Alien Isolation still stands alone in the ‘games that stressed me out so much I had to pause at times’ category. But in a good way. Damn they really did the IP justice! Just an amazing design all around. Really captures the mood of the movies (fear and anxiety)
bored-coder
_publishing executive takes notes:_ “more live service games.. check”
The_Dukenator
Visceral did not do the Dead Space remake, they were long gone when Motive did the remake.
SomaLysis
Sometimes publisher expectations are too high for new IPs or some genres. Sometimes the marketing just fails. Sometimes the launchdate is stupid.
But sometimes players are just buying the wrong games and complain later.
JillValentine69X
Great games don’t get investments. Games that make money get investments.
That’s the industry that we created so that’s what we get.
trillbobaggins96
Gamers would rather pay for live service slop
dangerousbob
I will die on that hill that Titan Fall 2 is one of the most well crafted multiplayer shooters I have ever played.
happy_chickens
FF7 Rebirth would have done better if it was multiplatform.
McFigroll
Titanfall 2 is on sale just now, id recommend it purely for the campaign alone.
LastOfTheClanMcDuck
Most of these are extremely bad timing for the release. Especially Titanfall 2 was insane to release at that date between MASSIVE games.
Sabbathius
Alien Isolation and Dead Space are F***ING TERRIFYING! They’re great games, but I tried Alien Isolation in VR (with MotherVR mod) and I almost ruined my new pants.
Titanfall devs keep releasing their games against other gigantic games. More recently they released Medal of Honor VR…the day before Cyberpunk 2077 launched. Nobody even noticed. They released Titanfall sandwiches between CoD and BF. Of course it didn’t sell.
Mirror’s Edge took 3 hrs to beat and cost $60. Enough said.
Alan Wake 2 is Epic exclusive. F*** Epic. And their horse. And the horse’s saddle. And the saddlemaker. He knows what he did.
Can’t comment on the rest, but I feel like there’s simple explanations.
jann_mann
Mirrors Edge was poorly recieved when it launched.
TehGuard
Alan wake 2 shot itself in the foot by only being on the epic game store
dushyantdk
Mirror’s edge didn’t die, it was killed by ‘catalyst’ a microtransactions infested sequel.
CosmicViking17
Dev studio for hi fi rush just shutdown
xBesto
Wouldn’t being platform exclusives play a bit of a factor for some games here?
Solo-Bi
Dead Space, Titanfall 2, Alien Isolation, and Alan Wake 2 are my favorite games of all time. Unfortunately, AAA horror games don’t seem to make the money publishers want. And as for Titanfall, EA fumbled that release schedule big time.
I should really find a healthy and successful franchise to fall in love with because all of my current favorites continue to get shelved/cancelled.
Geeekaaay
Yeah great game doesn’t = financial success on its own, unfortunately.
KriptiKFate_Cosplay
I bought every game on this list. 🤷♂️
BFFBomb
Also Gamers: “I want this so bad, but I’ll wait for a sale”
“Why would I buy a game I already beat 20 years ago?”
“I don’t want to play some cartoon”
“Female Character!”
SilentJ87
A lot of these have specific circumstances that didn’t help their situations. I’ll speak to the ones I’m familiar with.
Titanfall 2 was wedged between two enormous releases and essentially sent out to die
Alan Wake 2 still hasn’t launched on Steam and didn’t get a physical release on consoles, which turned off some would-be buyers
Hi-Fi Rush was not only shadow dropped which is a gamble in itself, but also released directly into GamePass which hinders the sales potential a lot
Rebirth as with any other successful Square Enix game is shackled with the responsibility of balancing the books from failures such as Forspoken, Babylon’s Fall, and Avengers. This makes the sales expectations far higher than they need to be.
Yung_Corneliois
Unfortunately I don’t think that’s true. At least it won’t pour in as much as the money hungry microtransaction filled grind-fest games.
spool276
The sad part is that it’s because of cases like this that big companies prefer to make poorly optimized junk games, but with an easy formula of addiction and microtransactions. Easy money because people keep paying for hats than for good games.
