Wasteland Wasteland 2 coming to Xbox One and PS4

[Infinitron]

I wouldn't be surprised if some form of subsidization from the console platform owners and/or the Unity Engine people was involved.

But it could just be a "why not?" thing. Swen wants to do a console version of D:OS and we know that did very well.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Why would Unity subsidize it?

In D:OS' s case, the way it was presented is that they want to do local coop on a big screen, which realistically requires controller support, at which point you may as well start thinking about a console version. That's a bit more complicated though, as D:OS uses Larian's in-house engine, which might not be built with painless console ports in mind.

 

[Infinitron]

Why would Unity subsidize it?

Demonstration of the new Unity 5's EZ-console porting capabilities, I suppose.

 

[Blackguard]

So, I take it that the game didn't sell well enough to make it economically viable without KS? Because I can't read this move as anything but desperate.

No, I'm pretty sure it did fine.

But do the math: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...sed-on-steamdb-data.96513/page-3#post-3783472

The budget was between 5 and 6 million dollars, including Kickstarter. And the Kickstarter handed out around 100,000 copies, so you can subtract that from the number of owners.

Eh, that's actually more than I expected. So they sold a little under 300k copies, game costs $40, let's use $30 to adjust for sales (rough estimate, can likely be improved by looking at W2's discount history). That's 9 million worth of sales, and 6.3 million revenue for InXile after Valve's cut. Sounds pretty good, to be honest, and definitely seems like the game would've easily made a profit without KS being involved.

This actually makes the decision to go console more puzzling. Maybe it's testing the waters, like "We're porting it to Unity 5 already, it's relatively easy to build for console from there, so let's see how it does."? Though I can imagine they'll need to spend some resources on retooling the UI significantly.

Your estimate is too high. You have to remember that Steam has regional pricing, only US, Canada and parts of Europe pay the premium price. And even in those countries you can circumvent it by buying the CD-key from grey market stores. The Steam price also has sales taxes included where applicable, discounts, etc. I'm not sure if the average profit inXile got per copy is actually even 20 dollars.

Then you got the KS campaign that ended at about 3 million. But not nearly all of that was actually available for the actual content making. From other projects we know that the actual money left after KS fees, rewards manufacturing, etc. can be surpsingly low. I'd guess after the costs inXile got around 1.5-2 million dollars from KS, so they actually funded the vast majority of development from their own pockets. So to summarize I really doubt that there is a huge pile of cash on inXile's bank account thanks to Wasteland 2.

 

[Infinitron]

From other projects we know that the actual money left after rewards manufacturing can be surpsingly low

Costs which inXile dodged by outsourcing rewards manufacturing to Deep Silver in exchange for the right to sell their own physical copies of the game.

No, I'm pretty sure it's not as low as 1.5-2 million from the Kickstarter. We actually know how much money of his own Brian Fargo invested in the game, and if the Kickstarter funds were really that low, things wouldn't add up.

 

[Infinitron]

Actually, now that I think of it, these console Wasteland 2s might also be Deep Silver's way of earning more money on their investment. Not sure if they're involved with it at all, though.

 

[LESS T_T]

Actually, now that I think of it, these console Wasteland 2s might also be Deep Silver's way of earning more money on their investment. Not sure if they're involved with it at all, though.

Maybe not. ID@Xbox is a program for independent developers.

 

[Ninja Destroyer]

They should make Wasteland Rangers - TPP co-op game which will be a prequel to W2. Or Hunted - Demon's Forge 2, if they really want some of that console market pie.

 

[Outlander]

They should make Wasteland Rangers - TPP co-op game which will be a prequel to W2. Or Hunted - Demon's Forge 2, if they really want some of that console market pie.

Bard's Tale 4 - The next Skyrim killer!

 

[Abu Antar]

I have no problem with this. I won't buy the console version but I have many times thought to myself that I don't see why a turn-based rpg wouldn't work on consoles. I'd buy a PS4 Divinity: Original Sin. Add local co-op to that, and I'd play that with my brother all day long.

 

[buzz]

What really grinds my gears with this announcement is not the fact that they're doing a console port. I think I've said it regardin D:OS as well, turn-based games on consoles are probably an even more worthwhile tradition than on PC, even if the games themselves are not as good as the PC ones. This is not the problem.



The problem is rather that we're missing on the fucking essential: THEY STILL HAVE ONE FUCKING GAME LEFT TO DO!

Why the fuck are you wasting your hard-earned money on doing shit that didn't benefit you in the first place when you already have a sizable budget and job for the next shit? Why waste your moment at GDC with news about an Xbox One port of your W2 when you could put something new Torment-related, or maybe info about the next kickstarter game?

Porting is probably not difficult, but certainly it will take a sizeable part of the dev team in order to do it. Dev team that could've been used on anything, from working on Torment to making a little prototype for the next game.



Seriously, they make kickstarter pitches about how publishers are evil and don't want to help them, then they end being in the service of TWO OF THE WORST ONES?

