I feel like a lot of people are more interested in the story of Hellblade potentially failing than they are a story about Hellblade potentially succeeding.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II has peaked at ~4K CCU on Steam (~60K units sold from highest estimation)/#30 most played on Xbox Store
- Thread starter DriftingSpirit
- Start date
The only "marketing" I've seen for this game are gamers™ crying about its length.
What is xbox doing, man.
What is xbox doing, man.
iirc Banishers released in a crowded period which really can't be said about Hellblade II
Probably bad communication on MS's part cuz we really didn't know exactly what kind of game this is until reviews dropped. That's why there is so many people left surprised (not in a good way) by its design and structure.
I think this game will find success slowly over time. It really is an experience that must be played with a great TV and headphones. I'm still thinking about some of the segments, and I'm not even half way through.
NT and Microsoft really took a gamble here, and I hope they continue to do such. Not a game for everyone, but that's fine. I'm happy this is a tight 5 hour game vs. a 40+ hour GOW wannabe that I was initially expecting.
NT and Microsoft really took a gamble here, and I hope they continue to do such. Not a game for everyone, but that's fine. I'm happy this is a tight 5 hour game vs. a 40+ hour GOW wannabe that I was initially expecting.
You can beat it in 5 - 6 hours. You don't need 2 days for it.
Id have to double check the price, but... Yakuza Gaiden. Launched on Gamepass, but had a much bigger Steam CCU than this, AND exceeded sales expectations in Japan according to the devs.
I doubt Indika cost as much to make as hellblade II.It was in development for 4 years and was made by the studio of around 80 people. None of that is particularly crazy. It's also a short cinematic game with no MP to keep people playing, so those numbers aren't really as bad as some people are trying to spin it. Especially since most people played it on game pass anyway.
How about we compare it with something in the same bracket?
What's the problem?
I just try to recall if I've seen a dry list of "these are the marketing things we are doing!" when it comes to other games.
I am drawing a blank but maybe it's a me problem.
This is a chance to leave a drive by hot take where we compare apples to oranges and we don't have enough information to make a definitive statement. It was purposely left vague and in a world where Xbox is already having tons of bad news, OP knew it would lean negative.
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Does this really surprise anyone? It's a technical powerhouse, but neither this nor the first one are what I'd consider very marketable (not that they got a ton of marketing, at least to the casual audience). The first game felt like a fleshed out tech demo, which was fine; is the second one a bit more ambitious? I'd be down to give it a try on gamepass one day at least.
Yeah completely delusional pricing. The first game should be 15 bucks at best this far out from release, and unless the second one is much more ambitious I can't imagine why it would be listed higher than 30. (Especially when it's not even exciting enough to get me to pay for a month of gamepass to play; though when there is something else on there I'm interested in I'll definitely beat it in an evening.)
Yeah completely delusional pricing. The first game should be 15 bucks at best this far out from release, and unless the second one is much more ambitious I can't imagine why it would be listed higher than 30. (Especially when it's not even exciting enough to get me to pay for a month of gamepass to play; though when there is something else on there I'm interested in I'll definitely beat it in an evening.)
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not a whole lot of other games release shortly after a bunch of studios were closed by Microsoft/the publisher which leads to a huge influx of whining about marketing. it was basically a viral meme on twitter for 3 days to be like "where's da marketing"
The only thing I've heard about this game is how short it is. No marketing at all.
I wonder how people who played the game compare to people who just watched the entire game on YouTube for free. Seems like the type of game people would do that for.
I wonder how people who played the game compare to people who just watched the entire game on YouTube for free. Seems like the type of game people would do that for.
How much did the first game go for? Ps store & ms store have it listed for $30.
Okay, I think I get it. He listed it because people were complaining about the lack of marketing for HB2 to him. Makes sense now.
If you want to know why Xbox is flailing this is why. None of this is sustainable.
Upper management is freaking out and rightly so. Either Xbox as a brand is so nothing games get no attention or gamepass has cannibalized their revenue and stopped growing.
