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[Men_in_Boxes]

I’m just saying what they’re really doing. They want the next cash cow like the top dogs. Are you only now learning this?

Again...do you think Arrowhead Studios or PlayStation views Helldivers 2 as a failure because it didn't reach Fortnite or GTAV levels of success?

Can you answer the question?

 

[Kacho]

Again...do you think Arrowhead Studios or PlayStation views Helldivers 2 as a failure because it didn't reach Fortnite or GTAV levels of success?

Can you answer the question?

I just realized this isn’t the WB thread.

 

[Tsaki]

NO WAY!!!! You'd think Sony would have said something by now if it passed 5 million units sold.

Following the Steam trackers and the context given by Dring and Piscatella, I believe they are at around 8M sold through across PS5 and PC. If they were to make a sales milestone of 5M it would have been last week but it would be extremely bad optics considering the layoffs ("Here, we make mad bank from our GaaS success. Btw we fire 900 of our employees").
I expect an announcement of sales next week; that would give it a good two weeks gap between the layoffs.

Taken the average of the first 3 trackers, puts it at ~5.3M sales on Steam alone. Normally I'd give weightage on the different trackers but I don't know which one is closer to the true number. Obviously SteamSpy's number is ridiculous but if I wanted to be fair I'd still include it but with a very low weight (though it would still pull that 5.3 number higher).

 

[mckmas8808]

Wrong again.

They're chasing money. They're chasing ROI.

You think Arrowhead Studios or PlayStation views Helldivers 2 as a failure because it didn't reach Fortnite or GTAV levels of success?

Is Honda a failure because they never became as big as Ford?

BRO.....that's what we were trying to tell you about games like Returnal and Demon Souls: Remake lol. But you acted like they were flops. Why?

 

[mckmas8808]

Following the Steam trackers and the context given by Dring and Piscatella, I believe they are at around 8M sold through across PS5 and PC. If they were to make a sales milestone of 5M it would have been last week but it would be extremely bad optics considering the layoffs ("Here, we make mad bank from our GaaS success. Btw we fire 900 of our employees").
I expect an announcement of sales next week; that would give it a good two weeks gap between the layoffs.

Taken the average of the first 3 trackers, puts it at ~5.3M sales on Steam alone. Normally I'd give weightage on the different trackers but I don't know which one is closer to the true number. Obviously SteamSpy's number is ridiculous but if I wanted to be fair I'd still include it but with a very low weight (though it would still pull that 5.3 number higher).

The bolded is a really good point actually. They may even wait until they release Q4 numbers to say anything. I think they will be doing that 6 or so weeks from now.

 

[Neofire]

Industry will learn all the wrong lessons from this and suicide squad.

As much as I applaud Arrowhead and Sony for this brilliant game I do agree that it sets a worry some precedent in regards to it being a live service title.

 

[nial]

They are cutting GAAS games left and right. Not doing that stupid 12 GAAS, but probably sliming it down to 7 or 8.

It was 12 GaaS series, with Horizon having 2 games in development (the Guerrilla and NCSoft ones), and MLB The Show obviously getting new titles each year.
So far, we know they cancelled games of 5 different series,

The Last of Us Online
Twisted Metal
London Studio's new IP
Deviation's new IP
Insomniac's Spider-Verse project

which would lower the number to 7.

MLB The Show
Helldivers
Concord
Fairgame$
Horizon
Neon Koi's new IP for mobile

As of now, we're only missing 1 game of their live service roadmap. Of course, they also have the Bungie stuff, but that is separate.

 

[Bond007]

This is the type of goodness we get when we think there are no first party games this year supposedly.
Just not the big names.

Helldivers is becoming a big name

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

BRO.....that's what we were trying to tell you about games like Returnal and Demon Souls: Remake lol. But you acted like they were flops. Why?

I think both were flops, especially Returnal. However RoI allows for degrees and Helldivers 2 RoI has been exceptional.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

It was 12 GaaS series

It was "12 GaaS before FY2025".

 

[nial]

It was "12 GaaS before FY2026".

FTFY, which is also the only piece of info we've got, I don't know what else you can discuss.

 

[The Stig]

Excellent.

Let us all bring Managed Democracy to the galaxy.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

FTFY, which is also the only piece of info we've got, I don't know what else you can discuss.

Not according to PlayStation. Look at the bar furthest to the right. The plan was by FY2025.

My point is go educate people on the fact that this has always been a long term strategy for PlayStation. It was never 12 and then be done with Live Service

 

[nial]

Not according to PlayStation. Look at the bar furthest to the right. The plan was by FY2025.

Then it cannot be BEFORE FY2026. The chart was made after FY2021 ended, and they were not having 3 different GaaS series at that point.
Not to mention the chart itself being outdated as Helldivers 2 would slip into FY2023, and Concord ended up being part of FY2024. Fairgame$ is also a total mystery, which, even if it releases before April 2025, you would still have 4 different GaaS series by FY2024, as opposed to 10 which was their original plan.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Then it cannot be BEFORE FY2026. The chart was made after FY2021 ended, and they were not having 3 different GaaS series at that point.
Not to mention the chart itself being outdated as Helldivers 2 would slip into FY2023, and Concord ended up being part of FY2024. Fairgame$ is also a total mystery, which, even if it releases before April 2025, you would still have 4 different GaaS series by FY2024, as opposed to 10 which was their oruginal plan.

I think most of that is true.

Again, I'm only saying 12 by FY25 because PlayStation has always wanted more than that.

 

[midnightAI]

I cant keep up, is GaaS good or bad now?

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I cant keep up, is GaaS good or bad now?

Continuous support for games is always good.
The problem lies within the execution.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I cant keep up, is GaaS good or bad now?

