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[MALpractice311]

When you make the same game every 6 months, people are bound to get bored.

When your games consistently go on sale for 25% to 50% off 4 to 8 weeks after release, people are going to stop buying on release date.

When your digital rental service costs a few bucks a month, people will eventually learn they can subscribe for a month at a time, play your new releases and then immediately unsubscribe.

When you intentionally make your lead female character uglier than the actress who provided voice and mocap, you might avoid upsetting a couple dozen game journalists and a few hundred easily offended people who live their lives eternally on Twitter, but you immediately turn off the mainstream audiences that actually buy games.

All of these factors were bound to eventually catch up to Ubisoft.

 

[EDMIX]

And this is the issue. I am one of those people, that if a product or service has the reek of DEI on it, I will, if possible, immediately use an alternative, stop using the product altogether, or just not purchase it.

I suspect that there are far more people like me, then you might suspect. It adds up. Hell, I stopped using Gillette razors back in the day after that stupid ass commercial, and now I use a small business made safety razor, in which blades are dirt cheap, and it cuts better. I will never go back. Gillettes own stupidity, exposed me to something better. I also have completely cut out P&G from my existence.

Gaming? It is exceedingly easy to not buy games touched by this insanity. Far easier then everyday products.

Companies, and people selling products have to take it seriously, or suffer lost sales, period.

Sure, but I don't think its in the millions though

I think this game simply under performed based on no having a Jedi as the character, very basic open world and not enough to set it apart from the other Star Wars titles in a positive way.

 

[DavJay]

A good chunk probably came from the bundle graphics card deal. That’s a shame. Game is decent

 

[Kotaro]

That's really low

Meanwhile Stellar Blade, an unknown IP by a first time console developer, sold that same amount on one platform

 

[Gp1]

A million more than Concord.

999,987 to be exact.

And to think that the first battlefront with 3 maps sold 15 times more than Outlaws.

I'm waiting for the humble bundle already.

 

[BigBeauford]

 

[Complistic]

Ubisoft, LOL x24

 

[EverydayBeast]

Outlaws destroyed concord.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

LMAO if it's really only 1 million sold that would explain why Ubisoft is panicking so hard over AC Shadows. 1 million is an absolute disaster for a Ubisoft AAAA $200M budget Star Wars game

 

[PSlayer]

So stellar blade sold as much as a star wars AAA game? probably with better profit margins even?

 

[VanCityGamer]

So stellar blade sold as much as a star wars AAA game? probably with better profit margins even?

Probably? Beyond a shadow of a doubt MUCH better profit margins.

 

[EDMIX]

That's really low

Meanwhile Stellar Blade, an unknown IP by a first time console developer, sold that same amount on one platform

Its all about perspective.

The game still needs to be good, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Spiderman doesn't matter, the name attached means nothing if the game isn't really good.

Stellar Blade being unknown also means it has little stigma or preconceived notion attached to it. For what the were going for, for their budget, this is a success.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So stellar blade sold as much as a star wars AAA game? probably with better profit margins even?

Stellar Blade probably cost 1/10th of what Outlaws cost to make

 

[EDMIX]

LMAO if it's really only 1 million sold that would explain why Ubisoft is panicking so hard over AC Shadows. 1 million is an absolute disaster for a Ubisoft AAAA $200M budget Star Wars game

True, this means what ever issue they know of with Shadows simply can't fly at release. It actually really needs to be a solid game or any major issues would just add more fire to the flame, but this is sorta like what happened prior with them.

AC Unity has lots of issues, we see them old off on other releases, we see some titles delayed, even see AC no longer in the yearly format

This is a good restructuring btw as this was for the better, we then see Far Cry 5 delayed to make sure its polished and that only helped that game even more.


My take, it shouldn't take something like Star Wars Outlaws flopping to have them do this, this should have been a lesson learned last generation, not a "knee jerk reaction" suddenly as if they are not aware the game still needs to be in working order. Even as someone that has AC Shadow's pre-ordered, lots a of great games coming this fall, no need to rush it and I'd rather have it solid and working, then today and rushed, broken etc.

So maybe something like this is a good thing and needs to happen now to ensure HEXE, Far Cry 7 etc and their other titles turn out solid.

 

[Dazraell]

1 million copies probably doesn’t cover the launch marketing costs. They needed RDR2 numbers.

