Is that wrong? 4 million in sales still might be not up to expectations.
If anyone expected more out of a FPS with no multiplayer they were nuts.
Is that wrong? 4 million in sales still might be not up to expectations.
Freedom Force didn't need a lavish and detailed 3D world, instead it had a fun and interactive one. Same with System Shock 2 or even SWAT 4. I think kickstarter is bringing us down to like one-A or maybe BBB games again.I think it's more that, to make a game set in a detailed and lavish 3D world like Columbia, you have to sell millions of copies to justify your budget, so you have to have mainstream gameplay.
I'd rather have seen a 2D point and click game set there, or something, as much as I loved Bioshock Infinite. I enjoyed the gun play, but I wanted to explore that world at my own pace. Everything unique about Infinite could have been done in a lower budget game from a small team. Yes we'd have lost Columbia as a detailed 3D world, but the Columbia of our imaginations would probably have still been pretty awesome.
So am I reading this wrong or did Ken basically sack 100+ people because he wants to do some special thing on his own with a small group of people? Have people already noted how incredibly selfish and insane that is? Or did Take Two shut it down and instead of focusing on that Ken is taking the heat for them? I don't get what's happening.
So am I reading this wrong or did Ken basically sack 100+ people because he wants to do some special thing on his own with a small group of people? Have people already noted how incredibly selfish and insane that is?
I hate hipster callouts like that. You're just insulting the guy and hide it behind some weird undercutting of values. He worked on multiple big projects and is a project lead of a strategy game in development. How on earth does that make you a hipster? Should just get banned for shit like that.What the hell? Since when did being a "self proclaimed hipster" (his profile says "doom hipster") make you some sort of villain?
JP LeBreton worked at Irrational for years. No doubt he knows dozens of people there still.
But yeah, discount his opinion for bad reasons. That's the smart thing to do.
...that says absolutely nothing about what Take Two's expectations for BSI were.
Financial services group Cowen & Company has revealed that BioShock Infinite sold 878,000 units during its month of release. Not only was it the top-selling game for March in the United States, but considering Infinite was released on March 26, that means those numbers came from its first week on the market. That's not too shabby, and publisher 2K Games agrees. According to analyst Doug Creutz, this is "a few hundred thousand" units above company expectations.
Typically in those instances that Miyamoto makes a cut like that is when the game is still in prototype stage. A small team of 10 to 15 work on something and if the mechanics don't work, they cut bait.Miyamoto does it all the time, including canning whole projects, and he is not considered some kind of egotistical villain.
The front end sales were, but the problem is the legs.
At first I didn't think Ken Levine couldive been THAT big of a sociopathic, narcissistic tool but...So am I reading this wrong or did Ken basically sack 100+ people because he wants to do some special thing on his own with a small group of people? Have people already noted how incredibly selfish and insane that is? Or did Take Two shut it down and instead of focusing on that Ken is taking the heat for them? I don't get what's happening.
I'm confused. So Kevin Levine doesn't want to run Irrational. Why is the entire dev team being let go again?
So 'AAA' gaming is when 2k's accountants look at the books and say 'AAAaaaaaaagh'?
They haven't been independent since 2006, so nothing happened without Take 2 allowing it to happen.So am I reading this wrong or did Ken basically sack 100+ people because he wants to do some special thing on his own with a small group of people? Have people already noted how incredibly selfish and insane that is? Or did Take Two shut it down and instead of focusing on that Ken is taking the heat for them? I don't get what's happening.
I'm confused. So Kevin Levine doesn't want to run Irrational. Why is the entire dev team being let go again?
So am I reading this wrong or did Ken basically sack 100+ people because he wants to do some special thing on his own with a small group of people? Have people already noted how incredibly selfish and insane that is? Or did Take Two shut it down and instead of focusing on that Ken is taking the heat for them? I don't get what's happening.
The front end sales were, but the problem is the legs.
They said they expected it to easily become the best selling BioShock game and then never spoke about it again.
Doug Cruetz also doesn't work for Take-Two.
Take2 has a ton of debt compared to the revenue it generates. They're definitely an acquisitions opportunity.Nah, just Irrational's books.
When they look at R*'s books, they say "AAAwwww yeah!"
On the other hand you should probably try to get the inner logic of your gaming world figured out beforehand, nevermind that the plot didn't even crystalize until the final year. Things change during development, and sometimes it turns out something that was good on paper is terrible in practice, but it sounds like he was still internally working out the logic for the world through development. Possibly to a crazier-than-usual level.
I'm confused. So Kevin Levine doesn't want to run Irrational. Why is the entire dev team being let go again?
From what we can tell, 4 million is not up to expectations. I think the expectations which need to be adjusted here are yours; for a AAA game in 2013 -- particularly one with a long development cycle -- 4 Million in sales is simply not sufficient.
Take2 has a ton of debt compared to the revenue it generates. They're definitely an acquisitions opportunity.
Well if you can find an article where Take-Two said they expected BI to sell five million units or more, I'll be happy to concede I was wrong.
It really highlights how AAA development has dug itself into a hole. As the audience grows you can reliably fund more expensive games, but audience growth seemingly is not keeping pace with development costs, and they can't really back down since for every person like me who looks at SMTIV and goes "works for me!" there's 10 that'd go "what the hell, Last of Us just came out I don't want to play something that looks like that." Nevermind how many only see CoD or GTA and fail to notice either even existing.From what we can tell, 4 million is not up to expectations. I think the expectations which need to be adjusted here are yours; for a AAA game in 2013 -- particularly one with a long development cycle -- 4 Million in sales is simply not sufficient.
Yeah, really, just look at Infinity Ward. They HEMORRHAGED most of their staff, but as they had just developed one of the best selling games ever they were kept around even with so many of them vacating the studio.Of course, there is also simple logic; if Bioshock was imminently profitable, Irrational would not be disintegrating. If this was just Kev Levine wanting to leave, Take Two would hire a new lead for their profitable asset, and not fire 230 people.
Typically in those instances that Miyamoto makes a cut like that is when the game is still in prototype stage. A small team of 10 to 15 work on something and if the mechanics don't work, they cut bait.
From what we can tell, 4 million is not up to expectations. I think the expectations which need to be adjusted here are yours; for a AAA game in 2013 -- particularly one with a long development cycle -- 4 Million in sales is simply not sufficient.
Probably not. But expecting a FPS released in 2013 with no multiplayer to do more than that was mismanagement.
I hate hipster callouts like that. You're just insulting the guy and hide it behind some weird undercutting of values. He worked on multiple big projects and is a project lead of a strategy game in development. How on earth does that make you a hipster? Should just get banned for shit like that.
It's a nice gesture and all, but ending up at sledgehammer churning out Call of Duty forever doesn't sound that appealing to me.
Best of luck, man.