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Prey's debut sales in the UK seem quite low

GavinUK86

GavinUK86

Member
To the people saying "it's already out?", you're the worst.

I guess people wouldn't know a really good game if it slapped 'em in the face.

I've seen adverts everywhere. Trailers everywhere.

I hope it picks up now reviews are coming out. Maybe people were waiting.

This type of game was never going to shift loads though. It's not a mainstream title.
 
J

JustinJ004

Banned
No reviews and no Pro support equals no buy for me until it on sale if at all.

I waited for Doom because it didn't have reviews and only got Dishonored 2 day one because Amazon let me buy it for £18 with my Pro pre-order.

I don't care how good a game is if I don't agree with the publishers policy I won't buy from them at full price.
 
N

nextgeneration

Member
Mr. Tibbs said:
According to ZhugeEX, Prey (2017) actually debuted to worse numbers than Prey (2006), despite the latter only being on two platforms.
Click to expand...

Well, this certainly isn't very good. Dishonored 2 underperformed and now, looks like this game will be on its way to underperforming as well, possibly. If this game does end up underperforming, I'm afraid what it means for Arkane. There's no way Bethesda would close down the studio, is there??
 
B

Blackthorn

"hello?" "this is vagina"
Bethesda's review policy might not affect their big games, but not letting hype build in advance for an unproven title is by all accounts a great game is bafflingly stupid.
 
C

Coxy100

Banned
GavinUK86 said:
To the people saying "it's already out?", you're the worst.

I guess people wouldn't know a really good game if it slapped 'em in the face.

I've seen adverts everywhere. Trailers everywhere.

I hope it picks up now reviews are coming out. Maybe people were waiting.

This type of game was never going to shift loads though. It's not a mainstream title.
Click to expand...
This - I swear people do it just to feel 'cool'. If you're inTo gaming then you'd know when games are being released. I would never buy a Nintendo console - but I still follow the threads out of interest
 
A

arts&crafts

Member
It is a great game so I am not sure why.

Probably a mix of a few things. Lack of marketing, no pro-support, no reviews hurt them as they are positive.
 
K

King Gilga

Member
Giant bomb quick look seemed like a complete bore.

I think there was an add for the game in the cinema before GotG2 though, not quite sure, if there was it was a very forgettable one.
 
S

SomTervo

Member
ModernBoxes said:
Back when they used to incorrectly incorporate EGM/CGW/GFW scores in their listing I sent an email to the creator of metacritic. He replied back with a dickhead response and signed me up to a hundred porn mailing lists.

Wish I saved the email. Good times.
Click to expand...

You should make a thread about that

Dig that email out
 
N

nowai

Member
Coxy100 said:
This - I swear people do it just to feel 'cool'. If you're inTo gaming then you'd know when games are being released. I would never buy a Nintendo console - but I still follow the threads out of interest
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Hopefully word of mouth sells Prey. I know I have personally convinced three of my friends to pick it up. I streamed it on Friday and one friend said "okay, I have to stop watching because this looks great". He went and bought it straight away.
 
S

SomTervo

Member
spekkeh said:
Weird to hear people say no marketing. I actually got kind of sick of the constant plugging on Facebook and YouTube.
Though I think very little of it included release dates, true. I guess we're just really accustomed to reviews signaling a game is out, and it seems all the major review sites decided to give Bethesda a taste of their own medicine by having no hurry whatsoever.
Click to expand...

Probably means you were one of the few targeted within the budget of their social media campaign
 
E

EGM1966

Member
Liamc723 said:
I'm not making excuses for the policy, it is stupid, but if you're moaning about not having any reviews to read when you can easily look on Metacritic or the review thread on this very website that links to every single review, then it's your fault that you're not informed.
Click to expand...

Don't move the goalposts. The issue wasl lack of reviews prior to launch to generate better day one sales because people saw a good score/read a good review and thought: I'll get that.

Reviews post launch at this point are pretty much useless. It's not about finding reviews via metacritic its the timing of when they're available.

For Fallout 4 or CoD people are buying the brand they don't need reviews. For something like Prey out of nowhere with close to zero market awareness you've got to get the reviews out prior to launch. And for a new title with low hype if its not good enough to get good reviews it's as good as dead anyway whatever the reviews. At least for a game like Prey decent reviews would have helped if available before launch but they weren't and the franchise looks dead before it even got started.
 
F

FinalAres

Member
Coxy100 said:
This - I swear people do it just to feel 'cool'. If you're inTo gaming then you'd know when games are being released. I would never buy a Nintendo console - but I still follow the threads out of interest
Click to expand...
Nope. I am in to gaming, I go on several gaming outlets daily. I'm not an obsessive but I'm definitely a big gaming fan. Also this is the kind of game I like.

Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of this game. I knew of "Prey", I had a vague knowledge of some kind of reboot, but I wasn't sure if it was a rumour, that's all I knew. I assume because I don't watch all the e3 conferences, it might have passed me by, but regardless. The first thing I saw was the "is prey the next bioshock" thread.

Thats not me being hipster, that's not my "fault" for missing it. It is not my responsibility to have known about this game.

Something has gone seriously wrong with the marketing of the game.
 
I

InsaneTiger

Member
GavinUK86 said:
To the people saying "it's already out?", you're the worst.

I guess people wouldn't know a really good game if it slapped 'em in the face.

I've seen adverts everywhere. Trailers everywhere.

I hope it picks up now reviews are coming out. Maybe people were waiting.

This type of game was never going to shift loads though. It's not a mainstream title.
Click to expand...

What if maybe, just maybe, some people really didn't know it was out? Granted I am sure some are just being cheeky but regardless of what you have seen not everyone has seen the adverts. It did come out on a Friday instead the usual Tuesday release day, so different enough for people to not realize it's out.

Also, whether they have seen the game or not, not everyone that buys the game will think it's a good game. So that "slap in the face" statement seems a bit salty. You like it, that's great.

I have seen one TV trailer late, after midnight on Adult Swim, nothing on the mainstream networks. I haven't seen a YT ad at all but I follow GAF so I am aware of it existence but the advertising for this game may seem high to you but I am sure it s quite low in terms of budget spent.

I hope it succeeds, I will pick it up probably next month, whether it satisfies Bethesda's internal sales projection is another matter all together.
 
L

Lord of Castamere

Member
That's not surprising. This game isn't for everyone. It's very slow, wherein Dishonored could be slow or fast.You don't really get that choice here. The main story hasn't been very inspiring, so far, either. Most of the interesting stuff is learning about crew members.

Just like with Dishonored 2, there's nothing here to inspire, outside of fans of the genre.
 
P

Poimandres

Member
Before we all jump to gloomsville, hasn't this game been sitting at number 1 (down to 2 at times) seller on Steam since release?
 
T

Tyraniboah

Member
The demo was allegedly bad, marketing was basically nonexistent, and the lack of review copies available sealed the deal for most. Personally wanted to know more about it, especially since everyone hated the demo (I play on PC so I didn't have access). As it stands, I'll be waiting to catch a good deal on it.
 
J

JonnyKong

Member
I must admit I'm in the camp of people who find it strange that people didn't know about this game coming out, I've seen a trailer for it on Facebook for the past 2 months now.

Plus if you're a regular user of Gaf which I assume most people posting in here are, how on earth did you miss so many threads about this game? We must have had reveal threads, preview threads, thoughts on the demo threads, etc

But anyway, it's not important.
 
M

More_Badass

Member
Tyraniboah said:
The demo was allegedly bad, marketing was basically nonexistent, and the lack of review copies available sealed the deal for most. Personally wanted to know more about it, especially since everyone hated the demo (I play on PC so I didn't have access). As it stands, I'll be waiting to catch a good deal on it.
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"Everyone" didnt hate the demo, there were a fair amount of positive impressions as well. If you liked System Shock, this feels like its modern successor more than Bioshock ever did
 
I

Its Quite Toasty

Banned
I can't get myself to buy this game. It might be absolutely great but knowing at least in hearsay how they did prey 2 and human head dirty just kills any interest for me. If I'm unreasonable I won't argue against it but I just cant break the connection.
 
d00d3n

d00d3n

Member
BiggNife said:
I get a feeling that this is going to follow in the steps of Doom and gradually sell more through word of mouth.

I also think that Bethesda's refusal to send review copies did this game a disservice. That strategy works for popular franchises like Fallout and Dishonored but for an unknown quantity like Prey I think it hurts more than helps.
Click to expand...

Hopefully. It has surprised me that so many media outlets have rated the game as average, though. Complex, difficult and inaccessible yes, but not average or unoriginal. Some reviewers have definitely brought shame to themselves and owe us some repentance!
 
H

Hasney

Member
Coxy100 said:
This - I swear people do it just to feel 'cool'. If you're inTo gaming then you'd know when games are being released. I would never buy a Nintendo console - but I still follow the threads out of interest
Click to expand...

What? It's not to be 'cool'. I had no idea the game was this month until the thread about the demo came up as I haven't seen a single ad on YouTube, Twitch or TV. I don't want to be cool, I'm just pretty fucking annoyed about his it's been mishandled if it's a good game.
 
H

haveheart

Banned
This thread proves that there is no audience for this genre no more.

Everybody's hyping Bioshock and System Shock, putting them in their GOAT lists - and now there's a new release in the spirit of its successors and nobody pays fucking attention.

As I've said before: it may be Bethesda's fault to some extent but first and foremost its ours. If noone buys the new Deus Ex, or Prey in this case, these games won't get published anymore.
 
L

LeChuck

Banned
haveheart said:
This thread proves that there is no audience for this genre no more.

Everybody's hyping Bioshock and System Shock, putting them in their GOAT lists - and now there's a new release in the spirit of its successors and nobody pays fucking attention.

As I've said before: it may be Bethesda's fault to some extent but first and foremost its ours. If noone buys the new Deus Ex, or Prey in this case, these games won't get published anymore.
Click to expand...

