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[Nirolak]

Deus Ex is killed? I know sales were lower than Human Revolution, but I assumed Deus Ex was not a big budget game compared to Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy, so they can recover their losses.

It had a budget of over $50 million ($70 million CAD), which is about half of what a really large AAA title is, but still tremendously expensive compared to their sales results.

Even if they manage to break even some day, you don't spend $50+ million to break even, as that's a terrible business strategy compared to just dumping that $50 million into the stock market.

 

[Markitron]

I'm not surprised, I know the game is supposed to be good but that demo was terrible and completely put me off it.

 

[Truant]

Such a shame. It´s the best game released so far this year, with the exception of perhaps Zelda.

 

[Turin Turambar]

18 years for a spiritual system shock 2 successor and it's a flop saleswise

SS1 and SS2 never really set ablaze the world, right?

So it's really a spiritual successor!

 

[BGBW]

0 marketing by my observations.

Seen posters for it on the tube.

However their choice quote is something like "It's Bioshock in space", which means absolutely nothing to someone who doesn't know what Bioshock is. Heck, I know what Bioshock is and that statement means nothing to me.

 

[tci]

I've seen lot's of trailers for it on YouTube and even showing in the cinema before GotGV2.
The marketing is there, it just looks boring.

I have seen a lot of trailers for at least a month. Twitch, YT, gaming websites. As you said, the game looks really boring to me. As well as I really don't like the enemy design in the game at all.

 

[Rexatality]

After being burned by the trash fire of FO4 Bethesda doesn't get the benefit from me.

.... You do know Prey 2017 is made by Arkane, right?

But hey, don't let that stop you from your righteous principles and your hate against GAF OTs

 

[Rellik]

I have seen a lot of trailers for at least a month. Twitch, YT, gaming websites. As you said, the game looks really boring to me. As well as I really don't like the enemy design in the game at all.

They've been on TV too. I saw them when I was in hospital.

 

[ModernBoxes]

The game came out Friday. Its currently Monday.

The open critic could be 100 or 0, reviews done this fast mean jack to me (unless the game is only an hour or two long?).

By the time I hear about it from outlets I respect (not Gaf OTs which circle jerk praise even flaming trash more times than not) it will be a month or so after release and at that point it goes to a gamefly que or a buy for 10$ once it tanks list.

After being burned by the trash fire of FO4 Bethesda doesn't get the benefit from me.

Except plenty of people have played and beaten the game by now. Why don't you read the impressions for yourself? The game came out at midnight Friday morning last week, earlier if people used a VPN. I'm 16 hours in. How many hoops would you like a game to jump through for you.

 

[Skulldead]

It's even more frustrating having played about 10 hours of it and it's an amazing experience, knowing that a lot of people will have passed on it.

yep, but at same time i think the game is much more on niche genre then what they usually release. But when you say, it's like System Shock, you hit a nostalgia note that not a lot of people have live.

 

[Jawmuncher]

I wonder what they'll use the Prey name on next time they have to renew it.

 

[molnizzle]

The game came out Friday. Its currently Monday.

The open critic could be 100 or 0, reviews done this fast mean jack to me (unless the game is only an hour or two long?).

By the time I hear about it from outlets I respect (not Gaf OTs which circle jerk praise even flaming trash more times than not) it will be a month or so after release and at that point it goes to a gamefly que or a buy for 10$ once it tanks list.

After being burned by the trash fire of FO4 Bethesda doesn't get the benefit from me.

Yeah.

Not having reviews at launch isn't doing Bethesda games any favors.

 

[Anung]

I wonder what they'll use the Prey name on next time they have to renew it.

Brink?

 

[The perfect Dark]

Blame Bethesda. Arkane deserves a good publisher.

 

[More_Badass]

I have seen a lot of trailers for at least a month. Twitch, YT, gaming websites. As you said, the game looks really boring to me. As well as I really don't like the enemy design in the game at all.

You can't really showcase level design and freeform sandbox gameplay design in a quick trailer meantime for the masses

Which is a shame. It's like how Hitman Blood Money trailers would show tons of shootings and action. It's hard to get across what makes an immersive sim good in two minutes

 

[TannerDemoz]

No one fucking knows about it because of Bethesda's BS review policy

 

[Sodding_Gamer]

yep, but at same time i think the game is much more on niche genre then what they usually release. But when you say, it's like System Shock, you hit a nostalgia note that not a lot of people have live.

Yeah true, immersive sims seem to have made a comeback but the overall gaming community just haven't been soaking them up it seems. it's a shame as they are probably my favourite genre of game to play.

Mankind Divided still hurts me inside lol. Knowing that Deus Ex is most likely on a big ass hiatus and all that.

