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Shadow Tactics postmortem - From near bankruptcy to success

More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,656
Thought this was an intriguing and candid retrospective from the developers

https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news...mimis_Shadow_Tactics_Blades_of_the_Shogun.php
Nearly a year ago, Mimimi wasn't known to many people. Our previous game, the 3D action adventure The Last Tinker: City of Colors, did okay, but never reached a significant audience.

By end of December 2016, our biggest dreams came true: Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, our love-letter to Commandos and Desperados was finally released and loved by both players and press.

At the same time, we were nearly bankrupt and had already signed terminations for most of the team. There wasn't any money left to survive for another month.

In this postmortem, the two founders of Mimimi Dominik Abé (Creative Director) and Johannes Roth (Managing Director) will dive into what went right and what went (awfully) wrong.
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Calibro

Calibro

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,822
Belarus
Fucking awesome game, it's a miracle a game like this came out recently. I loved Commandos back when I was a teenager, and this game reignited that love, instantly.
 
BadWolf

BadWolf

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,148
Good for them.

It really is an amazing game, definitely one of my fave stealth games to date. Everything from the gameplay to the visuals and music is top notch.

Hope more people check it out.
 
Portmanteau

Portmanteau

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,499
The candid nature of this post mortem is awesome. Really happy that this worked out, I recently picked it up after playing the demo, which was wonderful.
 
Chaosblade

Chaosblade

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,622
I recently played this and it's great. A shame they were so troubled but the idea they are at least considering another Shadow Tactics entry is great news. I'd be all over that.

I also like the art, and I like that they like the art even if they feel it was detrimental to the game's sales.
 
vicegold

vicegold

Member
Oct 27, 2017
355
They're doing anAMA on Redditright now, and i asked them about their next game:

10ylU9q.png


Man, i would love a spiritual Desperados successor!
 
ebsy

ebsy

Member
Feb 25, 2018
152
Great game (also a huge fan of Commandos) and thanks for the update from the AMA!
 
Vintage

Vintage

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,305
Europe
I should buy and play this game. The demo was great, but didn't have time to play full game, completely forgot about it.
 
GiantEnemyCrab

GiantEnemyCrab

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,679
I started reading the article, ready for some "... and then we sold a million copies!" but only 60.000 in the first month and it's still considered a success? Damn.

Edit: Read the whole thing, great article!
 
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Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,896
Finland
I'm glad they found success. I've been having my eye on that game for some time, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I've been marketing it to my friends though. Happy to hear they are able to stay in business and make more great games. Especially the types that are underpresented like Shadow Tactics is. Thanks for sharing the article.
 
Chaosblade

Chaosblade

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,622
vicegold said:
They're doing anAMA on Redditright now, and i asked them about their next game:

10ylU9q.png


Man, i would love a spiritual Desperados successor!
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This is great to see. Totally in for another game and a new setting will help keep it fresh.

GiantEnemyCrab said:
I started reading the article, ready for some "... and then we sold a million copies!" but only 60.000 in the first month and it's still considered a success? Damn.


Edit: Read the whole thing, great article!
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A lot of people have a skewed perception of success, smaller teams and companies don't need hundreds of thousands of sales to have a successful release.
 

Deleted member 37739

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 8, 2018
908
One of my favourite games on PS4 last year - loved every minute of it. Really well thought-out console controls, great characters and an unexpectedly moving story. If you've not tried it, have a go with the PS4 demo. A real breath of fresh air.
 
Twilight Suzuka

Twilight Suzuka

Banned
Nov 4, 2017
2,203
I cannot endorse this game enough. If you like hardcore stealth, this is the most intelligent and impressive stealth game I've played since MGS V. It really demands tactical thinking.
 
Hexer

Hexer

Member
Oct 30, 2017
925
Got this on PC and it was sooo good! Might double dip on Xbox just for some Achievements and support the devs more. :)
 
Barrel Cannon

Barrel Cannon

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
9,363
OMG, I was mentioned Deparados to my friends. That would be a wonderful inspiration to go by. I loved it as a child and now I wonder how well it actually holds up.
 
Shin

Shin

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
503
Good on them, the first time I saw it I had this "have to have it" kinda feeling.
Still haven't bought it, but I'll get there, Shadow Tactics will or is a franchise then?
At least that Reddit AMA reads like that unless they are joking about the name.
 
Graciaus

Graciaus

Member
Oct 27, 2017
732
One of the best games I played randomly. I got it in one of the humble bundles and put 40+ hours into it. If they make something similar next I'd be there day one.
 
ThreepQuest64

ThreepQuest64

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
5,735
Germany
Very interesting article. He's very detailed with his insights.

Dennis really had to convince us of his idea, because I was afraid that gamers would already have enough after one level and move on to the next big AAA game available for $10. With general games industry wisdom regarding demos telling us that a demo would hurt sales, it actually was a huge leap of faith for us.
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Didn't know that's how the industry is looking at demos.
On Steam, we've found many people to be not even aware of the download option, probably due to it's weird button-position outside of the "buy the game" section.
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On PlayStation 4, we are not even showing up in the store's demo category, because we chose to deliver a "trial" instead
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Interesting as well and while I realized the problem on Steam, I didn't know about about the PS4 'issue', though.
 

Deleted member 11413

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,961
GiantEnemyCrab said:
Not really, it's more that I think it's kind of shame that after all what happened with that company and the game being really great, critics and gamers loving it, it still was only a comparatively moderate success.
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It's a relatively niche genre, this is what success looks like for a small team making a game like this with a modest budget
 
anthraxus

anthraxus

Banned
Nov 16, 2017
644
Loved Commandos 2, Robin Hood Legend of Sherwood and Desperados.

Have had my eye on Shadow Tactics for a while. Haven't tried it yet, but def will...looks sweet.
 
RZetko

RZetko

Member
Oct 27, 2017
522
I'm really happy for them. Even though I haven't finished it, it's been still one of my favorite titles of 2017 and filled a hole in my heart that's been empty for damn long time. I know it's very niche genre but I hope we'll get something at least every 2-3 years, not one game every 10 years.
 
ShiftyHermit

ShiftyHermit

Member
Oct 27, 2017
421
I remember wanting to play this but never got around to picking it up.

Just bought it for PS4, hope I enjoy it better than the last couple of games I've played. In a meh streak at the moment.
 
Acidote

Acidote

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,999
Ok, do Shadow Tactics: Desperados now, and after it's success do Shadow Tactics: Commandos.
 
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