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[shinobi602]

Update:

Let me just make this clear, Jason or THQ, have not set a ridiculous high target of 4-5 million units to sell..because, well, that's just insane. Our goal as developers is to make the most fun games. Publishers have to make money with commercially viable product. It's not rocket science. If Darksiders II comes out, more than covers it's costs and is considered a great success by the Publishers, it makes a very compelling reason to do something else with that franchise.

Simple as that.

H

I can't talk about numbers, but I can talk about my comments. I was mainly referring to the size of the world. Reducing overall physical size doesn't reduce the quality of the product, it helps the people you have, focus more on the content. The larger the content, the wider the spread. It's a simple equation.

H

---

Vigil on Darksiders 3:

Vigil Games would consider reducing the size and scope of a third Darksiders game if it led to "more detail in the world", Darksiders II's lead designer Haydn Dalton has told VideoGamer.com.

"The only people who can really shape if we do [another] Darksiders or not is basically the public," Dalton told VideoGamer.com during a recent Darksiders II press trip.

"If we come out and it does really well then I think it's really compelling; we can't not come out and maybe do something else in the Darksiders franchise.

"If Jason's [Rubin, President, THQ] sat there and we go and sell 4 or 5 million units, I'm pretty sure he won't say, 'Let's go and do something different now'. Maybe what he might do is turn around and say, 'We'll do another Darksiders game, but we'll try and reduce the scope so that we can make it even higher polished'. Because our scope is huge. Maybe he says, 'Bring the scope down a little bit, we'll still do another game but it's a lot more focused'. That's not such a bad thing to do either."

Darksiders II's world is said to be considerably larger than the first game. According to one report, each of the four game's zones are equivalent in size to the entirety of the first game.

But Dalton says that the gameplay within those areas is more important than the size of the world, and the pay-off for reducing the scope of a third game could be beneficial to the overall experience.

"It depends on how much the reduction of the scope is, right? We've done a huge world in this one, but [though] reducing the size of the world might be seen as a big impact from a player point of view, you know what, we might do a lot more interaction within the world if the world was smaller.

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/d...scope_for_darksiders_3_to_improve_detail.html

.

 

[Nirolak]

Well, that's a nice, humble target.

Not an especially uncommon sales requirement heading into next-gen, but still it's quite the bar.

 

[erpg]

You know what to do, NeoGAF. Put on those billboards and convince everyone to purchase a copy.

 

[Data West]

Well yeah. If Darksiders 2 DOESNT sell that much, THQ won't be making much of anything

 

[metalslimer]

Gaming industry continues to head towards the shitter.

Edit: Yeah THQ is boned anyway, so I don't think they will be in charge of these things anymore.

2nd edit: what the fuck even if does do that well they will reduce the scope?

 

[Eideka]

I hope the game will sell as much but 4-5 millions is huge.

 

[Averon]

4-5 million copies?!?! They should count themselves lucky if it sells 3 million copies.

I guess this is it for the DS IP.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I will do my part but ugh.

 

[Squidofman]

But it won't. It'll be lucky to make half that.

So....yeah.

 

[Orayn]

This is downright unhealthy. Unreasonable budgets, unreasonable expectations, and unreasonable publishers who won't budge on their dreams of having every game compete with CoD and the other "big boys."

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

I'm doing my part!

 

[Pai Pai Master]

How much did the first one sell?

 

[Derrick01]

We need to somehow revert back to last gen where selling "only" 2 million didn't tank your studio. This has gotten out of control fast.

 

[metalslimer]

Well, that's a nice, humble target.

Not an especially uncommon sales requirement heading into next-gen, but still it's quite the bar.

Well it should be especially fun to watch how the industry deals with the fact that they have no userbase to work with and won't be selling anywhere near that amount.

 

[Brazil]

It was mildly entertaining knowing ye', Darksiders IP.

 

[Nirolak]

Well it should be especially fun to watch how the industry deals with the fact that they have no userbase to work with and won't be selling anywhere near that amount.

I suspect the first year to be largely cross generation.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

I will do my part.

 

[metalslimer]

I suspect the first year to be largely cross generation.

Well if the target sales for games is 3-5 million I suspect it will be a lot longer than that.

 

[DieH@rd]

With all of these 5$ promotions, i wouldnt be suprised if Darksiders 1 reached 2 million mark.

They put everything and the kitchen sink into DS2 [game is much much ambitious than DS1], and hopefully it will pay off. I dont want to see another Battle Chasers, with the story left in the open without conclusion. This franchise needs to live on.