Lz537
“Just make great games People Will not buy”
T-408
These games are (mostly) all fantastic, but Isolation stands in a league of its own.
Ambitious_Local3477
I need another mirror’s edge
McQuibbly
Damn time for another playthrough of Alien Isolation
SentientDust
Mirror’s Edge was not a great game lol. Innovative, with a strong aesthetic, but there’s a reason first-person platforming games never caught on.
Also not sure why Alan Wake is on that list unless I missed some big news about Remedy
Medium_Notice_902
Alan wake 2 is an awesome game and worthy of its 60 dollar full price
SuccessfulCicada3116
Dead space, alan wake 2, robo cop rouge city. And evil west are all very badass underrated games i had a ton kf fun with sucks they didnt sell well. Idk why.
Busty_Ronch
Fromsoft motto
FuckRandyMoss
Well when all you have attention to was cod Minecraft halo and Fortnite that’s what you get. Game industry is 100% about profit passion projects are few and far between now. And titan fall released around battlefield 1 and cod infinite warfare it was doomed from the start on pure business decision to release the game around that time. Just like battleborn releasing around Overwatch it was dead before it even came.
Edit: Ight I looked up 2016 releases there was no chance of titanfall ever being successful there just wasn’t enough people for the list of games that dropped that year lmfao
amazza95
what’s the correlation between these games
gummibear13
Alan Wake 2 and The Evil Within 2 suffered from being sequels to mediocre survival horror games. Alien Isolation and Dead Space were just survival horror games. Which only Resident Evil has figured out how to make money with AAA survival horror since the 6th generation. Hi-Fi Rush was a PC/Xbox exclusive available on Gamepass. As for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, I’m not familiar with its failure, but I assume the barrier to entry was too high. While the first part attracted many since it was a remake to a classic, it’s questionable how many completed a 40-hour JRPG, especially considering the target audience, which includes people with jobs and families. Personally, I wouldn’t consider purchasing part two until I finished the first installment. Regarding Mirror’s Edge, I haven’t played it in a while, but I remember it being a really good indie game, but I can see why it didn’t sell well at $60. More of a Hi-Fi Rush tier game.
Edit: also Alien: Isolation got horrid reviews, which were not deserved. Not a great look after Colonial Marines.
Edit 2: I didn’t know FF7 Rebirth was a PS5 exclusive. That would do it. lol.
GrindPilled
Didn’t all these make more than twice its dev cost
DeadBrainDK2
And maybe don’t release your shooter between Battlefield 1 and COD. Clap clap EA
Shoeytennis
Alan Wake 2 being digital only for Xbox is why I haven’t played it.
zeebeebo
I find it interesting and funny that gamers would rally each other in wanting to support SP games studios and reject live service crap but the moment they have to click on that Epic logo they abandon all that sentiment and act like that digital store gave their parents cancer
Casper042
Almost perfect timing no?
The FTC just banned Non Compete Agreements.
So can’t the devs (assuming of course they want to) just spin up a new game dev company and give the finger to MS?
zories3
Actual brain dead take with a brain dead title lmao
27Artemis
i will never forget how alien: isolation made me so scared i started crying smh
tallperson117
Is Mirrors Edge 2 worth a play? I’ve played the first probably 3 or 4 times, but never got around to playing the second.
Useful_Respect3339
All of these are under different circumstances and this post is kinda bait.
Hi Fi Rush is a gamepass and xbox exclusive. That cuts a huge share of the market away.
Alan Wake 2 is an epic exclusive (on pc) which is a huge blow to the market.
