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Hellblade 2's peak CCU outperformed Bleeding Edge and is still climbing on Steam
Daneel Elijah
Gold Member
I found out that I was using my PC more for indies like FTL, The binding of Isaac, Hades... than AAA on PC. For me buying a fancy card is more for comfort and long term proofing my PC. Maybe it will change now that Sony AAA games are getting available on PC and consoles are more and more like cheaps PC with few unique features, if any.
phaedrus
Member
Bumblebeetuna
Gold Member
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
lol i have like 400 hours in ftl over the last decade or so and another 100-150 hours in hades on the xbox gamepass app. so i hear you.
but the whole reason why i skipped xsx this gen and upgraded my pc instead was to play these xsx and ps5 games at 60 fps high settings. it took me 1.5 years to find a 3080 and im just surprised that gamers skipped Alan Wake 2, Avatar and now hellblade 2 back to back to back. this isnt just a one off.
phaedrus
Member
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
The CCU is massive* and growing.
anthony2690
Member
I don't really enjoy the dunking of video games not performing well, but in this case it was worth it for the chuckle this gave meSorry, I couldn't help myself.
I do think Xbox really need to start doing some classic basic advertising for their games though.
TV/YouTube adverts, billboards or on the side buses/bus stops, stuff you frequently see everyday.
Because whatever they are doing advert wise really isn't working for them imo.
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Daneel Elijah
Gold Member
FTL is amazing. I recently tried the multiverse mod and it make the game endless.
I understand your point for the cards. But for me, it seems natural that gamers buy cards to play games they like, not buy games to use their cards if you see what I mean.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Agreed. But, as much as I dislike Aaron Greenberg and his work, I also understand where Xbox and its marketing department come from.I don't really enjoy the dunking of video games not performing well, but in this case it was worth it for the chuckle this gave me
I do think Xbox really need to start doing some classic basic advertising for their games though.
TV/YouTube adverts, billboards or on the side buses/bus stops, stuff you frequently see everyday.
Because whatever they are doing advert wise really isn't working for them imo.
They can't really spend, say, $40 million in marketing if they never expect the game to sell as much. And because they don't market as much, the games do not sell well. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hellblade 2 wouldn't have sold much more than this, even if it was marketed well. And there are many factors for that: Xbox's hardware market share, Game Pass, the game lacks substance, Xbox's localization problems, etc.
anthony2690
Member
Yeah I fully understand what you're saying.
But they could probably double up these adverts as a game pass advert for both Xbox and pc too?
Then again I know subscription growth has halted too.
I think they need to find a way to make people aware of these games coming, especially steam players as they are the ones that are mostly like to part with money to buy the games, granted I'm probably a rare breed of Xbox player that loves owning physical releases and has probably purchased more games than ever due to game pass.
I still find it crazy how well sea of thieves seems to have done on both steam and playstation with what seemed like no advertising, I guess it's just a game people really want?
Dazraell
Gold Member
These numbers are not good at all. Not only they are worse than Hellblade 1, but about 3k lower than Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall which were also available on GamePass Day 1 like HB2
It's safe to assume that peak numbers may not go significantly higher considering HB2 length. This game isn't the one that has potential for keeping people playing for longer than a few hours and a lot of people who already played it most likely already finished it or are very close to finishing it
It's safe to assume that peak numbers may not go significantly higher considering HB2 length. This game isn't the one that has potential for keeping people playing for longer than a few hours and a lot of people who already played it most likely already finished it or are very close to finishing it
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Booted it up and played about an hour.
This game is truly awful, they should rename it “nails on a chalkboard” because that’s what it’s like to “play” this.
Pressing up on the analog stick, slow walking for most of it, extremely basic combat, and I have voices screaming at me non stop
How the fuck does this get made? Shut down the studio this is just atrocious.
