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[remember_spinal]

Dishonored is one of my favorite game series and they pretty much put it on ice after Death Of The Outsider. Despite the later word of mouth for Prey, especially for the Mooncrash DLC that game just stood no chance with poor reviews.

But Deathloop had non-stop marketing from Sony in a year where the PS5 and any amount of software released was getting major attention. Not only did everyone know about the game but it came out last year to be one of the best reviewed games of the year, got a lot of positive buzz, and got nominated for GOTY. Theres basically no better metric for success than all those things coming together, especially at a slower period of major AAA titles releasing.

Yet, a month later it was 50% off and by Jan of that year it was in discount bins. What is it with Arkanes games that just don’t seem to appeal to the masses unlike Doom or even something like Portal? Let’s not forget this didn’t just release on PS5 it came out on PC also, where they have a lot of FPS games like this.

 

[adamsapple]

Because they're the thinking-man's first person shooters, not the Michael Bay esque eye-catching explosion fests that market well in adverts.

 

[feynoob]

Its normal business.
I think you are affected by games who sell alot.

Most games hover around 1m to 5m sales lifetime.

 

[Kvally]

I guess I never knew that the sales numbers were announced for their games.

 

[remember_spinal]

Because they're the thinking-man's first person shooters, not the Michael Bay esque eye-catching explosion fests that market well in adverts.

It wasn’t really marketed that way though. It was marketing as a run and gun with some non-linear story segments. It had far more shooty appeal than any other game they’ve made

 

[01011001]

Deathloop's marketing was AAAAWWEFUUUL

yes the game was heavily marketed, but it was also badly marketed.
unless you watched every bit of media and news coverage of the game it was almost impossible to understand what the concept of the game actually is.

Prey wasn't marketed as much, and it had a very short announcement to release timespan.
it didn't help that the name confused people and the genre is very niche... also 3 out of the 4 available console versions were absolutely dogshit of the highest order, with bad performance and mass amounts of input latency.

Dishonored was popular tho, so there's that

 

[anthony2690]

Yet, a month later it was 50% off and by Jan of that year it was in discount bins.

I think this applies to most games Bethesda publish (not insulting their titles as I enjoy a lot of them)

But I purchased Wolfenstein 2 at launch & 8 days later it was half price (digital too as well to my surprise)

Even doom and doom eternal dropped crazy fast, and rage 1 & 2.

I got doom + season pass for £12 from Amazon 2 months after release.

Rage 1 £6 a month after release brand new & rage 2 for £11.99 a couple months after launch as well.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Niche

 

[Robb]

Not sure, most of their games definitely deserve better. Prey is amazing and the Dishonored games are phenomenal imo.

I didn’t get along with the gameplay mechanics in Deathloop, but what I played was pretty solid still.

 

[Captain Toad]

Because they're not super high quality like the best-selling, fantastic games such as Roblox or Fortnite.

 

[Laptop1991]

Dishonored 1 is a great game and Dishonored 2 as well, eventually, but the state of the PC port of 2 on release was bad, I had to wait 3 months and 2 patches until it was in a playable state, that didn't help, i waited until after Prey was released to check it worked because of it. they are great games though.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Speaking from my own experience, Prey was probably the only game of theirs that hooked me in on first try. All the other ones took a while before I got into them.

My guess is that their games simply fall into that weird niche where they're too slow and boring for the fast paced shooter fans, and too dumbed down for fans of more complex games that they were inspired by, such as Deus Ex, System Shock, or Thief.

 

[Aenima]

Deathloop's marketing was AAAAWWEFUUUL

yes the game was heavily marketed, but it was also badly marketed.
unless you watched every bit of media and news coverage of the game it was almost impossible to understand what the concept of the game actually is.

Yeah. When i downloaded Deathloop i was still not sure what to expect from it. I ended up enjoying it more than what the marketing made me think of it.

 

[TonyK]

Dishonored and Prey are one of my favourite games and I didn't like it Deathloop since first sight. I don't know why, but something in the visual side made me reject it instantly. Now that I have Gamepass maybe I will try it.

