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[Nirolak]

Aww, sad to see that about WD2, it was legit an amazing game, even if I had some issues with the inclusion of firearms and whatnot. Is the Season Pass content over, by the way?

Reading about how Siege is doing, I kinda wonder what Rainbow Six Patriots would have been.

Patriots was a single player focused cinematic third person game, back when everyone was still chasing games like Uncharted.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Steep got so much shit. It's a fun game. Can't wait for the alaska mountain map.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

People are bored of Ubisoft open world games and it is going to take more then "a good one of those" to be a success now.

They got a decade out of the formula. Thats pretty good but everything has its peak and that formula had its one 4 years ago.

This is something that for me personally, I disagree with. I own Watch Dogs 2 but a secondary reason why I haven't played it yet is because it doesn't have the Ubisoft formula in it which turns me off. If GRW outsells WD2 which I think it will easily do then I believe that the lower sales for Watch Dogs 2 were for two reasons -

1. It doesn't have the traditional Ubisoft formula in it which is disappointing.
2. Some were disappointed with the first game and thus, stayed away from the sequel.

If GRW outsells WD2, one of the reasons will be because of their open world formula which im personally looking very forward to. I love Ubisoft's open world formula. It's what I prefer and enjoy.

 

[PulseONE]

Wait Steep was released? I didn't even realize, I thought it was due out later this year

What were their expectations XD

 

[CarbonFire]

WD2 could have been literally the best game out last year and it would have "underperformed". They burned way, way too many people on the first game, I'm sure tons of those people skipped WD2 without even giving it a second look.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Fictional. WD2 is inferior to WD1 as a "game". Certainly has a better story, characters and city though.

And I'm glad Steep is doing well. It looked like a lot of fun.

It's only inferior if you only wanted to play it like a third-person shooter. And even then I found the choice of guns more varied in WD2.

 

[pretty done]

Steep is already half price ... That's kind of crazy.

Really enjoying Watch Dogs 2 - hope sales continue.

Take another half off that and my group will be jumping in. We had fun with the beta but everyone knew the game would flop and be half off within a month. Dunno why Ubi didn't just launch Steep at $30 to begin with.

 

[Boke1879]

WD2 will continue to sell with an attractive price point.

 

[wildfire]

Pretty unbelievable that Siege, over a year later, has more daily users than it has at any other point. That is exceptionally rare to see, and kinda lends itself to me thinking we won't see Siege 2 until next gen. I think the plan is to support Siege through the remaining years of this console cycle. Maybe at best we see Siege 2 as a cross gen title at the end of this cycle / early next.

The way Seige keeps on growing I expect Ubisoft to nurture it into becoming the Dota 2 to Counterstrike's League of Legends.

If that is true they won't release a cross gen version.

 

[Nirolak]

WD2 could have been literally the best game out last year and it would have "underperformed". They burned way, way too many people on the first game, I'm sure tons of those people skipped WD2 without even giving it a second look.

Historically people have actually shown up for sequels to questionable games (Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, Devil May Cry 2), so I think that the actual product style itself was the kicker.

 

[pr0cs]

I enjoyed my time in the division. Only really enjoyed survival of the dlc though.. The end game dlc (falcon lost etc) were not very good and end game pvp is pretty abysmal but I squeezed out 70 hours so I feel like I got my money's worth.

Wish they would make the enemy ai more dynamic rather than making them more bullet spongy but I suppose that is a lot easier.

Don't think I'd enjoy siege since it's a MP only game.

 

[Freeman76]

I wonder how low was Steep's expected performance.

Cant have been that low otherwise they wouldnt have made it

 

[Chris1]

Historically people have actually shown up for sequels to questionable games (Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, Devil May Cry 2), so I think that the actual product style itself was the kicker.

Yep the style put me off it. I think that's what hurt it most, it went way too hipster for a lot of people.

But I also don't think WD can really be compared to other games, the hype was huge and it was the first true "next gen" game. Also coming off the heels of GTA V with the whole "Time to come to Chicago" marketing.

Funny thing is at this rate GTA V will probably sell more than the entire WD franchise when all is said and done lol

 

[cilonen]

Steep is a great chill game. I've put over 30 hours in and I've barely touched the hundreds of challenges in there.

It's not an SSX, an Amped or a 1080 but I think it achieves what it sets out do do really quite nicely.

It's honestly worth checking out if you dig mountain sports, so I'm glad it justified itself in business terms to Ubi.

 

[Obliterator]

The way Seige keeps on growing I expect Ubisoft to nurture it into becoming the Dota 2 to Counterstrike's League of Legends.

If that is true they won't release a cross gen version.

I'm inclined to agree, that's why I don't think we'll see Siege 2 until next gen. I think with its growth potential they plan on just fully supporting Siege through this cycle and don't want to release a sequel undermining / cutting off the legs of it.