 

[pirata]

Man, things must be tough at Arkane right now. This definitely seems like the type of game that could do fairly well if picked up by people who love sci-fi (seems like a much better way to scratch that itch than Mass Effect, to be sure). Hopefully once more reviews hit and word of mouth gets out there this thing starts to grow legs. Like a shape-shifting alien.

 

[TylerDurden4321]

Some part of this is definitely Bethesda's brilliant new review strategy.
When even people on GAF don't know an AAA title is out already, it's not just a low marketing budget that is to blame.

 

[Harmen]

I really think Bethesda's review policy only hurt this game, especially in combination with zero marketing and it being an unknown/forgotten ip. How are people supposed to know this game? I barely know it and browse gaf and some other gaming websites frequently.

Quite frankly it pisses me off because Arkane is an extremely talented developer.

 

[Gator86]

Tomb Raider is also a series that is clearly out of sync with the market, so we're going to have a bad UK sales thread about Shadow of the Tomb Raider as well, but basically these were decisions made ages ago.

When Matsuda took over as CEO, he had basically every Square Enix new IP canceled in favor of existing titles. This caused IO interactive to lose half its staff, Crystal Dynamics to lose their new IP, and Eidos Montreal to lose their new IP and go into a variety of turmoil as they had to quickly get staff on a new project (which became Tomb Raider, along with canceling Obsidian's Deus Ex game and taking Deus Ex entirely in house).

These days Matsuda changed his mind as Square Enix's existing IPs all started facing significant sales headwinds, so now they're all on new IPs, whether they be based on licenses (see Marvel), or actually new (which is what Tabata's team of Final Fantasy 15 fame is supposed to be doing).

Which part of the dart board Matsuda will hit tomorrow is currently unclear, so for now, their focus will be on new IPs and Japanese eSports for new initiatives.

Every part of this is the most terrifying part of this. Thanks, Nirolak. It's a small miracle this company is still alive at all with this kind of management. I wonder how RotTR sales would have looked without that disastrous exclusivity deal, but that's getting a little far off-topic.

I hope Prey moves copies on good word of mouth. What's left for the genre now? Just System Shock 3 barely into development and the System Shock 1 remaster, right?

 

[tci]

You can't really showcase level design and freeform sandbox gameplay design in a quick trailer meantime for the masses

Which is a shame. It's like how Hitman Blood Money trailers would show tons of shootings and action. It's hard to get across what makes an immersive sim good in two minutes

That is true enough. But having watched a few hours of streams the last few days, it really isn't much different from what trailers have revealed.

As for the original concept, would have been there day 1 for sure.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Ugh!!! Why oh why do great games in this immersive sim genre always seem to do so poorly? ;_;

This is just sad news as it's a genuinely brilliant game, my GOTY so far anyway; it's shocking how much they nailed the style akin to system shock.

 

[CorporateClown]

Not sure if it's already been said, but it would be hilarious if that Praey for the Gods game ends up selling more.

 

[Gurish]

this is so not fair for Arkane, such a brilliant developer and their games this gen sell like shit :/

 

[OBias]

The game is fantastic. I hope it's popular elsewhere.

 

[Skronk]

Not sure if it's already been said, but it would be hilarious if that Praey for the Gods game ends up selling more.

I'd forgot about that whole thing. I don't think I ever want to support Bethesda again.

 

[Ashtar]

It's crazy a well reviewed game that had a weekend of prerelease hype would have definitely had some effect on sales. If you're not going to have pre release reviews you have to already have a significant mind share (eg Destiny, The Division, or CoD could do it) but if youre a small game targeted towards hard core gamers then yeah no pre release time to hype up the game is a bad idea

The Kooch said that said that searches for Prey 2016 were super low (can't find the tweet) which shows people just weren't even aware of it.

 

[Gator86]

Ugh!!! Why oh why do great games on this immersive sim genre always seem to do poorly? ;_;

This is just sad news as it's a genuinely brilliant game, and it's shocking how much they nailed aping the style of something akin to system shock.

Probably just have to face the fact that it's not a genre the larger market gives a shit about. The best genre is also one that's working with a pretty niche market, it seems. The outlook for immersive sims looks grim.

 

[Tecnniqe]

And the people that do remember are probably mad that this ahs nothing to do with the other games.

Bethesda review policy is hilariously stupid.
"Let's make good games and not let reviwers tell people about them at or before release."

Yupyup

 

[DBreakfast]

It feels like everything from Bethesda's side of this is a total shitshow. No early review copies and lackluster marketing means a lot of people don't even know this is a thing. The very fact that it's called Prey is bizarre, since I don't think anybody remembers the original Prey (and the one person I know who played it didn't have kind things to say). Why are they clinging to a useless IP? Then you have Bethesda trademark-bullying an indie dev, just to keep those optics lookin' good.