 

[MetalRain]

When you compare something like Deathloop or Prey to series like Call of Duty (unfair I know), I think brand has a lot to do with sales.

Many people know Call of Duty, some have played one, maybe not the most recent but some near history. You know what you are getting into and while Call of Duty of this year is somewhat different from yesteryear, it's way more predictable to know if you would like that kind of game than with Arkane games.

Making every game different hurts the sales compared to long lasting game series. You mentioned Doom and God of War, both are over 15 year old game series with multiple games.

 

[Beer Baelly]

That problem is solved now because of GP.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Their games aren't very good.

They've had so many at bats and a games media that gushes over them but they simply don't hit with the public.

There's something fundamentally wrong with their design. What that is, I'm not sure. I couldn't be bothered to play more than a couple of hours of both Dishonored games.

Because they're not super high quality like the best-selling, fantastic games such as Roblox or Fortnite.

Fun is undefeated.

 

[Kvally]

Their games aren't very good.

Their games are very good. Even looking at metacritic, all of their games combined have an average of 81.

 

[hinch7]

I think it might be that people don't find action-stealth orientated games outside of big names like Assassins Creed, TLOU or Metal Gear Solid that interesting. Nevermind stealth games in first person(s).

That and Arkane's art style is a little.. out there. And Bethesda's marketing sucks outside of Elder Scrolls. A bit of a mixture of the above I reckon.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Their games are very good. Even looking at metacritic, all of their games combined have an average of 81.

I don't think the 50 to 120 opinions on Metacritic/OpenCritic that constitute a score is a good indicator of a games quality. They've been out of touch for decades.

The 200+ million "core gamers" opinion are way better at identifying quality.

 

[01011001]

The 200+ million "core gamers" opinion are way better at identifying quality.

many of those actually thought that Ragnarök is even remotely on the same level as Elden Ring... so no, they absolutely aren't

 

[Kvally]

I don't think the 50 to 120 opinions on Metacritic/OpenCritic that constitute a score is a good indicator of a games quality. They've been out of touch for decades.

The 200+ million "core gamers" opinion are way better at identifying quality.

200+ million core gamers haven't been polled. So we have to go by either metacritic/opencritic or personal opinion. It's of my personal opinion that their games are great.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I think their concepts are to "high brow" for most people. The art style used in their games worked for Dishonored, but hasn't looked good since.

Arkane needs to take a step back and put out some less ambitious titles to fund their bigger projects.

 

[01011001]

I think their concepts are to "high brow" for most people. The art style used in their games worked for Dishonored, but hasn't looked good since.

Arkane needs to take a step back and put out some less ambitious titles to fund their bigger projects.

they are owned by Microsoft, so they don't really have to fund anything themselves anymore.

I mean, Microsoft still hasn't closed 343 Industries and gave them a gigantic budget for Halo Infinite after 2 disappointing Halo games... even tho the studio deserves to be nuked from orbit

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

200+ million core gamers haven't been polled.

They have.

They vote with their wallets. They vote with their time.

Arkane simply doesn't get votes despite all the publicity their games have gotten over the last 10 years.

The sooner they identify their fatal flaw and fix it, the better off they'll be.

 

[remember_spinal]

they are owned by Microsoft, so they don't really have to fund anything themselves anymore.

I mean, Microsoft still hasn't closed 343 Industries and gave them a gigantic budget for Halo Infinite after 2 disappointing Halo games... even tho the studio deserves to be nuked from orbit

Never say never

 

[SlimySnake]

Because they arent as good? The graphics, production values, stories, boss fights, pacing, and well, everything that makes an AAA game AAA is lacking in these low budget indie games being passed off as AAA games.

Everyone sees them for what they are. Sony tried to shove it down our throats conference after conference, and it didnt even land in the top 20 on NPD. People knew that it was not the same Sony first party exclusive they love. Ones with great cinematic flare, combat, and level design.

If Arkhane wants their games to sell then they can start by not making their games look worse than last gen games. Redfall has no business looking that bad. Especially when Bethesda of all people have finally made a significant leap to improve their graphics.

