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Returnal's peak player count is 5642 on Steam!

Mr.Phoenix

Member
Its a stupid idea to release PS5 games yet on PC. Release all PS4 ones first. There's a much larger market right there due to the lower barrier of entry. I am sure stuff like ghosts of Tsushima or infamous second son Would have sold much better.

Besides, dumbasses already know which 2 games they gave to release if they want BIG sales. But they are so clueless they may port destruction all stars next.

Also, pretty sure lots of PC gamers already pre ordered TLOU remake over returnal.
It doesn't matter. I believe that most PS5 development happens now with a PC port firmly on the cards. They just delay the release to allow for PC-specific optimizations and for the game to do what it can do for the PS5.

Either way, its money on the table. If over the course of the future, the game goes on to sell 100k on the PC, they are fine with that. Even if it doesn't sell a single copy more, they know that other of their games will or still sell. So ultimately, its just money on the books.

Those games you mentioned, will eventually get to the PC, and they will still get those big sales you mentioned. So nothing changes.
 

Wildebeest

Member
Positive user reviews, but lingering in the bottom half of the "action roguelike" tag section for review score. Some top comparable "premium" competition in the category is Hades, Deep Rock Galactic and Risk of Rain 2. Stellar user reviews and none of them cost half as much as Returnal. It's a big, scary world out there on the steam store.
 
You guys are obsessed with numbers and sales.

Game's on PC now, it will last forever and not just until the console is ditched by it's manufacturer so don't worry, it'll sell a fair ammount of units and even more so once it gets discounted.
Actually numbers and sales are important. If Returnal did bomb, we probably won’t get a sequel anytime soon. It’s one reason why Sony primarily focuses on certain types of games over something like a sequel to Bloodborne, Gravity Rush or Legend of Dragoon generally.
 
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It's a fun game but they're going to struggle against Hogwarts like all PC games are at the moment.

Q1KUixf.png
 

Fbh

Member
"as a roguelike" is so outdated, no game needs to be stuck in a genre that's just old fashioned thinking.

If a game is constructed as a rougelite but isn't very good at it, then some of the failings of the genre become more apparent.
One of the reason good Roguelites like Hades can get away with relatively low amount of content (4 small-ish areas and 4 bosses) is because the great build variety and fun roguelite mechanics keep things feeling fresh and varied for a long time. Returnal struggles with that because most upgrades are basic passive stuff and it's hard to aim for a build since they almost never let you choose which upgrades you get, so to me every run felt almost the same, I was never given any incentive to use weapons I didn't like, I always beat the same handful of enemies the same way and it very quickly became apparent that the game is just 6 relatively small biomes. (one of them being a variation of an earlier one)

Personally I'd have liked it way more of it was constructed like, say, Doom Eternal. A more linear 15 hours campaign with solid replay value thanks to multiple difficulty options. And then the tower could have been the optional Roguelike mode.


I don't understand what people expected.

It's not like Returnal was huge seller on PlayStation 5. Game sold 560k copies after few months on the market.

Well for 2 years I've heard people saying how this game was wasted on Ps5 because Ps5 players can't appreciate it and would rather play some "cinematic" story focused action adventure game with light RPG mechanics.
So it's kinda funny seeing this come to PC and be largely ignored as everyone is playing a "cinematic" story focused action adventure game with light RPG mechanics
 
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Uiki

Member
I mean... besides sony fanboys defending the game like the second coming of christ, was anyone surprised?
It's a good tps but a god awful roguelite on a platform where you can play much better titles for a fraction of returnal's cost.
 
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Sentenza

Member
I was going to joke "Hey, I'm playing the new Spellforce: Conquest of Eo, an obscure niche game without marketing that probably did a lot worse of Returnal", then I checked and guess what? Even that is almost up there with 4000 concurrent users.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
Funny thing is, that DF video suddenly made me more interested.. They made it look fun somehow. The ridiculous price point though..
 

yurinka

Member
Actually numbers and sales are important. If Returnal did bomb, we probably won’t get a sequel anytime soon. It’s one reason why Sony primarily focuses on certain types of games over something like a sequel to Bloodborne, Gravity Rush or Legend of Dragoon generally.
It was a next gen only niche new IP for the launch window of a console, which means low expected sales at least at launch. Returnal didn't bomb, Sony considered it a success and bought the studio months after its release, which means it was selling as they expected. Housemarque is now working on a bigger game.

It's too early to analize the performance of the PC version, it was released a few days ago and it's still too early to even know it is performing during launch. It will be selling during years, specially when discounted.

They had the -I consider dumb- idea of releasing the PC port next to Howgart's Legacy, which seems that will be one of the most successful games in the history of Steam, which mixed with the fact that it's an expensive port of an old game and that it's a niche game with a let's say not popular main character it's fair to assume that they didn't expect it to sell a lot now.
 

DrFigs

Member
this is in no way AAA. it's a AA game at most, if the budget for this was higher than a typical AA title they did something wrong
It's a game you can beat in a couple of hours that runs at 1080p on the ps5. It's clearly a budget title. But I don't think 60 dollars is an unreasonable price. I bought it at 70 and thought it was good for that price as well.
 
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01011001

Banned
It's a game you can beat in like an hour that runs at 1080p on the ps5. It's clearly a budget title. But I don't think 60 dollars is an unreasonable price. I bought it at 70 and thought it was good for that price as well.

yeah but even 60 on PC would be a bit much.
and 2 years after it came out? that's just a stupid strategy.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
This is borderline fanboy rhetoric. You said Sony views the PC Market as secondary, so, the market will simply treat Sony's releases as the B-tier releases that Sony presents them as.

Secondary market isn't a dig at PC or its owners you fool, it just means they have a console ecosystem that they have to treat as their priority because its where the overwhelming majority of their income streams from!

