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Prey's debut sales in the UK seem quite low
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
VincentMatts
Member
Prey i think suffers from the same problem as Dishonored. Its good, but not popular.
Yep. I hope they're not "sacrificing" Arkane's games in order to train audiences to not expect launch reviews, because it won't work since most pubs are not following in their footsteps.
brunomartynhak
Member
I will buy it for sure. But too many games, backlog is huge already. I can wait for a discount or when I'm ready to play. Sorry ^^
I guess multiplayer oriented games are the only ones I buy at launch now.
I guess multiplayer oriented games are the only ones I buy at launch now.
Yup. Marketing in general sucked too.
Bethesda has no one to blame but themselves (and maybe Zenimax).
General Lee
Member
Lack of reviews might be one thing contributing to it, especially since this is at least technically a new IP, and most casuals probably have never even heard of the original game. I think Bethesda did do some pre-release marketing with early looks by YouTubers and of course the demo. I'm sure the poorly polished demo turned away some people, but I'm not sure it was a net negative compared to not having a demo at all. At least it garnered some attention, and I think at least in theory giving a free demo is a good idea for a new IP, as long as it'll creative positive buzz. Unfortunately most of the talk around Prey has revolved around demo issues and Bethesda's questionable review policy.
It's sad to see immersive sims underperform since these games include some of my all time favorites. I think perhaps they're just too stuck in the past, and a better way to go about making such a game is masquerade it as a simple story driven FPS like Bioshock did. The slavish adherence to the old immersive sim games is not what I'd expect from the people who came up with the genre in the first place. It was truly innovative back then, now it's been there done that, and a lot of modern titles adopted many of the aspects of immersive sims to their respective systems, so making a new immersive sim with old mechanics doesn't impress anyone anymore. Prey is undeniably a great immersive sim, but nothing it does warrants special attention in this day and age, at least in the eyes of the mass market.
It's sad to see immersive sims underperform since these games include some of my all time favorites. I think perhaps they're just too stuck in the past, and a better way to go about making such a game is masquerade it as a simple story driven FPS like Bioshock did. The slavish adherence to the old immersive sim games is not what I'd expect from the people who came up with the genre in the first place. It was truly innovative back then, now it's been there done that, and a lot of modern titles adopted many of the aspects of immersive sims to their respective systems, so making a new immersive sim with old mechanics doesn't impress anyone anymore. Prey is undeniably a great immersive sim, but nothing it does warrants special attention in this day and age, at least in the eyes of the mass market.
pretty done
Member
It's actually funny to see an embargo work the opposite way. Seems like most people didn't think it'd be good and are waiting for reviews. I personally am waiting till I upgrade my GPU as I read the game doesn't even support PS4 Pro, lol.
sixteen-bit
Member
maybe the review embargo thing hurts more than it helps
Same. These are exactly the kinds of games that I love, and Arkane are doing great work. I'm afraid weak sales will just play into the "no one wants single player games any more" narrative.
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
But it didn't have a name. Or maybe it did but Bethesda decided to just scrap that name and call it "Prey".
comshoplesce
Member
Come on it's good game.
Relaxed Muscle
Member
Dishonored 3:Steampunk Warfare
Agent_4Seven
Tears of Nintendo
It was killed by SEQ long before release - there's no way (and after DXHR) that devs decided to make such underdeveloped characters and tell such a shitty story just to save much more interesting stuff for later... or never, as it turns out. As for sales... they just added up to already flawed game, that's all.
As for Prey sales. I'm sure digital sales is much better, either way you can blame Bethesda for its shitty review policy cuz people don't know how good this game is yet (and it's really fucking good) cuz there's was no reviews on launch day or even a week before it (which would have helped a lot). I really hope that one day this review policy will bite them in the ass so hard that it'll make them rethink what they've done cuz it hurts them too, not just the consumers.
So what you are saying is that the games will get worse, and we should enjoy Prey while it lasts?
Hopefully the devs can land on their feet if anything happens.
I wish the indie scene could produce games like these. So many publishers seem ignorant about what their customers want and indulge in questionable buissness practices I just wish these talented studios and people could be free of them and still make the same stuff.
Too bad there aren't any reviews that can tell me that.
Maybe Bethesda can put out an accolades trailer in six weeks when the game costs $35.
Sword Of Doom
Member
Were they expecting YouTube/twitch "influencers" to promote their games for them with their new policy? Maybe that strategy would work for something like skyrim but a game like this nowadays needs all the marketing and mass media coverage it can get.
Sad to see this. Arkane deserves better
Im also worried about games like this just disappearing because they're risky.
Incoming Open world survival always online co-op hero shooter moba hybrid
Sad to see this. Arkane deserves better
Im also worried about games like this just disappearing because they're risky.
Incoming Open world survival always online co-op hero shooter moba hybrid
I wish I could say I was sad but this isn't the sequel to Prey I wanted. The direction they took it in after human heads version was killed just did not look as interesting, in fact it just looked like Bioshock in space without Irrational at the helm.