I'm holding off on Prey until it hits a deep discount, just to make sure Bethesda gets less of my money. I feel bad for Arkane though. They deserve a better publisher.

 

[AusRoachman]

Hope word of mouth gives it long legs , such a shame Bethesda didn't market it more.

I admit I had no real hype for the game since they Canned the scifi e3 showing but the demo completely turned me around and I am so glad they stuck with this direction.

They need better trailers for a start that show it as the system shock 2 / bioshock style game it is .

Really hope Arkane can do a sequel

 

[iFirez]

Prey is already out?

It's damn good too. Played for a few hours this weekend and the lore has really got me hooked. It's a shame the marketing has let people down so much and failed to entice fans of other similar games in the genre.

 

[ghostjoke]

It's simple:
We give it the exact same name.
We don't advertise (at least not where it's important seemingly).
We don't allow for a review bomb near release.

Hey, Bethesda, just because your name is on the thing doesn't mean it's Fallout/Elder Scrolls in terms of popularity.

 

[Metalmarc]

Oh i thought like a beta was out now :s didnt know full game was out

I guess someone should call the Official theead.

Prey |OT | Did You Know This Game Was Out Yet? Us Neither

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

The game had decent internet marketing. The problem is I don't know what the hell the game is. I thought it was a survival horror game but it's not. I thought it was an action game but it's not. I've heard it's BioShock and System Shock but the only thing I can parse together with that info is it's a resource heavy game. I've heard people say you use a variet of guns and others say you mainly use non-lethal traps. I'm confused.

 

[OBias]

Blame Bethesda. Arkane deserves a good publisher.

What are these good publishers that would allocate a decent budget for an immersive sim?

 

[monkeybizz]

its funny how people say there is zero marketing.
It shows at the start of every youtube video I watch - recently!
Plus no reviews means not mainstream press coverage

 

[Kysen]

From what i've seen of the game it looks like a corridor fest. Incredibly boring.

 

[Rexatality]

From what i've seen of the game it looks like a corridor fest. Incredibly boring.

Giving what people played of it, you're incredibly wrong.

 

[Truant]

The game had decent internet marketing. The problem is I don't know what the hell the game is. I thought it was a survival horror game but it's not. I thought it was an action game but it's not. I've heard it's BioShock and System Shock but the only thing I can parse together with that info is it's a resource heavy game. I've heard people say you use a variet of guns and others say you mainly use non-lethal traps. I'm confused.

It's all of these things. It's an immersive sim.

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

Bad optics due to them killing off a very hyped concept from the previous director. Reboot of an IP with little to no ties to the original release. Zero marketing going forward. Problematic demo on consoles, lack of a PC demo.

Sent to die.


ed

What is an Immersive Sim and how is this game one of them? All of the pre-release info lead me to believe they were trying a somewhat open worldish *Shock game.

ed 2

VVVVVVVV

See?

 

[sflufan]

From what i've seen of the game it looks like a corridor fest. Incredibly boring.

Or you familiar with System Shock?
Or BioShock?

Because those are exactly what Prey is.

 

[Sillverrr]

Didn't preorder on PC because there was no concrete info on performance until AFTER launch. PS4 demo was a sluggish nightmare, so I didn't do as with Dishonored 2 and pick it up on console.

Glad to hear it's a solid title - I have no idea why Bethesda enforces a release date embargo, when a majority of the titles under their umbrella are good! I will probably buy Prey, but now the release hype is over I'll wait for a discount.

 

[Elephant]

Ah that's a shame. Marketing was poor. I'm really enjoying my copy though. Hopefully it picks up.

 

[Catdaddy]

Bethesda really shitty at marketing release strategy as of late. Dishonored 2 was released during the crowded 4Q Holiday, while not a true niche title still would have benefitted from release during an off time, however, did some at little bit of marketing with the live action TV trailer. I didn't know about Prey until I saw the demo pop up on my Xbox front page, then checked as saw the release was in May. Add in the ”no review prior to release strategy". They lucked out with Wolfenstein and Doom, but those both have legacies/brand recognition attached to them.

 

[Later Alligator]

i think positive word of mouth will help Prey, similar to DOOM and Wolfenstein

 

[Pandora012]

I haven't beat the game, but I hope that Arkane is given the opportunity to make a sequel if they left it open ended.

 

[x-Lundz-x]

Bethesda really needs to change this no reviews before release BS. I am going to get the game but I'm waiting on another patch to truly fix the input lag. All the impressions I'm reading have confirmed I will buy it.

I also have a billion games in my backlog it seems.

 

[mugurumakensei]

Sad. This is one of Bethesda's great titles of the generation. Wolfenstein, DOOM, and Prey are what I consider the greats for Bethesda so far this gen. Evil Within is good but janky. The less said about FO4 the better though I did like it better than 3 but it was so so far below NV.