Then they can sell Siege 2 as the next big thing on next gen consoles.

 

[benzopil]

People are bored of Ubisoft open world games and it is going to take more then "a good one of those" to be a success now.


They got a decade out of the formula. Thats pretty good but everything has its peak and that formula had its one 4 years ago.

They changed their formula in a lot of ways, that's why WD2 feels fresh. But I'm sure you didn't even try it.

 

[Freeman76]

Take another half off that and my group will be jumping in. We had fun with the beta but everyone knew the game would flop and be half off within a month. Dunno why Ubi didn't just launch Steep at $30 to begin with.

Some people were waiting for a good snowboard game on current gen, and this delivered in spades. For any true fans of the sport/genre this game is a gem. I paid £40 for it and dont regret a penny off that.

 

[echoshifting]

In the absence of SSX, I am pleased to hear Steep has done well. I've enjoyed it a lot.

 

[klier]

Nice to see that Steep isn't a failure.

Agreed. A nice game that has potential to become great.

 

[Zero-ELEC]

Historically people have actually shown up for sequels to questionable games (Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, Devil May Cry 2), so I think that the actual product style itself was the kicker.

Historically, people didn't show up for Devil May Cry 3 until Special Edition. OG DMC3 sold less than 2.

 

[Falchion]

Hope Watch Dogs 2 does well into the future, it seems like they made a ton of improvements over the first one.

 

[Nirolak]

Yep the style put me off it. I think that's what hurt it most, it went way too hipster for a lot of people.

But I also don't think WD can really be compared to other games, the hype was huge and it was the first true "next gen" game. Also coming off the heels of GTA V with the whole "Time to come to Chicago" marketing.

Funny thing is at this rate GTA V will probably sell more than the entire WD franchise when all is said and done lol

You don't feel Assassin's Creed 1 was marketed as the first true next-gen game?

 

[cityhunter]

That's funny about The Division. 1.4 brought back the population with good will. 1.6 is on it's way to regress that and destroy that good will thanks to their insistence of balancing PvP by destroying PvE and forcing two fundamentally different playstyle groups into that hot garbage Dark Zone.

 

[Gator86]

Pretty unbelievable that Siege, over a year later, has more daily users than it has at any other point. That is exceptionally rare to see, and kinda lends itself to me thinking we won't see Siege 2 until next gen. I think the plan is to support Siege through the remaining years of this console cycle. Maybe at best we see Siege 2 as a cross gen title at the end of this cycle / early next.

Steep being above expectations is somewhat surprising but at the same time kinda not. It launched low but seems to have been maintaining very strong legs. It chart's week in and week out in the UK for example.

I just beat Watch Dogs 2 a couple weeks ago, and while I overall enjoyed it, I had a huge amount of issues with it. Namely the controls being way overly complex which is something that doesn't usually bother me. If they do a WD3 I hope they rethink a lot in the franchise.

Totally agree about Siege. One thing I think we'll see a lot is people using Siege as some type of example when it's really an outlier. It has virtually no competition in the market. It's not something like Titanfall 2 which has to compete with all of the other actiony shooters. The opportunity for growth with Siege isn't something a lot of other titles might have.

 

[Setsuna]

WD2 could have been literally the best game out last year and it would have "underperformed". They burned way, way too many people on the first game, I'm sure tons of those people skipped WD2 without even giving it a second look.

I didn't buy watch dogs 2 because of how it changed from the original

Everything i liked about the original is gone in the sequel

 

[Mrbob]

I don't see a need for Siege 2. Just keep adding to base game.

Also more competition combined with a muted response to Watch Dogs is what probably hurt watch dogs 2. Watch Dogs had console launch hype and less games to go against.

 

[Ilmyr]

Steep is a great game and I hope they deliver new content soon.
It deserves much more attention imho. I'm glad it's above expectations, so theres hope that we can see more of this IP.

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

I'll be getting Watch Dogs 2 once it hits $20, really enjoyed the trial. Might do the same with Steep

R6 numbers are insane. I never expected it to be this big

 

[Gator86]

That's funny about The Division. 1.4 brought back the population with good will. 1.6 is on it's way to regress that and destroy that good will thanks to their insistence of balancing PvP by destroying PvE and forcing two fundamentally different playstyle groups into that hot garbage Dark Zone.

Agreed. The ideas behind the Division and the DZ are great, but in practice, the DZ is fucking garbage. Their emphasis on PvP totally misses what's good about the game. It would be great if they doubled down on what is actually fun and unique about the game instead of chasing the PvP dragon. Fetch isn't going to happen.

 

[ShadowSoldier89]

I'm still playing Siege. Its become my favorite multiplayer shooter of all time (sorry Socom 2). Games built around elimination game modes are so rare, and none have done them as well as Siege.

