Square Enix puts Deus Ex on hold (possibly Tomb Raider)

[casterofdreams]

The pre-order issues Dues Ex ran into before release certainly did not help. The negative publicity it garnered may have changed peoples mind about the game. It did for me. To me, it was a glimpse of what the game could become: an incomplete game with cuts to be sold later as DLC.

Then you had that issue with some mobile game nonsense with the Praxis kits. That was publicized negatively as well.

I guess they say there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Until it destroys you.

[Tanooki]

One caveat with VGChartz is that they can only go on sales numbers that get released. Since Steam (at least) doesn't release those, their PC numbers tend to be low.

Correct, and last I heard 2 if not 3 of these do not report either -- Target, Walmart, and Toys R Us. Figure them as the big three of walk in retail and you have a huge hole in your sales projections. Like it or not a lot of people won't walk into a gamestop or buy on amazon either, so you're left with those guys, best buy, and a few other chains and grocery-retail combo stores (like Meijer) who carry stuff like that and who says they all report either? VGChartz is a joke and if those big three usually are your largest bread and butter sales outfits (like for Nintendo for one) the numbers amount to a fraction of reality.

[Xeogred]

@casterofdreams: yup, people spoke with their wallets on that move... by not buying.

The only DLC release I know of that came out is the Pritchard one (which was out like a month after release or maybe even sooner, I remember it being an annoyingly fast release)... to which, I heard it's basically pointless and doesn't really fit in well into the main story at any point. Definitely seemed cut for the sake of being cut, or just pointlessly thrown in.

Amusing considering the first games integration of DLC was actually really well done and it was a huge mission, worth the price.

I have no idea if other MD DLC came out. Only heard about the pointless sounding Pritchard one.

[3DSStrider]

Amusing considering the first games integration of DLC was actually really well done and it was a huge mission, worth the price.

The first Deus Ex didn't have DLC because it came out in 2000.

[noiseredux]

Amusing considering the first games integration of DLC was actually really well done and it was a huge mission, worth the price.

The first Deus Ex didn't have DLC because it came out in 2000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expansion_pack

video games have been releasing expansion packs since the 1980s, early examples being the Dragon Slayer games Xanadu Scenario II[1] and Sorcerian.[2]

[Stark]

Also, I'm pretty sure he meant Human Revolution by first one, since we're talking about Square Enix here and not Ion Storm.

[Damm64]

I know that VG charts is not 100% reliable but its almost all we got.

Pretty sure that the "upgrade your pre-order" stunt and the microtransactions didn't help the game. I believe that the target audience with the deus ex games has a very low tolerance with those things (i dont blame them i hate AAA titles with microtransactions).

It just feels that SE blames the game itself instead of the the bullshit they're trying to push on the game.

[Xeogred]

Also, I'm pretty sure he meant Human Revolution by first one, since we're talking about Square Enix here and not Ion Storm.

Yes.

noise' expansion pack link cracked me up though.

[marlowe221]

To me, this is just part and parcel of the difficulties facing the AAA game industry as a whole.

The fact is, AAA games sales are down overall. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016- ... s-are-down

But development/marketing budgets just keep going up. Publishers' sales expectations/requirements are increasingly unrealistic. Personally, I don't see how this is sustainable.

From what little I know of game development, every time we get an increase in image resolution, it gets a little worse because graphics/art are a HUGE part of the expense in making modern AAA games.

I think it's a big part of the reason that the mid-tier console game companies didn't survive. IQ/screen resolution eventually got to a point that they just couldn't keep up with from a sales/financial perspective.

And yet there is a push in the PC and console worlds to move to 4K. We have companies unable to make money at 1080p!

[Sarge]

4K isn't all that, anyway. Most folks aren't going to see the difference with the screen sizes typically in use.

I've got a 4K screen, sure, but I like it because of clean scaling of 720p and 1080p content. Heck, even 480p content from stuff like the PS2 looks great, far better than my old 720p Sony set.

(That Sony set is also awesome for retro gaming compared to other LCDs, so it ain't goin' anywhere.)