Hollow Knight. In the midst of Botw horizon ZD nier and resident evil 7... Should have been a summer game.
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Games ruined/screwed by their release date
- Thread starter Prolepro
- Start date
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Just Cause 4, and Darksiders III all come to mind in the last few months. All felt like they were sent out to die, two of them by the same publisher (Square Enix), and while none of them are amazing games I think they would have fared quite a bit better outside the RDR2/Smash/Call of Duty window.
Then again we soon have Kingdom Hearts III, Anthem, Division 2, etc rolling out so who knows, maybe smaller AAA titles just don't have much of a chance anymore :(
Then again we soon have Kingdom Hearts III, Anthem, Division 2, etc rolling out so who knows, maybe smaller AAA titles just don't have much of a chance anymore :(
Titanfall 2 obviously, but I also feel more games should launch in the spring. As it's perfect to capture the youth audience and lock them in over the summer and they avoid going head to head with the holiday juggernauts. I think Battlefield should be a spring game and have Battlefront replace it during the holidays.
Battlefield V barely avoided sandwiching itself between CoD and RDR2 with a delay. SoulCalibur VI didn't.
Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2 launched the same week as Modern Warfare 2, the game that made CoD a blockbuster franchise. Subsequently. RB2 sold less than its predecessor and there is no RB3 to date.
MvCI desperately needed a delay for more polish and content. Only issue is delaying it would've put it either in November or December, both of which were pretty contested last year iirc. Any later, and it would've directly competed with DBFZ, and we all know how that ends.
Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2 launched the same week as Modern Warfare 2, the game that made CoD a blockbuster franchise. Subsequently. RB2 sold less than its predecessor and there is no RB3 to date.
MvCI desperately needed a delay for more polish and content. Only issue is delaying it would've put it either in November or December, both of which were pretty contested last year iirc. Any later, and it would've directly competed with DBFZ, and we all know how that ends.
I think SEGA saw XCOM 2: War of the Chosen and Mario + Rabbids come out in that time frame and do well, so they thought they could release in that same window, but I don't think they realized that VC4 didn't have the same brand strength or hype to compete at that time in the market.
Motorstorm Apocalypse
Released near the PSN outage and straight up cancelled in Japan due to the tsunami.
Released near the PSN outage and straight up cancelled in Japan due to the tsunami.
Horizon sold more than 7 million copies and was considered as a huge success by Sony. It wasn't a failure.
Snipperclips had sold 350k by the end of its launch month. Between subsequent downloads and the release of Snipperclips Plus, it's likely that it ended up a million seller in the end. I don't think a small puzzle game such as it can expect much more.
I think being a launch game helped it gain recognition, honestly.
It didn't release near GTAV? It also did +7.6 million in only a year.
I look forward to Ace Combat 7 being the first major release of the yeat only to be completely overshadowed by Kigdom Hearts and Resident Evil 4 days later.
Shortly after a launch there were news that Horizon was one of the highest selling new IP in PS4 history. It definitely was a success.
I think a good example would be the original release of Resonance of Fate, which released exactly one week after Final Fantasy XIII.
Although at the time, FFXIII wasn't disliked because the game was just released and it's quality was unknown factor at the time. It was a case of Resonance of Fate being completely overshadowed.
Although at the time, FFXIII wasn't disliked because the game was just released and it's quality was unknown factor at the time. It was a case of Resonance of Fate being completely overshadowed.
There are alot of big name games releasing in close proximity this month (re2, kh3, ace combat).
Not sure why some of these publishers thought that was a good idea. Someone is gonna be disappointed.
Not sure why some of these publishers thought that was a good idea. Someone is gonna be disappointed.
2015
- Mad Max
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)
2016
- Titanfall 2
2017
- Wolfenstein 2
2018
- Yakuza 6 (NA)
- Dragon Quest XI
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
WINNER (or loser if you prefer) -
- Titanfall 2
I believe that EA released Titanfall 2 in between Battlefield 1 and COD: IW on purpose because the sales were low and lowered the value of Respawn which considering that EA shutdown Visceral and purchased Respawn at a cheaper than expected price tells me everything I need to know. Pure shitty business move. Smart for getting an excellent developer for cheap but horrible for the developer itself in regards to Titanfall 2 and the franchise itself. Wouldn't be surprised if EA releases Titanfall 3 a week before Jedi Fallen Order. UGH. I know people won't believe this but I do because you can see it. Plus, EA had a year from when Titanfall 2 launched to put in a bid for the company or be outbid by any other company that wanted to purchase Respawn. Granted, majority of corporate people are shitty assholes but they're not stupid and they know exactly what they're doing.
