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[Frostman]

everybody i know in the UK buys games digital.

Depends on platform but I usually don't for consoles as I would rather save £20.

PC though is different.

 

[comshoplesce]

WOW, really?

 

[OléGunner]

everybody i know in the UK buys games digital.

Would you say 9/10 of your friends buy digital?

Spoiler

That's an old Gaf meme

 

[Wulfram]

You mean like Dragon age 2?

DA2 was apparently commercially quite successful, because it didn't cost very much.

 

[wapplew]

How not to market a game.
They should pull a fallout 4 marketing scheme, announce and release in quick succession, keep preview at minimum.

 

[pitchfork]

I know some of elements within EA did expect this, and yes, the advertising spend is related to that. I also know that other groups in the company did NOT expect this.

Even within those that expected a less than amazing result, this is still bad.

One thing that did get my curiosity leading up to launch was the lack of (as far as i'm aware) a marketing deal between either Xbox or PlayStation

I hope lessons are learned and the franchise has a future. Despite all the bugs and glitches there is still a good game there imo

 

[Nirolak]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

 

[Lime]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

Which is kind of weird, since Bioware is (for better or worse) branded for its strength and focus on narrative and less on its gameplay mechanics. It's weird to see this transformation from a singleplayer narrative-focused company to a multiplayer gameplay-focused studio.

But of course, the market is the market, so...

 

[Renekton]

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

Won't it get brutally crowded with Destiny 2 and Borderlands 3 on the way? Plus Ghost Recon is a recognized IP with Tom Clancy name.

 

[Ragnar Blackmane]

Won't it get brutally crowded with Destiny 2 and Borderlands 3 on the way? Plus Ghost Recon is a recognized IP with Tom Clancy name.

To be fair... the last Ghost Recon game before Wildlands (Phantoms) bombed critically and commercially. Still surprised that Wildlands did so insanely well considering that.

 

[AHindD]

Which is kind of weird, since Bioware is (for better or worse) branded for its strength and focus on narrative and less on its gameplay mechanics. It's weird to see this transformation from a singleplayer narrative-focused company to a multiplayer gameplay-focused studio.

Ahhhh..... look at who their publisher is bud.

 

[Lagamorph]

Given the DLC bullshit around the PC versions of the previous trilogy (Bioware funbucks) I'm not remotely surprised at the poor PC sales performance.
They've said it won't be the same this time around, but I doubt that message was too loudly heard.

 

[BigTnaples]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

Please God no.

 

[CHC]

That's pretty bad. Word of mouth is huge and honestly, quality sells. It's no coincidence that games like Grand Theft Auto and The Witcher are big sellers.

 

[Lime]

Ahhhh..... look at who their publisher is bud.

My point is that Bioware's strengths have historically been in the singleplayer narrative department and not multiplayer-oriented game systems.

 

[Kill3r7]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

So make BG3 with MMO lite elements.

 

[Kintaro]

There is another way to look at this. You can look at it as a disappointment for ME franchise, I guess. But...how bad is UK retail doing this year that ME: A (the 3rd best launch in the IP's history) is the 3rd biggest launch this year? There has been a ton of great games this year and this is the 3rd biggest? Bigger than Zelda/Switch?

Huh.

 

[Kill3r7]

There is another way to look at this. You can look at it as a disappointment for ME franchise, I guess. But...how bad is UK retail doing this year that ME: A (the 3rd best launch in the IP's history) is the 3rd biggest launch this year? There has been a ton of great games this year and this is the 3rd biggest? Bigger than Zelda/Switch?

Huh.

Same as all Western markets. Not sure why you are singling them out.

 

[OléGunner]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

I'll be honest Nirolak, this all sounds rather grim.
Will probably sell a shit ton because it's shoot bang with your friends™.

 

[Hoo-doo]

Horizon is a bigger game than freaking multiplatform Mass Effect.

Holy shit, Guerrilla has to be fucking popping bottles right now.

 

[Interfectum]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

Sounds awful but if ME:A is what Bioware writing has become maybe they are better off doing shot-bang online co-op games.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

I'll be honest Nirolak, this all sounds rather grim.
Will probably sell a shit ton because it's shoot bang with your friends™.

