RIPPA Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Quote EA has shut down Visceral Games, the studio behind games like Battlefield Hardline and Dead Space, the publisher said today. The Star Wars game in development at Visceral will be revamped and move to a different studio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 It also sounds like the Star Wars game is getting majorly reworked from being an Uncharted-type adventure game to more of a Destiny-esque shooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 12 minutes ago, Zimbra said: It also sounds like the Star Wars game is getting majorly reworked from being an Uncharted-type adventure game to more of a Destiny-esque shooter. The fact that we haven't got a decent Star Wars action game or a decent Star Wars RPG in about a decade is truly absurd. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I hope you motherfuckers like loot boxes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp, broken circa 1988 Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 The game industry is in a real fuckin' shitty position at the moment, huh. All of this shit has one simple fix that no one wants to even talk about, and that's raising the price of games to mitigate the increased development costs of the last generation. So out of fear, they resort to making games they won't get just one hit off of, because the $60 hit might not be good enough to make the money back. I saw this in the Waypoint article about this but didn't see a direct source, so the numbers might be fudged, but the article suggested that Dead Space 2 cost $60 million to develop, the game sold 4 million lifetime, and that wasn't enough to turn a profit. Now I'll allow that it's possible that this is some Hollywood-level Bookkeeping Yoga, if only because all of the alternative answers are horrifying. We're just gonna be stuck here until either publishers raise the prices or everyone goes out of business. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 I eagerly await Star Wars: Loot Box Battle Royale Game As A Service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 It's a great time to be an indie game fan, but AAA titles are broken as hell (and you have to pay to beta test them now too, so what's the point really). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tromatagon Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Quick heads up that they changed the South Park Fractured But Whole deal...all day one editions get current gen Stick of Truth free, even if you don't preorder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabe Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 7 hours ago, BL88 said: The game industry is in a real fuckin' shitty position at the moment, huh. All of this shit has one simple fix that no one wants to even talk about, and that's raising the price of games to mitigate the increased development costs of the last generation. So out of fear, they resort to making games they won't get just one hit off of, because the $60 hit might not be good enough to make the money back. I saw this in the Waypoint article about this but didn't see a direct source, so the numbers might be fudged, but the article suggested that Dead Space 2 cost $60 million to develop, the game sold 4 million lifetime, and that wasn't enough to turn a profit. Now I'll allow that it's possible that this is some Hollywood-level Bookkeeping Yoga, if only because all of the alternative answers are horrifying. We're just gonna be stuck here until either publishers raise the prices or everyone goes out of business. Yeah, there's no way those numbers are right. No way is a company spending so much on a game that they lose money at 4m units sold. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp, broken circa 1988 Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 1 hour ago, Tabe said: Yeah, there's no way those numbers are right. No way is a company spending so much on a game that they lose money at 4m units sold. Yeah, like, even if you assume thats 4 million life time and it only sold 1mil in it's first full year on the market, that's $60m there. So either EA has signed the worst distribution and marketing deals on the planet, or something isn't adding up here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Not surprised that Visceral is gone. EA is probably consolidating their shooter-ish title development under DICE since that is the house that is responsible for Frostbite. At least we know what engine the next Deep Space game will run on, provided that there is another Deep Space game. EA will probably funnel as much of Visceral's talent as they can at EA Maxis while still remaining cost effective. They made a similar move when the dissolved Bioware Montreal was partially absorbed by Motive Studios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 $60 million for Dead Space 2 sounds super high, even for a game that had some actual television marketing. But what do I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Here is the story that I think everyone is referring to https://www.cinemablend.com/games/EA-Says-Dead-Space-3-Has-Sell-5-Million-Survive-43629.html Basically in an interview before DS3 came out - the guy from EA claimed that DS3 needed to sell 5 Million copies to be viable The exact quote Quote "In general we're thinking about how we make this a more broadly appealing franchise, because ultimately you need to get to audience sizes of around five million to really continue to invest in an IP like Dead Space. "Anything less than that and it becomes quite difficult financially given how expensive it is to make games and market them. "We feel good about that growth but we have to be very paranoid about making sure we don't change the experience so much that we lose the fanbase." Reddit did the math and said that meant it need to make $300 million Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Okay - THIS is the story that I think BL was talking about http://www.gamezone.com/news/dead-space-2-cost-60-million-to-make-only-sold-4-million-copies-and-underperformed-3460351 Quote The game cost $60 million to make (without taking account marketing which can sometimes be double the cost of development and the cuts retailers and platform holders take) and sold 4 million copies. 4 million is nothing to scoff at usually but this was over the game's lifetime, meaning not all of these were sold at $59.99. Some were probably marked down to $39.99, $29.99, or even $19.99, so it's hard to say if the game turned a profit. Even if it did, former Visceral employee Zach Wilson noted that it didn't matter because the game failed to meet the financial expectations at EA. Wilson was the one who tweeted the numbers (which are in the story) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 So I picked up The Witcher III: Complete Edition since it was on sale. Never played any of the series. before. I noticed something about simulating a Witcher 2 save. Is that something I should leave alone as a first time player, or will I miss out on interesting aspects if I do even as a first time player? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurningBeard Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 I'm gonna get Resident Evil 7 in the Halloween sale. The regular game is £24 but the game + DLC is £44. Is the DLC worth the extra 20 quid or am I likely to never bother with them? I kinda know the answer as I barely have the time to play one game but will get them if they add to the story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLSigman Posted October 19, 2017 Author Share Posted October 19, 2017 17 hours ago, Eivion said: So I picked up The Witcher III: Complete Edition since it was on sale. Never played any of the series. before. I noticed something about simulating a Witcher 2 save. Is that something I should leave alone as a first time player, or will I miss out on interesting aspects if I do even as a first time player? You'll get asked a series of questions a few hours in. I also had never played the previous games, so I just chose at random. It can change who shows up in side quests and such. There's probably a guide somewhere that can be more specific. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 I don't think that EA would've been interested in making another Deep Space game even it had met targeted sales goals. This new round of studio closings and personnel consolidation just reeks of "Let's Get Anthem Out On Time!" Remember when you were looking forward to Jade Empire 2? Yeah, me neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 34 minutes ago, J.T. said: Remember when you were looking forward to Jade Empire 2? Yeah, me neither. I never stopped looking forward to a Jade Empire 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 2 hours ago, RIPPA said: I never stopped looking forward to a Jade Empire 2 Bioware lost... focus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Man, I just want a KotOR III that retcons that Old Republic MMO. Bonus points if Obsidian develops it and then some other team goes back in and cleans up the code. KotOR is legitimately the only time that I've ever actually cared about Star Wars in any significant way, so of course it somehow gets dropped as a branch of that IP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabe Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Hey, Civilization 3 is free on Humble Bundle right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLSigman Posted October 20, 2017 Author Share Posted October 20, 2017 17 hours ago, Death From Above said: Bioware lost... focus. *long, deep sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 17 hours ago, Death From Above said: Bioware lost... focus. It's probably more "Bioware is trying to appease their EA Overlords." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 I hate you so much. (and by 'you', I mean me) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts