Being stranded alone on a dictator-controller island or a dystopian display of America might sound like the perfect setting for a blockbuster movie, but it is also a fantastic setting for games, as the Far Cry series has shown throughout its lifetime. The Far Cry series has been dominating the first-person shooter genre since 2004, with all of the games having the same setting — the player is stuck in a situation where they have to survive in the wilderness by crafting gear and completing missions to disrupt the chain of command. The variety in settings is what makes the games appealing, so we’re going to take a look at the expansive universe of this series by examining some Far Cry statistics to see where the series started and where it is going in the future. Of course, if you’re curious about other topics, like the size of the video game industry, we’ve got you covered!
Far Cry key stats
There are 13 games in the Far Cry series and each of the has had a massive role in shaping the reputation of the series into what it is today. While the games all have the same premise, almost none of them follow the same timeline nor are they set in the same place. They come in different iterations focusing on a different location each time, from the mountains of Tibet to dystopian America, and even to prehistoric times, where you play as a caveman. This section is going to take a look at the series from the first game and examine some revenue and sales statistics as well as any other relevant information that can be found about the games.
The Far Cry series has sold over 52.5 million copies across the franchise.
(Source: VG Chartz)
- The original Far Cry sold 2.5 million copies.
- Far Cry 2 sold 2.9 million copies.
- Far Cry 3 sold 10 million copies.
- Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon sold over 1 million copies.
- Far Cry 4 sold 10 million+ copies.
- Far Cry Primal sold 4 million+ copies.
- Far Cry 5 sold 10 million+ copies.
How many copies did Far Cry sell? Right off the bat, we can see that the Far Cry series is among the better-selling game franchises out there, accumulating millions of sales across all of the games, with the most successful ones being Far Cry 3, 4, and 5. Of course, unless the publisher posts exact sales numbers, we can’t be sure about the real number of sales, but 50 million is a good ballpark.
Far Cry 5 had the second-best launch in the series’ history.
(Source: CGM)
- The only game that performed better than Far Cry 5 was The Division.
- It sold twice as many copies as Far Cry 4 during its launch.
- The total profit of the game was $310 million within its first week.
- Twitch streamers streamed the game for 55,000 hours and the game had 117 million views on Youtube.
The hype and the popularity of Far Cry 5 were apparent way before the game’s release and fans flocked in droves to buy the game and play it as soon as they could. It was the fastest-selling game in the franchise and the second-biggest launch in the history of the company, trailing behind The Division, which only earned $20 million more than Far Cry 5.
Far Cry 5 helped boost Ubisoft’s profits to the $2 billion mark.
(Source: Digital Trends)
- 2018 was a very good financial year for Ubisoft as all of its games performed well.
- Far Cry 5’s massive profit of $310 million pushed Ubisoft to a total of $2 billion in earnings.
- Tom Clancy’s The Division made $330 million in 2016.
- The PlayStation version of the game sold double the number of copies compared to the Xbox One.
With good sales and good reception, you are free to assume that the company that made the game is going to prosper with it. This is what happened with Ubisoft, where they raked in $2 billion in earnings following the release of Far Cry 5, which is a massive milestone for both the game and the company.
Far Cry 6 came with Ubisoft’s best-ever year for Far Cry.
(Sources: PCGamesN, Games Industry)
- Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six made over $315 million in net earnings for that period.
- Assassin’s Creed doubled its earnings in 2021 compared to 2020.
- Despite this being the best year for Far Cry, Ubisoft saw a 5% overall decrease in net profits compared to 2020.
- Far Cry 6 sold 371,020 units during its first week, with 44.7% of those sales being digital.
Far Cry 6 marked a shining time for the Far Cry series, wherein it achieved some solid sales and revenue, but also because of community hype surrounding the game. While 2021 was not the best year for Ubisoft in general as their net profits decreased by 5% compared to the previous year, the Far Cry series has never been more successful. This bodes quite well for the series moving forward, as we’ll talk about at a later time.
Far Cry New Dawn’s physical sales were just 25% of Far Cry Primal’s sales.
(Sources: Eurogamer, PCGamesN)
- The game’s sales were 13% of the total sales of Far Cry 5 during its opening week.
- At UK retail, PlayStation accounted for 60% of the total sales, while Xbox One accounted for 39% of sales. PC sales were only 1% of the total sales.
- Even though the release was not stellar compared to other games, New Dawn still performed relatively well on the sales charts for that period.
- The game received praise for its colorful atmosphere and a good setting, but also criticism for being too similar to Far Cry 5 and for being too grind-heavy.
Far Cry New Dawn wasn’t as well-received as some of the other games, and that is because it lacked some of the ingenuity and uniqueness of previous games. Many fans noted the game as too similar to Far Cry 5 and was too grind-intensive in some of its later sections, which made the game tedious and annoying to play.
Six months after its release, Far Cry 5 players traveled 290 billion kilometers.
(Source: Reddit)
- 405 million civilians were saved.
- 175 million outposts were taken, the most common one being the Gardenview Packing Facility.
- 2.22 million players were mauled by wolves.
- 1.12 million players were gored to death by bulls.
- 105,300 deaths were caused by turkeys.
- The 1911 pistol, AR-C Assault Weapon, and fists were the most-used weapons.
- 53 million shovels were used successfully.
- 230 million fish were caught.
Here, we can see the dedication that Far Cry 5 players expressed in the first six months of its release. 290 billion kilometers is an insane distance to cross, even in a game and the rest of the statistics speak for themselves. There isn’t much more to say about these stats since they’re just a reference to what players enjoy doing in the game.
Far Cry 4 players spent 3,700 years playing the game within its first month.
(Source: Twitter)
- 740,000 players met Hurk and his harpoon gun.
- The community averaged 70 kills per second.
- 420 million animals were hunted.
- 27 billion bullets were fired and 289 million arrows were loosed.
- The fan-favorite travel method was walking.
- Fans invested 13,713 days into creating 22,144 custom maps in the map creators.
This line of stats is the same case as the previous subheading, where we can just see the sheer time and dedication that players invested into playing Far Cry 4, from playing for 3,700 years to firing 27 billion bullets, the players enjoying Far Cry 4 surely did everything you could do in the game within the first few months, and the hype continued over to the next games.
To sum up
This is where our journey ends as we have nothing more to say about this iconic franchise. The Far Cry series is one of the oldest and most popular video game series ever, spanning decades and including over a dozen of games, each with a deeper and more exciting storyline than the last. The legacy of the series has remained intact for a long time and we are proud to be able to present this information to you as accurately as possible. As new games are released and new content becomes available, we will be sure to update this with the latest information. We sincerely hope that you have enjoyed what we have had to show here and that you have learned something new!
Sources
- “Far Cry (Series)”. VG Chartz, 2019, https://www.vgchartz.com/game/226102/far-cry/
- “Far Cry 5 is Ubisoft’s Second-Best-Selling Launch Ever Behind the Division”. CGM, 2018, https://www.cgmagonline.com/news/far-cry-5-is-ubisofts-second-best-selling-launch-ever-behind-division/
- “‘Far Cry 7’ reportedly in development at Ubisoft alongside multiplayer game”. NME, 2023, https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/far-cry-7-reportedly-in-development-at-ubisoft-alongside-multiplayer-game-3388343
- “‘Far Cry 5’ boosts Ubisoft’s yearly sales above the $2 billion mark”. DigitalTrends, 2018, https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/ubisoft-far-cry-5-first-week-sales-330-million/
- “Title Update 11 – Blood Dragon Developer Maps & Infographic”. Reddit, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/farcry/comments/9je61p/title_update_11_blood_dragon_developer_maps/
- “You’ve spent almost 4 thousand years on #FarCry so far!”. Twitter, 2014, https://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/547059349894348800
- “Far Cry New Dawn physical sales just a quarter of Far Cry Primal’s”. Eurogamer, 2019, https://www.eurogamer.net/far-cry-new-dawn-physical-sales-just-quarter-of-far-cry-primal
- “Far Cry New Dawn retail sales down 86% from Far Cry 5”. PCGamesN, 2019, https://www.pcgamesn.com/far-cry-new-dawn/far-cry-new-dawn-sales
- “Ubisoft earnings 2022: Far Cry 6 behind brand’s “best year ever”. PCGamesN, 2022, https://www.pcgamesn.com/far-cry-6/sales-ubisoft-earnings-2022
- “Far Cry 6, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ratchet & Clank sold better at physical retail than digital in the UK last year”. Games Industry, 2022, https://www.gamesindustry.biz/far-cry-6-guardians-of-the-galaxy-and-ratchet-and-clank-sold-better-at-physical-retail-than-digital-in-the-uk-last-year