You're missing the point of both my posts. I'm not saying it would have done better, I speculating on the reasons on why it could have done better. Merely speculating.
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Cliffy B: Putting Lawbreakers on PS4 instead of Xbox was a mistake
- Thread starter Ehoavash
- Start date
Should've branded it Cliffy B's Lawbreakers: A Cliffy B Experience. That might have pushed the needle a bit.
I guess the bigger problem was, I thought it WAS on Xbox...
But I don't know, you can't figure these things out. LawBreakers seems more interesting than Valorant to me... but people grab onto things different and multiplayer relies 100% on its playerbase.
But I don't know, you can't figure these things out. LawBreakers seems more interesting than Valorant to me... but people grab onto things different and multiplayer relies 100% on its playerbase.
Maybe post in the Xbox Gaming OT and you'll get better results.
Dude still think the game bombed for reason other than its design decisions. The game cater to PC arena shooters, the idea that it would have done better on xbox is hilarious, not to mention that even if it did 3 times better on Xbox than it did on PC/PS4 combined it still would have been a bomb.
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I'm not a fan of Cliffy B and it didn't look like Lawbreakers was a super appealing game and I have a feeling that any hero game would have been crushed under the weight of Overwatch regardless of how good it was...
but imo, Lawbreakers is a game that didn't deserve to die like it did. If it had a mere 50 people that really liked playing it, then those 50 people should be able to play it.
What I object to more than anything is that when it was time to shut the servers down, the game should have been patched to allow p2p. It wouldn't have been as good as dedicated servers, but the game would still be playable. Instead, anyone who bought it now just has empty software.
but imo, Lawbreakers is a game that didn't deserve to die like it did. If it had a mere 50 people that really liked playing it, then those 50 people should be able to play it.
What I object to more than anything is that when it was time to shut the servers down, the game should have been patched to allow p2p. It wouldn't have been as good as dedicated servers, but the game would still be playable. Instead, anyone who bought it now just has empty software.
I mean, at a surface level, I get what he is saying. He cut his teeth at Epic and was heavily involved with Gears which is now an Xbox property, but on the other hand it comes off as deflecting. Like he can't acknowledge that maybe people just weren't interested in another trend chasing multiplayer game that wasnt very inspired feeling when it came down to it.
Obviously he wouldn't say it in quite that harsh of terms about his own work, but he definitely seems unable to look at the failings of the game itself.
Obviously he wouldn't say it in quite that harsh of terms about his own work, but he definitely seems unable to look at the failings of the game itself.
I definitely think the audience would've been more receptive had it been on the cbox. The game launched in August and there wasn't anything for ages to play on the Xbox and the base is heavily invested in shooters
also imagine the marketing that cbox would've put behind it had it been exclusive
also imagine the marketing that cbox would've put behind it had it been exclusive
I just realized something. Lawbreakers is kind of like the gaming's Justice League Snyder Cut.
It's a middlingly received (at best) product coming from a well known action auteur creator who continues to lament on how there was a better version of that product in their mind.
Granted, there are several differences, like how nothing interfered with CliffyB's creation process whereas it obviously did with Zack Snyder. And there are no plans to revive Lawbreakers as a "Cliffy Cut" of any kind, nor are fans clamoring for one. It's not a perfect metaphor.
But I think Cliffy is trying to make Lawbreakers a Snyder Cut thing. The fact that he still talks about it and is apparently writing a book about it I think betrays that he would definitely take a second shot at it if he could.
It's a middlingly received (at best) product coming from a well known action auteur creator who continues to lament on how there was a better version of that product in their mind.
Granted, there are several differences, like how nothing interfered with CliffyB's creation process whereas it obviously did with Zack Snyder. And there are no plans to revive Lawbreakers as a "Cliffy Cut" of any kind, nor are fans clamoring for one. It's not a perfect metaphor.
But I think Cliffy is trying to make Lawbreakers a Snyder Cut thing. The fact that he still talks about it and is apparently writing a book about it I think betrays that he would definitely take a second shot at it if he could.
Yes, releasing a MP-only, hero-based FPS with the most generic art direction possible (they literally couldn't have given the games' characters less personality if they tried) around the very height of Overwatch's popularity was not a mistake... it was the target platform that was the issue.... riiiiiiiiiight, lol.
Even before the game released, everyone was literally dismissing it as an Overwatch/Battleborn clone.
Next time Cliffy, make a game with a much more original premise.... oh yeah, you went on to try and make a Fortnite/PUBG clone right afterwards, didn't you? A bit of a trend was emerging don't you think.
I don't wanna sounds like a douche, but if you're so creatively bankrupt that all you can do is shit out sanitised low-effort clones of popular games, perhaps game design was never really the profession for you, bro.
Even before the game released, everyone was literally dismissing it as an Overwatch/Battleborn clone.
Next time Cliffy, make a game with a much more original premise.... oh yeah, you went on to try and make a Fortnite/PUBG clone right afterwards, didn't you? A bit of a trend was emerging don't you think.