Graphics are great, although blurry as fuck all. Why not just make a movie? There’s no game here. And if this were a movie, it would be terrible in that medium as well
Cannot believe this game was in development that long. Just another example of how poorly managed the MS studios are
This game is truly awful, they should rename it “nails on a chalkboard” because that’s what it’s like to “play” this.
Pressing up on the analog stick, slow walking for most of it, extremely basic combat, and I have voices screaming at me non stop
How the fuck does this get made? Shut down the studio this is just atrocious.
Graphics are great, although blurry as fuck all. Why not just make a movie? There’s no game here. And if this were a movie, it would be terrible in that medium as well
Cannot believe this game was in development that long. Just another example of how poorly managed the MS studios are
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yazenov
Member
LavitzSlambert
Member
Considering how short it is, launching on Game Pass, and it being a Tuesday release, I'm not surprised by the low numbers. I don't think concurrent users are going to be a good way to measure this game's success. With that said, I don't expect the game to perform all that well anyway.
demigod
Member
There’s a reason why every non xbox fan kept asking where the gameplay was at from all the trailers/shows. Xbox fans kept telling us all is fine. They got sold a used car from snake oil salesman phil yet again.
bitbydeath
Member
Sackboy sold over 1.5M, it wasn’t relying on PC for sales.
pasterpl
Member
Wow that's really impressive, considering Hell blade 2 is a day one release on PC
But somehow you warriors keep forgetting that the game is also on Gamepass
YuLY
Member
We are using them, in games like Ghost of Tsushima, which is an actual game, not a 5h movie.
Gaiff
SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Most of us don’t have high-powered rigs. Only a minority. The majority rock 3060-tier GPUs.
Sw0pDiller
Member
But people have walked a 1000 miles allready in this game so far if that aint engagement or succes i dont know what is. MS must be bloating about xbox live numbers on this game in 3, 2, 1....
The Cockatrice
Member
You dumdums missed the point. I wasnt shitting on Ghost of Tsushima lmao. Also comparing GoT's mp with GTAV's online is water and oil or Doom's mp vs Fortnite. Maybe someday when you guys get your tongues out of Phils ass and stop being mindless corporate slaves, you'll understand. My point was comparing a singleplayer focused game, Hellblade, with GTA5 is idiotic. Yes I am actually defending Hellblade here you muppets.
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Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
MrTired
Member
And how did that workout for HiFi Rush developers Tango Gameworks and Redfall developers Arkane Austin?
ricardo_sousa11
Member
lol 3k people on launch....ouch
DForce
NaughtyDog Defense Force
This goes to show you the tough spot Microsoft is in.
Game Pass is not growing.
Hellblade 2 is a 5-6 hour game.
Retail sales are not great.
How is Microsoft going to make their money back?
It doesn't make any financial sense. They acquired Ninja Theory for $117M and now they're probably going to have two unsuccessful games in a row.
Forza Horizon 5 and Starfield are both on game pass and still sold millions via retail.
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SmokSmog
Member
Dazraell
Gold Member
It may over the weekend, but personally speaking I don't see it ever reaching the concurrent users of the first game
Varteras
Gold Member
CityHunter1981
Member
Everything about Hellblade 2 is a joke.
First they put out this message about the big marketing, which was at the end a message from the studio head and a boring launch trailer.
Then the game got reviews averaging below 80 (when not taking the Xbox magazine reviews into account). That might be an acceptable score for some games, but not the big Xbox exclusive which was 7 years in the making.
First they put out this message about the big marketing, which was at the end a message from the studio head and a boring launch trailer.
Then the game got reviews averaging below 80 (when not taking the Xbox magazine reviews into account). That might be an acceptable score for some games, but not the big Xbox exclusive which was 7 years in the making.
bitbydeath
Member
That’s what’s killing them.
ToadMan
Member
So people would really sub to gamepass to play this?
I mean, isn't their time valuable to them? I put the reforge gaming play-through on in the background while doing some other things.
