Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sales spike following 38 Studios closure

GamerZines writes: "UK sales of action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning have spiked in the past week following news that the company has shut its doors."

[moegooner88]

Just got it from Zavvi for just 15 pounds, one of the best offers i have seen.

[Blastoise]

Yeah I saw that deal. Zavvi have some good offers sometimes, I bought Disgaea 4 for £15 there too.

*Secret Zavvi employee*

[user7792788]

I know right when i saw it on there i shocked to see it for that price, brought it up straight away zavii has some great deals sometimes, i got the alien anthology blu ray set for like 8 pounds

[showtimefolks]

hopefully it is selling well and hopefully EA or some publisher will buy the IP

[dcbronco]

Buy the IP for what. So they can go out of business too?

[showtimefolks]

dcbronco

seriously you don't know how Ip's work? its worth more than 20 million

[ATi_Elite]

Many have said the game was good and a very solid experience.

Too bad most sites were too busy talking about Call of Duty or Syndicate (which sold like crap) instead of giving an upstart studio some shine.

EA should have done more to get the Positive feedback out instead of there constant STUPID banter about BF3 vs. MW3.

That's the problem with the Industry. Too many free gifts from big name publishers and big time studios end up sometimes drowning out the effort and quality from the little guys and upstarts.

.....and then too 38 Studios COMPLETELY BLEW THE BUDGET!!! Way to waste $75 mill! That should of been 3 games completed!!!

[Noctis Aftermath]

I had seen plenty of reviews, news, advertisements for KoA on many gaming sites before and after its launch, i believe they had plenty of time in the spotlight.

If they used $75 million for that then they set their sights way too high, if they stayed below $50 mil im sure it would have been a much better success story.

Pretty much every single IP that is doing big numbers now started off much much smaller and built up the fanbase over several installments, this seems like they wanted the Elder Scrolls numbers on their first attempt! completely ridiculous.

[turgore]

a new IP from a new developer would definetely have a hard time, then there are two issues.
1. Face it, the game looked generic.
2. How could it compete with Skyrim ?

[OmegaSlayer]

Bought it day one.
I did mine to save them.

[Spydiggity]

same here. i really liked the game...even if it did become incredibly easy by the end.

and of course the sales are up...they're actually advertising the game now. i've seen quite a few ads on various web pages.

[Felinox]

Agree completly. I even bought both DLC.
It did need to be more difficult though.

[Spydiggity]

about midway through the game i went from rogue to mage, and i could summon down a meteor that basically just one-shotted everything. or i could call down lightning that did the same thing.

it was great feeling ultra powerful at first, but then i realized they were never going to throw an enemy at me that was a challenge.

it really would have made for a good mmo.

one other complaint, the game had this tremendous art style that you never got to see because when you were running, the camera angled down on you.

the lore definitely held its own against elder scrolls. and the scavenging and inventory systems were much more streamlined

[jsslifelike]

It's probably the state of Rhode Island that's doing all of the new advertising...

[mokopa]

Me too. Been enjoying and have not even finished it. Repeat after me, hack slash, level up, hack, slash, level up. Who is this diablo 3 dude, cant u see Iam busy here.

[aPerson]

Publishers (EA in particular, since they published the game) would be foolish not to consider buying the IP off 38 Studios for a large sum of money (that could help them pay off debts).

This franchise STILL has "big huge" potential. Hopefully Reckoning won't be the last KoA game.

[execution17]

agreed, would of sold more if it had mp :/ main reason why quite a few people passed on it

[Basjohn]

No no no noooo.

Stop it.

Stop.

We do not need EVEN MORE single-player experiences ruined with MP. Let singleplayer be singleplayer or we'll be stuck with codspawn till we all die of oldage.

[execution17]

was just saying it would of sold more if it did have mp, bought it day one and idc if it had mp or not ^_^ still love playing it

[Dzpool]

Should of had coop offline and online

[DarthJay]

I am really hoping for a last minute miracle.

@Basjohn - no multiplayer, but it would have been more fun with co-op. I understand why it is not there, but it still would have been fun to drop in and out of games with friends.

[Rampaged Death]

I'm picking mine up this week. I feel bad for not getting it day one.

[torchic]

don't feel bad. I love this game loads but as a student I can't afford shelling out €70 for a new game. so I don't blame anyone for not buying a game at original price.

game publishers need to realize that they will sell more games (especially new IPs) by selling the game cheaper. it's common sense, an easy to understand business model. games that sell in their millions might not make as much money, but lesser known titles (the majority) will benefit.

[snipes101]

There isn't anything to feel bad about here. None of us knew that the studio made the decision to use taxpayer's dollars to fund their game. Not until now anyhow.

If anything, this shoudl send a message to game developers to be a little more open about what their budgets are. If they had maybe told us about this from the beginning, the gaming community might have been more willing to take a chance on it given what was at steak.

[Baba1906]

i loved the game. its really good.

[Nerdmaster]

It's like paitings and music CDs. Sometimes they only sell really well when the artist dies.

[OmegaSlayer]

Unfortunately...

[kevnb]

too bad I think its already too late... :(

[vega275]

well i hope the price comes down on steam, so i can buy it again.

[Morpheuzpr]

If it was Call of duty Reckoning it would have sold like crazy.

The videogame industry (hate the word "gaming" since it's part of the state of thins) is a joke now days. Games are made for noobs that don't put on the time and effort that it used to take to be good at it. And the media OMG, i think they are more responsible for the studios closure than "gamers" do, or should i say real video game enthusiasts.

[Gamer1982]

"If it was Call of duty Reckoning it would have sold like crazy. "

Never a truer sentence said.

[FinaLXiii]

oh man that´s too bad KoA seems quite a good game to florish a sequell.

[jessupj]

That's very sad to hear they're closing.

Apart from demon's souls/dark souls, Rechoning was the one of the first good RPGs with ACTUAL decent combat.

I've been waiting for a game like this my whole life and now I only have dark souls 2 to look forward to.

[Laxman]

Witcher 2 and Dragon's Dogma both have awesome combat, and Witcher 2 is made even better by an amazing storyline and characters. Definately worth checking out if you're an RPG fan.

[jessupj]

O yes, definitely looking forward to Dragon's Dogma, but I haven't played either games you mentioned yet so I didn't name them.

But even so, that's 3 games. I'm sure there's a few more, but I don't understand why there aren't a lot more action RPGs with really good combat systems? Just doesn't make sense. I can't be the only one pinning for this genre.

[CaptainPunch]

I've been meaning to pick up the game.

[modesign]

EA underfunded 38 studios. what a shame,

[Pandamobile]

EA was only a co-publisher.

[InTheLab]

I blame this dude...

http://www.g4tv.com/games/x...

Thank god he not allowed to s*** on good games any more...

Anyway, at least the sales are some good news, although I'm not sure if that money will reach the fired employees. I'm sure Curt will pocket that like he did the money budgeted for the last 3rd of the game, which was terrible compared to the beginning and middle.

Amalur was a good start. Hopefully those fired devs will end up somewhere and someone will pick up Amalur and give us a sequel.

[jjdoyle]

2.5? nothing more to say

[GamingPerson]

This is nice but doesn't make 38 studio come back.. Too bad this didn't happen before the shutdown. It's like when a music artist dies then they get new fans.

I really wish I could of played their mmo.

[R_aVe_N]

It just sad that this happened really it was one of the best RPG games released this gen. Its really sad that a good game like this sells badly while sh!t titles sell millions of copies. Really hope somebody comes in that is worth a crap and buys BigHugeGames because they did an awesome job on this game and deserve to stay open, or at least rehires all those guys/gals into a new studio.

[kamolahy]

I totally thought that introducing Origin was going to assure better PC sales for EA games and improve digital distribution. Oh wait...

[Frenza]

It was also on steam...

[yeahokchief]

Failed to make a 1.125 million interest payment. Whoa. Then they did make the payment, but didn't pay their workers since May 1st.

Gotta feel bad for the 400 people who lost their jobs and health insurance if they moved to Rhode Island to take the job.

I'm going to guess that you won't be seeing states offering any more big loans or tax incentives to video game companies in the coming future.

[OmegaSaiyanX]

I bought the game and its everything Fable should have been and more, superb visuals, great overall game, tons and tons of side quests.

