Crysis a financial fiasco?

I read somewhere (Serious Norwegian site, most of you don't speak that language, so no link...) that Crysis sold 86.633 copies in US in November. (Witcher sold over a million copies worldwide or something, so no, I don't think PC-gaming is dead).

I find this a little hard to believe, but IF this is true, then I'm shocked.

If you are making a point that the game has disappointing sales, I can understand. The game is great fun, but most people just can't play it or are waiting until they have a PC that can handle it. My PC for example can only have playable frames at medium on 1680x1050. That is a high res. and the game still looks gorgeous, but it sucks when the game reccommends high settings for me and that gives me 18FPS (10 on very high :) )

hopefully in another 3 years ill be playing the game at very high with 60 frames, but doubtful.

If you are making a point that the game has disappointing sales, I can understand. The game is great fun, but most people just can't play it or are waiting until they have a PC that can handle it. My PC for example can only have playable frames at medium on 1680x1050. That is a high res. and the game still looks gorgeous, but it sucks when the game reccommends high settings for me and that gives me 18FPS (10 on very high :) )

hopefully in another 3 years ill be playing the game at very high with 60 frames, but doubtful.

harrisi17

Nah, I'm not saying it's bad, but damn 80K??? That's pathetic. BTW, here's a link:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/crysis-sales-in-crisis-ut3-gets-fragged-too/

Crysis main source of money is from the engine it self, which is Crytek engine. thats the main profit line for them in the first place, or else they would've just bought another engine and than make the game. also Crysis sales is logn term not short like consoles are, this is a game that grows over time not like other games where they have huge spike in sales and than die out over time.

this game was never gonna sell a lot to begin with...it has very high requirements, its pretty clear that they are rellying on a steady stream of sales over one big burts...this applies to a lot of games....Crysis is a game people are gonna get as soon as they upgrade.

besides, part of the reason for making Crysis was to push hardware sales, and to demonstrate the power of the engine....

and lastly, the biggest PC market has been Europe for a while now, US sales dont say much about a PC game...as you said the Witcher sold a million...but as you dont know, only about 50,000 copies came from retail US.

as you said the Witcher sold a million...but as you dont know, only about 50,000 copies came from retail US.

cobrax75

Good point, Crytek are based in Europe, so the European numbers are probably higher. Still, kinda underwhelming to see THE hype of 2007 perform like this in sales numbers.

[QUOTE="cobrax75"]

as you said the Witcher sold a million...but as you dont know, only about 50,000 copies came from retail US.

artur79

Good point, Crytek are based in Europe, so the European numbers are probably higher. Still, kinda underwhelming to see THE hype of 2007 perform like this in sales numbers.

I wouldnt worry about it...apparently those US sales were above EA's expectations also.

the game is a high end game, its not expected to sell a lot in the first week.

I agree with several points.

1. Yes sales are dissappointing, Shacknews has reported the same. Same with UT3. Not exactly a bestseller.

2. The reason IMHO is because the game is too cutting edge. Not everybody can or should buy a $500 vc just to play this game.And the game really doesnt prefer well in lower graphic setting mode. The rush for eye candy was a short-sighted mistake with realizing the sales consquences was a mistake.

3. Yes the Crysis Engine will bring in the $$$. I believe there are already 2 games that plan to use it.

The Witcher didn't sell 1mil, that was how many were produced.DarkRecruit

http://www.n4g.com/News-81964.aspx

Unless he's lying.

[QUOTE="DarkRecruit"]The Witcher didn't sell 1mil, that was how many were produced.artur79

http://www.n4g.com/News-81964.aspx

Unless he's lying.

He read wrong, read his comments.

From the official forums:
The Polish radio only says that it "has premiered around the world in 100,000 copies in Poland and a million abroad", not that all the copies were already sold.

The game sells great both in poland and worldwide, but exact numbers haven't been yet officially published. We suppose the mistake came off a big dose of enthusiasm around the game presented by polish journalists.

I agree with several points.

1. Yes sales are dissappointing, Shacknews has reported the same. Same with UT3. Not exactly a bestseller.

2. The reason IMHO is because the game is too cutting edge. Not everybody can or should buy a $500 vc just to play this game.And the game really doesnt prefer well in lower graphic setting mode. The rush for eye candy was a short-sighted mistake with realizing the sales consquences was a mistake.

3. Yes the Crysis Engine will bring in the $$$. I believe there are already 2 games that plan to use it.

mmarsh1972

there are like 12 in total...only half are games though, the rest are CGI demo's and private projects.