That was an hour and half of boredom listening mostly to a guy who loved HB1,play watch HB2 and even that felt like a waste of my ears.
Actually it was kind of sad though seeing someone who loved HB1 trying to love this, but the hope gradually evaporated. He ended the stream saying it was too depressing for him to continue while criticizing how it was a regression from the first installment...
I guess we've all had those moments with a game at some point but I felt sorry for the guy after he obviously enjoyed HB1 immensely.
Personally I wouldn't pay $1 to sub for this. May as well watch that UE5 demo from before the PS5 launch to scratch the woman walking itch.
I mean, isn't their time valuable to them? I put the reforge gaming play-through on in the background while doing some other things.
That was an hour and half of boredom listening mostly to a guy who loved HB1,
Actually it was kind of sad though seeing someone who loved HB1 trying to love this, but the hope gradually evaporated. He ended the stream saying it was too depressing for him to continue while criticizing how it was a regression from the first installment...
I guess we've all had those moments with a game at some point but I felt sorry for the guy after he obviously enjoyed HB1 immensely.
Personally I wouldn't pay $1 to sub for this. May as well watch that UE5 demo from before the PS5 launch to scratch the woman walking itch.
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Vroadstar
Gold Member
lol....indeed
The hype around Starfield is massive, and growing.
The last game I can remember that had this type of hype leading up to its release was Red Dead Redemption 2. It's trending on twitter every day. Forums and social media are all about Starfield, and MS hasn't advertised jack shit for it. I haven't really been a Bethesda guy, but I am a space...www.neogaf.com
I'm afraid he is not trolling
SJRB
Gold Member
Don't think it will. Honestly a lot of streamers were playing this yesterday, they all played through it in one go. Streamers and viewers alike experienced pretty much everything there is to experience in that one sitting.
I don't think many viewers thought "damn I want to play through this myself now". It's a one-and-done thing.
Darkness_Arises
Member
Why did it cost 117M$ to buy Ninja Theory, most people here claim they are a 80 dev house. Sony bought Insomniac for 229M$ and they actually had 2 different teams, each having atleast a 100 devs each. MS are real chumps, they paid 6B$ for Zenimax as well.
ShaiKhulud1989
Gold Member
You know what? Terrific point that is not talked about enough, at least so far.
HB2 suffers not only from the lack of focus or plot (standart case with low budget European art-house lol). It's just bland in it's overall direction and presentation if we don't talk about tech.
Music is barely there, coloring is comically safe muted teal orange, there's not many truly visionary or even interesting shots during almost 6 hours, dialogue direction is your typical 180-degree rule (albeit w/o visible cuts), camera is flying like crazy and many angles feel unnatural, too CG for a movie and too forced for a game. HB2 is also not trying to mimic optical artefacts of a camera lens, like proper anamophic flares or perspective, that's why despite the agressive grain and CA visuals are landing in a strange way. Too game-like and not cinema-like.
If anything, HB2 painfully reminds you why people adore Kojima as a director and a movie guy despite his weirdness.
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Lorianus
Member
Even if they greenlit it, if Ninja Theory needs another 6-7 Years for a glorified 5 hour walksim it will get axed after 2-3 years anyway i guess.
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ShaiKhulud1989
Gold Member
They will announce it the same day CoD lands on gamepass. To soften the blow.
MrRibeye
Member
You dumdums missed the point. I wasnt shitting on Ghost of Tsushima lmao. Also comparing GoT's mp with GTAV's online is water and oil or Doom's mp vs Fortnite. Maybe someday when you guys get your tongues out of Phils ass and stop being mindless corporate slaves, you'll understand. My point was comparing a singleplayer focused game, Hellblade, with GTA5 is idiotic. Yes I am actually defending Hellblade here you muppets.
Let's compare two singleplayer games that both released in May 2024.
Dazraell
Gold Member
Woah, I knew Hades 2 did well, but I wasn't expecting these numbersLet's compare two singleplayer games that both released in May 2024.