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[subversus]

This is funny, because is not true.

There's no sure way to make this statement with a straight face.

Dude, small indie games on PC with no name and brand sell much more. So it's true and there is no use in arguing.

They should have budgeted it accordingly and release it as a download only title in the vein of the original game. End of story. Also people like you also were thinking that zombie apocalypse game with permanent death wouldn't work because these forum users don't know what they really want.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

You see that EA ? turning a franchise into a co-op shooter won't automatically make it sell !

 

[Deadbeat]

Isn't the coop peer-to-peer?

There needs to be a server to direct people to connect to one another. Thats how peer to peer works.

 

[Calavera520]

Unlike you, I don't want games to bomb.

I'm just tired of this "give what the forums posters want, and it would have sold a shit load better".

I think that the syndicate IP had no weight these days. Regardless of how the game turned out to be.

you're basing that on nothing. Are you going to say x-com holds no weight too?

 

[Rickard]

The co-op was great. It's too bad.

 

[owlbeak]

This game took a lot of shit from people, but my friend and I got it and played the coop multiplayer through the hard difficulties and we had a blast. It was worth the $60 just for that.

The games main problem, apparently, was the name. Which is a shame.

 

[Rickard]

you're basing that on nothing. Are you going to say x-com holds no weight too?

I'm going to call it right now, the x-com strategy game isn't going to sell well.

 

[KingJ2002]

it was fun to me... sucks people didn't buy it.

for the record... EA clearly chose to market SSX over it... so it's no surprise it went ignored.

 

[NZNova]

The main thing is to ensure that they don't cheapen the Syndicate IP by having it 75% off on Origin.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

You see that EA ? turning a franchise into a co-op shooter won't automatically make it sell !

No, it obviously means that games can be sold using Kanye and mascots but Skrillex and Cyberpunk don't work.

 

[d1rtn4p]

Didn't buy it on principle. You can't take my cherished Syndicate franchise and turn it into anything that looks like an FPS. If they had made it like the original with a graphics update, I would have bought it second 0.

 

[FStop7]

Way to go with shitting up the original concept.

When XCOM: Enemy Unknown sells a few million what are you going to blame Syndicate's failure on?

 

[injurai]

Way to go with shitting up the original concept.

When XCOM: Enemy Unknown sells a few million what are you going to blame Syndicate's failure on?

niche interest

 

[TheVisualizer]

its sad that such an interesting and classic franchise was given this poor of treatment. If they would have embraced what made Syndicate a classic game and turned this into a 3rd person co-op experience while incorporating a lot of what made the original games unique and actually spent even a average amount of effort and resources marketing this I think it had the potential to succeed.

instead they "commercialized it" and sent the game and probably the franchise to die

I bought the game Day 1 to show my support, and because there wasnt much else out at the time, but it was def not worth the $60. The campaign was slightly above-average as far as im concerned, with some unique ideas but a cringe-worthy story. The co-op stuff was better but bug ridden and they made it clear that it would not be supported post-launch so once I had my fun with it and the bugs started ruining the experience I traded it in.

I don't think people would have made a big fuss if it incorporated 4 agents and was done in the 3rd person perspective, at least it would have looked like Syndicate to the naked eye even if it didnt have the TPS elements. I look at how much hype Watch Dogs got at E3, and just think, this could have been Syndicate...

 

[FStop7]

niche interest

Skyrim was supposedly a niche interest and it sold a ton on consoles.

The solution is simple. Stop ruining shit.

 

[delta25]

I thought the game was awesome, it had sound effects that rivaled Dice's "HDR Audio"

 

[Takamura-San]

Dude, small indie games on PC with no name and brand sell much more. So it's true and there is no use in arguing.

Those games share the same gameplay than OG Syndicate?

They should have budgeted it accordingly and release it as a download only title in the vein of the original game. End of story.

I find it very hard to believe that it would have done better that being the case. You may think otherwise, I just disagree.

 

[Mlatador]

I'm so glad it bombed!

Thanks for fucking up one of my favorite IPs! A real Syndicate sequel could have been so cool in this day and age with very capable hardware and HD tv's all around. Combine that with a small, talented and dedicated team of develpers, and a Syndicate reboot could have been a success - even maybe an surprise hit.

But no, even though the article says that the team was fairly small - compared to AAA develpment teams - they still went on to compete with those games - that alone doesn't even make sense.

If your team is outnumbered by other huge AAA dev-teams, then rater focus on creativity and try go another route.