I feel like the PS5 ports are directly about getting full SRP sales on their games. They've trained their core base to not buy games anymore thinking they would vastly grow their username and failed.
Upper management is freaking out and rightly so. Either Xbox as a brand is so nothing games get no attention or gamepass has cannibalized their revenue and stopped growing.
I feel like the PS5 ports are directly about getting full SRP sales on their games. They've trained their core base to not buy games anymore thinking they would vastly grow their username and failed.
Ehhh, it's DriftingSpirit. These kinds of threads are 100% in his wheelhouse.
Dayum.
The lack of advertising is wild... maybe they figure they'd not spend the millions on advertising it and "Save" that money? Idk man. I don't see how they plan on making up any money with this GP strategy.
I know CCU are the only actual numbers we the public get anymore but in a short single player game without much replay value like this it is much less meaningful for comparison
This game came from a small team on a shorter dev cycle. Hopefully they meet their internal targets
This game came from a small team on a shorter dev cycle. Hopefully they meet their internal targets
$30 right? $40 would be the next gen tax price, but being just $10 more expensive isnt that much of a deal breaker at $50. Im just saying there are probably more people interested in a game like this on PS5 than Xbox if the last game's success was anything to go by
Irrespective of how this game does I'm really glad Ninja Theory got to make their vision of the game. There's nothing quite like it out there.
Not at all. If you've got a meaningful marketing campaign going on, it's self-evident because it's actually doing its job.
I had no idea Hellblade 2 had comparable budget to Indika.It was in development for 4 years and was made by the studio of around 80 people. None of that is particularly crazy. It's also a short cinematic game with no MP to keep people playing, so those numbers aren't really as bad as some people are trying to spin it. Especially since most people played it on game pass anyway.
How about we compare it with something in the same bracket?
this game flopped hard, there is no denying it
many other xbox games that are gamepass and steam had far better sales and ccu's
doing worse than redfall sucks to hear
hope ninja theory is not axed, because the game bombing in sales, along with what we know about gamepass being that a sub does not equate to the game's sale revenue unless it's seemingly a big hit, makes me concerned for the studio. Their next game was rumored to be greenlit, but that doesn't mean it can't be suddenly cancelled or the studio shuttered.
game has gorgeous graphics, but it sucks to see the scope (outside of visuals) was lessened and weaker than the first, so I think it made marketing this title quite difficult. There was marketing, but the launch marketing was barebones compared to many big games, third party and first party titles.
saw rumors that xbox was doing more cuts to studios this year, and I imagine the cost (for the visuals alone) were astronomically high, so the roi is probably abysmal, and NT's previous game bleeding edge did really poor too. Hope the studio survives.
game just did not seem to have mass appeal or massively marketable. Unsure what they could have done for it, if it was cheaper it could have sold more units possibly, but the budget was seemingly much higher than the first game so that could have lessened their return.
many other xbox games that are gamepass and steam had far better sales and ccu's
doing worse than redfall sucks to hear
hope ninja theory is not axed, because the game bombing in sales, along with what we know about gamepass being that a sub does not equate to the game's sale revenue unless it's seemingly a big hit, makes me concerned for the studio. Their next game was rumored to be greenlit, but that doesn't mean it can't be suddenly cancelled or the studio shuttered.
game has gorgeous graphics, but it sucks to see the scope (outside of visuals) was lessened and weaker than the first, so I think it made marketing this title quite difficult. There was marketing, but the launch marketing was barebones compared to many big games, third party and first party titles.
saw rumors that xbox was doing more cuts to studios this year, and I imagine the cost (for the visuals alone) were astronomically high, so the roi is probably abysmal, and NT's previous game bleeding edge did really poor too. Hope the studio survives.
game just did not seem to have mass appeal or massively marketable. Unsure what they could have done for it, if it was cheaper it could have sold more units possibly, but the budget was seemingly much higher than the first game so that could have lessened their return.
it has great reviews on steam and xbox. just because it didnt get a 90+ doesn't mean its not well received
Ninja Theory has all the mo-cap technology and does a lot of support for other Microsoft studios in that area. I would think that is too valuable a thing to just close but who knows now days.