[QUOTE="artur79"]

[QUOTE="DarkRecruit"]The Witcher didn't sell 1mil, that was how many were produced.DarkRecruit

http://www.n4g.com/News-81964.aspx

Unless he's lying.

He read wrong, read his comments.

From the official forums:
The Polish radio only says that it "has premiered around the world in 100,000 copies in Poland and a million abroad", not that all the copies were already sold.

The game sells great both in poland and worldwide, but exact numbers haven't been yet officially published. We suppose the mistake came off a big dose of enthusiasm around the game presented by polish journalists.

My bad then.

[QUOTE="artur79"]

[QUOTE="DarkRecruit"]The Witcher didn't sell 1mil, that was how many were produced.DarkRecruit

http://www.n4g.com/News-81964.aspx

Unless he's lying.

He read wrong, read his comments.

From the official forums:
The Polish radio only says that it "has premiered around the world in 100,000 copies in Poland and a million abroad", not that all the copies were already sold.

The game sells great both in poland and worldwide, but exact numbers haven't been yet officially published. We suppose the mistake came off a big dose of enthusiasm around the game presented by polish journalists.

ssst, don't tell the console fanboys in system wars :P

Oh, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are reaching the 1 million mark. It sold 200k copies in russia alone and the game sold out in Poland.

PC gaming really is not as popular in the US as it is in Europe. Doesn't really surprise me.foxhound_fox

+1

[QUOTE="DarkRecruit"][QUOTE="artur79"]

[QUOTE="DarkRecruit"]The Witcher didn't sell 1mil, that was how many were produced._Pedro_

http://www.n4g.com/News-81964.aspx

Unless he's lying.

He read wrong, read his comments.

From the official forums:
The Polish radio only says that it "has premiered around the world in 100,000 copies in Poland and a million abroad", not that all the copies were already sold.

The game sells great both in poland and worldwide, but exact numbers haven't been yet officially published. We suppose the mistake came off a big dose of enthusiasm around the game presented by polish journalists.

ssst, don't tell the console fanboys in system wars :P

Oh, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are reaching the 1 million mark. It sold 200k copies in russia alone and the game sold out in Poland.

Only sold 40k in US though

PC gaming really is not as popular in the US as it is in Europe. Doesn't really surprise me.foxhound_fox

I'm spanish,and i can assure you that your phrase doesn't have much sense.North "Americans" and "Europeans" are not going to spare the necessary gold needed.

Today's ideology is software piracy.:)

A thread regarding this in another GS forum (SW) Crysis Sales

Well... I am back (wanna know why I was gone in the first place... well... check my newly formed blog out...) and I thought I would start with a bang.

Ok. Lemmings and Cows have been crying failure on Crysis' sales, when in reality, it is doing fantastic worldwide.

Ok. Exhibit #1:

http://www.n4g.com/News-81964.aspx

This is now well known new around here but this will factor in to proving Crysis' worldwide success.

Now... for the main attraction...

Exhibit #2:

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2007/12/08/top-5-game-sales-per-system-worldwide-in-week-49-2007.htm

Last week's sales ranking for various platforms. Crysis ranked as follows on the PC.

North America: 4. Crysis (EA Games)

Japan: 5. Crysis (EA Games).

Europe: 2. Crysis (EA Games)

Pretty good honestly. Thing is, the Witcher didn't break any of those lists. Anyway, yes, I know what you are thinking, "Well, that was after they announced 1 million sold worldwide." Well... to that I have this to say... This was no isolated incident.

The previous week.

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2007/11/30/top-5-game-sales-per-system-worldwide-in-week-48-2007.htm

North America: 3. Crysis (EA Games)

Japan: 2. Crysis (EA Games)

Europe: 3. Crysis (EA Games)

The Witcher did not break the top 5 that week either...

And how about the week before(Actually... 2 weeks before... Week 47 seems to be missing..)?

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2007/11/17/top-5-game-sales-per-system-worldwide-in-week-46-2007.htm

North America: 2. Crysis (EA Games)

Japan: Crysis was not out in Japan yet...

Europe: 1. Crysis (EA Games)

That was the week Crysis came out, and literally the DAY after it was released in Europe. That is right, 1 day and it got to #1.

Anyway, The Witcher isn't in the top 5 here either...

The week Crysis wasn't out yet....

http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2007/11/10/top-5-game-sales-per-system-worldwide-in-week-45-2007.htm

The Witcher finally gets a #4 in Europe position... One week...

