Why Wasn't Jak And Daxter More Popular?

[Box]

Looking at the sales of Jak and Daxter, it's really surprising how poor they sold especially after the success with Crash Bandicoot. Jak and Daxter TPL is one of the greatest pure platformers ever made yet it never sold as much as it deserved.

Jak 2 was really awesome one of my favourite games and a huge step up from the first game. This was during the edgy 2000s when companies still made games for Teens. Again this game did not sell much at all, in fact it sold worse than the first.

Why did these games fail to capture mainstream appeal, Every other franchise Naughty Dog made from crash,uncharted to last of us all sold millions of copies but Jak has always been the red headed step child.

Why is that?

 

[Yobo]

It sold 15 million, most of those sales across Jak 1-3

That is not selling bad, the main gamea likely sold 4+ million each

 

[Deleted member 223]

Characters were ugly and off-putting?

 

[Etifilio]

it was released during a time PlayStation first party in general was not that popular, it only REALLY started in the late PS3 gen

 

[Etifilio]

if Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter made comebacks for the current generation it would be as successful as Ratchet & Clank if not more, Sony really needs to bring back some of its iconic mascots

 

[Danja]

It had an identity crisis

 

[Box]

It sold 15 million, most of those sales across Jak 1-3

That is not selling bad, the main gamea likely sold 4+ million each

Uncharted 4 sold like 15 million by itself, there's no reason why Jak couldn't have gotten higher numbers. It should at least have gotten as much as the crash Bandicoot games.

if Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter made comebacks for the current generation it would be as successful as Ratchet & Clank if not more, Sony really needs to bring back some of its iconic mascots

Also Ape Escape, it's a crime how poorly Ape Escape 2 sold.

Characters were ugly and off-putting?

I do agree

 

[Yobo]

Uncharted 4 sold like 15 million by itself, there's no reason why Jak couldn't have gotten higher numbers. It should at least have gotten as much as the crash Bandicoot games.



Also Ape Escape, it's a crime how poorly Ape Escape 2 sold.



I do agree

You can't compare eras like that. PS1 and PS2 games had way more competition and sold less on average. Games like TLOU and Uncharted have outsold every individual title on PS1 or PS2

GOW went from selling 4 million to over 20 million, does that mean it wasn't successful on PS2?

Crash games sold 6-7 million each on PS1 but was in an era where platformers were still important. Jak 1 sold minimum 4.3 million and was the second best selling platformer in the PS2 generation (after Mario Sunshine)

Jak also absolutely crushed the sales of non Naughty Dog Crash games

The reality is by the PS2 gen gamers were moving on to more mature titles like GTA, God of War, RPGs etc and platformers were losing relevance. Which is why something like Ratchet and Clank is now considered niche

 

[Box]

The reality is by the PS2 gen gamers were moving on to more mature titles like GTA, God of War, RPGs etc and platformers were losing relevance. Which is why something like Ratchet and Clank is now considered niche

Thats why I say they had the right idea with Jak 2, sadly it just didn't work out

 

[Kokoloko]

if Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter made comebacks for the current generation it would be as successful as Ratchet & Clank if not more, Sony really needs to bring back some of its iconic mascots

100%
Jak n Daxter would be big I think, it was better received than R&C on PS2. Outside of God of War and Gran Turismo, 1st party PS stuff wasnt huge back then for sales.
So anyone comparing numbers, that doesnt mean much. It and Sly Cooper would sell decent now and I wish they made comebacks

 

[Nhomnhom]

They sold pretty well for what they are, they are not GTA.