But as always, it's the fucking publishers fault, who provide the funds.

Many studios these days lack the VISION, the SOUL, the DEDICATION to create cool games - or much more important - to surprise people.

That's what I liked about Syndicate. Back in the day, when industry-crushing blinding trends haven't been so influencial, you could come up with something like Syndicate an be succesfull.

Imagine THIS (please take 2 or 3 minutes and watch the whole thing) with MODERN technology!

 

[Rickard]

Skyrim was supposedly a niche interest and it sold a ton on consoles.

The solution is simple. Stop ruining shit.

Niche interest?
The sequel to Oblivion?

Yeah, sure.

 

[Almighty]

I actually want to see how X-com does.

Not that I want it to bomb, but I would like to see how "hard core" fans react when they are given what they want.

If Deus Ex: Human Revolution is any indication when the "hardcore" fans are given what they want they buy the game and make it a success. The new Xcom strategy game looks to be at least as faithful to the original Xcom game as as Human Revolution was to its original. So I expect pretty good sales from the new Xcom.

Though I guess what is considered "good sales" will very from person to person.

 

[injurai]

Skyrim was supposedly a niche interest and it sold a ton on consoles.

The solution is simple. Stop ruining shit.

you're kidding, The Elder Scrolls is the opposite of a niche interest.

 

[NullPointer]

Skyrim was supposedly a niche interest and it sold a ton on consoles.

The solution is simple. Stop ruining shit.

Same with Red Dead Redemption. I'm sure Skyrim was looked at differently in this post LOTR-movie world though.

 

[Visualante2]

If people want an old school Syndicate game so much why isn't there a Kickstarter for one?

 

[Ventilaator]

Niche interest?
The sequel to Oblivion?

Yeah, sure.

It's a niche interest according to the developers who ruined their RPGs by turning them into bad action games. Nobody likes RPGs and nobody buys RPGs anymore and we'll totally ignore the fact that Skyrim sold tons.

 

[Messofanego]

I really liked the combat and the world that they created, but the story just ended up being forgettable with shallow characters. It was too short, and you could tell that the game feels much smaller than if Starbreeze had all their employees back. No hub world hurt it. There were too few powers, if it had a bigger scope I would love to use the citizens (of which there are plenty) for the Persuadatron.

The co-op was great, though in that L4D manner of replaying stages. If it was more randomised, would add more replayability. But again, that might be down to the downsizing of the company.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

If people want an old school Syndicate game so much why isn't there a Kickstarter for one?

2 doesn't come before 1.

 

[Pranay]

Dude, small indie games on PC with no name and brand sell much more. So it's true and there is no use in arguing.

They should have budgeted it accordingly and release it as a download only title in the vein of the original game. End of story. Also people like you also were thinking that zombie apocalypse game with permanent death wouldn't work because these forum users don't know what they really want.

10$ vs 60$ Game ?

 

[Eusis]

Oh yeah because everyone has been hating on the Xcom game coming out this year right? And everyone loves the Xcom FPS instead? Fucking stupid.

The hole with his logic is that being tired of a lack of innovation comes from series that have been beat to death, especially recently. Syndicate was a unique game with, what, two installments? You could make an exact duplicate and at worst people would chastise for not updating the UI enough or something. Points like at more relevant with, say New Super Mario Bros: largely the same after so long is acceptable, but the more you put out the more unique and interesting you need to be, and as someone who was a huge Mario fan growing up I'm somewhat concerned about NSMB2 and NSMBU coming out so close to one another.

Niche interest?
The sequel to Oblivion?

Yeah, sure.

He may mean on paper (a single player fantasy RPG? That won't sell millions!) even though it's clearly established it WILL do really well. Kind of like FF and JRPGs, new mainline entries reliably sell millions over here, except I'm pretty sure any good WRPG (or at least from a popular studio) will successfully pull high numbers.

Though even Skyrim was affected by CoD's rise, but that and Arkham City seemed to mainly focus on a more subtle marketing push rather than turning into a linear corridor shooters and throwing online with leveling and killstreaks in.

 

[old manatee]

Incredible game when you're fighting in an open area. Sadly there is about an hour of that stitched together with a bad story, walking down hallways, etc.

Oh god and some of the wackest boss fights of the generation.

 

[drifter444]

I loved the game. Sad to see it do poor. Its a solid good coop game.

 

[terrdactycalsrock]

I need to buy this game right now. It looked cool in all of the previews but I was in school when it came out and just never got around to it

 

[inky]

If it was a losing battle all along like he puts it, makes you wonder why even make the game in the first place, right?