- Mad Max
- Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)
2016
- Titanfall 2
2017
- Wolfenstein 2
2018
- Yakuza 6 (NA)
- Dragon Quest XI
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider
WINNER (or loser if you prefer) -
- Titanfall 2
I believe that EA released Titanfall 2 in between Battlefield 1 and COD: IW on purpose because the sales were low and lowered the value of Respawn which considering that EA shutdown Visceral and purchased Respawn at a cheaper than expected price tells me everything I need to know. Pure shitty business move. Smart for getting an excellent developer for cheap but horrible for the developer itself in regards to Titanfall 2 and the franchise itself. Wouldn't be surprised if EA releases Titanfall 3 a week before Jedi Fallen Order. UGH. I know people won't believe this but I do because you can see it. Plus, EA had a year from when Titanfall 2 launched to put in a bid for the company or be outbid by any other company that wanted to purchase Respawn. Granted, majority of corporate people are shitty assholes but they're not stupid and they know exactly what they're doing.
I fear for Ace Combat 7. Almost no advertising whatsoever and barely a peep in the last several months. It's a niche series to begin with and AC6 was the last TRUE game in the series, released more than 10 years ago on 360 where it had no fanbase. They have also never released a mainline Ace Combat game at this time of year which is pretty much a death sentence for any lower profile games, both commercially and critically. I hope it does well, but even more so I hope the right conclusions are drawn so that we get more entries in the series in the future.
Socom 4 I think was also impacted by the psn hack. I heard there was some indie game too that sony just dropped as a publisher and they had to scramble to get a release on pc.
It's important to note this was only the case in EU, NA did in fact release on the same day as Red Dead Redemption...
There is no question this atrocious planning is what almost killed Alan Wake. The game was launched without any marketing or backing from Microsoft, and against a game in development for 5 years by maybe the most acclaimed developer in the world, and with an estimated budget of 80 to 100 million: (https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/...rts&adxnnlx=1274040389-CuFVDLWDBDlpDF6qkY2xnA). There was no doubt Red Dead would become one of the biggest single player games of the generation. This is proven by the fact that for Red Dead's sequel, every publisher was deathly afraid of putting their game near it, and the industry breathed a sigh of relief when it was initially delayed out of 2017. As one example, read at EA's statements about the matter in a 2017 earnings call: https://www.google.com/amp/s/wccftech.com/ea-talks-red-dead-redemption-2-delay/amp/
This is the same franchise, Microsoft felt would be suitable to release alongside their unmarketed, brand new single player IP.
What also killed Alan Wake was the fact the game was initially revealed as a PC exclusive, with MS shoehorning it as a 360 exclusive to cushion its weak single-player catalogue on the 360, thereby alienating the majority of its early supporters. Again, this is a decision MS themselves now knows to be a failure, evidenced by their recent initiative to make all of their exclusives available on PC and Xbox platforms.
Yet, despite the game being seemingly dead on arrival with day one sales of 145,000 copies (https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/alan-wake-sales-for-may-revealed), it since managed to sell 4.5 million copies along with the standalone XBLA Alan Wake's American Nightmare (https://www.gamespot.com/articles/alan-wake-sales-reach-4-5-million-as-xbox-one-rumo/1100-6426167/). This is nothing less than a true testament to the quality of the game. Microsoft, unyielding to this accomplishment, still refused to fund a sequel: https://www.polygon.com/features/2015/4/20/8450329/alan-wake-2-prototype-video-interview
Contrary to Microsoft's negligence, I fully believe Alan Wake's sequel is being planned. For fans who want this to happen: please support Control - it looks incredible! And keep in mind an Alan Wake tv series was heavily teased in Quantum Break, being cited as Alan Wake's Return (https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sorry-alan-wakes-return-is-not-a-game/1100-6435377/), and has since been confirmed to be in development. Please support it, should we be fortunate enough to see it released.
To people who haven't played the game: if you like atmospheric, thriller, and narrative driven games, you really should give Alan Wake a shot. It has horror elements, but I wouldn't call it a horror game. It takes queues from amazing works like Twin Peaks and novels by Stephen King to deliver a twisted story set in a cursed small rural town. The combat has some issues, but the lonely atmosphere when walking through the woods at night is both tense and cathartic. Complemented by an incredible soundtrack, the game has some of the best storytelling in the industry (in my opinion) and some incredible set pieces. This game survived on word of mouth and the support of fans, so I encourage people to give it a shot.