My biggest gripe with the game is that once you go to a shop at a certain level it becomes level locked forever.
Other thing is the loot is really really bad, the drops are terrible and even what the vendors are selling is very poor.

Also bought both DLC packs and I thought the weapons etc should be better right? Nope still outright awful.

However overall the game is superb still got mine beat it only once though definitely a must buy but wish they had sorted out the loot and stuff you could buy :-(

[SYNTAXeRror]

well thats good,i bought it...found it to be dry, bland...just like kashi cereal, that im eating. it did have some redeeming qualities around gameplay, but this is hard lesson for this developer, dont sink money into big names that dont do much..i mean really, Todd McFarlane ( the dev diary even said he wanted to do stuff, artists couldnt produce), RA Salvatore isnt the greatest writer either...

[FarCryLover182]

I don't know much about the specifics about the KoA ip, but does EA own it? If they do, maybe they could be nice and form a new RPG focused studio mainly comprised of 38 Studios staff and BHG staff as well? Unlikely, but would be nice.

[HacSawJimThugin]

I got this game at launch and fell in love. My wife never played a RPG before and craved this game. Even though ppl were drooling over Skyrim still, I felt this game was a breath of fresh air to a genre going sour. Out of all of the RPG that came out in the last couple of months this was my fave. The combat is so over the top and fulfilling, the loot satisfying, and the world is absolutely gorgeous. I really wish it would of sold better.

I can only hope that this IP is picked up by someone who feels the same as us who loved this game.

[BlueEye]

Bought mine about a week before they closed.

[BizDaWolf]

I hope EA see this hopefully they look out for 38 studio

[CanadianTurtle]

Honestly, why do publishers expect new IPs to sell like a CoD game. I think the game sold pretty well for what it was. Anyways, really fun game.

[LoveSpuds]

Picked mine up a few days ago for just £16 at Shopto and have to say I was blown away. I am only around 10 hours in but seem to of barely touched the map, this game looks huge!

Love the art style, great music and the gameplay is so much better than Skyrim. I cannot comment on the story really because I have only done 1 quest in the main story, I have spent 10 hours on side quests and am having a blast.

I am sorry I didnt pick it up sooner, but there are just so many games released that you cannot squeeze them all in.

[No_Pantaloons]

Really good game, I hope everyone supports it. I knew nothing about it going in and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. With bioware clearly leaving rpgs for casual appeal we need studios like this to pick up the torch or we may lose the genre all together.

Other groups should be looking to snatch up these people fast cause they proved they're very talented at this.

[TopDudeMan]

I feel partly responsible for this... I just had no time to play that game.

[Sidewinder-]

What about their mmo then?

[tallkidoPL]

Why not support less known games that studios didnt close yet?
Witcher 2 deserves more sales on 360 also.

[SANDWICHMASTA]

ha, well isn't that a bit fucked up. buying a game once its developer shuts down so it doesnt see any cash, smooth move guys

[Truth]

I was a fan of Amalur too which sucks even more as I saw the potential of a sequel. They did a really good job with the lore of the world along with the combat system. The only thing I didn't like is that you could tell it was supposed to be a MMO in the beginning just based on how the game was designed. I can't stand when characters have huge colorful floating exclamation points over their heads or they sparkle or whatever, maybe it's just me, but it takes me out of the game sometimes.

[Enigma_2099]

It's sweet that so many people have suddenly shown interest in this game. Sadly, this doesn't help all the people that 38 Studios laid off. And none of that money is going to them...

[SimpleSlave]

Kindom of Amalur is a "day one dlc" and "way too many DLC soon after release" type game. Blame EA, 38 Studio or Big Huge Games, it does not matter, but good riddance.

Karma is a b*tch and the only hope is that eventually, one day, instead of small game studios paying the price, it'll be publishers like EA and Activision that do.

For the time being vote with your wallets and support the games that gives you the complete experience day one. The rest can all keep falling like flies.

Cheers

[DarthJay]

Um... yeah, Kingdoms of Amalur gave me the complete experience from day one straight through the 80 hours I took beating the game, and then, amazingly enough, I got two pieces of DLC for 10 bucks each that took me to completely different parts of the world and gave me an entirely different experience.

