PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale: Where Did it Go Wrong?

DualShockers Writes: "Brawler PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale released to mixed reception back in November of last year. Pulling characters from some very popular franchises, it seemed that the game was primed to be a top seller.However, things do not appear to have turned out quite that way. Sales for the game reportedly leave quite a bit to be desired, and developer SuperBot has just laid off a number of its employees.

Perhaps we should examine a few of the reasons many PlayStation owners and I have been sleeping on this title."

[ace248952]

I don't think that it failed, seeing as it has alot of people happy playing it. Why are editorials so...untrue lol

[sdozzo]

The sales are under a million.

[zebramocha]

@sdozzo it depends how much the game cost to make because if it's under 5 mil,they could've made a 25mil profit,assuming that half of those sales were just the ps3 version for full retail price.

[FanMan]

lol. so?

[BigStef71]

Cool dude it sold half a million which is really good for a game that wasn't advertised at all and it probably didnt have a high budget. They probably already turned a profit on it. How about you wait a year and I guarantee the sales will be close to 1 million

[Divine]

i dont really think the game failed i enjoy it its pretty fun. especially online. there are a lot of people playing online

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Same old complaints, just a different article.

[Pushagree]

Lack of core sony characters, weak soundtrack/sound effects, unbalanced kill system, lack of story, average graphics, weak presentation in the beta, and of course, lack of originality.

[LAZL0-Panaflex]

Agree. Sony makes alot of good games AND alot of bad ones.

Hey i got an idea sony...instead of shittin' out this turd and calling it a game update our dashboard.

[Root]

I think they are just trying to use the "Sony cuts ties with Superbot", "Abe Cancelled for PAS" or "Superbot cuts workers loose" just to make more articles out of those topics and since the last (and first) game they did was PAS thats why they are going to say it failed

I loved it but it was flawed I can admit it

I thought most characters were poor....two coles, Raiden over Snake, new Dante etc

The Super sytem despite neat at first got boring especialy when you had a fav character you kept using over and over

No other modes for differnt people....HEALTH MODE....PERCENTAGE MODE....etc

No challenges

No unlockable content, characters wise

The unlockable content we had was poor....nothing exciting.

[BLuKhaos]

What went wrong? It was published by Sony.
Sony are one of the worst publishers out there simply because they either do a poor job advertising their products or don't advertise at all.

[xXBlondieVanHarlowXx]

Blasphemy! DE-BUBBLE HIM!!!!! >:(

[Dylila]

"Pikachu fighting Kirby somehow seems far more appropriate than Heihachi fighting a Big Daddy. Smash Bros. works on a level that PSABR doesn’t quite seem to." ---
***** the game should be given a fair chance but because of silly opinions like this one people railed against it like only nintendo characters should be in a brawler game or they are better fit. its like listening to nintendo fanboys saying that only a nintendo platformer can be the best platformer because it might have mario and friends.

the game wasnt given a chance by a lot of fanboys especially nintendo fanboys. i continuously heard about how psasbr was a rip off of smash brothers like smash brothers was the first brawler game or fighting game and the only brawler games should be made by nintendo.

i welcome all types of games especially if they are improving on previous ideas. with fanboys mentality about games shouldnt have anything that copies or close to its style we wouldnt be playing much games that improves on certain formulas. i love psasbr and i also loved playing smash brothers. i prefer psasbr because of the diferent characters and level designs graphics, online play and a lot of design choices that were never in smash brothers. to each his own

[Soldierone]

I agree. Its like saying Battlefield is just a Call of Duty clone. No, they each have strengths and play entirely differently. Only similarity, they both are FPS titles.

Yet no matter how many times you say it, we come back to "its a Smash Bros rip off!!!" I personally love Smash Bros, so whats the problem with having more than one game like it? Nothing. I love PS All-Stars, it hasn't left my Vita since I got it.

[sdozzo]

Why are you complaining of Nintendo fanboys not giving it a chance... They back Nintendo for a reason... Fanboyism. Besides, playstation people didn't like it. That's why it didn't sell.