Sucks for the devs but Prey 2 was a buy for me, this version was a pass almost from the beginning.
Sucks for the devs but Prey 2 was a buy for me, this version was a pass almost from the beginning.
Basileus777
Member
It already was called Prey and had been officially announced as such.
Time for them to change the review policy. Only Doom has managed to survive it, and not every game is going to be as good as Doom.
This could also be a case of a decent release window being lousy because of what came before it. If you've bought a Switch and a few games, or half a dozen PS4 games since January, are you looking for a new game right now?
SE did no additional marketing for DXMD after the six month delay, so selling well below that is a bad sign.
This could also be a case of a decent release window being lousy because of what came before it. If you've bought a Switch and a few games, or half a dozen PS4 games since January, are you looking for a new game right now?
SE did no additional marketing for DXMD after the six month delay, so selling well below that is a bad sign.
Kresnik258
Member
In the UK? Saw plenty of TV adverts for it over the weekend.
There are reviews, but another problem with their strategy is I no longer trust those reviews because I know that reviewers rushed them to try to get clicks as close to launch as possible. Knowing that reviewers got the game at launch, I'm pretty skeptical of any reviews that hit during that first week. We're only at the point now where I feel like I can trust the general opinion that's starting to hell around the game.
Bloodporne
Member
To be fair however, the demo didn't do it any favors.
The only thing I really knew about the game was that it was "in space" and FPS and that I liked the look of it. Checked out the demo and quit after about 45 minutes because of the sluggish controls, messy as fuck sound mix and generally assuming it to be a rather weak ass shooter.
Something about it stuck and I wondered whether I had just been approaching it the wrong way, kind of like how I hated Dark Souls when I first tried it, and went for another run the next night. 3 or 4 hours later, turns out the game was pretty fucking cool after some much-needed mobility upgrades and playing on its own terms.
My point being, I think it demoed very poorly, or the demo was simply poorly handled. I think they should've started you out with some pre-added mods like mobility etc. and given players a slice of 'what can be' instead of dropping you into a slow opening at level 1. It definitely took even me quite a while to come around to it and to really dig it and I can imagine the average player out there won't give a shit enough to even bother on top of the lack of marketing and reviews. It just all seems like a perfect storm for nobody to even notice this game's existence.
The only thing I really knew about the game was that it was "in space" and FPS and that I liked the look of it. Checked out the demo and quit after about 45 minutes because of the sluggish controls, messy as fuck sound mix and generally assuming it to be a rather weak ass shooter.
Something about it stuck and I wondered whether I had just been approaching it the wrong way, kind of like how I hated Dark Souls when I first tried it, and went for another run the next night. 3 or 4 hours later, turns out the game was pretty fucking cool after some much-needed mobility upgrades and playing on its own terms.
My point being, I think it demoed very poorly, or the demo was simply poorly handled. I think they should've started you out with some pre-added mods like mobility etc. and given players a slice of 'what can be' instead of dropping you into a slow opening at level 1. It definitely took even me quite a while to come around to it and to really dig it and I can imagine the average player out there won't give a shit enough to even bother on top of the lack of marketing and reviews. It just all seems like a perfect storm for nobody to even notice this game's existence.
dragonflys545
Member
I found the demo boring as hell, and I liked dishornored.
Control input lag sucks ass too!
I feel like Arkanes going to get hit hard after dishornored 2 and if this doesn't pick up on sale.
Control input lag sucks ass too!
I feel like Arkanes going to get hit hard after dishornored 2 and if this doesn't pick up on sale.
Black Mantis
Member
I think it will grow given time. The reveal was boring to me so I ignored it and will wait for a sale.
ModernBoxes
Banned
Basileus777
Member
The game has a 77 on metacritic, are these early reviews (few from high profile sites) really what you want to be defending?
Hari Seldon
Member
We just went through a period of releases of truly massive deep single player games and this is releasing on the back edge of that. I'm still on Zelda and I have Persona, at least half of Yakuza, and Nier sitting in my backlog. Normally this is a good time to release a game such as this but this year in particular it is pretty unlucky.
Rexatality
Member
Basileus777
Member
It's 83 on opencritic.
Considering the lowest review is a 6 (or 60) and most major outlets haven't showed their scores (IGN, Kotaku, Polygon, Gamespot), yeah.
Jawmuncher
Member
I do think the demo was a bad look for the game. It's the sort of game that needs more than that to get going
Oh boy, 25 reviews from sites I don't read. The exact thing I need to be an informed consumer.
Unless you count the Guardian or Forbes, which I don't read for game reviews.
GameAddict411
Member
No marketing and very strict embargo will prevent any positive light on the game. It's all on Bethesda. The game is amazing and well worth the money IMO.
CalamityPixel
Member
I can't believe I'm not gonna get Prey 2. Again.
MosquitoSmasher
Member
Hopefully it picks up because the game is fantastic. I'm absolutely loving it. But the fact that there has been zero marketing sure doesn't help, along with Bethesda's new policy for review copies.