That was The Witcher's second week out in Europe.

Unfortunately... Week 44 isn't there either...

Oh well... I can still prove my point...

Now, a question for everyone. How does a game that sold about 900K in Europe never break to top 5 on the European charts except for 1 week(maybe 2... depends on how Week 44 was...)? Here is how, all the other games sold better than it. Now, if a game was in the top 5 for 4 straight weeks, how well do you think it did? I rest my case...

This is just for anyone doubting Crysis' sales over in Europe and even around the world. What is hilarious is, since it came out in Japan, it is one of the best selling games there. JAPAN. A country that hates FPS's....

Thank you. And good to be back.

horrowhip

PC games sell more over the long haul compared to console games anyway. It has a bit to do with declining hardware prices and stiff requirements to play Crysis.Krall

and the fact taht pc game prices tend to drop faster then console ones

[QUOTE="Krall"]PC games sell more over the long haul compared to console games anyway. It has a bit to do with declining hardware prices and stiff requirements to play Crysis.sasjebus

and the fact taht pc game prices tend to drop faster then console ones

Not to mention PC prices are cheaper in the first place by $5-$10

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

[QUOTE="harrisi17"]

If you are making a point that the game has disappointing sales, I can understand. The game is great fun, but most people just can't play it or are waiting until they have a PC that can handle it. My PC for example can only have playable frames at medium on 1680x1050. That is a high res. and the game still looks gorgeous, but it sucks when the game reccommends high settings for me and that gives me 18FPS (10 on very high :) )

hopefully in another 3 years ill be playing the game at very high with 60 frames, but doubtful.

artur79

Nah, I'm not saying it's bad, but damn 80K??? That's pathetic. BTW, here's a link:

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/crysis-sales-in-crisis-ut3-gets-fragged-too/

But if you look here http://www.thesimexchange.com/blogpost.php?post_id=455 you'll see that it was only expected to sell 68K. In other words, Crysis selling 86K copies intwo weeks is considered great. This is just business as usual for PC games in the US.

Well, you guys have som good points. Although I'm not sure the "PC-games sell more over the long haul" is enough to make this a multi-million hit, but whatever, I'm not a market analyst.

I guess I should not have extrapolated those numbers to the rest of the world. But if 80K copies = better sales than predicted in your huge country (even worse, 30K UT3!!!), "hardcore" PC-gaming is really a niche-market in US (with Sims and Wow being the exceptions)...

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

JP_Russell

If I wanted to write that it sold 86 + a little more copies, I would've written 86,633. 86.633 is eighty six thousand and so on. Guess it's a european thing.

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

artur79

If I wanted to write that it sold 86 + a little more copies, I would've written 86,633. 86.633 is eighty six thousand and so on. Guess it's a european thing.

:question:

Guess so. I had no idea the system was different in different nations.

So how do you know whether the "." is indicating either a decimal number or a number with five or more digits? Or do you just use fractions/mixed numbers and never decimals?

TBH I'm 100% sure I'm going to get crysis, its just that there are other games I would like before it. I usually don't buy that many games a year, especially at full price and this year has been fantastic for good games. I already need to buy witcher and either ETQW, UT3 or CoD4 and even though my rig is good enough to run crysis med-high I'm not that rich so yeah =P

I predict Crysis will sell quite well in the long run, once the average gaming computer catches up and if the mod community is as good as I've heard about. They also should put it on steam, as I prefer it over D2D and I've pretty much boycotted brick and mortar stores unless I need something right away.

hmm I don't know if this is old news or not but I notice Crytek is looking for a PS3 programmer. Of note:

Responsibility:

• Development of a Next-Generation GameFramework based on CryEngine 2.0
• Work on various aspects of porting to engine code to PS3 and creating solutions to get the utmost out of the PS3

http://www.crytek.com/jobs/frankfurt/ps3-programmer/

So i guess they are looking at more than just the PC for their CryEngine 2.0?

hmm I don't know if this is old news or not but I notice Crytek is looking for a PS3 programmer. Of note:

Responsibility:

• Development of a Next-Generation GameFramework based on CryEngine 2.0
• Work on various aspects of porting to engine code to PS3 and creating solutions to get the utmost out of the PS3

http://www.crytek.com/jobs/frankfurt/ps3-programmer/

So i guess they are looking at more than just the PC for their CryEngine 2.0?

DJGOON

Tiberium is using CryEngine 2, and I believe it's multi-platform as well. Could have to do with that.