[Reverent]

I'm one of the "playstation people" and I liked it. You're argument = invalid.

[maniacmayhem]

@Dylila

I agree with sdozzo, why would it matter if Nintendo fanboys didn't give it a chance? Shouldn't you be complaining about the Sony fanboys who didn't make this title a success you believe it should be.

The nintendo fanboys weren't going to give it a chance and I doubt they would even have a ps3 to play it on. So why go after them or the opinions of others? Go after the people that proclaimed this game as the second coming but never purchased it.

[FantasticBoss]

Well you could argue that the hate spewed at the game before it even released gave it a bad rap before it even hit shelves. I know a lot of people that never gave it a second thought because they heard so much negativity around it. Everything changed when i shoved a controller in their hands and they actually played it. Most of them thoroughly enjoyed the game after they actually played it.

[maniacmayhem]

If the game truly earned such negativity maybe it was warranted. Reading other people's posts from other article on N4G a lot of PSAS users were disappointed in the lack of modes, UI and characters and the story.

The game got decent reviews and there was no doubt in anyone's mind what this game was inspired and trying to emulate for the Sony system. Maybe people just weren't interested in playing a game like this.

And that is my point, most people weren't interested in the game. It came out near the CoD heat and that equals sales suicide.

[kenshiro100]

I agree as well. All I heard was Smash Brothers ripoff all day.

[kma2k]

...step 3 profit!

[showtimefolks]

this game was setup for to fail, nintendo fangirls(they are not in the same league as ps3,xbox360 fanboys) were so pissed that someone actually made a brawler.

one is exclusive to sony
one is exclusive to nintendo

so why the hate? and SSB wasn't even the first brawler so even nintendo took the idea from another game, but here i am making a logical statement on the internet.

I think we will see a sequel for playstation all stars, this first game did a lot of things right so for sequel it cam improve on many aspects and make other things better

seriously nintendo gets credit for everything in gaming

Soldierone

people like us don't have issues have 2 brawler games but fanboys have issues and their feelings were hurt, no one should ever try to copy zelda, or a side scrolling mario game since nintendo is the only one who have been permitted to do those kind of games.

why can't people just enjoy good games?

darksiders series took ideas from zelda,god of war,castlevania etc, but that doesn't mean it was a bad game.

[SonyStyled]

i never picked it up nor will i ever cuz i dont do fighters, although i will admit to enjoying super smash as a kid on that old 64

[majiebeast]

3 years from concept to game and everything but the gameplay was in alpha stage thats what went wrong. The guy in charge of hiring studio's for SCEA obviously is not doing his job very well. SCEE is doing a much better job hiring studio's like Tarsier,Quantic dreams and Media molecule(now first party).

Next sony brawler should be done by Santa monica themselves with Seth Killian as project lead. Getting Seth was a good plan but PSASBR was almost finished before he could even do anything or give advice.

Sony should just expand their first party studio's instead of funding all these contract studio's, its just not paying off most of the times.

[BigStef71]

Naughty Dog SCE Santa Monica Sucker Punch Insomniac Games(since you mentioned QD)? I'm sorry but there's no way SCEE Studios are better than the SCEA Studios

[NovusTerminus]

ASBR is a great game, but I think they neglected the Japanese market, not a single JRPG character in the entire game, only serious Japanese characters are Raiden and (debatable with how they portrayed him) Heihachi and now Kat.

No one wanted Emmett, we already have unbalanced gun characters in the game, why add another one?

[StreetsofRage]

Kratos fighting pappa rappa? Dumbest idea this Gen. I called it in the beginning that this game was going to flop. Only the silly Sony fanboys were going bananas about this predictable flop. Some even went as far too call it a goty contender. Lol! Delusional fanboys.

[8bitHero]

ganon fighting kirby= totally awesome and makes perfect sense, AMIRITEORWAT?!?! HIGH FIVE BRAH

[Kingdom Come]

I'm sorry, but I fail to see where he referenced Smash Bros. in his comment...?
Don't jump to conclusions and be overly-confrontational, it makes you look like a desperate fanboy.