Yeah it's not just you. Fair enough if they're actually popular, but honestly I can't stand those types of games. Destiny was largely unfulfilling and The Division was probably most hollow POS I've ever played. I really hope there isn't a market trend about to start there because they're seriously some of the most boring and tedious gaming experiences I've had.

 

[Lime]

Horizon is a bigger game than freaking multiplatform Mass Effect.

Holy shit, Guerrilla has to be fucking popping bottles right now.

I think it's more about Bioware drinking themselves to a stupor after shitting the bed so bad after 5 years of development.

 

[Interfectum]

Yeah it's not just you. Fair enough if they're actually popular, but honestly I can't stand those types of games. Destiny was largely unfulfilling and The Division was probably most hollow POS I've ever played. I really hope there isn't a market trend about to start there because they're seriously some of the most boring and tedious gaming experiences I've had.

It's a market trend until it's not. All we need is a few high profile bombs and you'll see devs pivot to something else. A developer like CDPR will survive these trends by sticking to what they do best plus do online offshoots like Gwent.

 

[Hoo-doo]

I think it's more about Bioware drinking themselves to a stupor after shitting the bed so bad after 5 years of development.

Obviously.

Still, it's pretty wild to see these developers changing seats in just a few years.
Horizon established Guerilla as one of the greats with a very healthy trajectory, while Bioware is losing all the momentum they've built up over the years.

 

[Tovarisc]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

So... you want BW to really hardcore water down everything about their games and mass produce some bs "service based" games like Destiny where game suffers from lack of coherent narrative, pushing microtransactions and having very long periods of content drought and what little is had caters only PvP crowd?

Yeah, no thanks. MEA is great Mass Effect game and it's shame that reviewers ripped into it so hard that is reflects to sales and fan reception.

Horizon is a bigger game than freaking multiplatform Mass Effect.

Holy shit, Guerrilla has to be fucking popping bottles right now.

Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved.

Go figure it shows in sales.

 

[astroturfing]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

soo.. who will make epic space adventure RPGs then? you can't leave that niche unfilled, it's just not right.



oh well if people just want loot grinding MP games, so be it. i'll go cry in the corner.

 

[Principate]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

I always found it a bit off that Bioware Edmonton are doing the destiny like game while these guys were doing ME4 I mean single player story based games where never their strong suit judging by the ME3 DLC they did but cooperative multiplayer is. Always seemed like a bit of a mismatch. If this games Destiny like based off the ME3 multiplayer foundations it would likely have been received far better and been cheaper.

 

[OléGunner]

Yeah it's not just you. Fair enough if they're actually popular, but honestly I can't stand those types of games. Destiny was largely unfulfilling and The Division was probably most hollow POS I've ever played. I really hope there isn't a market trend about to start there because they're seriously some of the most boring and tedious gaming experiences I've had.

Yeah I hear you man.
These service based games are coming up from every orifice, and I tend to only really like a select few like Destiny.

But pubs have already started down this road without looking back, the allure of endless DLC and microtransactions is too much for them to ignore.

So... you want BW to really hardcore water down everything about their games and mass produce some bs "service based" games like Destiny where game suffers from lack of coherent narrative, pushing microtransactions and having very long periods of content drought and what little is had caters only PvP crowd?

Yeah, no thanks. MEA is great Mass Effect game and it's shame that reviewers ripped into it so hard that is reflects to sales and fan reception.



Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved.

Go figure it shows in sales.

I hate to break it to you but uhhh there's been whispers for a while now that Biowares new game is an MMO lite thing you play with friends.

Also the little jab at Horizon, lol!
Great game is great according to many critics and players, don't be salty af because it is exclusive.

 

[opricnik]

Good i hope Mass Effect stays dead

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved.

Go figure it shows in sales.

The salt, it is too much.

 

[Tovarisc]

I hate to break it to you but uhhh there's been whispers for a while now that Biowares new game is an MMO lite thing you play with friends.

Also the little jab at Horizon, lol!
Great game is great according to many critics and players, don't be salty af because it is exclusive.