Hopefully Wii U sales will give it big boost. Nintendo will most surely leave full Zelda game for 2014.

 

[K.Jack]

Making the more polished and more focused game, on a more reasonable budget, should be your strategy from the word "go".

 

[Rebel Leader]

Well, that's a nice, humble target.

Not an especially uncommon sales requirement heading into next-gen, but still it's quite the bar.

But I hope they make it

 

[Interfectum]

soo.... basically there won't be a darksiders 3

 

[JehutyRunner]

They seem to be pouring a lot more advertising on it this time than they did with even Homefront (at least in my eyes anyways). So while the target is questionable, its seemingly doable if the marketing is just as much as it was with Homefront.

Watch Last Light be the same once they ramp that up.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Much as I love the series, don't think we will be seeing a Darksiders III if they want those kinda numbers from II.

 

[Callibretto]

I hope they're not putting any cliffhanger ending if they're perfectly aware there are chances that it may never got a sequel.

 

[Phazon]

If they do the Wii U port right, I think it will sell a nice amount of copies on that console too.

Darksiders is a game that makes a lot of sense on a Nintendo-console, so let's hope Vigil will make a nice port.

 

[QisTopTier]

Making the more polished and more focused game, on a more reasonable budget, should be your strategy from the word "go".

The next game would be more focused because we are most likely getting Strife as the main character. Thus the game would be more metroid in style than zelda. Darksiders 2 is pretty much what they wanted Darksiders 1 to be. Death was originally going to be the main character and everything.

Darksiders 3 will be better than Max Payne 3.

I'm saving this quote forever lol

 

[akilshohen]

I think it's being interpreted wrong. Jason always said he was willing to let the series mature, but with his new policies that are reeling in the costs, Vigil won't be able to make the sequel they want to make.
Didn't he want to turn vigil into more than just a one IP studio?

 

[Nibel]

Well, that's it then.

:/

 

[DieH@rd]

soo.... basically there won't be a darksiders 3

4mil is not totally insane number...

1.5 mil on xbox 360
1.5 mil on ps3
0.5 mil on pc
and who knows how much on Wii U [launch game, the only game of that genre for that console in foreseeable future...]

 

[QisTopTier]

I think it's being interpreted wrong. Jason always said he was willing to let the series mature, but with his new policies that are reeling in the costs, Vigil won't be able to make the sequel they want to make.
Didn't he want to turn vigil into more than just a one IP studio?

The problem I have with situations like that is quality of games tend to drop when this happens.

 

[KageMaru]

What did Darksiders 1 sell? How realistic of a target is this?

I suspect the first year to be largely cross generation.

Typically the leading console enjoys many cross gen games for the first few years, so I expect it to be a bit longer than a year. IMO the PS360 will get decent support up to 2015 at least.

 

[duckroll]

If Jason Rubin is sitting there as THQ CEO and they sell 4-5 million copies of Darksiders 2, he will probably let them make Darksiders 3 because he will still be sitting there as THQ CEO. If they don't, by this time next year he might not be sitting there as THQ CEO anymore, since there might no longer be a THQ.

 

[goldenpp72]

Nice knowing ya Darksiders, with how games have been selling lately on current hardware, I just don't see how a relatively under the radar IP can do anything near that, i was thinking maybe 2 million.

 

[radioheadrule83]

I am buying it on 360 and Wii U, I hope it does great, the first game is one of the best games this generation! Please support with all your might, GAF!

 

[ced]

What shitty news...

I think we might as well start getting used to titles like these (which I think are excellent) to die. I mean it's already happening but it's a grim future.

 

[akilshohen]

The problem I have with situations like that is quality of games tend to drop when this happens.

I think Jason is doing a lot right with the company. I think Darksiders 2 comfortably expanded, and it will sell, but not enough to go further in scope for a 3rd title. I think after something like Red Faction Armageddon, someone needs to pull back before things get out of hand again.

 

[guit3457]

Very unrealistic.

But I will help: PC version day one, Wii U later.

 

[Lucifon]

Preordered my copy this morning

 

[michaelius]

Do people lose contact with reality after spending few years working on a game ?

 

[Metallix87]

How much did the first one sell?

Not sure about LTD, but according to Joystiq, it sold 1.2 million copies in North America in it's first month.

 

[DieH@rd]

What did Darksiders 1 sell? How realistic of a target is this?

