-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Do we have to be worried about recent disappointing sales and quick pricedrops?
- Thread starter Ragona
- Start date
Aizen.S.Kennedy
Banned
Where can I get watch dogs 2 on sale 🤔. I wanna buy it to support the choice to have a black protagonist but I'm not spending 60 when I didn't even have the willpower to finish the first one. Got to a motorcycle chase and quit .
paragonpro
Banned
No but publishers do. It seems like the aaa market has finally inflated to the point of near bursting. What im hoping this means is that publishers see people are tired of the same franchises weve been getting for ten years and focus on new ip. And maybe not spend this proposterous amount of money on game development anymore. Maybe spend way less money on something smaller and unique
wapplew
Member
But most of them are good maybe great game! TF2 nominated for GOTY!
That game half the price within 2-3 weeks. Seems like no a healthy race to the bottom.
no for sound
UserDoesNotExist
Member
Canonical answer: Because the vibrancy of the market is made possible by the stability of the CoDs and the GTAs and the Madden/FIFAs. A healthy AAA market ensures that the overall industry is large enough that publishers can take risk on obscure titles and afford them being financial failures. Child of Light is made possible by Assassin's Creed.
This may be true for consoles, but PC gaming will exist until the end of time, with or without big publishers.
bobs...onGaf
Member
As you have said each of those games can be explained individually - I think it's been a while since a game has had high expectations and also been a good game.
Most of the games people have had high expectations for this year have absolutely reviewed badly
Most of the games people have had high expectations for this year have absolutely reviewed badly
Shadowhelper
Banned
Problem is, game sales are down period. Not that gamers are buying cool indie games instead. Yeah, it's really too bad console gamers have such little interest in games outside of the AAA scene, but enough for quite a lot of it to at least make it to the console space, so I guess there is that.
I don't buy that.
Nintendo is one of the healthiest software producers in the industry and they do it without insane AAA budgets. They also put out much more medium and small sized projects than any other publisher.
Your example of PC is good as well. The indie industry seems to be doing very well on Steam. IIRC, the top sellers/most popular on Steam doesn't really include AAAs either.
IMO, let console AAA burn. Force some innovation and some diversity in the types of games they produce. Let them get experimental.
We shouldnt be worried... publishers should though.
They really need to rethink their annual scheduling, and franchise saturation strategies.
Spaced throughout the year, without having to share marketing windows with competitors, i think all of these games perform better.
I know everyone covets the holiday window, but gamers have limited spending power and playing time. Publishers should think about releasing sooner, but planning major content updates around the holidays to capitalize on the shopping season.
They really need to rethink their annual scheduling, and franchise saturation strategies.
Spaced throughout the year, without having to share marketing windows with competitors, i think all of these games perform better.
I know everyone covets the holiday window, but gamers have limited spending power and playing time. Publishers should think about releasing sooner, but planning major content updates around the holidays to capitalize on the shopping season.
IronicSonic
Member
It seems only Battlefield, COD, FIFA and Nintendo games can sell on christmas season.
In other hand, sequels of Watch Dogs, Titanfall and Dishonored belong to oversaturated genres even though, they have some new ideas(?)
In other hand, sequels of Watch Dogs, Titanfall and Dishonored belong to oversaturated genres even though, they have some new ideas(?)
Randomizer123454444
Member
Games are doing better than ever. We are living in a world where My Summer Car (http://steamspy.com/app/516750) and ClusterTruck (http://steamspy.com/app/397950) can easily sell 100k copies.
ARK: Survival Of The Fittest, Stardew Valley. Undertale. Starbound have millions of owners on Steam. Then there are the enormously popular F2P games. Dota 2 and League of Legends to mention a couple.
Only thing that has happened is people have noticed that there are games outside the so-called AAA space. This is on PC. Consoles are in a more difficult position because of extreme control console manufacturers have over their own platform. This limits their number of games and price points. So I guess that's the real question, what will become of home consoles?
ARK: Survival Of The Fittest, Stardew Valley. Undertale. Starbound have millions of owners on Steam. Then there are the enormously popular F2P games. Dota 2 and League of Legends to mention a couple.
Only thing that has happened is people have noticed that there are games outside the so-called AAA space. This is on PC. Consoles are in a more difficult position because of extreme control console manufacturers have over their own platform. This limits their number of games and price points. So I guess that's the real question, what will become of home consoles?
crazy monkey
Banned
as consumer why should i complain about low price lol
Worried? Hell no, gaming demand is growing each day, it's the devs and pubs who have to worry if what they are offering is good enough for a mass market.
Here's a question I've been asking myself the last 3 years: would GTAV have become the same major success without hundreds of hours of voice-overs, cut-scenes and tons of licensed music?
Here's a question I've been asking myself the last 3 years: would GTAV have become the same major success without hundreds of hours of voice-overs, cut-scenes and tons of licensed music?
I agree, that annualized franchises should just die, but I dont really see franchise fatique in 3 out of the 4 mentioned games. Watch Dogs 2 and Dishonored 2 are significant upgrades over their predecessor and had a multi year development. Titanfall 2 adds a pretty great campaign ontop of the great multiplayer.
Also its not about complaining about lower prices, but being worried, that Publishers get the right message and the market doesnt just crash. They could look at Dishonored 2 and say guess noone wants this game, but Iam 100% sure the game could have been a hit in..say July.
Also its not about complaining about lower prices, but being worried, that Publishers get the right message and the market doesnt just crash. They could look at Dishonored 2 and say guess noone wants this game, but Iam 100% sure the game could have been a hit in..say July.