I heard those rumors about their new IP and kinda shame if they are true. Yet to see game like Destiny or Division that can deliver proper main narrative and evolve it over time through DLC, like they are supposed to. They all have fucked it up so bad.

Also what jab at Horizon? It's overpraised game. I put 70h into it hardest possible difficulty so I kinda know what kinda game it's.

 

[Kintaro]

Same as all Western markets. Not sure why you are singling them out.

Because this is a thread about the UK? And we don't know how ME: A did as NPD isn't out for the NA yet?

 

[13ruce]

All those people deserve a refund..

 

[Hoo-doo]

Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved.

Go figure it shows in sales.

Or you know, one is a great game and the other is mediocre and shipped half-finished.

 

[The Salt Life]

Shame, after the first two hours of game play I'm finding it a lot more enjoyable than horizon (combat wise) and wildlands,hopefully the mass effect fog piling eventually goes away and it gets the positive pressure deserves.

 

[Tovarisc]

Or you know, one is a great game and the other is mediocre and shipped half-finished.

Outside of graphics, main story and like 2 side stories HZ isn't setting anything on fire. But hey, I put only 70h into Horizon and 90h into MEA so I have no clue what kind games they are.

Shame, after the first two hours of game play I'm finding it a lot more enjoyable than horizon (combat wise) and wildlands,hopefully the mass effect fog piling eventually goes away and it gets the positive pressure deserves.

I doubt MEA will never be redeemed at least on GAF. Little bit like in every TW3 thread Geralt's movement and games combat is brought up as things that make whole game garbage.

 

[Jimmyfenix]

Outside of graphics, main story and like 2 side stories HZ isn't setting anything on fire. But hey, I put only 70h into Horizon and 90h into MEA so I have no clue what kind games they are.

Stay salty.

"Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved."

 

[Hoo-doo]

Outside of graphics, main story and like 2 side stories HZ isn't setting anything on fire. But hey, I put only 70h into Horizon and 90h into MEA so I have no clue what kind games they are.

Glad to hear you are enjoying both games. Reviews are subjective after all.

But to insinuate that this was all the big bad biased reviewer's fault for being mean to Bioware, well that's just nonsense. The Mass Effect IP deserved a lot better than the stuff we got in ME:A, and Horizon surprised everyone by being actually pretty amazing.

 

[Carlius]

I'm still trying to understand how Wildlands got such a big launch. I thought that game is a guaranteed bomb.

wildlands is fucking awesome. deserves all the praise it gets.

 

[Hoo-doo]

wildlands is fucking awesome. deserves all the praise it gets.

So, like, barely any?

 

[Nirolak]

Won't it get brutally crowded with Destiny 2 and Borderlands 3 on the way? Plus Ghost Recon is a recognized IP with Tom Clancy name.

Thus far, there seems to be no limit to the amount of games like this people are buying. Sure, they could find the wall, but as it stands, they're still having near-bottom-of-the-genre sales for major WRPGs even when they get over 100 game of the year awards like Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Tom Clancy is also a brand that's seen a ton of bombs, even in the Ghost Recon series. There's a reason this was the second Ghost Recon reboot in a row.

 

[OléGunner]

I heard those rumors about their new IP and kinda shame if they are true. Yet to see game like Destiny or Division that can deliver proper main narrative and evolve it over time through DLC, like they are supposed to. They all have fucked it up so bad.

Also what jab at Horizon? It's overpraised game. I put 70h into it hardest possible difficulty so I kinda know what kinda game it's.

Yeah, Bioware's pivot with the new IP to a service model is lame for SP lovers, but truthfully I can't blame em, it's where the trends and money are at.

Oh and I didn't want to make assumptions on how much time you put into HZ my bad. (70 hours is crazy!)

Still a little churlish to just dismiss it as critics eating up a Sony exclusive in comparison to Andromeda.
Just accept others can like things more than you do and that's ok.

 

[Renekton]

So... you want BW to really hardcore water down everything about their games and mass produce some bs "service based" games like Destiny where game suffers from lack of coherent narrative, pushing microtransactions and having very long periods of content drought and what little is had caters only PvP crowd?

