Interview Paradox admit Tyranny sold below expectations, DLC still in the works

[Excidium II]

But it is. That's why the sales have normalized post-poe.

I would argue these games failed on their own merits.

Expeditions Viking did much better than Conquistador did at release http://steamcharts.com/cmp/445190,237430#All

Nigga did it even sell 100k copies.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

“Obsidian did a great job of capitalising on the timing of Kickstarter and the wave of nostalgia for these type of titles,

I hate people who think recent isometric RPGs return to popularity is caused mainly by nostalgia.

But it is. That's why the sales have normalized post-poe.

D:O2 will show you how normalized RPGs sales look like
Tyranny and TToN were just flukes.

DOS 2 will only be representative of co-op meme game sales.

Turnbased co-op meme game sales.
The co-op meme game for more civilized times.

 

[Roguey]

Nigga did it even sell 100k copies.

Conquistador has over time, yes. Since Viking did better it should get there faster.

 

[Excidium II]

^ after bundle and sales.

 

[Roguey]

^ after bundle and sales.

In the end it will still be more profitable. There was sales growth as opposed to other RPG sequels and follow-ups that underperformed compared to their predecessors.

 

[Excidium II]

Meanwhile PoE sold bout 1 million.

 

[CyberWhale]

T(y)ranny was a mistake.

Basically this.

 

[Roguey]

Meanwhile PoE sold bout 1 million.

After over a year.

 

[Zanzoken]

If it even came close to expectations then they must not have expected much, because I don't think anyone outside of Obsidian and PoE fanboys gives a shit about Tyranny.

 

[Tigranes]

If they had a brain cell between them, they would have spent very little and expected low sales - if it were me I'd have thought 100k, 200k. It's bad for them that the sales couldn't meet those (appropriately) low expectations.

 

[MRY]

If they had a brain cell between them, they would have spent very little and expected low sales - if it were me I'd have thought 100k, 200k. It's bad for them that the sales couldn't meet those (appropriately) low expectations.

I'm confused -- isn't it currently at 174k sales on Steam alone? Presumably it's well over 200k including GOG, etc. [EDIT: On GOG.com it's listed as selling right between Serpents in the Staglands and Dead State, so if anyone has figures for those, we could probably determine approximately how many Tyranny sold.)

 

[pippin]

Well, Paradox's main man, when confronted with the "what would you do with a million dollars for budget" question, said he would use 100k and use the rest for leisure. Paradox, imo, is a company that understands niches and thrives on them. That's good for AA companies like Obsidian. I think what they meant was "It didn't sold as much as PoE or CK2", but I don't think Tyranny was supposed to be in line with those games.

 

[Wonderdog]

If they had a brain cell between them, they would have spent very little and expected low sales - if it were me I'd have thought 100k, 200k. It's bad for them that the sales couldn't meet those (appropriately) low expectations.

At 100k or even 200k you can't possibly make a game with enough budget to be worthwhile though, not with typical game company expenses anyways. Should have simply not made it obviously.

 

[Wonderdog]

How could they have any expectations anyone will by that nonsense?

Thanks for pointing out my spelling mistake.

I meant to say why would anyone "bi" this nonsense.

 

[luj1]

Honestly the worst game I ever played.

Obsidian cucks flagging this post in 3..2..1..

 

[Tigranes]

If they had a brain cell between them, they would have spent very little and expected low sales - if it were me I'd have thought 100k, 200k. It's bad for them that the sales couldn't meet those (appropriately) low expectations.

I'm confused -- isn't it currently at 174k sales on Steam alone? Presumably it's well over 200k including GOG, etc. [EDIT: On GOG.com it's listed as selling right between Serpents in the Staglands and Dead State, so if anyone has figures for those, we could probably determine approximately how many Tyranny sold.)

Well, yes, their expectations were likely higher than 200k - and as wonderdog points out, if you expected 100k sales you might as well not bother to start making. I didn't want to claim a solid number, only that I'm sure nobody budgeted Tyranny with a million sales in mind.

