BusinessInsider: Amazon just launched a major video game, but it looks to already be a major flop

Fredrik · May 28, 2020

jdmc13 said:
The character design didn't really grab me, but worst of all, it looked boring.

Yeah, it's not bad but it's just not pushing any buttons, be that coolness, evil, muscles, beauty, sexy, cute, weird. The variations are there but it's... mellow. A checkbox design roster by someone who're afraid to step on toes, which doesn't work when Overwatch is out there.

Cudpug · May 28, 2020

There are so many of these sorts of games on the market, and while they're not my kind of game, I'm guessing people are only going to play one or two of them frequently? Like I can't imagine people will have the time to commit to juggling five similar titles.

Also with Valorant just around the corner getting good previews it seems bad timing to release the game.

headspawn · May 28, 2020

Next up is that game 'New World', where it looks like they spent 90% of the budget on the trailer.

Owlet · May 28, 2020

Hopefully New World and their LOTR MMO fair a bit better.

Ketch · May 28, 2020

Nardy_19 said:
Was Battleborn 3rd Person? I don't even remember.

No. Actually it was infamous for being first person with some characters guns/arms taking up large portions of the screen so you couldn't see shit.

Mr_DyZ · May 28, 2020

DrDarkStryfe said:
If you are not going to buy a couple dozen influencers to play your online game exclusively for a few days, you game is probably going to fail. That is where we are at right now with these online-exclusive shooters.

I mean they did that, and the game is still failing lol.

First couple of days post launch were riddled with #sponsored streams.

Swiggins · May 28, 2020

This looks like Gigantic if you sucked all the fun and personality out it.

Dust · May 28, 2020

The only scary thing is that Amazon has enough money to do kamikaze "Don't want us? Well, fuck YOU" shopping spree and pay billions to random devs.

Castamere · May 28, 2020

Stop jumping on bandwagons and make something unique. Valorant may not look unique art wise, but the reality is that pure CS games are pretty rare.

You know what games are lacking right now? Bioware like games, Skyrim like games, and Gta Like games. You could literally make a competent clone of those three games and make bank because we haven't gotten a sequel and wont for years. Do something smart or innovative. This was neither.

Papacheeks · May 28, 2020

This is par for the course when you make games based off of tired genre's that are already over-crowded.

Look at Paragon, among others similar to that.

Make Something unique that doesn't look like generic built in character models from unreal Engine and maybe make some gameplay that is not the same trope.

Also look at Bleeding Edge. Cool looking characters built around a played out genre that's over saturated.

Kill3r7 · May 28, 2020

Duxxy3 said:
Worst way to make an impact is to create a brand new game with your brand new studio in a blood red ocean.

Why companies keep going after those multiplayer shooter bucks I will never know. I guess it's like a lottery ticket for the investors.

Because everyone sees how well Blizzard did with Overwatch lootboxes and COD does massive figures. They aren't entering the industry to create. They want to extract revenue and capture a piece of that lootbox/micro transaction pie.

Alienous · May 28, 2020

It looks like Battleborn, Paragon and Evolve. Those were commercial flops this gen.

The best fate for this game would've been trying to offload it on Stadia, even just to see the relevance of a game like this to the kind of game streaming platform Amazon will likely have soon.

Forerunner · May 28, 2020

This is like LawBreakers all over again. Wrong place and time with uninteresting characters. However, Amazon has the pockets to try and improve it, if they want.

I'm still interested in New World.

Sparks · May 28, 2020

From what I heard it is a nightmare place to work...

Knowing companies like Google and Amazon ect. they will just shutdown this branch now. Poor folks, but there are lots of opportunities right now.

Kurita · May 28, 2020

Never even heard of that game

Agamon · May 28, 2020

They should have called it "Work Your Employees To Death" and it might somehow have been more popular...

Stef · May 28, 2020

Maxey said:
It's Battleborn vs Overwatch all over again.

No. Battleborn was actually a good game.

Villein · May 28, 2020

i've never heard of it, so maybe not so major ? that or someone fucked up with marketing this thing

Moist_Owlet · May 28, 2020

It looks generic as fuck. Hey another hero PvP game with a boring title!

Mbolibombo · May 28, 2020

I had never even heard about this game. I have not seen anything about it on my social media feeds at all.