 

[01011001]

They have.

They vote with their wallets. They vote with their time.

Arkane simply doesn't get votes despite all the publicity their games have gotten over the last 10 years.

The sooner they identify their fatal flaw and fix it, the better off they'll be.

you heard it here first, Justin Bieber makes some of the best music according to Men_in_Boxes

also he thinks that the Transformers franchise is among the best cinema out there.
and that the Resident Evil movies are the best game adaptations ever

 

[Kvally]

they are owned by Microsoft, so they don't really have to fund anything themselves anymore.

I mean, Microsoft still hasn't closed 343 Industries and gave them a gigantic budget for Halo Infinite after 2 disappointing Halo games... even tho the studio deserves to be nuked from orbit

Halo Infinite campaign is awesome. Multiplayer? Released as a dumpster fire. 343 needs an enema to get their act together.

They have.

They vote with their wallets. They vote with their time.

Arkane simply doesn't get votes despite all the publicity their games have gotten over the last 10 years.

The sooner they identify their fatal flaw and fix it, the better off they'll be.

That's not how that works. Thousands of great games out there that don't have great sales. Much has to do with genre, national promotion, visibility, word of mouth. It's of your opinion that they are not great games. It's of other opinions that they do have great games.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Cause their games isnt that good ?

 

[Kerotan]

Deathloop was proof that they'd never sell high numbers. Good game, huge marketing from Sony and soon after a GP and premium launch yet it's still forgotten about.

I loved the Dishonored series but always bought them on sale or free with PS plus. Dunno what it is about them they don't feel worth buying for a high price.

 

[brian0057]

Because they suck.

 

[Kvally]

they are owned by Microsoft

And I forgot about that. I wonder how that will impact their future game production. Larger budget? Better promotion?

 

[Spaceman292]

They're fukin boring

Also I'm still annoyed about Dishonored 2. The PC version sucks and the console version has camera acceleration that you can't turn off, along with ridiculous input lag.

 

[remember_spinal]

Deathloop was proof that they'd never sell high numbers. Good game, huge marketing from Sony and soon after a GP and premium launch yet it's still forgotten about.

I loved the Dishonored series but always bought them on sale or free with PS plus. Dunno what it is about them they don't feel worth buying for a high price.

Its almost bizarre to me that High on Life has gotten way more hype and sales than Deathloop. When its almost hard to argue that Deathloop is mechanically better designed game

 

[Hugare]

Dishonored is their best work. Hated Prey, enjoyed Deathloop a lot.

The main problem with their games is, imo, the lackluster AI.

Stealth is great, but once they find you, gameplay becomes completely broken. Was the case in Dishonored, Prey, and now with Deathloop. So it becomes a loop of getting spotted > reloading last saved game.

Its not like in MGS V, for example, where even when you get spotted the game offers tons of options and is still fun to play.

Deathloop is an FPS game and shooting feels horrible, so is in Prey. Dishonored is focused on close encounters, but fighting is also terrible: you parry and kill while getting shot from another enemy.

It does some things incredibly right, and others incredibly wrong.

Answering your question directly: stealth genre is not a popular one. Specially 1st person stealth games.

 

[Markio128]

I think it could be the art style that puts people off. I couldn’t really get on with Dishonoured because of it - the characters just look odd.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Deathloop is on Gamepass right now and I have other things to play before I get to that. It's way on the bottom of my to do list for 2023 and the game might leave Gamepass before I get to it.
What else they got recently I should play over Deathloop. Or what they got on the way?

 

[remember_spinal]

They're fukin boring

I think they’re pretty interesting as far as AAA developers go, they are doing things that are fundamentally different from others in the industry, not only gameplay wise but aesthetically speaking and with narrative. The fact that you can play an alter the story so much in Dishonored depending on how you play is very interesting.

Arkane imo is the best developer zenimax has which i know will be a hot take.

 

[Kvally]

the game might leave Gamepass before I get to it.

It's a first party game, so you are safe.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Survival of the fittest on an open market.