Finance department weeping at all of that money wasted for taking journos on a trip to Disneyland lol

 

[Kotaro]

So stellar blade sold as much as a star wars AAA game? probably with better profit margins even?

yep, Stellar Blade sold as much as Outlaws on ONE platform and with probably 15-20% of the budget

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

the debut trailer look pretty good and it made what Starfield couldn't.... this is a Concord level of marker rejection (when you consider what the star wars IP and the studio behind it). insane

 

[BaneIsPain]

disney star wars and ubisoft
It’s like match made in heaven for flopping

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

For comparison, FF XVI sold 3 million copies in 10 days on PS5 alone which was below Square's expectations.

It sold over 3mil in about 5 days on PS5 alone with a Sony exclusive deals Vs 3 platforms here.

On top of that developed in Asia so dev costs are lower.

Then factor in Ubi probably had to pay licencing fees and royalty just for the honour of using the battered Star Wars IP.

So at 1mil this is a mega bomb. I would wager just for break even they needed to shift 4-5mil units and they probably expected this to be a 10mil+ smash hit.

 

[mckmas8808]

True, and I have to imagine those royalty fees to Disney/Lucasfilms ensure they don't reach profitability anytime soon, if ever.

Yep. We remember Insomniac said they needed to sell 7 million units of Spiderman 2 to break even because Marvel was getting 18% off of each game. Even if this game cost half as much as Spiderman 2, they'd still have to give Sony, MS, and Valve 30% ON TOP of Disney's 15% or whatever. I'd imagine it needs to sell at least 5 million to break even on all platforms combined.

 

[Ozzie666]

I miss the old times when selling 1 Million copies was a success, massive hit.

 

[Da1337Vinci]

I can't see it break-even even with discounts, holidays and their on-going updates in the long-term.

 

[Kotaro]

Yep. We remember Insomniac said they needed to sell 7 million units of Spiderman 2 to break even because Marvel was getting 18% off of each game. Even if this game cost half as much as Spiderman 2, they'd still have to give Sony, MS, and Valve 30% ON TOP of Disney's 15% or whatever. I'd imagine it needs to sell at least 5 million to break even on all platforms combined.

true. that 18% fee sounds about right.

Hasbro must pay Disney 20% royalty fee for each of SW and Marvel toys they sell. I figure since SW and Marvel brands are not as strong in video games as they are in toys, that 18% is what I estimated.

So on top of the 30% Ubisoft have to pay to platform owners Sony/MS/Steam, they also have to pay 18% to Disney. that leaves them just a little bit over 50% of the total revenue for themselves

Ubi is FUCKED!!!

 

[GymWolf]

Damn incels

 

[mckmas8808]

true. that 18% fee sounds about right.

Hasbro must pay Disney 20% royalty fee for each of SW and Marvel toys they sell. I figure since SW and Marvel brands are not as strong in video games as they are in toys, that 18% is what I estimated.

So on top of the 30% Ubisoft have to pay to platform owners Sony/MS/Steam, they also have to pay 18% to Disney. that leaves them just a little bit over 50% of the total revenue for themselves

Ubi is FUCKED!!!

So $70 million in revenue in the first month, but only pocketed close to or around $40 million. That's sad. I'd estimate they'd need to sell 6 million units at an average cost of $50 per game ($300 million revenue), just to break even after marketing ($75 million), cost to make the game ($175 million), and Disney fees (18%).


Sadly this game will fly to $30 by the end of this year, just in hopes to sell 2-3 million units. This will crush the average price per unit hard! This game will lose Ubisoft probably over $100 million.

 

[HoodWinked]

the most bizarre thing is that these studios/publishers constantly talk about how incredibly risky these high budget games are then when it comes to making the actual game they do absolutely weird shit that appeals no nobody and take horrible gambles like this.

 

[mckmas8808]

the most bizarre thing is that these studios/publishers constantly talk about how incredibly risky these high budget games are then when it comes to making the actual game they do absolutely weird shit that appeals no nobody and take horrible gambles like this.

The wrong people are in the room making decisions. I feel like Covid REALLY REALLY messed things up with communication and who is actually leading some of these games.

 

[Ridicululzz]

I miss the old times when selling 1 Million copies was a success, massive hit.

It still is for games with a lower budget. Unicorn Overlord and Stellar Blade both celebrated one million.

 

[Blade2.0]

I'm not totally sure since i don't own the game yet but saw some tips vid where i saw you can change that R3 in the settings, might try it if you didn't yet.

Thanks. I was thinking of trying to get used to the defaults to see if I ended up looking them more. But I'll look into the controls menu also.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

the most bizarre thing is that these studios/publishers constantly talk about how incredibly risky these high budget games are then when it comes to making the actual game they do absolutely weird shit that appeals no nobody and take horrible gambles like this.

Makes no sense, but that's video game companies for ya.