I thought prey was a a multi-player focused game?

Edit - clearly not, it shows the marketing hasn't been very effective as this style of game is right up my street.
 
InsaneFandom

InsaneFandom

Member
Tbh if I wasn't on gaf I wouldn't have known it existed, didn't see any advertising for it and there hasn't been much hype that I've noticed

It's a shame because it looks like a great game, I'm planning on getting it at some point
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
Not surprised with the lack of marketing and no review copies, I honestly had no idea the game was coming out until the demo. Bethesdas no review policy is still dumb, good reviews are free marketing while I'm not actually sure bad reviews are worse than the look of your game having no reviews at all at launch. Maybe this will be the next Doom where it eventually sells with word of mouth but it seem unlikely
 
H

Heroman

Banned
GavinUK86 said:
To the people saying "it's already out?", you're the worst.

I guess people wouldn't know a really good game if it slapped 'em in the face.

I've seen adverts everywhere. Trailers everywhere.

I hope it picks up now reviews are coming out. Maybe people were waiting.

This type of game was never going to shift loads though. It's not a mainstream title.
Click to expand...
The only time I have seen anyone talk about this game was on gaf briefy. It they want me to buy your they should probably make sure people know that said game is out.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Member
Mr. Tibbs said:
According to ZhugeEX, Prey (2017) actually debuted to worse numbers than Prey (2006), despite the latter only being on two platforms.
Click to expand...

CCTPIaf.gif
Click to expand...

Jesus, what even happened here. It didn't come out during a crowded month at all.
I still say it's the marketing more than anything. As this thread points out the game just sort of plopped out. Yeah there has been marketing but it sure hasn't been effective. I also think the lag input on the console versions played an issue as well from the demo. Yeah the Xbox One version has less, but the majority are going to be playing on PS4 anyway. Also I think the demo was a pretty bad look. The people who enjoyed the demo from the majority of impressions, were those who didn't need to be sold on the game anyway. While everyone else was just kind of left in the dust.

Was saving this for later. But thus far I have been really enjoying the game. But I sure didn't feel like I would having played that demo. The first hour is probably the weakest part of the game.
 
AudioEppa

AudioEppa

Member
Lord of Castamere said:
That's not surprising. This game isn't for everyone.
Click to expand...


As someone who has never been into Bethesda games. I agree with this. Even still I've seen this game get hardcore pushed on Twitch the last few days. Along with some people I follow playing it.


I played the demo and didn't go far before I deleted it. It might be just one of those games that more people would rather watch then buy, if that. Personally I feel like it's marketing was enough for awareness. But just because something is advertise heavily, doesn't automatically mean positive results. There's been a lot of games so far this year. Also still a lot coming. Some games are just going to under perform in a sea of so many releases.
 
D

Deleted member 325805

Unconfirmed Member
I haven't seen a single advert for it in the UK.
 
A

A.J.

Banned
They released a demo on the largest console platform with horrible input lag and audio mixing. That didn't help.
 
L

Liamc723

Member
EGM1966 said:
Don't move the goalposts. The issue wasl lack of reviews prior to launch to generate better day one sales because people saw a good score/read a good review and thought: I'll get that.

Reviews post launch at this point are pretty much useless. It's not about finding reviews via metacritic its the timing of when they're available.

For Fallout 4 or CoD people are buying the brand they don't need reviews. For something like Prey out of nowhere with close to zero market awareness you've got to get the reviews out prior to launch. And for a new title with low hype if its not good enough to get good reviews it's as good as dead anyway whatever the reviews. At least for a game like Prey decent reviews would have helped if available before launch but they weren't and the franchise looks dead before it even got started.
Click to expand...

You're going off on a tangent that doesn't even really relate to what me and the other poster was discussing.

He was moaning about the lack of reviews, when there was over 20 of them.
 
Moff

Moff

Member
with prey, dishonored and deus ex bombing, this seems like the end of my favourite genre, makes me really sad so few people appreciate these games. although I have to admit that each of them had serious flaws. dishonored 2's poor performance, mankind divideds unsatisfying story and prey's combat and input issues
 
P

Primethius

Banned
Coxy100 said:
This - I swear people do it just to feel 'cool'. If you're inTo gaming then you'd know when games are being released. I would never buy a Nintendo console - but I still follow the threads out of interest
Click to expand...

Nah. I'm on GAF all the time and legitimately had no idea that Prey was out so soon until a week prior when the opening hour demo hit.

Bethesda did a shit job with marketing.
 
J

jmga

Member
Poimandres said:
Before we all jump to gloomsville, hasn't this game been sitting at number 1 (down to 2 at times) seller on Steam since release?
Click to expand...

According to SteamSpy the game has sold more than 100K copies(probably first day sales entirely), which is quite good knowing that they didn't even release a demo on PC and Dishonored 2's bad performance.

The game is awesome and it runs great for what I have seen, so at least on PC I think it will sell great with some time and thanks to word of mouth.
 
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