250°

Housemarque admits Stormdivers battle royale game "unlikely" to be a success

From VG247: "Resogun and Nex Machina developer Housemarque has admitted Stormdivers – its multiplayer battle royale game currently in beta testing – isn’t likely to be a hit.

Speaking to VG247 at Reboot Develop this weekend, CEO Ilari Kuittinen said competition from games like Apex Legends, as well as being slower to market than rival titles and a lack of funding means Stormdivers isn’t in a strong position to succeed."

italiangamer1836d ago

Housemarque why did you leave Sony? Your fanbase is on PlayStation, we will wait for your return.

TekoIie1836d ago

It's releasing on PlayStation...

Fishy Fingers1835d ago

Yeah but it's not exclusive so....

TekoIie1835d ago

@Fishy Fingers

Ah, I think I see the problem now. Stadia should acquire them and then people will get hyped for it, lol.

Palitera1835d ago

The problem is not leaving Sony, but abandoning what made them special. Yeah, they were not profiting (mostly due to bad choices in design in their latest games?), but they could have fixed their business choices instead of doing a complete studio morph into a trend copy machine.

As a long time consumer, I really hope they get their s*** straight while they can.

1835d ago
Palitera1835d ago (Edited 1835d ago )

Yeah, I’m aware of that.
My point is: they CAN do arcade-like games, but a more modern metagame would make their work more appealing to the wide public.

Think about Resogun post-launch or Alienation (progression and unlocks). Then compare it with the evolveless, stale Nex Machina... It’s pretty clear that the meta game on the latest is much less appealing... The focus on leaderboards is surely not enough to keep the audience, since leaderboards mean nothing to the vast majority who will never even go close to top 1000.

They surely had some nice ideas for this competition to shine (namely mandatory public replays, making everyone able to see the top tactics), but, as said, it’s meaningless for most people.

They also had the “rivals” on the leaderboards, which was cool, but again... In a modern meta game, you’d gain useful resources through these challenges and they chose to go 3 decades back in time way too radically.

The same gameplay with modern clothes would be amazing and that’s why “bad design choices” and “arcades don’t sell well” are not contradictory. They went too far with the arcade to the root, nothing modern at all.

TheUndertaker851835d ago (Edited 1835d ago )

@Fishy Fingers: So being exclusive would result in more success? When they’re saying they’re already strapped and Stormdivers is likely to be unsuccessful even in the developers view?

They know they need to try getting the maximum exposure so they can get the maximum gain. If they’re already having issues and they chose exclusivity sure they get a payday but then they also lose potential sales. So I don’t think exclusivity would help them.

That said they shouldn’t be risking so much if they don’t believe in their product.

Jaypi031835d ago

Sometimes you just have to take the risk, hope it pays off for them.

Palitera1835d ago

In this case "take the risk to do what hundreds of other studios are doing and release it only when the market is oversaturated and the fanbase is already well stablished on higher profile titles".

I loved the company, but they did it to themselves when they decided to be an average studio at the latest trend, instead of focusing on still being the best at what they did and finding ways to be profitable with what made them special.

Hopefully they decide to go back to creative games before it's too late.

SamPao1835d ago (Edited 1835d ago )

Everyone already said that when they released the first trailer... I give them credit for the risk, but risky is better if you try something different...

Dizzy115231835d ago

Apex Legends has this genre on lock.

SamPao1835d ago

You mean fortnite. Apex is runner up but nowhere close

SLiSH831835d ago

They’re more like equals. Both are really really good.

SamPao1835d ago

Not talking about how good they are. Just popularity wise

Dizzy115231835d ago

No I mean Apex Legends. At least for me. I don't get near cringey Fortnite.

Hydrazinezz1835d ago

Fortnite is def more popular. But I prefer apex legends more though as well.

Evolve1835d ago

here’s an advice for the developers:
START WORKING ON DEAD NATION 2!!!!!

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270°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

Read Full Story >>
insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere14h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN12h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos9h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN2h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo4h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

ChasterMies30m ago

I think Microsoft and other game publishers are letting people go because they think ai will replace them. Doesn’t matter how much profit they make. They were always going to be let go.

PassNextquestion14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger12h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Profchaos14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto14h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos13h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long10h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel13h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator12h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

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70°

I’m Glad Atlus & SE Changed Dates To Avoid Competing With Shadow Of The Erdtree

Saad from eXputer: "I'm glad I don't have to choose between Square Enix, Atlus, and FromSoftware due to bad release windows and Shadow of the Erdtree."

H91d 8h ago

More intelligent than guerilla games

raWfodog14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Atlus is releasing their game one week before Erdtree, SE is releasing theirs one week after.

HZD released four days before Zelda, HFW released one week before Elden Ring.

It seems to me like they are still releasing their games too close to Erdtree.

130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg15h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos15h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola10h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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