Resonance of Fate
Released a week after Final Fantasy XIII and Sega published Yakuza 3
Released on the same day as:
God of War III
Metro 2033
Dragon Age Awakening
Command & Conquer 4
Infinite Space (another Sega published JRPG)
Fragile Dreams (another fairly hyped JRPG)
Releasing it with a couple of other hyped releases and amid a JRPG overload after FFXIII was reeeeaaaalllly stupid
Released a week after Final Fantasy XIII and Sega published Yakuza 3
Released on the same day as:
God of War III
Metro 2033
Dragon Age Awakening
Command & Conquer 4
Infinite Space (another Sega published JRPG)
Fragile Dreams (another fairly hyped JRPG)
Releasing it with a couple of other hyped releases and amid a JRPG overload after FFXIII was reeeeaaaalllly stupid
Horizon Zero Dawn was setup to fail coming a few days before not only a game similar(Open world wise) in Zelda: BOTW AND the debut of Nintendo Switch and if the game wasn't good quality wise, it would have sunken this franchise from the get go and may have been a damning impact on Guerrila Games for Sony. That was brutal to have it come out a few days before Breath of the Wild and the Nintendo Switch hype.
DmC, the western reboot of Devil May Cry, came out in January of 2013. Something else came out the following month that ate its lunch: Metal Gear Rising: Revengance.
After all the problems they had with battlefront and battlefield I hope they just try to sell the game instead of make respawn go bankrupt
Only recently have I learned that SiN was supposed to be a pretty big deal at the time of its release.
It came out two weeks before Half-life.
It came out two weeks before Half-life.
Holy shit, I remember SiN, couldn't tell you anything about it though.
It's every post in here but it still saddens me deeply that Titanfall 2 got screwed. It's still my favorite competitive fps.
Reminds me of Tales of the Abyss releasing two or so weeks before FFXII in North America. Hilarious stuff.
Tales of Vesperia definitive edition was supposed to come out in November 2018. I suppose that Bandai Namco delayed it so it didn't have to compete with their own Soul Calibur 6 and Katamari Reroll. Now, ToV (a niche franchise) is going to release this month and will compete for the money of JRPG fans with Kingdom fucking Hearts III: one of the most expected AAA JRPGs of the last few years.
Don't tell me the audience of both franchises don't overlap, ToV will be hurt by its own release date.
Don't tell me the audience of both franchises don't overlap, ToV will be hurt by its own release date.
ToV is a game that would be able to do better if it can get moved. It's going to have to rely on PC and Switch owners to save it for sure.
Others have mentioned it, but yeah, Beyond Good and Evil launching at the same time as Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, in November when all the other big games are also coming out, really killed that game. Both games got good reviews, but Prince of Persia was the more hyped game from a well-known franchise, and so many more people bought that one that stores actually stopped selling Beyond Good and Evil within like a month.
I was trying to avoid the obvious sabotaged releases, but what the hell? Let's go and applaud this one again!
EA absolutely sabotaged that release on purpose; as they did with the entire Wii U platform.
Namco then tried to pull the exact same stunt with Dark Souls Remastered. Too bad for them that the Switch got on fine without them!
In a parallel/alternate timeline, Metro would've still released alongside both Anthem and Days Gone on February 22nd let alone anything else smaller or AA.
Anything released in Q1 2017 against anything else in Q1 2017
Personal taste of course, I had multiple friends tell me 2017 was boring but I was drowning in titles I was interested in.
Was finishing up FFXV, then a flood of games came: Gravity Rush 2, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, NieR Automata, Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7, Nioh, For Honor, Night in the Woods, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Fate Extella, Hollow Knight, all with the Switch launch and BotW thrown in at the beginning of March and Persona 5 kicking off Q2 (no pun intended)
I can't believe Resident Evil and Kingdom Hearts are competing for January again in 2019 in somewhat reversed roles. I'm sure they have massively different audiences but damn am I right in the middle of that intersection
Personal taste of course, I had multiple friends tell me 2017 was boring but I was drowning in titles I was interested in.
Was finishing up FFXV, then a flood of games came: Gravity Rush 2, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, NieR Automata, Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7, Nioh, For Honor, Night in the Woods, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Fate Extella, Hollow Knight, all with the Switch launch and BotW thrown in at the beginning of March and Persona 5 kicking off Q2 (no pun intended)
I can't believe Resident Evil and Kingdom Hearts are competing for January again in 2019 in somewhat reversed roles. I'm sure they have massively different audiences but damn am I right in the middle of that intersection
Titanfall 2 is kinda obvious.
Recently - Hitman 2. There was no reason for that game to be sandwiched between all the big hitters.
Recently - Hitman 2. There was no reason for that game to be sandwiched between all the big hitters.
That was deliberate. EA clearly fell out of love with Nintendo sometime 2011-2012 and decided to tank what of their Wii U games were too late in the pipeline to justify cancelling outright.
Oof, that's a big one. What the hell was Nintendo thinking? Retro also had to rush the game to meet its release date and there was basically no play testing, so that makes the choice to release it at that time even more puzzling.