FriedConsole
Banned
You think console makers are going to continue putting out consoles for niche games? Hope you like playing on PC.
wapplew
Member
Let's hope those publisher don't analyze those result in a wrong way.
SeeNoWeevil
Member
Maybe people are fed up paying the most for the worst version of the game.
UpDownLeftRight
Banned
Well to be fair this is on the publishers. They killed the mid budget games and put all their eggs in one basket. Not to mention doubling down on games only selling in the holidays.
I'd argue that publishers wanting us to play games longer, either through open worlds, bloated lists of quests, online multiplayer, DLC or randomly generated content, all so they can put a big round number of hours on the back of the box and stave off trade-ins, is also not doing huge AAA games that all launch together any favours. If you play through a 12-hour game in November, you might buy another before Christmas. If you're still only scratching the surface of the online/SP content come Boxing Day, all the rest can wait for the January sales.
LordBaztion
Member
Deus Ex and Gears 4 also underperformed despite being well received games.
I think is worrysome because AAA gaming is being concentrated in a couple of on going games. Its like last gen situación with big games killing AA, now persistent/always update games are killing other AAA games. Well, the sooner we move to digital, the better.
I think is worrysome because AAA gaming is being concentrated in a couple of on going games. Its like last gen situación with big games killing AA, now persistent/always update games are killing other AAA games. Well, the sooner we move to digital, the better.
Freeman76
Member
YAY!! Then we can all get fucked over by extortionate prices because there is no competition.
Alebrije
Member
Think is game saturation , lots of gams these days and not even counting mobile market.
Also maybe a lot of people were waiting for Black Friday deals and Christmast
Maintenance
Member
Was Sleeping Dogs successful? Kinda, but not enough for a sequel. Here's your answer.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
nah, it just sucks that i paid full price at launch because they never did this kind of sales too soon before (at least on the biggest names)
wapplew
Member
That certainly the case.
Every publisher want their game to be the title that everyone buy, have enough content to play for all year long. But only a handful of those will succeed.
Shadowhelper
Banned
I bought Titanfall 2 on Amazon. Would it be unethical to return it and buy it cheaper?
It really does look incredible on PS4 Pro on 1080p.
Maintenance
Member
I think the GTA brand is stronger than any of that. Want proof? GTA Online, it's basically what you just said and it's raking in cash.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
if you can why not? in my case returning them is way too much of a hassle so im selling them and rebuying some
Mr. Poolman
Member
OP, developers are not your friends. Worry about your pockets, not theirs.
AAA bubble had to burst someday.
AAA bubble had to burst someday.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
Yep. Games have been overpriced for the entirely of 2010's. When indies try to charge $80 for a contentless game, you know we are in trouble. Games need to drop half of the price to make it worth purchasing.
I now believe in GAF's voice of reason i.e. buy games when they're 50% off, or $20 or less.
Tony Redgrave
Member
Maybe, just maybe people eventually gets fed up of the continuous reiteration of the same titles? The fact that the OP lists all sequels is telling.
The AAA industry is in dire need of some innovation and the longest developers and publishers keep pushing the same models the worse is going to get, since technology advances relentlessly and development costs go higher every year. Season passes and bullshit microtransactions are not going to bring back the interest of the public, especially when they can get the game for half the prince in a couple of weeks after release.
The AAA industry is in dire need of some innovation and the longest developers and publishers keep pushing the same models the worse is going to get, since technology advances relentlessly and development costs go higher every year. Season passes and bullshit microtransactions are not going to bring back the interest of the public, especially when they can get the game for half the prince in a couple of weeks after release.
apotema
Member
Agree, I will be able to buy more games thanks to this
this
this push for early and late in a year releases with nothing in between seems stupid and always has. games need room to breath, even the big AAA ones that are part of popular franchises (rise of the tomb raider bombed at launch because of this) publishers need to realise they'll get more sales when their game(s) aren't all fighting over a consumers wallet at the same time of year.
people can argue games like tomb raider aren't in direct competition with something like fallout 4, which thematically is true, but the fact is, from a consumer standpoint, they are competing because people can only maybe afford one in any given month.
we need big games all year round. not 12 massive releases in the space of 2 months.
Like? I love playing on PC. I got it hooked up to my TV and a controller, i'm set.
If this ends the dumb race to buy in on 'DAY ONE!!1!' then i'm not against that either.
Buying on day one you risk paying a sucker's tax. Them's the breaks.
EventHorizon
Member
I think we need to see more data. My guess is that the online multiplayer space is getting saturated and become a zero sum game. Let's see how the more single player focused titles Horizon and Mass Effect Andromeda do early next year for a more complete picture.
Call of Duty and Titanfall have a single player campaign, but I think gamers have associated those titles with the multiplayer part. As a sample size of 1, I have discounted their single player offerings even though I know Titanfall 2 has been praised for its campaign. That's because I assume that regardless of its quality it will be short, and I am not interested enough to look into it more.
As for Watchdogs, I think it is a fundamentally weak IP. People don't care enough about it to give a second look after its poor initial outing. I don't know what to say about Dishonored 2 which probably speaks to its niche status.
Call of Duty and Titanfall have a single player campaign, but I think gamers have associated those titles with the multiplayer part. As a sample size of 1, I have discounted their single player offerings even though I know Titanfall 2 has been praised for its campaign. That's because I assume that regardless of its quality it will be short, and I am not interested enough to look into it more.
As for Watchdogs, I think it is a fundamentally weak IP. People don't care enough about it to give a second look after its poor initial outing. I don't know what to say about Dishonored 2 which probably speaks to its niche status.
I would say publishers wanted to push the envelope so there is less competition. Greed has got the better of them. It's funny though, there is less of them but they keep releasing at the same time.