General business strategy (including home finances), youre supposed to focus on doing what you do well, make profit as a company or spend youre money at home where you get what you need but can save some cash for savings.

No sane people at work are going bust the budget on a low value or silly project. And most people (unless they are the stupidest people on Earth) dont spend giant sums of money on junk. In both cases, if youre going to spend some good money at least get something good out of it. If you got a good trend that's worked, keep doing it. Dont rock the boat.

Gaming companies have product strategies you'll never see in a business textbook, since the first one written 300 years ago by some old guy using a quill pen under candlelight....... Chapter 1: Risk Big Money on Dumb Shit.

 

[Plague Doctor]

This game will not even break even. That's fucking wild to consider. A Star Wars open world game will lose money.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

So it appears Metaphor has sold roughly what this sold in a month in just 2 days.

 

[Gamezone]

This game will not even break even. That's fucking wild to consider. A Star Wars open world game will lose money.

Only a special kind of garbage publisher will manage to accomplish that.

 

[Kotaro]

So it appears Metaphor has sold roughly what this sold in a month in just 2 days.

Oh my Lord

And probably with 1/10th of the budget

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Oh my Lord

And probably with 1/10th of the budget

AAA and AAAA gaming studios on suicide watch.

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

1 million to many.

 

[zaga]

Sadly this game will fly to $30 by the end of this year, just in hopes to sell 2-3 million units. This will crush the average price per unit hard! This game will lose Ubisoft probably over $100 million.

I’ll buy it at $30, and after a few more patches.

 

[Solarstrike]

Game is fantastic. Many people think that watching a few minutes of a YouTube video of a game means they played it. If you are a Star Wars fan, it's great.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

So it appears Metaphor has sold roughly what this sold in a month in just 2 days.

You can bet Western developers are taking note.

I wonder when we'll see our first Western Persona-like. Guaranteed it'll be design-comitteed to the point it misses the soul that makes Atlus games so special.

 

[Mr Hyde]

A disaster on all fronts. No other way you can spin it.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Unpopular opinion: Ghost of Yotei won’t fare thar much better.

Female only lead Open World games don‘t work. Yes, I hear you say Horizon but I‘d argue that one only did well because the guys wanted to shoot Dinosaur robots. I know that was my main reason for buying it. Ghost of Yotei doesn’t have that novel setting.

 

[chromatic9]

Feels like the ip has been heavily milked and watered down. New Star Wars product used to be an event and have special care taken with it. They had a SW game out last year for crying out loud.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

I miss the old times when selling 1 Million copies was a success, massive hit.

Nintendogs, a DS exclusive game from 2005 has sold over 20 million copies.

Outlaws sold 1/20th of Nintendogs.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Nintendogs, a DS exclusive game from 2005 has sold over 20 million copies.

Outlaws sold 1/20th of Nintendogs.

Frogger on PS1 sold 3M copies. SW Outlaws cant even beat that game.

 

[Paperboy]

Ubisoft has been killing their own business for years with their generous discounts too soon after release. As a consumer I shouldn't be complaining, but you buy a Ubisoft game on release once and then you learn. It's not uncommon to be able to pick it up for 40% off six months later, when the game has been patched up as well.

 

[TGO]

For comparison, The Callisto Protocol sold 2.4 million in 3 weeks and was reported on that 3rd week as a flop.

 

[Stuart360]

AVATAR sold 1.6mil in its first week and was seen as a bit 'meh' sales. Ironically its probably one of Ubisofts biggest hits since valhalla.
Skull and Bones for example released after AVATAR and had numerous sales (including a 80% off flash sale) before AVATAR even had a single sale offer.

AC has always been Ubisofts cash cow, their saviour against underperforming games. If Shadows doesnt sell then they are in real trouble.

 

[MALpractice311]

Ubisoft has been killing their own business for years with their generous discounts too soon after release. As a consumer I shouldn't be complaining, but you buy a Ubisoft game on release once and then you learn. It's not uncommon to be able to pick it up for 40% off six months later, when the game has been patched up as well.

You don't even have to wait 6 months. You can find most Ubisoft games 35% off two months after release.

 

[Spyxos]

Unpopular opinion: Ghost of Yotei won’t fare thar much better.

Female only lead Open World games don‘t work. Yes, I hear you say Horizon but I‘d argue that one only did well because the guys wanted to shoot Dinosaur robots. I know that was my main reason for buying it. Ghost of Yotei doesn’t have that novel setting.

It still looks way more interesting, to what ever star wars outlaws supposed to be.

 

[Reaseru]

To Yves Guillemot: