Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Sold 3 Million Times

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has sold more than 3 million copies in the first few days since its release. The game has also sold three times as many copies for the Playstation 4 as it has for the Xbox One. But despite the high sales figures, Konami still has yet to make a profit on the game. With its huge budget, it’s estimated Konami will need to sell around 5-6 million copies of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain before it breaks even.

We already know from a Nikkei report (via PSU) from August that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain had an overall budget of $80 million. Huge budgets like this aren’t uncommon for large triple-A games anymore. Marketing budgets alone are often larger than the overall cost of developing a game. According to this Forbes report, Konami might need to double the sales it’s already made just to break even on the game’s costs.

That’s why the 3 million sales figure may actually be a disappointment to Konami. While 3 million is nothing to sniff at, it’s important to remember that most games see the bulk of their sales occur on or near release. That means sales are only going to decline from here on out. Over the next few months, it’s likely Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will reach the 5-6 million sales figure that will see Konami regain its costs, but it’s unlikely to soar too far beyond that. That means Konami is unlikely to see the huge profits it was probably expecting from the game.

Somewhat ironically, Metal Gear Solid V is the fastest-selling game in the series. It beats the previous record-holder, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty by around 37%. It’s not selling as fast as Batman: Arkham Knight or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt did, which remain the fastest-selling games of 2015 (along with Mortal Kombat X).