Horror games are always pretty niche and not huge hits unless it goes viral like Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Dead Space remake is awesome but reviving a dead franchise with a remake at full price of a new game isn’t a great strategy.
d_rek
I’m 41 this year. Been playing video games since I was 5. I briefly remember buying new games for full price for a few years in my 20s when I had the extra cash. As an adult over the last 10+ years I almost never pay full price for a game. Everything that i’m interested in goes on sale within 6 months of release. Then if I don’t have something i’m currently playing, or other games in my backlog, I might think about buying it. Usually i’m buying games 6mos-1yr after a game releases and at that point it’s discounted pretty significantly. All this to say I feel like tracking sales at launch is a bit short sighted.
44 Comments
Alien Isolation still stands alone in the ‘games that stressed me out so much I had to pause at times’ category. But in a good way. Damn they really did the IP justice! Just an amazing design all around. Really captures the mood of the movies (fear and anxiety)
_publishing executive takes notes:_ “more live service games.. check”
Visceral did not do the Dead Space remake, they were long gone when Motive did the remake.
Sometimes publisher expectations are too high for new IPs or some genres. Sometimes the marketing just fails. Sometimes the launchdate is stupid.
But sometimes players are just buying the wrong games and complain later.
Great games don’t get investments. Games that make money get investments.
That’s the industry that we created so that’s what we get.
Gamers would rather pay for live service slop
I will die on that hill that Titan Fall 2 is one of the most well crafted multiplayer shooters I have ever played.
FF7 Rebirth would have done better if it was multiplatform.
Titanfall 2 is on sale just now, id recommend it purely for the campaign alone.
Most of these are extremely bad timing for the release.
Especially Titanfall 2 was insane to release at that date between MASSIVE games.
Alien Isolation and Dead Space are F***ING TERRIFYING! They’re great games, but I tried Alien Isolation in VR (with MotherVR mod) and I almost ruined my new pants.
Titanfall devs keep releasing their games against other gigantic games. More recently they released Medal of Honor VR…the day before Cyberpunk 2077 launched. Nobody even noticed. They released Titanfall sandwiches between CoD and BF. Of course it didn’t sell.
Mirror’s Edge took 3 hrs to beat and cost $60. Enough said.
Alan Wake 2 is Epic exclusive. F*** Epic. And their horse. And the horse’s saddle. And the saddlemaker. He knows what he did.
Can’t comment on the rest, but I feel like there’s simple explanations.
Mirrors Edge was poorly recieved when it launched.
Alan wake 2 shot itself in the foot by only being on the epic game store
Mirror’s edge didn’t die, it was killed by ‘catalyst’ a microtransactions infested sequel.
Dev studio for hi fi rush just shutdown
Wouldn’t being platform exclusives play a bit of a factor for some games here?
Dead Space, Titanfall 2, Alien Isolation, and Alan Wake 2 are my favorite games of all time. Unfortunately, AAA horror games don’t seem to make the money publishers want. And as for Titanfall, EA fumbled that release schedule big time.
I should really find a healthy and successful franchise to fall in love with because all of my current favorites continue to get shelved/cancelled.
Yeah great game doesn’t = financial success on its own, unfortunately.
I bought every game on this list. 🤷♂️
Also Gamers: “I want this so bad, but I’ll wait for a sale”
“Why would I buy a game I already beat 20 years ago?”
“I don’t want to play some cartoon”
“Female Character!”
A lot of these have specific circumstances that didn’t help their situations. I’ll speak to the ones I’m familiar with.
Titanfall 2 was wedged between two enormous releases and essentially sent out to die
Alan Wake 2 still hasn’t launched on Steam and didn’t get a physical release on consoles, which turned off some would-be buyers
Hi-Fi Rush was not only shadow dropped which is a gamble in itself, but also released directly into GamePass which hinders the sales potential a lot
Rebirth as with any other successful Square Enix game is shackled with the responsibility of balancing the books from failures such as Forspoken, Babylon’s Fall, and Avengers. This makes the sales expectations far higher than they need to be.
Unfortunately I don’t think that’s true. At least it won’t pour in as much as the money hungry microtransaction filled grind-fest games.