 

[squicken]

I just completed it on PC, and it definitely looks interesting (it runs well, too), but it's incredibly scripted, and very limited. The gunplay is very satisfying, though, when you get to shoot.

Yeah it's like they drip feed the actual gameplay until the final couple of levels, and then it gets pretty damned good. I had a good time with it, but it isn't worth $60 if you are playing it for only SP

 

[Saty]

If people want an old school Syndicate game so much why isn't there a Kickstarter for one?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts (it was going to be made with or without KS).

There's also Paradox's Cartel.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

I'm going to call it right now, the x-com strategy game isn't going to sell well.

Dedicated fanbase who loves strategy games on PC + DD & steam sales mean XCOM will sell for a long time to come.

 

[Mlatador]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts (it was going to be made with or without KS).

There's also Paradox's Cartel.

Yeah, what's up with Cartel? Will it ever come out?

 

[jaundicejuice]

If people want an old school Syndicate game so much why isn't there a Kickstarter for one?

Cos Paradox is already working on The Cartel.

 

[Sentenza]

I'm going to call it right now, the x-com strategy game isn't going to sell well.

I'm betting you're wrong.

 

[cuyahoga]

Doesn't Starbreeze have to disclose Syndicate's cost as a publicly traded company? Anyways, the budget figure I heard was $35-40 million.

 

[alexandros]

I'm glad it bombed as hard as it did. Maybe next time publishers will think twice before "modernizing" (ie shooterizing) classic PC games.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

This is one of the only purchases I regret from this year (luckily I picked it up for $40). It had a lot of good ideas and the co-op was well done (when it wasn't being an unplayable lag fest on PS3) but ultimately it just wasn't anything more than mediocre. Other than some moments in co-op, I don't think I ever really had fun actually playing it.

Really wish I hadn't bought in to some of the early review/GAF hype.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Doesn't Starbreeze have to disclose Syndicate's cost as a publicly traded company? Anyways, the budget figure I heard was $35-40 million.

I don't think so, not sure, certainly not in an interview anyway. And mother of god at that budget =/

They think that's on the low end? That sounds typical dev costs to me with a little bit of marketing put on top (let's face it skrillex was probably the most expensive marketing cost they had).

Really wish I hadn't bought in to some of the early review/GAF hype.

Always wait at least a few weeks if not a month to get over the high of gaf hype/early reviews I'd say.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

Always wait at least a few weeks if not a month g=to get over the high of gaf hype/early reviews I'd say.

Yeah lol. Lesson learned.

 

[Glass Rebel]

That's what you get for angering the PC gods.


Would buy for 5€.

Spoiler

on Steam

 

[patapuf]

people aren't really arguing that strategy games aren't selling on pc are they? and especially those made by firaxis.

 

[famousmortimer]

Syndicate is a wonderful game. Wonderful games don't tend to sell well.



Though, it was definitely a stupid idea to call it Syndicate and put it in that universe. That hurt more than helped, imo. Atleast with people who cared about the original. I didn't, but I am a huge X-Com fan and the idea of that FPS makes me want to stab people... so I get the sentiment.



But really the problem is that it's a thinking man's shooter* and folks don't like to think.







*

Spoiler

For this gen atleast. It's not quite as 'thinking man' as Rainbow 6 and Ghost recon back in the day

 

[NullPointer]

people aren't really arguing that strategy games aren't selling on pc are they? and especially those made by firaxis.

And didn't Civ Rev do pretty well on the consoles?

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Syndicate is a wonderful game. Wonderful games don't tend to sell well.

Really? ...


Also I think too many people are bigging up the Syndicate IP argument. If there is one thing this gen has proven is that publishers have frequently dumbed down and pissed on IP and yet found great success with it. Syndicate didn't sell cos there was no marketing put behind it, cos EA didn't expect it to sell, mediocre reviews then killed any word of mouth it may have had.

 

[Lothars]

people aren't really arguing that strategy games aren't selling on pc are they? and especially those made by firaxis.

no people are arguing that X-Com also has a chance to bomb, there's a chance it's going to be very successful but especially at 60 dollars who really knows.

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

"If we didn't do an exact copy of the game, they'd hate us. If we did do an exact copy, they'd say we didn't innovate. They were never ours to win; it was a lost battle from the get-go."

The reception received by the the Xcom strategy game and the Xcom FPS says otherwise...