has grossed $107.2 million on Steam.
(Source: VG Insights)
- Company of Heroes grossed $6.4 million on Steam.
- Company of Heroes 2 grossed $85.7 million on Steam.
- Company of Heroes 3 grossed $15.1 million on Steam.
Since Company of Heroes 2 is the more popular game out of the three, it makes sense that it would also gather a lot more profit than the other games. Another thing to note is that Company of Heroes 3 while selling fewer copies than the first game, gathered much higher profits. This is because it is a new release and is more technically advanced with more content, which increases its monetary value.
Company of Heroes 2 sold 380,000 copies 5 days after its release.
(Source: VG247)
- Sega made a profit of ¥39 million in Q1 of 2013.
- Sega’s consumer business segment had net sales of $193 million.
- The company’s sales were an improvement since it lost $16.4 million in 2012.
The success of Company of Heroes 2 is apparent when you look at the numbers that the game pulled in its first five days on the market. Those first 380,000 copies would make way for the remaining 7 million to sail smoothly into the company’s pockets. Speaking of the company, this was a major release for Sega and it definitely helped shield profit losses in the future.
Sega Sammy experienced a sharp uptake in profits following the release of Company of Heroes 2.
(Source: IGN)
- Sega Sammy saw a 416% increase in profits during Q1 2013.
- This equated to a profit of $131.8 million, with the consumer side of the company pulling in $192.2 million.
- This was a 26% increase in profit year-over-year.
- Sega packaged title sales saw an increase of 13.4%, while digital titles saw a 60.8% increase year-over-year.
This is what we were talking about in the previous segment. The excellent sales of Company of Heroes 2 made way for some increases in general profits for Sega. This was also the year when Sega saw a good increase in both physical and digital game sales, which just goes to show how far one game can take a company.
Company of Heroes 2 was removed from sale in Russia.
(Source: Destructoid)
- This was back in 2013 and has no relation to the current situation in Russia and Ukraine.
- Russian gamers took offense to the way the Soviet forces were portrayed.
- The Allied forces were shown as fearless heroes while the Soviet forces were the antithesis to that, essentially acting as the villains.
- 17,000 people signed a petition on Steam to have the game removed.
- Even though the game portrayed life on the Eastern Front accurately, the reality of the situation and Relic’s generalization of the situation did not sit well with everyone.
This is a bit of a controversial thing concerning the Company of Heroes series since Russia is a massive territory and usually contributes a fair bit to the sales in the video game industry. However, it serves as a good lesson on how to handle issues like this. Even though the developer of the game explained the reality of the situation, they did not let up and they respectfully pulled the game from Russia.
Company of Heroes 3 debuted 4th on New Zealand’s sales charts.
(Source: VG Chartz)
- The top game for those charts was Hogwarts Legacy, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and The Last of Us Part II in second and third place, respectively.
- Company of Heroes 3 outsold other industry greats such as GTA V, Borderlands 3, and NBA 2K23.
This is just a good sign for the latest installment of the Company of Heroes series since a new release beating the heavy hitters of the industry that we have already mentioned is a big step in the right direction and bodes well for the future of the game.
Sega sued THQ because of Company of Heroes 2 preorders.
(Sources: Game Developer, ShackNews)
- THQ filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2013.
- Sega acquired THQ’s assets (Company of Heroes 2 and Relic) in 2013 while it was filing for bankruptcy.
- The acquisition cost Sega $26.6 million and was finalized without any issues.
- However, an issue emerged when Valve paid THQ $941,710 in preorder revenue after Valve’s cut.
- THQ ended up owing Sega nearly 1 million dollars aside from the tens of millions it owed other sources, despite being bankrupt.
THQ had a good run in the gaming industry, but circumstances proved to be insurmountable and the company had to face bankruptcy in the face of owing over $200 million to various companies. Sega was one of the companies and the lawsuit was confusing since Sega was suing a company that had no money for nearly $1 million. Despite this, it was not right for THQ to keep the preorder earnings from Company of Heroes 2.
To sum up
Okay, that would be all we have to say about the Company of Heroes series! As you can see, the information about the series is a bit sparse, but we tried to get everything relevant covered so you are not left wanting. This series has been around for a fairly long time and has established itself as one of the cornerstones of the RTS genre on account of its excellent gameplay and good story execution, so we are sure that Company of Heroes 3 is going to have a good run in the gaming industry in the future. We hope that the information provided here was satisfactory and that you have learned something new!
Sources
- “Company of Heroes – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/228200
- “Company of Heroes 2 – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/231430
- “Company of Heroes 3 – Steam Stats”. VG Insights, 2023, https://vginsights.com/game/1677280
- “Sega Q1 financials: ¥39 million profit, Company of Heroes 2 sold 380k in 5 days”. VG247, 2013, https://www.vg247.com/sega-q1-financials-39-million-profit-company-of-heroes-2-sold-380k-in-5-days
- “Company of Heroes 3 delayed to February 2023”. Destructoid, 2022, https://www.destructoid.com/company-of-heroes-3-delay-february-23-2023-sega-relic-pc/
- “Company of Heroes 3 Debuts in 3rd on the New Zealand Charts – Sales”. VG Chartz, 2023, https://www.vgchartz.com/article/456467/company-of-heroes-3-debuts-in-3rd-on-the-new-zealand-charts/
- “Sega sues THQ over Company of Heroes 2 preorders”. Game Developer, 2013, https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/sega-sues-thq-over-i-company-of-heroes-2-i-preorders
- “Sega Financials Rise on Positive Company of Heroes 2 Sales”. IGN, 2018, https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/31/sega-financials-rise-on-positive-company-of-heroes-2-sales
- “Sega claims THQ owes $941,000 for Company of Heroes 2 Steam pre-orders”. Shack News, 2013, https://www.shacknews.com/article/80097/sega-claims-thq-owes-941000-for-company-of-heroes-2