Here's my problem with your analysis, and I asked about it in my post: How many of those sales numbers are people buying multiple copies? I own The Witcher once, and 2 copies of both 2 and 3. One each for PC and XBox. The same applies to all of the ME games, including the recent release. I have 2 copies of Skyrim, but I'm not buying the recent release, and I didn't touch the VR version. Skyrim is an interesting choice here, since there's Vanilla for all platforms, then the Special Edition, and 3 or 4 other re-releases. Then there's the platform issue. Currently, this game isn't available on consoles. So let's compare apples to apples, what are the Skyrim sales for PC/Stadia? How do they compare? The same for the Witcher series. Then, let's compare initial release sales for the one platform. It's not that I think this game's going to be a record setter, although it might, but when I see people comparing sales numbers from 5 or 6 platforms, over 10 years, vs a single platform release, in EA, I start scratching my head, wondering what they're trying to prove.
Edit: Upon re-reading this it seems rather snarky, and that's not my intent. Sorry if it seems rude.
Np. I didn't feel anything offensive.
To your question, though, I just don't see any issue there at all. Yes some people do buy double copies for whatever reasons, usually to get the game on PC and a console, but so what? Firstly, we don't have any numbers on this question, and I personally would project those numbers are small. Furthermore, the issue is going to be roughly equal across all games, so its effect should be pretty neutral. But secondly and more importantly, a person willing to shell out more money to buy additional copies of a game only means even more evidence of that game's popularity. So I'm sorry, it's clear you see this as a really big issue and that's fine. I just don't see it as an issue at all.