And Sony's shareholders won't let them drop PC now that Sony's followed Microsoft's lead. Give up the "gravy", as you put it? The shareholders would out Jim Ryan for leaving money on the table. The cat's out of the bag now.

They won't drop or reduce publishing on PC while its profitable and seen as beneficial to their overall business. However were sales and interest to drop below expectations. what do you think they are going to do? Make cuts on the console side because PC is so valuable? I really don't think so.

Shareholders are fans of making money, not platforms! On console they generate income from hardware, software, services, publishing, advertising, licensing, all within structures they have near total control over. On PC they are just another player amongst an incredibly crowded and competitive field.
Sure, its a larger addressable market, but that's its only upside over their pre-existing gaming businesses.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Game is like 38€ on key sites, so maybe the price isn't the only thing holding back it's appeal.

I think it's the genre, too much roguelites already.
 
I'm never expecting much from Sony and PC, it's not a primary platform as Sony just see it as a way to entice players over to PS5.

The former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Shawn Layden stated exacrly that a few short years ago. Perhaps Jim could treat PC and gamers with the respect and openess other platforms do but we're still not seeing it with parity to PS4/5 consoles. Likely never will see that day.

Layden divulged a few details about PlayStation’s PC plan when he left the company. In it, he said the plan with PC was “to go out to where these new customers are, these new fans could be” in a hope to sway them over to PlayStation consoles and games.

Source
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Layden divulged a few details about PlayStation’s PC plan when he left the company. In it, he said the plan with PC was “to go out to where these new customers are, these new fans could be” in a hope to sway them over to PlayStation consoles and games.
And that's probably where that theory came about. Do old PC ports and PC gamers will dump their PC and buy a PS5 itching for the day one sequels. At least according to Layden.
 
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Azurro

Banned
I'd be willing to try it for 15 bucks, because I despise roguelikes. It doesn't matter if it's high budget.
 

01011001

Banned
Just watched the digital Foundry. Holy shit, props to the devs. A great port and absolutely destroys the ps5.....its like a huge upgrade.

would be nice if rt worked correctly tho. even the 2060S should be able to run it with RT at 60fps it seems from the scenes he tested
 

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
I'd be willing to try it for 15 bucks, because I despise roguelikes. It doesn't matter if it's high budget.
Then you probably don't like it. I find the genre interesting, but I'm not a big fan too. On top of that, the penalty for death is too much in this one(imo). You can't understand this within Steam's 2 hour return policy limits, because the real difficulty starts from there. The first two hours were like a classic action game and I loved it. I thought about "returning" it between the 2nd and 13th hours, but it was too late. After 13 hours, I realized that I loved this game and decided to finish it(if I can :messenger_smirking:). Funny thing is, I wished it wasn't rogue-like at first, but now I don't want to play this game without rogue-like mechanics.

What will be the narrative if it reaches 6,133 🤭

It's now 6,161 😁
It's still going up
6ge5GzQ.jpg
I hope it breaks records. Absolutely deserves it(if we don't consider the price policy). The main idea was that it was played by very few people in the first three days after release. Usually the opposite would happen, the first days would break records, slowly the number would decrease.
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
I hope it breaks records. Absolutely deserves it(if we don't consider the price policy). The main idea was that it was played by very few people in the first three days after release. Usually the opposite would happen, the first days would break records, slowly the number would decrease.
Can it be?

It won't break records but it went up to 6,684, which is a lot higher than other games that get called a success here.
 
This game isn’t for everyone. It’s extremely hard and if you suck at video games in general or have poor reflexes, you’re going to have a rough time. So not surprised most of you aren’t liking it.

If you’re willing to put in the time to get good and understand the games mechanics, this is one of the most addicting, rewarding games I have ever played. Feel sorry for anyone not willing to give it the time of day because you are missing out.
 
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LRKD

Member
Always looked mildly interesting, but $70 for a 2-year late console port is laughable. People are totally right to skip it atm and wait for it to go on sale. Should've released it at $40, -$20 for each year it was out on console, plus -$10 for next gen tax, I hate all of you who support this $70 bs. if games are 'too expensive' to make, maybe try cutting the marketing budget, or useless staff instead of making it the consumers problem.

Edit: oh i guess it's $60 on steam which is a lot better than i thought, but still at least 20$ too many.
 
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People buying digital don't buy day 1 i suppose.

Normally day 1 buyers are disc buyers who recoup the cost by selling disc.

Thats why pc version will have long legs.

It will sell 200k- 500k easily, so i suspect budget for development should not have been higher.
 

decisions

Member
I also love how psychological the story in this game, once you see the ending all of the visuals and dialogue take on new meaning, which is something I haven't really seen done so well since Silent Hill 2.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
As a roguelike? Absolutely not, in fact that’s the main issue with Returnal, every run feels the same since there’s no character variety, build variety or general variation in the gameplay loop.

The only thing it does better is graphics - the least important thing in a roguelike.

And it seems the numbers speak for themselves since RoR 2 sold magnitudes more.

This was my biggest issue with the game. It is just barely a rogelike. I think it would have been a thousand times better had Housemarque made it a genuine roguelike. It feels more like some kind of arcade game, even after they provided the ability to save after bosses.

Missed opportunities. They went chasing that tiny crowd who craves a needlessly challenging and frustrating experience and their sales predictably ended up paltry for it.
 

01011001

Banned
As a roguelike? Absolutely not, in fact that’s the main issue with Returnal, every run feels the same since there’s no character variety, build variety or general variation in the gameplay loop.
This was my biggest issue with the game. It is just barely a rogelike. I think it would have been a thousand times better had Housemarque made it a genuine roguelike.

that's a rogue like dudes.

games with character progression are rogue LITEs because the og rogue didn't have saved character progression.
 
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