I don't wanna sounds like a douche, but if you're so creatively bankrupt that all you can do is shit out sanitised low-effort clones of popular games, perhaps game design was never really the profession for you, bro.
see, it's this sort of stuff that's annoying
like, okay, Microsoft might have been more willing to promote Lawbreakers, it could've stood out more in the Xbox ecosystem, CliffyB could very well have a point about his Xbox association, and in general it's hardly unprecedented for a game to do better on a console with a smaller user base than its competitors
nakedly tapping into console warz bullshit to hype up his memoirs, though? admitting a possible mistake just to deflect blame almost immediately? that's where the CliffyB of it all really comes in
just like with this other tweet, where CliffyB shows a ridiculous level of blind confidence about something he apparently knew nothing about, and then immediately skips even the pretense of introspection and goes straight to "here's an excuse, let's move on now"
I wonder if he will write in his memoirs about all the money missed out on by leaving Epic before Fortnite blew up? Lawbreakers flopping is nothing compared to that.
Game pass came out like a month before the game launched. This combined with the over saturation of the market fighting for the crumbs from Overwatch, it had no chance. If it had a chance to thrive it would have been on PC not console. It didn't do well anywhere.
That statement doesn't even make much sense. I'm not buying your damn book Cliff, I'll wait until someone else reads this memoir and then tells me.
He's (pretending to be) missing the obvious fact that a lot of the 360 userbase migrated to PS4. There's also not a single case of a shooter that is successful on Xbox but not on Playstation as well (and vice versa of course). So his point doesn't make sense, the audience was there on PS4, his game just wasn't successful.
Cliffy B was a mistake, dude's a has been obnoxiously crashing the party with his "remember Gear of War? that was rad!"
We get it, everyone and everything is to blame, except your decision making as CEO.
We get it, everyone and everything is to blame, except your decision making as CEO.
Lawbreakers was an excellent game at its core, a high skill, high mobility fps that was a breath of fresh air for those of us who got into it that summer, but I doubt fans of his previous (and vastly inferior) slow ass dudebro cover shooter franchise would have been the thing to save it. The game had a lack of visual and artistic identity, and it had none other than CliffyB as spokesperson. Therein lied its biggest problems, and frankly, I don't think it ever had a chance.
Xbox fans wouldn't be any more likely to buy LawBreakers "because Gears of War guy". Honestly, I never even realized LawBreakers didn't actually come to Xbox, until I saw this thread.
He's just rationalizing why his big post-Epic project flopped. I don't judge him for it - I'm sure it's an impulse we'd all face, if you thought you made something good - but he's delusional if he thinks publishing it on Xbox would have made things turn out differently.
Cliff, you released an aesthetically bland multiplayer shooter at a time when that segment of the market was already highly competitive with games like Overwatch. That's why your game failed.
He's just rationalizing why his big post-Epic project flopped. I don't judge him for it - I'm sure it's an impulse we'd all face, if you thought you made something good - but he's delusional if he thinks publishing it on Xbox would have made things turn out differently.
Cliff, you released an aesthetically bland multiplayer shooter at a time when that segment of the market was already highly competitive with games like Overwatch. That's why your game failed.
If it had come out on Xbox, the title would have been "Lawbreakers failed because it didn't come out on PS4."
He was on Unreal long before Gears. One of the greatest FPS series ever made. The mans design chops were legit long before gears.
I think it's a weird thing to assume that gamers were interested in his persona more than the actual game. This almost reads like CliffyB thought his work on Gears gave him a Spielberg'ish reputation, where people would check out the game simply because it was directed by a specific person. But I highly doubt any Xbox fan would've approached Lawbreakers with a 'Dude, shit, bro, this is the new CliffyB game, totally rad!' attitude.
My point is, nobody bought Gears because of CliffyB, they bought Gears because it was a game that looked next-gen at the time and was actually pretty fun to play. CliffyB has never been the celebrity he apparently wishes he'd be. I'm sure the guy is a good designer, but the diva attitude he displays is a bit embarrassing.
Lawbreakers tanked cause it was a good, not a great game in a market that already had a great game doing basically everything better. On top of that, it always seemed to me that the man has absolutely no taste at all and that's all over his games. Can anyone still watch the Gears cinematics without feeling the cringe? Lawbreakers oozed the same vibe. Cliffy seems like he's the personification of this gif, someone who tries super hard to be cool to the point where it makes the hair on your neck stand up.
He should just be himself and keep making good games, cause he obviously knows what he's talking about in terms of design. Just don't try to put your stamp on art, don't try to be a celebrity. Just make cool, well designed stuff that people enjoy. The industry would need more designers like him if he could get rid of the 'I know what 'cool' means' shtick.
My point is, nobody bought Gears because of CliffyB, they bought Gears because it was a game that looked next-gen at the time and was actually pretty fun to play. CliffyB has never been the celebrity he apparently wishes he'd be. I'm sure the guy is a good designer, but the diva attitude he displays is a bit embarrassing.
Lawbreakers tanked cause it was a good, not a great game in a market that already had a great game doing basically everything better. On top of that, it always seemed to me that the man has absolutely no taste at all and that's all over his games. Can anyone still watch the Gears cinematics without feeling the cringe? Lawbreakers oozed the same vibe. Cliffy seems like he's the personification of this gif, someone who tries super hard to be cool to the point where it makes the hair on your neck stand up.
He should just be himself and keep making good games, cause he obviously knows what he's talking about in terms of design. Just don't try to put your stamp on art, don't try to be a celebrity. Just make cool, well designed stuff that people enjoy. The industry would need more designers like him if he could get rid of the 'I know what 'cool' means' shtick.