 

[kraspkibble]

Quite interested in picking up Steep. Playing The Division right now and struggling as it's way too repetitive. I'm half way through the campaign and at lvl 18.

I really enjoyed Watch Dogs 2. I hope they make a 3rd.

 

[EL CUCO]

Siege is fantastic. Picked it up on sale last week and loving it so much, I bought the year 2 season pass. Nice to see The Division doing well. Looking forward to Last Stand

 

[paragonpro]

Im gonna pick steep up this weekend, i really enjoyed the beta, im glad to see its doing ok

 

[Obliterator]

Totally agree about Siege. One thing I think we'll see a lot is people using Siege as some type of example when it's really an outlier. It has virtually no competition in the market. It's not something like Titanfall 2 which has to compete with all of the other actiony shooters. The opportunity for growth with Siege isn't something a lot of other titles might have.

While I agree with you that Siege really has its own niche the rest of the market isn't servicing, and that really helps, its not really much of an outlier anymore in a lot of ways. Big service based games are doing this sort of thing now days. We've seen Destiny with an amazing tail end, Division getting lots of re-engagement, even stuff that launched small like The Crew has turned into a success for Ubisoft through a long back end of support and updates. And then of course we have games like Overwatch that are now up to 25 million registered users, and assuredly a high retention rate.

Its just sort of the way the industry is moving, is these service based titles. And that's probably exactly why EA has Bioware's new IP following that same sort of thought process.

But yes, Siege is really the poster child for this, and it being so much higher than launch with Daily users is certainly something that sets its apart from much of the industry. Ubisoft have done a phenomenal job of supporting the game, and it really it was the poster child for their entire business model moving forward. Kind of a proof of concept to go down this road.

 

[ducksauce]

I'm really enjoying both Watchdogs 2 and Steep (Alaska mountain drops tomorrow BTW) . I hope they continue to do well. Also loved the Wildlands beta and can't wait for the full game.

 

[Raziel]

Hopefully they go back to the style of the first Watch Dogs. They needed to improve what was already there and try to get it the level of the reveal demo. Not tear the whole thing down.

 

[Jb]

Historically people have actually shown up for sequels to questionable games (Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, Devil May Cry 2), so I think that the actual product style itself was the kicker.

On the flip side I feel the underwhelming sales of recent games like AC Syndicate or Titanfall 2 are directly correlated to consumers being unsatisfied for one reason or another with the previous entry. I would wager Watch Dogs 2 falls into that category as well.

The first AC was such an exciting new idea at the time that most people (I would guess) were willing to overlook its obvious flaws, which they explicitly addressed in 2. Watch Dogs 2's marketing on the other hand focused on the new cast and setting instead of an overhaul of the fairly shallow core mechanics of the original.

 

[Nirolak]

Totally agree about Siege. One thing I think we'll see a lot is people using Siege as some type of example when it's really an outlier. It has virtually no competition in the market. It's not something like Titanfall 2 which has to compete with all of the other actiony shooters. The opportunity for growth with Siege isn't something a lot of other titles might have.

I would argue it has one very, very large competitor, but I do agree in that I think it's easier to stand out in sub-genres with less competition than more competition.

On the flip side I feel the underwhelming sales of recent games like AC Syndicate or Titanfall 2 are directly correlated to consumers being unsatisfied for one reason or another with the previous entry. I would wager Watch Dogs 2 falls into that category as well.

The first AC was such an exciting new idea at the time that most people (I would guess) were willing to overlook its obvious flaws, which they explicitly addressed in 2. Watch Dogs 2's marketing on the other hand focused on the new cast and setting instead of an overhaul of the fairly shallow core mechanics of the original.

I still feel it's a core interest issue though. Like I don't think a bad previous game helps, but I think people honestly just weren't interested in the ideas Syndicate and Titanfall 2 had to offer on a surface level (or a beta level in particular for Titanfall 2).

Like Battlefield 1 followed up Battlefield: Hardline, whereas Dishonored 2 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided followed up hugely acclaimed and well selling games, but it was the latter two that tanked, while the former is doing better than ever.

 

[RoadHazard]

Still need to get Steep. Just waiting for that price drop, which I thought would have come by now. (It hasn't here in Sweden at least.)

 

[recklesscognition]

They probably didn't even expect Steep to be released, so anything must be an improvement.

 

[jmizzal]

When is the conf. call, what to see what they say about Switch support

 

[Glix]

Judging by the headline I would say Steep had very very low expectation and Watch Dogs had absurd expectations.

I ONLY heard good things about Watch Dogs, while the most positive thing I have seen about Steep is a strong "meh"

 

[Nirolak]

When is the conf. call, what to see what they say about Switch support

I think it just ended.

 

[DomsPlaying]

Always just as interesting to me what companies don't say in their PR than what they do say.