Hi-Fi Rush already was a disappointment sales wise on ps5 compared to Sea of Thieves. I highly doubt this would do better.
Why many try so hard to downplay HB2 to some nano-niche game only to prove that its results are actually good/great? Maybe they are great but in no universe it's the same size as Indika. Pentiment would be way better example.It was in development for 4 years and was made by the studio of around 80 people. None of that is particularly crazy. It's also a short cinematic game with no MP to keep people playing, so those numbers aren't really as bad as some people are trying to spin it. Especially since most people played it on game pass anyway.
How about we compare it with something in the same bracket?
I don't think that I said it has bad reception universally? I'm talking about why it may seem that many people online want this game to burn when in reality many were surprised by its lack of interactivity which wasn't articulated by developer/publisher prior to release. Strong Ryse/The Order vibes all around (while I think that both of these games were better than HB2).
I meant that Pentiment is way closer to Indika in terms of production values/team size. Hellblade 2 is stuffed with visual technology, high-end performance capture, sound design and was presented by Microsoft on the biggest stages throughout the years. I don't think that it's a crazy talk to say that MS probably expected better results? And I don't want this to be seen as speculations on actual expectations and results on my part, simply stunned by some of the reactions and examples in this thread.
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It also launched dangerously close to Rise of the Ronin and Dragon's Dogma II, it was bound to be ignored with that timing lol
I don't really think there was any scenario where this game would come out as a huge seller straight away to be honest (maybe as a launch title, but this gen the consoles were impossible to get anyway). If it can keep selling at a fairly steady pace like the first managed it would likely do fine given the game probably didn't cost a insane amount given NT with the first game set out to make a "AAA" production on a "indie" scale.
Oh wow, that's actually an amazing number, I had no clue the first one was so successful. Makes sense as to why the sequel was green lit at least, though the marketing budget should have been much much higher then.
Dev costs on the first one has to be much lower as well.
I've been an Xbox primary gamer since Sega exited the space.
I have no idea what they are doing and I don't think they do either. They're transitioning to a game publisher and not a hardware company but sort of a hardware company if you would like. Paid billions for studios, are fumbling their IP, closing studios and it's extremely clear it's a. Upper management issue because it's ALL of their studios not named playground.
They're closer to being another embracer than a competitor to sony.
I personally think the marketing team here had a very thankless job to do.
How do you even market a game like Hellblade? It worked for HB1 because of its scope and unknown expectations but how are you supposed to go "big" on HB2?
The only mass audience aspect are the graphics, the seriously written bleak story about warrior with schizophrenia/psychosis is...how do you market that? Same with light combat and puzzles? At best you go for esoteric and subdued angle or at worst you try to sell the game as something it's not.
How do you even market a game like Hellblade? It worked for HB1 because of its scope and unknown expectations but how are you supposed to go "big" on HB2?
The only mass audience aspect are the graphics, the seriously written bleak story about warrior with schizophrenia/psychosis is...how do you market that? Same with light combat and puzzles? At best you go for esoteric and subdued angle or at worst you try to sell the game as something it's not.
The first game was 30 dollars and clearly didn't have this budget though. This is like making a 300 million dollar art house movie and being shocked the general audience views it as an art house movie and not a blockbuster.
Everyone wants to complain about marketing but it's the scope of the games budget vs the experience that's the issue here.
Good luck marketing a game about a warrior experiences mental illness with paper thin gameplay as a giant console seller.
Great point
Now, THAT'S a bomba, amirite? Obsidian is dooooooomed.
Yeah, I'm not sure what that means either. We talking about the 10+ million selling game with an 88 on Open Critic? That Horizon Forbidden West?