The Most Pre-Ordered Games On Amazon Give Us a Hint At Just Who Won E3 2015

Amazon UK has released pre-order info for some of the biggest winners of E3 2015, give us an at-a-glance look at what games benefitted the most from their showing at E3. The figures compare the number of pre-orders for titles during the three days prior to E3 with the number of copies pre-ordered during the three days of E3.

It seems Microsoft was the big winner here, with Turn 10’s Xbox One exclusive Forza Motorsport 6 surprisingly walking out with the biggest pre-order uplifts. The simulation racer saw a 1005% boost to its pre-order figures, and this was swiftly followed up by Star Wars Battlefront and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.

Obviously these figures don’t actually tell us a great deal about the actual numbers pre-ordering games, serving instead as a barometer of rising interest. It’s incredibly unlikely Star Wars Battlefront hasn’t sold through more pre-orders than Forza 6, but it does demonstrate the widespread attention Microsoft’s E3 2015 press conference has surely attracted.

	Title	Publisher	Pre-Order Uplift
1	Forza Motorsport 6	Microsoft	1005%
2	Star Wars Battlefront	EA	857%
3	Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege	Ubisoft	690%
4	Uncharted 4: A Thief's End	Sony	488%
5	Fallout 4	Bethesda	467%
6	Deus Ex: Mankind Divided	Koch	382%
7	Halo 5: Guardians	Microsoft	344%
8	Assassin's Creed Syndicate	Ubisoft	243%
9	Madden NFL 16	EA	136%
10	FIFA 16	EA	76%

We’ve also got the figures for games announced during E3 2015, and Microsoft again comes out 

trumps. Rare Replay is the unlikely winner here, with the 30 game collection amassing more pre-orders than Gears: Ultimate Edition, DOOM, and Dishonored 2. This is likely because Rare Replay is out pretty soon, in August, but it’s still surprising to see this riding so high in the pre-order charts.

	Title	Publisher
1	Rare Replay	Microsoft/Rare
2	Gears of War: Ultimate Edition	Microsoft
3	DOOM	Bethesda
4	Dishonored	Bethesda
5	Final Fantasy VII Remake	Square Enix
6	Gears of War 4	Microsoft
7	South Park: The Fractured But Whole	Ubisoft
8	Horizon: Zero Dawn	Sony
9	Dishonored: Definitive Edition	Bethesda
10	Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller	Microsoft

Again, without the figures you'll have to take these results with a pinch of salt. This is just a sample from a single market, the UK, and it's only going to cover physical boxed games, so it's not going to be including many PC pre-orders whatsoever. Europe remains a Sony stronghold however, but the results suggest Microsoft is clawing back a bit of the mind share with its upcoming roster. Of particular interest is seeing the Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller creeping in. This premium controller is by no means cheap, but it's certainly generating a fair amount of interest from PC and Xbox One gamers alike. 

A key anomaly to look out for with these charts is Fallout 4. Bethesda's RPG wasn't officially announced at E3 so it didn't make the bottom chart, while the three-day sample likely didn't cover Bethesda's conference on the Sunday. Take this into account and we would be surprised if Fallout 4 wasn't one of the most pre-ordered games in the UK. Factor that in with the high rankings for just about every other Bethesda title, and it looks like a successful week for the publisher. 

The proliferation of sequels suggests new IPs just aren't money spinners any more, with Horizon: Zero Dawn being the only new franchise to crop up in either list.

"This year's line-up of games was one of the best yet, with titles such as Fallout 4 and Uncharted 4 some of the most anticipated of recent years," said Russell Jones, video games category leader for Amazon UK. "It's great to see Forza Motorsport 6 and Rare Replay as the stand out winners, with customers responding incredibly well to their exciting presentations at the conference".