PvE GAAS is acceptable.

PvP GAAS is the Devils Juice.

 

[midnightAI]

Continuous support for games is always good.
The problem lies within the execution.

Well, kinda, the problem is the level of expected support for said game and if it spreads the studio thin for future games. I think that was part of the problem that ND had.

 

[poppabk]

We are guestimating between 3.5 and 25.5 million. But we could be wrong.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think both were flops, especially Returnal. However RoI allows for degrees and Helldivers 2 RoI has been exceptional.

But how do you know what the ROI is on Returnal and Demon Souls: Remake?

Then it cannot be BEFORE FY2026. The chart was made after FY2021 ended, and they were not having 3 different GaaS series at that point.
Not to mention the chart itself being outdated as Helldivers 2 would slip into FY2023, and Concord ended up being part of FY2024. Fairgame$ is also a total mystery, which, even if it releases before April 2025, you would still have 4 different GaaS series by FY2024, as opposed to 10 which was their original plan.

Thank you man! We tried to explain it to him 4 different ways.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

But how do you know what the ROI is on Returnal and Demon Souls: Remake?

Nobody knows. All we can see is official sales figures and compare them to team size + length of development.

 

[mckmas8808]

Nobody knows. All we can see is official sales figures and compare them to team size + length of development.

Exactly! To think Returnal and Demon Souls Remake didn't make a profit is silly.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Exactly! To think Returnal and Demon Souls Remake didn't make a profit is silly.

We don't know.

What we do know is that Helldivers 2 smoked both in terms of RoI.

 

[PixelatedBeast]

As much as I applaud Arrowhead and Sony for this brilliant game I do agree that it sets a worry some precedent in regards to it being a live service title.

But its what they already planned. Its not like the success of their live service games will compelle them to stop making singleplayer games. They only way I can see the success of one game affect their plans is if they make a game that reaches Fortnite success.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

We don't know.

What we do know is that Helldivers 2 smoked both in terms of RoI.

Success has many different scales and forms

News at 11

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Success has many different scales and forms

News at 11

That's why they're going after GAAS. They don't want smaller and smaller profits.

 

[Jaybe]

Helldivers 2 will be #1 in the Feb Circana/NPD ranking, won’t it? Doubt that FF7 Rebirth will beat it at the rate HD2 seems to be selling.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

That's why they're going after GAAS. They don't want smaller and smaller profits.

They are going after GaaS for diversification of their portfolio

They are happy with decently large but not massive profits from something like ratchet, returnal, or demons souls. They diversify the lineup and make the platform attractive

GaaS focus is also there to keep PS plus subs

 

[mckmas8808]

We don't know.

What we do know is that Helldivers 2 smoked both in terms of RoI.

That's not an issue though.

That's why they're going after GAAS. They don't want smaller and smaller profits.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I cant keep up, is GaaS good or bad now?

CEO of Arrowhead Studios outright said he believes his company need to "earn the right to monetize."

Sadly people like him are few and far between. Most GaaS are still money grabs first and games 2nd. Helldivers 2 being the exception doesn't reverse anything.

 

[mayham2199]

They are cutting GAAS games left and right. Not doing that stupid 12 GAAS, but probably sliming it down to 7 or 8.

That's kind of expected though. Sony didn't go into developing 12 GAAS games and expect every single game to come out without issue. They don't eve have that track record with SP games. I think someone at Sony even mentioned the plan was to try 12 with the expectation not everything is going to hit or make it.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

That's not an issue though.

In what universe is ROI not the issue?

Literally what they're doing.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

That's kind of expected though. Sony didn't go into developing 12 GAAS games and expect every single game to come out without issue. They don't eve have that track record with SP games. I think someone at Sony even mentioned the plan was to try 12 with the expectation not everything is going to hit or make it.

Knowing when to pull the plug is an important part of game development. You wait too long and you get sunk cost and you end up pushing out a failure. Killing a project that isn't working is better than releasing a bad product and harming your reputation. But it is important that you take risks and give game ideas a chance initially.

The plug pulling is always on the cards at it should be.

 

[KaiserBecks]

What might happen is suddenly in the next couple years you get tons of Helldivers clones as they follow the trend.

Now would be a great time to bring a current gen patch for Deep Rock Galactic. A lot of people have sort of missed out on this game.

 

[Isa]

I believe it. I've enjoyed it, and slowly got my buddies to check it out. They were PC/Xbox mainly and went out to by a PS5 just for this game lol. Its definitely generating good word of mouth and has a solid social media presence. One is on PC with lowered settings and want to get a PS5 as well. Go figure, good games sell systems. Good on Sony and Arrowhead.

Now I want to know what is in the works for future content in the game. Also the stratagem arcade is fun for our group and we'd like to see more for something to do during afk wait times lol.

Edit: We also met a few others during open sessions that were laughing about snagging a PS5 just for the game as well.

 

[mckmas8808]

I believe it. I've enjoyed it, and slowly got my buddies to check it out. They were PC/Xbox mainly and went out to by a PS5 just for this game lol. Its definitely generating good word of mouth and has a solid social media presence. One is on PC with lowered settings and want to get a PS5 as well. Go figure, good games sell systems. Good on Sony and Arrowhead.

Now I want to know what is in the works for future content in the game. Also the stratagem arcade is fun for our group and we'd like to see more for something to do during afk wait times lol.

Edit: We also met a few others during open sessions that were laughing about snagging a PS5 just for the game as well.

This is great news! Glad to see it can be a console seller.

Helldivers 2 Gets a Limited-Time Discount for PC at Fanatical - IGN

Helldivers 2 has received a limited-time discount for PC, here's everything you need to know.

www.ign.com