For instance, Ubi is touting R6 users and other stats while not providing any sort of guidance on Watch Dogs 2 sales or user figures. I know they said WD2 under-performed, but this leads me to believe that it's even worse than we think.

Sad really, because it was one of my favorite games last year.

 

[GankzyMcfly]

I don't see a need for Siege 2. Just keep adding to base game.

Also more competition combined with a muted response to Watch Dogs is what probably hurt watch dogs 2. Watch Dogs had console launch hype and less games to go against.

Entirely agree, they could add a pro/scorpio patch that adds higher resolution but maintains 60 fps so there is no advantage. That would be amazing...either way though, i cant imagine anybody active in the siege community actually wants a siege 2...just continued support for siege for as long as possible...i actually think a siege 2 would rock the boat significantly.

 

[benzopil]

When is the conf. call, what to see what they say about Switch support

During an earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot teased some of the company's upcoming Nintendo Switch games. It will release Just Dance 2017 as a launch title for the system, and will release multiple other games for the system in 2017 that will be "very strong for the machine."

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/south-park-the-fractured-but-whole-delayed-as-ubis/1100-6447709/

 

[Acquiescence]

God no, its better in every possible way. But it lacks a structure, an actual game that was designed. It just has better mechanics in everything, but they just left it at that, they didnt use those mechanics to form a game. It just feels like a random sandbox level. Its like they got the best ingredients for a meal, but they forgot to make the actual meal with those fine ingredients. So you're just left with tasting the individual ingredients, but you'd like to have the actual meal

Nah, I can't agree with that at all. Going from the first game to 2, it really felt like the mechanics and gameplay as a whole took a big hit quality wise. The first game pretty much perfected the art of gunplay and stealth in the context of a sandbox game, which is something that even GTA V couldn't pull off nearly at the same level (and I love V, it's a better game for sure). In the sequel, those aspects aren't nearly as satisfying. Marcus is supposed to be more green and vulnerable than Aiden, so he goes down more easily and is thus more reliant on a stealthy approach, yet the stealth is worse and you're far more prone to being seen by the enemy. And then when you are discovered, you've got to rely on shoddy gunplay mechanics that feel nowhere near as tight or punchy as they did in 1.

People say that the story and cast is a marked improvement over the first, but I can't even concur with that sentiment either. The story in 2 is crap, and it lacks any kind of narrative hook to engage the player. It can basically be summed up as 'This company is bad, let's form a band of hacktivists and fight back at the CEO in a series of missions until he's sent to jail.' No wonder the pre-orders weren't rolling in. And that's not even mentioning the severe ludonarrative dissonance. As gaming lexicon goes, I hate that term, but it sure is apt in regards to WD2. Marcus is more likeable than Aiden sure, but nothing about his character is believable or makes sense. He feels like he should be somebody who doesn't engage in fisticuffs or gunfights whatsoever when viewed upon in cutscenes, but when you're actually playing as him, you've no choice but to go full-on Trevor when the alarms are raised and you're pitted against a wave of security guards with a license to kill.

I think if there ever is a third Watch Dogs game, they should try to match the tone of the first game more, as it's far better suited to the kind of GTA-esque game that Ubisoft insists on making. Make Jordi the protagonist, insert more black comedy so as to avoid the po-faced self-seriousness of Watch Dogs 1, and bring back the excellent combat/stealth mechanics (gang hideouts and convoys were so good). Don't go the more light-hearted, hipster route, because it just doesn't gel.

Hopefully they go back to the style of the first Watch Dogs. They needed to improve what was already there and try to get it the level of the reveal demo. Not tear the whole thing down.

Exactly.

 

[antitrop]

Watch_Dogs 1 was a right place at the right time thing, the sequel had little chance of recapturing the same success.

 

[Aces&Eights]

Historically people have actually shown up for sequels to questionable games (Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, Devil May Cry 2), so I think that the actual product style itself was the kicker.

That's me. I somewhat enjoyed the first but after seeing the trailers for the second with hash tag eye guy I immediately felt my age. Just felt the story and whatnot was aimed at people 20 years younger than myself. Not saying it was a bad game but not anything I personally would want to play.

 

[jmizzal]

During an earnings call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot teased some of the company's upcoming Nintendo Switch games. It will release Just Dance 2017 as a launch title for the system, and will release multiple other games for the system in 2017 that will be "very strong for the machine."

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/south-park-the-fractured-but-whole-delayed-as-ubis/1100-6447709/

Cool we know Rayman and Steep is coming, would love to see what else they have. We have the Rabbids x Mario rumor and new AC rumor

This is also interesting
"Guillemot added during the call that Ubisoft won't release as many new IP going forward and will instead focus on growing its existing brands."

Just give us a new Splinter Cell