Has there been any marketing for it?

abellwillring · May 28, 2020

Ambient80 said:
That's gotta be an extra zero. There's no way this game cost $300 million to make. RDR2, TLOU and GTA V combined probably didn't cost that much to make.

Sidenote: TTWO definitely spends in the neighborhood of $200-300m making their games plus at least $300m to market them. They take forever, are huge and they know they'll profit in the end. Here is an article from a couple years ago with some thoughts: https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/26/the-deanbeat-how-much-did-red-dead-redemption-2-cost-to-make/.

I saw some discussion on Twitter and I think Pachter suggested this Crucible game probably cost $140m to develop on the high end.

DanteSparda504 · May 28, 2020

Even if it was available on consoles for me to try, it's a game that's more or less been done to death recently. It's not a genre I am interested in anymore.

Hell, I haven't even tried Bleeding Edge yet and I fucking LOVE Ninja Theory.

Stef · May 28, 2020

Richter1887 said:
I don't get it.
Why not start with a smaller AA game then expand with bigger games

Problem is: this one definitely seems a AA game in the vein of Bleeding Edge, while the development cost is most likely that of a triple A game.

horkrux · May 28, 2020

First time I even read the name Crucible was here on era I believe, but I didn't click the thread. And I didn't even know it was a game until now

LOL

Man Called Aerodynamics · May 28, 2020

Castamere said:
You know what games are lacking right now? Bioware like games, Skyrim like games, and Gta Like games. You could literally make a competent clone of those three games and make bank because we haven't gotten a sequel and wont for years. Do something smart or innovative. This was neither.

Right? This is what I have been thinking. If you've got $30 million to throw away, why not throw it at a Skyrim clone, a game whose audience has been thirsty for years. Not something where the competition is absolutely cutthroat.

Fart Master · May 28, 2020

Duxxy3 said:
Worst way to make an impact is to create a brand new game with your brand new studio in a blood red ocean.

Why companies keep going after those multiplayer shooter bucks I will never know. I guess it's like a lottery ticket for the investors.

That's pretty much it

Possum Armada · May 28, 2020

For me it is the company behind it. Could be the best game in the world but I am not giving Amazon my money.

ThisOne · May 28, 2020

Mr_DyZ said:
I mean they did that, and the game is still failing lol.

First couple of days post launch were riddled with #sponsored streams.

There were a bunch of sponsored streams. The problem is that the game looked totally boring. Super spongey enemies and no clear point when you watch it as a Twitch viewer.

zerocalories · May 28, 2020

Lopez said:
That's pretty much it

im not a business guy but I'm guessing it works like this

boss: there's money in X category genre according to our numbers, make a game in this category

Producer: ok

or

producer: can I make this game? This market segment is worth X

boss: *sees big numbers* okay

Buttzerker · May 28, 2020

CloseTalker said:
It doesn't make sense for your first big crack to be a shot at one of the most cut-throat, competitive segments of the industry. Sure the potential for audience is large, but soooooo many games (some, like Gigantic, being quite good games) try and fail. Why wouldn't they start smaller, with a couple single player games or something to build up their clout?

It's just a silly move on their part, going straight into a genre where audience loyalty is so high. When you make one of these games you're not just asking individual players to take part, you're asking them to convince their friends/clans/crew to take part. It's a massive ask.

Thanks for reminding me how much I miss Gigantic.

SapientWolf · May 28, 2020

I sure hope Disintegration doesn't flop because I actually plan on playing that one.

Not every multiplayer game is going to be a breakout success. Publishers have to align their budgets and business models with realistic expectations.

BioDigital Jazzman · May 28, 2020

the only other thing I can think of is to get the console version ready for next gen day one and hope people want to play it

jorgejjvr · May 28, 2020

I suggest people try it for themselves first, it's actually pretty fun

Deleted member 21411 · May 28, 2020

It seemed to me more like a little experiment while they built a team, if they had any higher expectations than that Amazon's looking bleak

Deleted member 51691 · May 28, 2020

New World has shifted its direction last minute to scramble to make as much PvE content as possible since it was originally conceived as a PvP focused MMO until Amazon realized such a game does not have as much mass appeal than a more traditional MMO. Expect it to flop similarly.

Mentalist · May 28, 2020

SapientWolf said:
I sure hope Disintegration doesn't flop because I actually plan on playing that one.

Not every multiplayer game is going to be a breakout success. Publishers have to align their budgets and business models with realistic expectations.