It's not about what he wants, but about what EA can do to make the best of a bad situation with a key developer.

 

[Tovarisc]

Stay salty.

"Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved."

Glad to hear you are enjoying both games. Reviews are subjective after all.

But to insinuate that this was all the big bad biased reviewer's fault for being mean to Bioware, well that's just nonsense. The Mass Effect IP deserved a lot better than the stuff we got in ME:A, and Horizon surprised everyone by being actually pretty amazing.

I'm insinuating on subjective matter that HZ was scored higher than it deserves and MEA lower than in deserves. In my opinion. Both games have different high and low points, but both are around 8 instead of 9 or 7 in my eyes.

How that makes me salty? Sure my original post was worded badly and quite a bait for "lol salt" posts, I admit. Still going to leave it as is, why to hide what I said :b

 

[Gator86]

Helps that reviewers ate Sony exclusive up and praised it more than game deserved, while ripped into MEA a lot more than it deserved.

Go figure it shows in sales.

This is terrific salt. I'm still hopeful for the ME franchise, but Horizon is crazy good and that's why everyone thinks it's better. Sorry, friend.

 

[Peroroncino]

To be fair... the last Ghost Recon game before Wildlands (Phantoms) bombed critically and commercially. Still surprised that Wildlands did so insanely well considering that.

Phantoms was a PC only F2P trash, most fans already erased it from their memory. Wildlands however is a legit sequel so I'm not surprised it did well, it also helps that the game is actually good at what it sets out to do.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

At this point I'd probably just shove BioWare on Destiny type games (a la their new IP) going forward.

1.) The only thing they seem to have progressively better reception on in their games is combat.

2.) Basically every loot game in recent history sans Borderlands was in a really rough state at launch (Diablo, The Division, Destiny) and still sold 10+ million copies. If BioWare even hits half of that, it would still be a step up for them at this point.

3.) These types of games generally have a vastly lower number of NPCs compared to regular BioWare games, so they can focus on polishing what's there. Fetch quests are also considered very appropriate in the genre. Generally when you're a troubled studio, you want to be able to tackle what you were most recently bagged over.

4.) Similarly, their storylines will also be compared to games like Destiny, The Division, and Diablo, instead of to The Witcher 3 or Persona 5.

5.) They can continually improve the game over time instead of trying to target whatever the industry standard is 4-5 years after they start development while starting from behind. You have to get things mostly right at the start with a regular singleplayer game, especially in an existing franchise, and I'm not sure that's within their grasp anymore.

6.) Frankly it's also just more in tune with the market than what they're making now. Even the half-step of just making full four player co-op campaign games would be a good step up for them given Ghost Recon: Wildlands is getting very poor reviews overall and is rife with problems, but is on track to be the best selling game until late August or September.

Pretty much all of that sounds horrible :/
Then again though, I can't stand loot focused RPGs like Destiny etc

There is another way to look at this. You can look at it as a disappointment for ME franchise, I guess. But...how bad is UK retail doing this year that ME: A (the 3rd best launch in the IP's history) is the 3rd biggest launch this year? There has been a ton of great games this year and this is the 3rd biggest? Bigger than Zelda/Switch?

Huh.

UK is not an outlier, it's indicative of others.
People keep treating it like some weird off shoot :/

And for that matter, most of the hugely acclaimed games this q1 that gaf loves are still very niche relatively speaking

 

[N7.Angel]

I think the bigger piece of news is that it debuted lower than HZD and lower than ME2 and 3.

Disappointing result for the IP, imho.

Yup but the bad press + early access + bad marketing broke the hype of the game.

I bought it on PC and I'm running it at a locked 60FPS but some of my friend bought it on PS4 Pro and say the performance were garbage and he wouldn't bother to play more of it, you can add that to the the list of why MEA bombed.

 

[Revas]

Bioware producers right now:

More seriously, I think EA expected frontloaded sales to recoup on on the 5 year long investment and hope that the IP was strong enough to motivate sufficinet early sales before word spreads about how terrible the actual product is.

It's actually not a terrible product, the hyperbole surrounding this game has reached fever pitch. However you're probably right about EA's projections and expectations.