The sad part is that it’s because of cases like this that big companies prefer to make poorly optimized junk games, but with an easy formula of addiction and microtransactions. Easy money because people keep paying for hats than for good games.
“Just make great games People Will not buy”
These games are (mostly) all fantastic, but Isolation stands in a league of its own.
I need another mirror’s edge
Damn time for another playthrough of Alien Isolation
Mirror’s Edge was not a great game lol. Innovative, with a strong aesthetic, but there’s a reason first-person platforming games never caught on.
Also not sure why Alan Wake is on that list unless I missed some big news about Remedy
Alan wake 2 is an awesome game and worthy of its 60 dollar full price
Dead space, alan wake 2, robo cop rouge city. And evil west are all very badass underrated games i had a ton kf fun with sucks they didnt sell well. Idk why.
Fromsoft motto
Well when all you have attention to was cod Minecraft halo and Fortnite that’s what you get. Game industry is 100% about profit passion projects are few and far between now. And titan fall released around battlefield 1 and cod infinite warfare it was doomed from the start on pure business decision to release the game around that time. Just like battleborn releasing around Overwatch it was dead before it even came.
Edit: Ight I looked up 2016 releases there was no chance of titanfall ever being successful there just wasn’t enough people for the list of games that dropped that year lmfao
what’s the correlation between these games
Alan Wake 2 and The Evil Within 2 suffered from being sequels to mediocre survival horror games. Alien Isolation and Dead Space were just survival horror games. Which only Resident Evil has figured out how to make money with AAA survival horror since the 6th generation. Hi-Fi Rush was a PC/Xbox exclusive available on Gamepass. As for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, I’m not familiar with its failure, but I assume the barrier to entry was too high. While the first part attracted many since it was a remake to a classic, it’s questionable how many completed a 40-hour JRPG, especially considering the target audience, which includes people with jobs and families. Personally, I wouldn’t consider purchasing part two until I finished the first installment. Regarding Mirror’s Edge, I haven’t played it in a while, but I remember it being a really good indie game, but I can see why it didn’t sell well at $60. More of a Hi-Fi Rush tier game.
Edit: also Alien: Isolation got horrid reviews, which were not deserved. Not a great look after Colonial Marines.
Edit 2: I didn’t know FF7 Rebirth was a PS5 exclusive. That would do it. lol.
Didn’t all these make more than twice its dev cost
And maybe don’t release your shooter between Battlefield 1 and COD. Clap clap EA
Alan Wake 2 being digital only for Xbox is why I haven’t played it.
I find it interesting and funny that gamers would rally each other in wanting to support SP games studios and reject live service crap but the moment they have to click on that Epic logo they abandon all that sentiment and act like that digital store gave their parents cancer
Almost perfect timing no?
The FTC just banned Non Compete Agreements.
So can’t the devs (assuming of course they want to) just spin up a new game dev company and give the finger to MS?
Actual brain dead take with a brain dead title lmao
i will never forget how alien: isolation made me so scared i started crying smh
Is Mirrors Edge 2 worth a play? I’ve played the first probably 3 or 4 times, but never got around to playing the second.
All of these are under different circumstances and this post is kinda bait.
Hi Fi Rush is a gamepass and xbox exclusive. That cuts a huge share of the market away.
Alan Wake 2 is an epic exclusive (on pc) which is a huge blow to the market.
Horror games are always pretty niche and not huge hits unless it goes viral like Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Dead Space remake is awesome but reviving a dead franchise with a remake at full price of a new game isn’t a great strategy.
I’m 41 this year. Been playing video games since I was 5. I briefly remember buying new games for full price for a few years in my 20s when I had the extra cash. As an adult over the last 10+ years I almost never pay full price for a game. Everything that i’m interested in goes on sale within 6 months of release. Then if I don’t have something i’m currently playing, or other games in my backlog, I might think about buying it. Usually i’m buying games 6mos-1yr after a game releases and at that point it’s discounted pretty significantly. All this to say I feel like tracking sales at launch is a bit short sighted.