One month after the release of Darksiders 1, THQ reported that they shipped 1.2 million copies in the US and that they even made a little money from that game [then, Vigil was a really small studio]. That was in February of 2010. During that summer DS1 came out on PC, and since then it was on a constant rotation of sales and promotions [especially in last few months when they gave 5$ copies to almost everyone ]. Forbidden games sales site claims ~0.9mil copies sold on x360, but that number is not confirmed anywhere else.


Darksiders II has a really nice mindshare among gamers and press, NOBODY is bashing the game no matter where I looked. Everyone likes new features of the game. I predict good sales for the game, but 4-5 mil... is not a small ammount.

 

[pock3tmonster]

Unfortunately I won't have time to play this as I'm going to be back at Uni next week. :/ I still have the first one on backlog as well. But I'll definitely do my part in four months time after exams.

 

[BY2K]

If Darksiders 2 doesn't sell 2-4 Million, there won't be a THQ.

Seriously, Darksiders 2 is THQ's only big game for 2012. Metro is 2013.

I mean, NO PRESSURE, VIGIL! It's only the fate of the company that rests on your shoulders!

And here's an idea, DON'T RELEASE IT THE SAME DAY AS SLEEPING DOGS! Cause I know a lot of people will take an open-world game set to rival a GTA rather than a Action/Adventure (with a touch of RPG) with a art style that for some reason turn a lot of people off.

 

[Herb]

4-5M seems plausible to me. There are so many games out there that reach 2-3M lifetime and they are relatively small compared with Darksiders II.

 

[Effect]

4mil is not totally insane number...

1.5 mil on xbox 360
1.5 mil on ps3
0.5 mil on pc
and who knows how much on Wii U [launch game, the only game of that genre for that console in foreseeable future...]

I think if THQ plays up the Zelda connection (no point in denying it the way they tried to do so with DS1) to try to overtly sell the game to Legend of Zelda fans it could at least do a million, maybe a little more, on the Wii U. Maybe not day one or in the first month but over the length of the launch window.

I know I'm really looking forward to this but I just want more info on the Wii U version to keep me waiting as the more I see of the game the more I want to play it. This besides Black Ops 2 are the only 3rd party games that are really "MUST HAVES" for me going into the end of the year and I rather those end up being the Wii U versions.

 

[QisTopTier]

If Darksiders 2 doesn't sell 2-4 Million, there won't be a THQ.

Seriously, Darksiders 2 is THQ's only big game for 2012. Metro is 2013.

I mean, NO PRESSURE, VIGIL! It's only the fate of the company that rests on your shoulders!

And here's an idea, DON'T RELEASE IT THE SAME DAY AS SLEEPING DOGS!

Really should of came out the week before. I have no idea how the hell the decide dates for releases and why they dont shift them around when they find out dates of other games. *shrug*

I think Jason is doing a lot right with the company. I think Darksiders 2 comfortably expanded, and it will sell, but not enough to go further in scope for a 3rd title. I think after something like Red Faction Armageddon, someone needs to pull back before things get out of hand again.

Yeah but Vigil isn't Volition. It would suck to see them get punished because of others mistakes

 

[RPGCrazied]

If Darksiders 2 doesn't sell 2-4 Million, there won't be a THQ.

Seriously, Darksiders 2 is THQ's only big game for 2012. Metro is 2013.

I mean, NO PRESSURE, VIGIL! It's only the fate of the company that rests on your shoulders!

And here's an idea, DON'T RELEASE IT THE SAME DAY AS SLEEPING DOGS! Cause I know a lot of people will take an open-world game set to rival a GTA rather than a Action/Adventure (with a touch of RPG) with a art style that for some reason turn a lot of people off.

I'd like to think South Park would be a big seller too. It does have a pretty big fanbase. But its a 2013 game though.

 

[DieH@rd]

And here's an idea, DON'T RELEASE IT THE SAME DAY AS SLEEPING DOGS!

Who could have thought that a failing True Crime franchise can be resurrected into such interesting game, by Square Enix!

And they are not releasing it on same day... in Europe.

 

[wrowa]

These sales targets are incredibly high. I'm not sure if it's because of Rubin's unrealistic expectations of if that's really the amount of copies every game has to sell nowadays.

If starting next generation games really have to sell 5 million copies to be considered a success, I can't see how the traditional games industry will survive. It's a sales bar that simply can't be reached by even a fraction of the released games -- the market simply isn't big enough. It only can go down for many publishers and developers.