[QUOTE="artur79"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

JP_Russell

If I wanted to write that it sold 86 + a little more copies, I would've written 86,633. 86.633 is eighty six thousand and so on. Guess it's a european thing.

:question:

Guess so. I had no idea the system was different in different nations.

So how do you know whether the "." is indicating either a decimal number or a number with five or more digits? Or do you just use fractions/mixed numbers and never decimals?

Well, like I said 86.555 $ is eighty six thousand five hundred and fifty five dollars and 0,33 $ is 33 cents. And you can always use logic, you know. I try to see the numbers in context, so I never have a problem switching between the two ways to write things.

My thoughts on why Crysis hasn't sold amazingly well like it should have...

1.) They released the game at the wrong time of year, its a system hog which means to get the best out of it you will need to upgrade if your computer isn't able to run it. This is VERY expensive for this time of year when people are already stretching their finances to the limit buying gifts, paying bills and buying extra food they dont need.

2.) Most of the games released at the same time as Crysis don't need you to pay £300+ for a new GFX card because their optimised to run on many different and older systems. So most people would rather buy 3 or 4 games to play over the festive period than pay retail price for one game & the price of upgrading for it.

Crysis really should have been released earlier in the year during the summer period when it would have had the market to itself since there weren't many good titles released then. Not to mention most people would have had the spare cash to upgrade aswell.

Well depends on what you're looking at.

Crysis made money so fiasco isn't really a term that should be used since the game has made a profit.

With the money, and resources behind the title it didn't make near as much as it should have. Basically the team could of made a lot more money porting this title to consols, and spending more time on optimizing the game for low end systems.

So the question is why did Crytek "eff up"??? Did they think there was more of a high end market???(bad management) Do they see Crysis as a tech demo for the Crytek engine???(misleading goals)

My thoughts on why Crysis hasn't sold amazingly well like it should have...

1.) They released the game at the wrong time of year, its a system hog which means to get the best out of it you will need to upgrade if your computer isn't able to run it. This is VERY expensive for this time of year when people are already stretching their finances to the limit buying gifts, paying bills and buying extra food they dont need.

2.) Most of the games released at the same time as Crysis don't need you to pay £300+ for a new GFX card because their optimised to run on many different and older systems. So most people would rather buy 3 or 4 games to play over the festive period than pay retail price for one game & the price of upgrading for it.

Crysis really should have been released earlier in the year during the summer period when it would have had the market to itself since there weren't many good titles released then. Not to mention most people would have had the spare cash to upgrade aswell.

1005

Don't forget the poor media around it.. G4TV tried to persuade people that it took a $2000 upgrade to meet recommends on pcs.. To say the least this is rediculous..

Well, you guys have som good points. Although I'm not sure the "PC-games sell more over the long haul" is enough to make this a multi-million hit, but whatever, I'm not a market analyst.

I guess I should not have extrapolated those numbers to the rest of the world. But if 80K copies = better sales than predicted in your huge country (even worse, 30K UT3!!!), "hardcore" PC-gaming is really a niche-market in US (with Sims and Wow being the exceptions)...

artur79

[QUOTE="artur79"]

Well, you guys have som good points. Although I'm not sure the "PC-games sell more over the long haul" is enough to make this a multi-million hit, but whatever, I'm not a market analyst.

I guess I should not have extrapolated those numbers to the rest of the world. But if 80K copies = better sales than predicted in your huge country (even worse, 30K UT3!!!), "hardcore" PC-gaming is really a niche-market in US (with Sims and Wow being the exceptions)...

foxhound_fox

Yeah, but Crysis is not Starcraft... Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but I'm sure something similar and better is coming out in the next couple of years. In contrast to that, some people, eh... A LOT of people still think that Starcraft is the best RTS ever made. You can't really give Crysis the stamp "c l a s s i c" (Damn you, Glitchspot) and expect it to sell for an eternity, it's not that good (well imo at least). There are a lot of examples of great games underperforming in the sale-department, this is not the first or the last time.

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"][QUOTE="artur79"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

artur79

If I wanted to write that it sold 86 + a little more copies, I would've written 86,633. 86.633 is eighty six thousand and so on. Guess it's a european thing.

:question:

Guess so. I had no idea the system was different in different nations.

So how do you know whether the "." is indicating either a decimal number or a number with five or more digits? Or do you just use fractions/mixed numbers and never decimals?

Well, like I said 86.555 $ is eighty six thousand five hundred and fifty five dollars and 0,33 $ is 33 cents. And you can always use logic, you know. I try to see the numbers in context, so I never have a problem switching between the two ways to write things.