[Reverent]

You know what, regardless of how well or not the game did, I bought the game, I have been enjoying the hell out of it, and I will always keep it apart of my collection. So, that's a win for me+. What about you?

[DigitalRaptor]

I can say the same thing. It's a really good game that many hundreds of thousands are enjoying. I still play it to this day and am looking forward to the new DLC. For the first game in a potential franchise, it was a job well done.

So, StreetsofRage thinks its relevance is negated, because it didn't sell huge numbers and some reviewers gave it a 6/10. Nope, it's got a deeper strategy to it than even Smash Bros, a different set of gameplay goals, different overall gameplay, near-perfect character balance and solid online cross-platform multiplayer. I enjoy fighting even Sackboy against Kratos, and if you've never thought that would be fun and interesting, I don't know what to suggest.

Let's face it though - the mainstream perception of this game was that it was a Smash Bros rip off even though the game itself plays completely different and has a different strategy. That's the song people were singing. Even some of the more respected journalists were saying that it was a rip off and other people simply couldn't write a review without mentioning Smash Bros. Some of them were full-on comparisons. I'm sorry but you judge a game on its own merits, not that of a brawler that is on another console. That probably added the poor sales too, so well done modern day gaming journalism. And well done Sony for NOT advertising it.

[kenshiro100]

Coming from someone who acts like a fanboy as well...
Oh...wait.

Grow a pair.

[8bitHero]

i think it failed because lack of advertisement. its supposed to appeal to the casual but casuals dont even know of its existence because unlike us, they dont visit gaming websites. Also while i love the game and still play it today it definitely would've helped if it had more characters and game modes.

[maniacmayhem]

It has nothing to do with the fanboys on the internet or the supposed lack of advertisement.
The game under performed plain and simple.

[willie32]

The game didn't fail but missed to create the proper cast of characters. Sony has a lot of characters that they could have used but wanted variety from multiple games. Sony became a little too dependent on third party support. Why didn't they include multiple characters from their first party studios? Examples could have been:

Uncharted: Drake, Sully, Chloe, Elena, and Eddy
Twisted Metal: Sweet Tooth, Grimm, and Calypso

I feel that they over looked key cast members from their own games.

[Mouktouk]

In my opinion, the problem wasn't the game itself, obvious many gamers seem to enjoy it, but the press' indifference surrounding the game.

May it be a Super Smash Bros clone or not, I think everyone who loves several universes can drool over crossovers. If you love Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, then you have Warriors Orochi. If you're fond of Naruto and Dragon Ball, then you have Battle Stadium D.O.N. .

But somehow, when Sony announced Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, journalists were "meh". Not "meh, the game looks terrible", but "meh, Sony copied Nintendo again". It's like it was a crime from Sony to have its own Super Smash crossover.

It's not like rip-offs are wrong. Many great game are rip-offs. Darksiders is a mature Zelda rip-off, Dante's Inferno is a great God of War rip-off, Dead Space is a Resident Evil rip-off, Crash Team Racing is a Mario Kart rip-off, Sleeping Dogs is a Grand Theft Auto rip-off, etc... They're all great, so why bother if it's a rip-off or not?

And when you look at Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, you feel like journalists are saying "Release it already so we wont have to talk about it ever again", and the "meh" feeling spread through the gaming community.
I really feel sorry for the SuperBot team that pays the consequences of that failure.

[TheFirstClassic]

I thought the game was great aside from some balancing and presentation issues. And I really wish there were less guns in the gameplay, too many ranged characters who fire stuff too quickly.

[sdozzo]

Someone said it blew because it was confusing for the average player... Like you can't just attack and win. You have to pull off certain moves to kill. Makes sense that some people didn't think it was a good pick up and brawl game.