 

[Wonderdog]

Well, Paradox's main man, when confronted with the "what would you do with a million dollars for budget" question, said he would use 100k and use the rest for leisure. Paradox, imo, is a company that understands niches and thrives on them. That's good for AA companies like Obsidian. I think what they meant was "It didn't sold as much as PoE or CK2", but I don't think Tyranny was supposed to be in line with those games.

They said they are disappointed so obviously they expected more.

 

[MRY]

It really depends at what price point the 200k copies sold. If they yielded $20 a pop, then 200k sales is probably enough to cover development costs with the proverbially long tail yielding the profits.

 

[CRD]

That happens when you sell a game that doesn't have an ending but a "to be continue"

 

[Roguey]

That happens when you sell a game that doesn't have an ending but a "to be continue"

Worked for Mass Effect.

 

[Iznaliu]

Darn you, Watch Dogs 2/Final Fantasy XV/Pokemon/Dishonored 2/ect for stealing all of our Tyranny sales!!! There was just too much competition for isometric RPGs in November! How dare they steal all of the customers!

People have limited money and time to spend on games, and most people don't have strong genre preferences.

 

[commie]

Meanwhile PoE sold bout 1 million.

After over a year.

Yeah and it was always at a decent price(even at 50% off during a sale here and there), not in a $1 bundle, and 92%+ of owners actually played it compared to 67% of Expeditions owners which shows that a third at least came from unplayed bundle keys, never mind the others from those bundles that fired it up once which suggest at least half or more of 'sales' are for a dollar.

Retention rates are key for this type of game for any sequel and having a third of owners not even start the game once bodes ill for Viking which already is being pilloried for its bugs and has a much lower score. The only way it would come anywhere close to E:C sales is aggressive $1 Humble Bundle tiering and hoping there's other games people actually want to play in the bundle so they will pick this up by default(as to how many actually start the game it's another matter entirely).



On another point, Codex GOAT, PST:EE made by the same great dev that made Baldurs Gate(apparently) that sold a million between them, has around 20k sales though with 80% of those actually played, chances are it's even less since it's not really a game to buy just to let it sit with testing it at least once so probably in a margin of error. If such a game can only muster such sales, chances are that people just aren't into these games as much as people like to imagine they are. While not an exact comparison, given that it's TB, it will be interesting to see how D:OS2 shapes up. Hope I'm wrong, but given trends, even though it will likely be a much better game than the first, I think it will sell substantially less.

 

[Zeriel]

But it is. That's why the sales have normalized post-poe.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that all of these games are mediocre wastes of time. Pillars especially is not one half the game Baldur's Gate 2 is. This all reminds me of the legions of MMO developers who failed at copying Blizzard's success who blamed it on market forces, anything but the fact they made shitty games.

I'm tired of bringing it up, but there's a reason Divinity Original Sin smashed its competitors. Its the only isometric revival project that was actually fun to play. There's only so much grognard virtue signalling a person can do before they get tired and just want to play something that's entertaining.

 

[Iznaliu]

But it is. That's why the sales have normalized post-poe.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that all of these games are mediocre wastes of time. Pillars especially is not one half the game Baldur's Gate 2 is. This all reminds me of the legions of MMO developers who failed at copying Blizzard's success who blamed it on market forces, anything but the fact they made shitty games.

People not buying shitty games is technically a 'market force'

 

[Zeriel]

But it is. That's why the sales have normalized post-poe.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that all of these games are mediocre wastes of time. Pillars especially is not one half the game Baldur's Gate 2 is. This all reminds me of the legions of MMO developers who failed at copying Blizzard's success who blamed it on market forces, anything but the fact they made shitty games.

People not buying shitty games is technically a 'market force'

Sure, but it's not a mysterious "we just didn't launch it at the right time/there wasn't demand for our perfect product" effect.