Oh, so you just switch the decimal and the comma around, I see. Do you do that for using numbers normally in math, as well, or just money? If so, how can you tell what system the math problem in question is using? If not, why do you use a different system between math and money?

Yeah, but Crysis is not Starcraft... Don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but I'm sure something similar and better is coming out in the next couple of years. In contrast to that, some people, eh... A LOT of people still think that Starcraft is the best RTS ever made. You can't really give Crysis the stamp "c l a s s i c" (Damn you, Glitchspot) and expect it to sell for an eternity, it's not that good (well imo at least). There are a lot of examples of great games underperforming in the sale-department, this is not the first or the last time. artur79

[QUOTE="artur79"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"][QUOTE="artur79"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

JP_Russell

If I wanted to write that it sold 86 + a little more copies, I would've written 86,633. 86.633 is eighty six thousand and so on. Guess it's a european thing.

:question:

Guess so. I had no idea the system was different in different nations.

So how do you know whether the "." is indicating either a decimal number or a number with five or more digits? Or do you just use fractions/mixed numbers and never decimals?

Well, like I said 86.555 $ is eighty six thousand five hundred and fifty five dollars and 0,33 $ is 33 cents. And you can always use logic, you know. I try to see the numbers in context, so I never have a problem switching between the two ways to write things.

Oh, so you just switch the decimal and the comma around, I see. Do you do that for using numbers normally in math, as well, or just money? If so, how can you tell what system the math problem in question is using? If not, why do you use a different system between math and money?

Yeah, I use Pi=3,14 in math (if I remember it correctly, lol). When I solved math problems back in the day, I usually wrote a million this way: 1000000. As you see it's a little hard to read on a forum, so 1.000.000 might be better online. It's the same system with money. Different countries have diff rules, and the Internet melts them all together. :)

Foxhound, we'll see about CryEngine 2 being the next Source. I'm not too sure about that, but time will tell, I guess. I want this game to succeed financially jus tto see all the great mods (Predator FTW!).

And you're right, it's always smart to wait for the official numbers before creating a topic like this, lol.

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"][QUOTE="artur79"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"][QUOTE="artur79"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

Your topic post had me confused for a bit there, Artur. You said 86.633, which I took to literally mean 86 point 633 copies, so I was all "Woah, only eighty-six point... Wait, what?" I had to keep on reading to realize it was actually 86,633. Just thought I'd post about that in case you missed it, since if it confused me, I'm sure it's confused others. :P Or perhaps it's just me being tired from work... Mm, yes, that's probably it.

EDIT - Oh look, Gamespot's screwing up again. We're almost all level 2's... Back to being newbies, I guess.

artur79

If I wanted to write that it sold 86 + a little more copies, I would've written 86,633. 86.633 is eighty six thousand and so on. Guess it's a european thing.

:question:

Guess so. I had no idea the system was different in different nations.

So how do you know whether the "." is indicating either a decimal number or a number with five or more digits? Or do you just use fractions/mixed numbers and never decimals?

Well, like I said 86.555 $ is eighty six thousand five hundred and fifty five dollars and 0,33 $ is 33 cents. And you can always use logic, you know. I try to see the numbers in context, so I never have a problem switching between the two ways to write things.

Oh, so you just switch the decimal and the comma around, I see. Do you do that for using numbers normally in math, as well, or just money? If so, how can you tell what system the math problem in question is using? If not, why do you use a different system between math and money?

Yeah, I use Pi=3,14 in math (if I remember it correctly, lol). When I solved math problems back in the day, I usually wrote a million this way: 1000000. As you see it's a little hard to read on a forum, so 1.000.000 might be better online. It's the same system with money. Different countries have diff rules, and the Internet melts them all together. :)

So (last question, I promise), let's say someone on an internet forum were to ask you "What is 38.441 + 527,625?" How would you know whether they meant "thirty-eight thousand + five hundred, twenty-seven point six-two-five," or the other way around (assuming you didn't know their nationality)?

So (last question, I promise), let's say someone on an internet forum were to ask you "What is 38.441 + 527,625?" How would you know whether they meant "thirty-eight thousand + five hundred, twenty-seven point six-two-five," or the other way around (assuming you didn't know their nationality)?

lol, you're really fascinated by this, eh? Naturally, my first thought would be 38 thousand ... + five hundred ... That's what I'm used to. But I see your point, there's no way to tell, unless you know the nationality of the person asking the q. Luckily, we're not here to solve math problems. :)