Disintegration has a single player component. It might pick up some sales just from people who want to check out a new sci-fi story and have no intention of EVER playing multi-player (like myself).

Amazon's game division might as well not exist in terms of any potential they have of ever getting my money.

Antrax · May 28, 2020

TheRulingRing said:
People laughed at Riot for chasing a shooter and that became a massive success even before it's launched.

Eh, in console spaces (like ERA), people thought this. But LoL is huge, and TFT also blew up. Riot knows MP games.

Niceguydan8 · May 28, 2020

Has magic powers said:
It seemed like a copy of Paragon. Why copy a game that shut down?

What? It doesn't look like a copy of Paragon at all.

Jawmuncher · May 28, 2020

Duxxy3 said:
Worst way to make an impact is to create a brand new game with your brand new studio in a blood red ocean.

Why companies keep going after those multiplayer shooter bucks I will never know. I guess it's like a lottery ticket for the investors.

That's always been how I take it. So many companies jump right into "We're doing MP" and it hardly pays out. But I guess the potential of being the next big thing is too enticing.

Regardless, I hope the team here can prop up their game and gain some interest. I'm still surprised by the lack of marketing from Amazon on the game.

Possum Armada · May 28, 2020

CloseTalker said:
It doesn't make sense for your first big crack to be a shot at one of the most cut-throat, competitive segments of the industry. Sure the potential for audience is large, but soooooo many games (some, like Gigantic, being quite good games) try and fail. Why wouldn't they start smaller, with a couple single player games or something to build up their clout?

It's just a silly move on their part, going straight into a genre where audience loyalty is so high. When you make one of these games you're not just asking individual players to take part, you're asking them to convince their friends/clans/crew to take part. It's a massive ask.

that segment of the market was probably not as saturated when the project was green lit.

Bigwombat · May 28, 2020

Soap said:
Well it hasn't got the good will buyers of indies and it has no pedigree like other big studious. It's basically the same issue google are having with stadia.

I've never heard of crucible but I'm not a pc gamer and I don't typically play multi player games. That said I seriously forgot stadia was a thing. The last time was probably 2 weeks ago when someone else mentioned it.

Good analogy.

TioChuck · May 28, 2020

Game is not bad, with a bit of polish could be something pretty good, but what killed it for me is the lack of any sort of communication, is a heavy team based game and has no text or voice chat.

Stef · May 29, 2020

TioChuck said:
Game is not bad

The main issue here is that if you invest lots of money in a software house and spend years developing games to be used for a grand debut in the videogame market, publishing a game that "is not bad" is not the proper way to do it.

It should have been a great game and it's far from it.

GarthLordOfTheSith · May 29, 2020

It's a multiplayer, class based game released in a market absolutely flooded with multiplayer, class based games. Of course it flopped.

cw_sasuke · May 29, 2020

First time ever this game has to be refered to as a mayor release or title. Guess the click bait is neccesary because Amazon is the publisher.

Falchion · May 29, 2020

ThiagoJG said:
Crucible without Lord Shaxx is not Crucible.

Can't argue with that.

Stef · Jun 2, 2020

I was also thinking about that slogan.

"Hunt - Level - Adapt".

I guess they wrote it way before the game development, when it was still in the design phase, because the "Adapt" part has basically been dropped: instead of a selective level-up such as in several MOBAs, you have to choose the development tree of your characters BEFORE the game starts.

So, no "adapt" at all.

What a mess...

Patitoloco · Jun 2, 2020

The only reason I think these kind of games exist is because they saw Overwatch/LoL/DOTA/whatever trend, started developing the same and had to watch tens of other clones hit the market with the exact same ideas and fail miserably. But at some point you have spent so much money that cancelling the game is not an option.

I have a hard time believing there's a development team out there doing a game like this and be motivated, honestly. They might have been at the beginning of the development some years ago, but you only have to see the market to see that it's a bad idea.

And I think it's really sad for the developers. The publisher will just mark it as a failure and take it on the studio.

Ensirius · Jun 2, 2020

I had no idea this game existed.

Prototype Viktor · Jun 2, 2020

Dest said:
There is no chance in hell this game cost anywhere near that.

Gotta use fuzzy math to Hollywood math. Where you got to not pay royalties and bonuses and hide losses

BusinessInsider: Amazon just launched a major video game, but it looks to already be a major flop

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