Pillars of Eternity 2 has flopped really hard, sold only 110K copies worldwide until September 2018

DSOGaming writes: "It appears that the sequel to Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, has sold poorly. According to reports, the game has only sold 110K copies worldwide until September 2018. And while the WRPG market is a niche one, this number feels really low and may explain the rumours that surfaced about Microsoft purchasing Obsidian."

[addictedtochaos]

If the rumors about Obsidian being purchased by Microsoft are true, I hope Pillars of Eternity II still gets released on PS4 and Switch as scheduled.

[King_Noctis]

I played PoE2, and while it was great at first, it doesn’t hold a candle to the first PoE. However, Obsidian is still a great dev and the rumors of them joining MS make me feel really excited for them.

[carcarias]

Yeah, I had the same experience. I simply played for a couple of sessions and then got distracted by another game. When I thought about going back to it after, I just didn't have any desire. In fact, even the first didn't blow me away, though I liked it far more.

Tbh, I bought PoE1 primarily out of nostalgia for Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate. However, without the D&D rules and setting, Pillars just didn't gel with me as much as I hoped. I never realised how much the D&D setting, monsters, classes, spells and items mattered to me until I played PoE.

Who knows? Perhaps the great sales of the first followed by far less interest in the second was due to lots of people feeling the same way?

[Razmiran]

The lack of Chris Avellone really hurt the game

[Imalwaysright]

As long as they keep releasing games on the PC, I wouldn't mind at all if they joined MS 1st party. MS funding + the talent that exists in Obsidian would actually be awesome news for me as an Obsidian fan. In fact I think they would be the natural successor to the Bioware that I once loved.

Edit: @ Razmiran

I'm currently thoroughly enjoying Pathfinder Kingmaker so if you're a Chris Avellone fan and you didn't play it, you should check it out.

[leahcim]

I really hope so!

[Michiel1989]

I just hope they stay afloat, they produced some great games and I look forward to more of them. I would love for them to stay independent, but if thats not possible anymore im fine with MS acquiring them. I just hope they will still release their games for pc since I dont own and x1.

[BizarroUltraman]

If the game is in development for the console, then I see know reason why it wouldn't. But after that all content should stay Xbox platforms exclusive.

[conanlifts]

My assumption is that it would depend on whether they have signed a publishing deal to publish onps4 or switch. If not then I would think it would be a pc and xbox exclusive. XO18 is in a few days so I would expect to hear more if this is the case.

[Eldyraen]

If they did buy them, I expect PoE and 2 to join game Pass. Which would be some great additions imo. Didn’t they also make Tyrant between the two PoE games? I never did play that one.

[KentBlake]

This is really sad...I didn't buy it yet, but it's just because I still haven't played my copy of PoE1. I love this genre, though, but each one takes more than 50 hours to finish...I can't play them at the pace they are released. I wish my days had 48 hours each.

[fiveby9]

I did play PoE1 and will likely still buy and play PoE2 and Pathfinder Kingmaker this winter. But agreed they are a time commitment but that's okay by me.

[timotim]

What's up with all the PC gamers and console gamers who claim they have a killer machine? I mean, it's rated an 88 on Meta currently.

[Movefasta1993]

the first one sold well, it just happens some times. Okami is imo one of the best games ever made and that sold terribly on ps2.

[riibhu]

Good ratings don't necessarily translate to good sales.

[gangsta_red]

That's a shame. I said the first had problems but I was hoping the second would be better.

Well, with this maybe the MS rumors will be true and they can get some solid backing.

[DarkVoyager]

You act as if money is the answer to everything. Maybe it’s the game itself or the team behind it.

[gangsta_red]

Did you play it? It sits at an 88 on meta. So it can't be the game or the team itself.

The first game had it's technical issues and gameplay decisions I didn't agree with but it was still a good throwback to the old Baldurs Gate game.

I suspect being kick-started didn't help a lot with the production it actually needed.

So yes, money is the answer to this because with it comes better production, better marketing, better exposure and the possibility to appear on more than one platform.

[Switch4One]

Now that MS might be buying them, the team's quality is in question.
Urg. So transparent.

[conanlifts]

Lack of advertising and hype can also play a part even if the game is fantastic.

[Born2Game83]

88 on Meta means nothing. So you will blindly buy and/or play any game that has a high meta rating? you just assume because a bunch of gaming sites gave their opinion on a game you will say its good?? Just face the facts not all games sell well. Its just how it goes.

[gangsta_red]

"88 on Meta means nothing."

It means more than assuming a game is horrible just because you never played it or it didn't sell.

"So you will blindly buy and/or play any game that has a high meta rating?"

No, I won't, I'll take it and other reviews into consideration if that game interests me. Why I even have to explain this is funny, not to mention that has nothing to do with what I'm actually referring to in my reply to Darkvoyager.

"Just face the facts not all games sell well. Its just how it goes."

When did I ever say the opposite?

[DerekTweed]

That's funny, because it's actually a better score than Spider-man PS4 on Metacritic.

It's all about marketing, Advertising and Hype.

[chris235]

the first one wasn‘t exactly something brilliant despite that it was hyped beyond belief. that a sequel would only sell a friction of the first one was clear to everyone on the planet except those who wanted to press the idea of a sequel through.

[King_Noctis]

What are you talking about? The first one was great and it was an awesome throwback to the past crpgs. It seems all you do as of late is sh*tting on almost every games.

[TheColbertinator]

PoE 2 was much better than 1 in my opinion. This is unfortunate.

[-volt-]

It's because its SP

[Dragonscale]

Not.

[-volt-]

Sorry you are wrong.

[BlaqMagiq1]

That's a dumb assumption to make.

[Valiar]

Its a shame i hope they recover from this. They are one of my favorite developers. They always stay true to their games and their genre. Would hate to see them turn in something like Blizzard or Bioware =(

[tanukiesuit]

This is really sad... CRPGs are really great. And Obsidian really knows their stuff.

[dreamoner]

I finished it twice. The game doesn't have a strong main narrative but its gameplay & - way better than first game -production quality should have made it sell better. I guess it just became invisible in the saturated market & way too much hyped up but essentially snoozefest first entry seriously left people disappointed to not even look up for the second one probably.

[MoshA]

Good. CRPGs have awful gameplay. Thank God they will have the budget to make games like New Vegas again.

[DimensionalSound]

Only "110k copies" in a "niche" market? Unbelievable how this is interpreted as a "flop." Industry standards are such garbage.