Fuck, are Microsoft and Sony literally the devil? It's the only possible way to explain how could this shit happen. No one in their right mind would reach for a console port right now, especially when the PC community backlash against consoles is nigh universal.

 

[DosBuster]

What really grinds my gears with this announcement is not the fact that they're doing a console port. I think I've said it regardin D:OS as well, turn-based games on consoles are probably an even more worthwhile tradition than on PC, even if the games themselves are not as good as the PC ones. This is not the problem.



The problem is rather that we're missing on the fucking essential: THEY STILL HAVE ONE FUCKING GAME LEFT TO DO!

Why the fuck are you wasting your hard-earned money on doing shit that didn't benefit you in the first place when you already have a sizable budget and job for the next shit? Why waste your moment at GDC with news about an Xbox One port of your W2 when you could put something new Torment-related, or maybe info about the next kickstarter game?

Porting is probably not difficult, but certainly it will take a sizeable part of the dev team in order to do it. Dev team that could've been used on anything, from working on Torment to making a little prototype for the next game.



Seriously, they make kickstarter pitches about how publishers are evil and don't want to help them, then they end being in the service of TWO OF THE WORST ONES?

Fuck, are Microsoft and Sony literally the devil? It's the only possible way to explain how could this shit happen. No one in their right mind would reach for a console port right now, especially when the PC community backlash against consoles is nigh universal.

Because Unity has really good porting abilities, and in reality doesn't really take away the team's resources too much. Plus Brian probably went "Yeah, this won't cost much to make and might get some extra cash, why not?" inXile's a business, if you can get your game working well on a console while using a very small amount of resources, you fucking do it.

 

[Infinitron]

buzz They already have a team working on Wasteland 2, so it's not like they had to pull people off of something. I'm sure sea is having lots of fun learning about console development!

Also, you're probably taking the "PC Master Race" stuff too seriously

 

[Alienman]

And the cycle of decline starts anew.

Yes, this new age of RPGs did not last long...

 

[buzz]

I'm not taking the PC master race stuff too seriously (I actually hate that crap). Other people do, at least some of whom are potential buyers (which means a lot for a game like Wasteland 2, that's for sure).

At the very least, it planted a seed that will certainly be brought up in every thread about them from here on then.

But hey, if they can pull it off correctly, all the great for everyone. I just think it's an asshole move at this point to start a kickstarter campaign saying Wasteland 2 is niche and big publishers don't want it and shit, then finish the development by selling it on the fucking consoles.


I mean, we've already established the game turned a significant profit and the official word of mouth is that kickstarter is lucrative, so why do the port at all? Why just not use that one or two guys who will do the porting through Unity work on something else instead? Why not move the Wasteland 2 team to another game instead? It's just fucking odd, that's all.

 

[Athelas]

I mean, we've already established the game turned a significant profit and the official word of mouth is that kickstarter is lucrative, so why do the port at all? Why just not use that one or two guys who will do the porting through Unity work on something else instead? Why not move the Wasteland 2 team to another game instead? It's just fucking odd, that's all.

This might shock you, but people like getting more money, especially if it involves relatively little effort, like with a console port.

But hey, if they can pull it off correctly, all the great for everyone. I just think it's an asshole move at this point to start a kickstarter campaign saying Wasteland 2 is niche and big publishers don't want it and shit, then finish the development by selling it on the fucking consoles.

The reasons for the Decline are many and multi-faceted. Ironically, a game like Wasteland 2 would perhaps have an easier time being made by a console developer. Valkyria Chronicles is somewhat similar to Wasteland 2, also featuring turn-based gun battles, except it has animu tropes/storytelling and combat that is good.

 

[buzz]

This might shock you, but people like getting more money, especially if it involves relatively little effort, like with a console port.

It doesn't shock me at all, considering what InXile did before they worked on Wasteland 2. Effort was the last thing I would've described the things they did.

 

[LESS T_T]

I feel this is more like the console ports of Wizardy and Ultima back in late 80s to early 90s, rather than the great transition to console in late-90s and 00s.

 

[buzz]

Thanks for reminding me of Ultima IV's NES port

 

[Xathrodox86]

What about us, PC players then?

 

[Makabb]

Thank God i didn't buy it on pc or I would rage right now, thanks PC beta testers for testing it for me, now i will buy proper console Wateland 2 Fargo Edition with precision aiming, something that could only be implemented on consoles, because PCs are too weak !

What about us, PC players then?

You get shafted, like always !

 

[Art Vandelay]

Rpg Codex ,or : How i learned to stop caring and love the consoles!

 

[randir14]

What about us, PC players then?

Fargo said the update is coming to PC as well.

 

[Brayko]

Nice work Fargo, selling his idea to teh master race and exploiting it on the consoles. You'd think InXile was hard up and desperate or something. Owait..

 

[Mexi]

Is this why Wasteland: 2 was so disappointing? Were they planning this all along or something. Just seemed like Wasteland: 2 was all over the place, really. Well, in my opinion at least.