They make okay-ish games and they sell reasonably okay. Some of their games eventually build a niche, cult following, but they don't produce truly AAA top-notch games on the scale of RDR 2, God of War, TLOU, TW3, and, hence, don't sell as many copies.

In an open market, sales are almost always fair on a large enough timespan. People find better games, and they end up buying that instead of the games that Arkane produces.

 

[JayK47]

Dishonored was all well and good. It was a stealth game with no real stealth mechanics. There were a lot of missions where there was no place to hide and you had to just shoot your way through it. Kind of the state of most stealth games these days. Start off trying to be silent, someone sees you, shoot the rest.

Nothing about Deathloop interests me. It sounds very repetitive. No review or gameplay videos made me want to play it. If it is free or deeply discounted, I may try it. For example, it is on sale, but still going for $20 on Steam during a sale. Without the sale, it is still full retail at $60. By now it should be selling for $30 or less and be $10 or less on sale.

 

[remember_spinal]

Deathloop is on Gamepass right now and I have other things to play before I get to that. It's way on the bottom of my to do list for 2023 and the game might leave Gamepass before I get to it.
What else they got recently I should play over Deathloop. Or what they got on the way?

Redfall is coming sometime within the next few months, i don’t really see it being a big hit either.

 

[The Cockatrice]

they can start by not making their games look worse than last gen games

Spoken like someone who has not played their games or is blind af.

Dishonored 2 released almost 7 years ago. Its still in top 10 atmosphere/level design/visuals. Now gtfo.

 

[Kerotan]

Its almost bizarre to me that High on Life has gotten way more hype and sales than Deathloop. When its almost hard to argue that Deathloop is mechanically better designed game

Never Heard of that game. If I had the time I'd give deathloop a shot through PS premium but I don't. GTA, mw2 , God of war and destiny 2 taking priority. And after that I'll be playing horizon forbidden west, gran tourismo and the New jedi.

I think this is why they get forgotten. The games are good but most people have a few other games they just prefer and play instead.

 

[Henry Panic]

Game quality is irrelevant to sales unless you go crazy with heavy handed marketing, or get the attention of casuals on social media, which includes those who get their game buying recommendations from Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.

No casuals, low sales.

 

[64bitmodels]

Spoken like someone who has not played their games or is blind af.

Dishonored 2 released almost 7 years ago. Its still in top 10 atmosphere/level design/visuals. Now gtfo.

its slimysnake, that still looks like 'shit' to him.
not next gen enough, not enough waytwayshing, not 120fps, not cinemahtick enough. clearly everyone working at arkane are woke blue haired SJW feminists who don't want to push the gaming industry forward.

 

[remember_spinal]

Spoken like someone who has not played their games or is blind af.

Dishonored 2 released almost 7 years ago. Its still in top 10 atmosphere/level design/visuals. Now gtfo.

Yeah, I like the art style in their games. They aren’t cutting edge but they are aesthetically pleasing. They have kind of a painterly/concept art look to them

 

[remember_spinal]

Never Heard of that game. If I had the time I'd give deathloop a shot through PS premium but I don't. GTA, mw2 , God of war and destiny 2 taking priority. And after that I'll be playing horizon forbidden west, gran tourismo and the New jedi.

I think this is why they get forgotten. The games are good but most people have a few other games they just prefer and play instead.

Deathloop launched at a time when there really wasn’t that much out, especially ‘next gen’ games. I think the only thing released around that time was Tales of Arise and Lost Judgement

 

[Spaceman292]

I think they’re pretty interesting as far as AAA developers go, they are doing things that are fundamentally different from others in the industry, not only gameplay wise but aesthetically speaking and with narrative. The fact that you can play an alter the story so much in Dishonored depending on how you play is very interesting.

Arkane imo is the best developer zenimax has which i know will be a hot take.

Can you alter the story that much? If you kill more people it creates more rats, and you get the bad ending, which always annoyed me. It's a game about stabbing people where you get punished for stabbing people. Their games have a lot of anti-fun designs which put me off playing them.