You should probably know what you are talking about before you criticize something. They could have put out DLC every month for 10 bucks a pop and if it was as good as the two they put out (both of which easily added 12-15 hours each) then I would have thrown my money at them.

If every company put out such quality DLC for such amazing value, we'd all be better for it.

[SimpleSlave]

Fair enough then. You see it as you got the complete experience for $60 then payed an extra $10 for a little more experience and then another $10 for a little more experience and then $10 for...well you see what I am getting at. How I see it is you kept paying for pieces of the game that should have been already included from day one. You keep feeding into the whole DLC bs and keep making excuses as to why it is worth it. If the DLC had come 6, 7, 8 months after, maybe, just maybe you have a point. Because at the very least it seems like they actually worked on it after the primary game was done, even if they didn't

And by the way, really? Know what I am talking about? WTF does that even mean? I've been playing games since the Atari 2600 and Comodore 64 era. Forgive me if I don't praise the whoring of content already created with the given budget for that so called "completely different parts of the world and gave me an entirely different experience" bs you keep feeding yourself with. I mean, hasn't the game industry survived with no DLC for generations? Haven't we gotten thousands of games with no DLC? Now they start breaking the games into pieces so they can justify charging you extra money for additional content that, like I already said, was created with the game's original budget and you bend over and take it?

From day one they admitted that they were going to release day one DLC. Basically telling you that they will break the game apart. Ergo: NOT giving you the "complete experience". Congrats you spent $80 on a $60 game. By the way, those $20 extra you spent on content that should've already been included in your $60 game, is $20 you did not spend to support games that deserve it.

Nah man, YOU should know what you are talking about. Keep believing that what you are getting is some "extra" stuff. You keep feeding the DLC machine and I'll keep refusing to.

Cheers

[DarthJay]

@SimpleSlave - Sweet! You keep not getting to have fun with awesome games and I'll keep enjoying it. Nothing sucks more then getting to the end of the game and saying "man, I want more!" It sure doesn't suck getting more of what you want. I guess you wouldn't know.

You're right, clearly these studios should just pay the developers to sit on their rears after the game is out and do nothing. That makes total sense. That would be so productive.

No, I spent $60 on a $60 game, got to meet and shake hands with Curt Schilling and RA Salvatore and get it autographed and then when I was done playing everything on that $60 disc after over 80 hours of in game time... THEY GAVE ME MORE! And it was awesome. And it was fairly priced. So my experience so far has cost $80. Sweet, totally worth $80. If you feel gipped after 80 hours of in game time, that's totally on you and your unrealistic expectations.

My first console was an Intellivision. Is that old school enough for you? How about this, how about you go back to enjoying your stone age games and I'll continue enjoying the hell out of the games I want to pay for. I agree, there are some pieces of DLC that are lame, but these weren't on that list and were 110% worth it.

So comical. You keep believing everyone else should have to not get to experience new things because your sense of moral superiority makes you think you are the be-all, end-all of all things gaming. I'll go ahead and keep supporting the games I love. You go ahead and keep being miserable and complaining on the internet.

Cheers!

[Jazz4108]

I purchased it at midnight the night it came out and it didn't let me down. I really enjoyed the entire experience. I purchased the pirate dlc and played through a lot of the game and still have more to go. I just ran into other games to play but I will finish this as its a great game.

[urwifeminder]

More medievil rpgs than cod episodes over used over saturated genre, get some imagination devs.

[deletingthis34675334]

Aww, that is a shame...

[mynameisEvil]

Well, what the hell? The game should've been bought by people BEFORE they closed. The game certainly deserves it.

[Xasthirion]

Pfft, they are not even going out of business, it's all just a PR stunt.

[Valenka]

You'd think, considering the company is done with, the game would be cheaper. Nope. GameStop is still selling it for $59.99 as if the profits are going anywhere. The game might as well be free.

[Fatty]

I bought one of the collector's editions when they were announced and I wasn't disappointed. I'm hoping the universe gets more fleshed out in either another game (obviously by a different developer) or maybe in some novels or graphic novels.

[banjadude]

wow.. didn't even know this game had a collector's/signature edition. I would have bought it when it was originally announced.