[BabyTownFrolics]

i think it failed to sell well because not enough ps3 owners purchased it. I blame them. If more ps3 owners purchased the game it would have sold better. Why didn't they buy the game? What in the world would have given them the impression that it was not worth their money? There was a beta, plenty of videos of the gameplay, interviews with the devs explaining how cool it was. What could have possibly gone wrong?

my opinion is that the game should have bee a 20.00 digital title on psn, and not the a fully priced retail game. Or even a free to play game with characters as micro transactions.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Next you'll be telling us you believe that tomorrow is Wednesday because today is Tuesday. Well of course it didn't sell well because enough ps3 owners didn't purchase it!!

[Belking]

The game is actually not that bad. It just another victim of the playstation exclusive fanboy curse. The fanboys talk about exclusives but they don't buy them.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

I'm gonna go ahead chuck Sly Cooper's latest outing on that plate.

[Fel08]

The game is not bad. It is far from being a SSB killer, but I think the media is being a little harsh on it. I got it as a Christmas gift, and I had hours of fun playing it.

[-Gespenst-]

I know Superbot's hearts were in it, but the game just ended up being a giant billboard, completely overwhelmed by the interests of big game companies. Raiden and Dante gave that away, and I think it deeply affected the game- the whole thing just seemed sort of shallow and lacking heart. Big Daddy shouldn't have been in the game (he represents a videogame generation more than the Playstation alone.), Fat Princess was just scraping the bottom of the barrel.

A few things:

The soundtrack should've been orchestral like an RPG or like SSB.

There should've been more characters, especially actual iconic ones.

There should've been unlockable stages, characters and weapons / items.

The stages should've been more like they originally were planned to be in Title Fight.

And I personally think the game should've been a sort of arena fighter like Power Stone anyway.

[8bitHero]

i completely 100% agree with what you said about the characters. when the leak happened all i could do was face palm, their character choices were just so poor and it was like they were were only chosen because they had a new game coming out. for example, dante didnt even have a single game out at the time and all of a sudden hes now a playstation allstar? and why is raiden in over snake?

[PirateThom]

I think the core game was fine, the actual kill mechanic was something different and it could be used really effectively in stock matches.

However, the game fell down all over the place because of lack of content, poor presentation and just generally having no real reason to play... there's nothing you really unlock in the game, no new characters or stages, it is what it is.

Overall, I feel like the core game was good, but it was released in a beta form. Felt unfinished. Definitely deserved better than the final product.

[smashman98]

How are you gonna complain about multiplatform characters and then afterwards say hey these 3 characters should've been in it... While those 3 are multiplatform

[cr33ping_death]

all i can say is, i enjoy the hell out of the game when i get together with friends and thats all that matters. so i dont give a f**k what any hater says :)

[kenshiro100]

I'm tired of hearing that PS3 fans don't buy games. There could be a number of reasons why this happened in the first place. Nevertheless, I hope Superbot survives and Sony picks this up.

[Tapioca Cold]

Wh does anyone care? really? Why do we care these days? I didn't care if Enduro racer on my Sega system sold at all. Didn't care about mario either.

Who cares. It's another game.

[soraalam1]

Enough of these articles. The game isn't, nor has it ever been a failure to me.

[TheDivine]

Cause its just a bland clone with less interesting characters, a dumb gimmick super move only,, and no charm. Sony doesn't have the characters to do this honestly. The only reason it works with SSB is because its Nin. Their characters have such a history and its so damn cool to pair them. After that its just a me too. Its shameful how Sony copy's but with less interesting and fun games. But people defend because its Sony who does no wrong. Face it game doesn't suck but its not good. It's just there. Why would I waste my time on a meh game?

Now maybe this would work in 15-20 years when some of these characters have nostalgia going for them. As of now none are classic and half are from this gen. Would've sold 4 times the amount as a real fighter like street fighter or soul caliber. The more realistic characters would fit better. The whimsy and all that jazz doesn't work well for Kratos, Drake, and a Big Daddy. Plus it would've stood on its own two feet instead of being a cheap knock off that is always going to be second best from the gate. Such a wasted opportunity.

[ginsunuva]

No one I've spoken to even knows about it. Seriously, tv ads would have been perfect for this type of game.