Thirith on 16/8/2017 at 14:29
Underworld, not Ultima.* Not sure those games (Underworld Ascension and the new System Shock) are AAA, though; my impression is that they're more AA, which means that you won't need as many sales for them to count as a success.
*I would kill a man for a worthy new Ultima-alike. Not very virtuous, I know.
Renault on 16/8/2017 at 14:47
I always do that. I've actually never played any of the Underworld or Ultima games.
Pyrian on 16/8/2017 at 18:35
I wonder how much of the issue with DX:MD, DH2, and Prey is the fact that they all came out in a relatively short amount of time? I have every intention of picking up DH2 and Prey at some point...
Weasel on 16/8/2017 at 20:16
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think these types of games could make a big comeback in VR, because they're a natural fit (in both directions). Lone Echo has a little bit of the same flavor.
Twist on 16/8/2017 at 22:57
I think these most recent games also just faced something that every higher cost game faces these days: a significant percentage of the game-buying public
1) Has a huge backlog of games already to work through, so they're less likely to buy games when they first launch;
2) Are used to games being cheaper -- whether from buying indie games or from waiting for seasonal sales -- so they're less likely to fork over full price for a AAA game;
3) Have their attention split in so many different directions by everything that's available these days -- in gaming and streaming media -- that even if they're not concerned about their backlog or about paying full price, it's more likely now than in the past that they may not notice or develop buying interest in a particular game during its narrow launch window.
Right here at TTLG -- where we have the ideal target demographic for these games -- I've seen multiple people explicitly post something about their backlog or about waiting for a Steam sale before buying either Dishonored 2 or Prey.
In addition, fair or not, the core audience for these games often tends to be pretty cynical about anyone trying to replicate the games at the origin of this sub-genre. Not only does that inhibit sales, but it influences word-of-mouth.
There are other factors that have nothing to do with the quality of the games or their commercial viability. For example, I think it was stupid for Bethesda to use the Prey brand for this new, well, Prey. Several Prey reviews spent a sizable word count explaining to readers that this was not that other Prey starring a Native American and it had nothing to with that, or that this had nothing to do with the much-discussed Prey 2 involving an alien bounty hunter. It's better now, but at launch if you Googled Prey, Prey mods or Prey images, you saw as many if not more results for the 2006 Prey as you did for the new Prey. (I could go on about the number of ways Bethesda botched the launch of Prey, but this is enough of my rambling, and yes I know Arkane Austin was the developer, not Bethesda.)
Nameless Voice on 16/8/2017 at 23:09
Another factor is that a lot of the recent games (that is, Dishonoured 2 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) shipped in a really buggy state.
It's not a motivating factor to buy a game at full price when it comes out (or to pre-order it) when that means you are paying to be a beta tester.
Twist on 16/8/2017 at 23:43
Yeah, and Dishonored 2's crappy launch influenced Prey's launch, too, even though Prey launched in much better shape with a completely different engine. It's just hard to fight back against the ill will of such decisions. I still blame Bethesda more than Arkane on that one, too. I don't know if they'll admit it, but Skyrim launched on 11/11/11 and has been an incredible success for them, so I think somebody superstitious was stubborn about pushing Dishonored 2 out on 11/11 as well, whether it was finished or not. (*adjusts tin foil hat...)
icemann on 17/8/2017 at 03:34
Have to say that I COMPLETELY agree with the name choice for Prey comments from above. If it linked in with the other game then cool that's fine. But when it doesn't then they should have used a new name. Games companies are just so risk adverse about new IP these days.
It's a shame as Prey is excellent. I'd also argue that things like this have the knock on effect of causing people to forget the early entry (when the names are identical).
Jason Moyer on 17/8/2017 at 04:49
I feel like people (including that author, and probably me at some point in the past) give the new DX games too much credit for being immersive sims. They're better games than Invisible War was, but I feel like instead of presenting problems and giving the player's avatar tools to solve those problems in a highly systems-driven worldspace they just created a few alternate routes for different builds. I forget which Youtuber mentioned this, but DXHR and DXMD feel like really great Metal Gear-inspired sci-fi stealth games that aren't especially similar to or building on the original game, even if they're better games than the sequel made by the original devs. I also hate the mid-action camera switching and having some SplinterCell 5 style third person cover-stealth instead of the ability to lean. You can handwave stuff like objective markers and the radar thing away because AUGMENTATIONS but I doubt Jensen has an augmentation that shoots a camera at the wall to show his badass takedown and sneaking abilities.
Having Dishonored 2 and Prey come out like 6 months apart and nailing the fundamentals of an ImSim didn't help with the feeling that the new DX games aren't really part of the same subgenre.
henke on 17/8/2017 at 05:27
Quote Posted by Brethren
Funny that the article doesn't even mention Thief 2014 (sales of 1.5 million according to Steam Spy).
It's more of a straight up stealth-game than an immersive sim, isn't it? Gotta say I'm not entirely sure why Thief 1 & 2 gets included in the ImmSim category either, other than coming out at the right time by the right developer.
Quote Posted by Twist
Right here at TTLG -- where we have the ideal target demographic for these games -- I've seen multiple people explicitly post something about their backlog or about waiting for a Steam sale before buying either Dishonored 2 or Prey.
*raises hand*Yup, haven't played either yet. I'll get to them eventually, but I feel like the next time I wanna start up a new emergent, systems-rich stealth game it'll be Hitman.