EDGE: Syndicate Sold 150,000 Copies.

That money they used to get Skrillex to remix the original game's theme could have been used for marketing.

The trailer + that song sold me on the game.
Bought Day1, no regrets. It was actually only $40 new through Amazon.
Still pop it in - love the co-op action. Some of the best there is.
 
I'm glad it bombed as hard as it did. Maybe next time publishers will think twice before "modernizing" (ie shooterizing) classic PC games.

Next time they just won't bother. Games like this are a big red flag on what not to do. Despite whatever nuances are pointed to on boards.

Syndicate was a decent, entertaining SP experience and a great experiment in co-op MP. I recommend people play it (not play the demo, not read a review, actually play it). It reminded me a lot of SP shooters back in the late 90's/early 00's that were pretty straightforward with plots that made no sense but had a cool mechanic or two.

But really, games bombing don't lead to better games, it only leads to less similar games like it in the market.
 
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.

is it certain that they are selling it for 60 dollars on pc? they don't give it the console price treatment where i live.
 
Shame, had it had any other name the game would've easily been looked at like say Singularity or any other decent FPS.

Personally I thought it was great and a nice pallet cleanser from all the military desert shooters.
 
"Yes, I'm still proud of it," he said. "To have the courage to reboot the franchise… We knew from the get-go that there was going to be a small but very vocal [group] of gamers and journalists that was going to hate us whatever route we took.

"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.

whatever helps you sleep at night, guys
 
It was a solid FPS in an interesting setting.

It really should've been a cyberpunk game within a new IP (it's not like it's using anything truly specific to Syndicate that could not have been in/from any cyberpunk universe) instead of reviving an old IP.

I'm generally a bit puzzled - they must've been hoping to invoke the old fanbase, but the interview makes it clear that they were anticipating that the change in genre would actually achieve the opposite, alienating the core base and killing the word of mouth instead of helping it.

So it was a pretty strange decision, overall.
 
is it certain that they are selling it for 60 dollars on pc? they don't give it the console price treatment where i live.
I just assumed because most pc games are coming out at a $60 and it's listed here in canada at that pricepoint.

It will probably be $50. 2K is one of the groups that still respect the $50 price point on PC.
It's possible but so far I keep seeing it at the $60 pricepoint.
 
Playing SYNDICATE on Expert difficulty was very challenging at times.
Remember taking an hour to beat 1 final section of a map vs 4 enemy agents.
Watching the enemy agents revive & heal each other in what was basically a standoff firefight was impressive.
Actually had to pick one of the more adventurous agents, aggro him & lead him away from the group to weaken them. Then have my team intercept and occupy the others while I fought him 1-on1 to take him down. Everyone was reviving/healing each other. An epic battle.

And they shouldn't if this is these are their best ideas.

Guess you didn't like the Shadowrun FPS either, huh?
One of the best FPS this generation, imo. Nothing else like it.
 
I'm expecting someone to say, "Well, you didn't buy Syndicate so you obviously don't care about the franchise" and then lock the rights in a vault.
 
So they have an awesome franchise with a great setting and notice that a competitor is making waves with their franchise revival in a similar setting.

So they have three choices:

Make a direct sequel. Sure its not a genre that is as popular as it was back then but you can advertise it as a return to form and giving the people what they want.

Make a game that uses the setting correctly and apes the other franchise. Ok, so maybe that sort of game is too risky, so why not copy the game that has you rebooting this franchise in the first place? If done well this could also make you some money and while you'll piss off some fans you can still keep most of them happy by using this well fleshed out setting with a proven formula.

Or you could make a ho-hum, by the books shooter with very little of the old setting, piss off everybody, and sell only a few thousand copies.
 
And they shouldn't if this is these are their best ideas.

I'm talking about a publisher funding a revamp of an old IP like this. Somewhere in a Greenlight for a refresh of an old IP, someone will say "sounds great, but remember The Syndicate? We can't do this, too risky." And that will be that.

And if X-Com doesn't sell to expectations as well? Then forget about any more revivals for a while.
 
Guess you didn't like the Shadowrun FPS either, huh?
One of the best FPS this generation, imo. Nothing else like it.
As a Shadowrun game? No. Not even close. And even if I wasn't a Shadowrun fan it sure as hell wasn't worth it for the price and platforms asked.

I'm talking about a publisher funding a revamp of an old IP like this. Somewhere in a Greenlight for a refresh of an old IP, someone will say "sounds great, but remember The Syndicate? We can't do this, too risky." And that will be that.

And if X-Com doesn't sell to expectations as well? Then forget about any more revivals for a while.
Understood, and yes, if these are their ideas of revamping old IPs then they can stay dead. I have more faith in fan kickstarter project than the big publishers.
 
Denial at its finest.

Look at what Firaxis is doing (or at least trying) with X-Com. Look at Deus Ex. You can evolve an old formula, there are multiple elements of Syndicate that could have been updated for a new game. Instead of that you picked the easiest route.

But sure, blame the journalists and the vocal old community and say how proud you are instead, that will make your problems go away.
 
"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.
Lol, what a fucking cop-out statement, this excuse get's used too much.
 
I'm talking about a publisher funding a revamp of an old IP like this.

When revamping the IP entails it chasing after the Call of Duty audience--even to the point where they have to change the IP's original genre--then, yes, it would be better to keep those IPs buried. As others said, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a perfect example of staying true to the franchise while updating it with modern gaming conventions. Every IP update doesn't have to chase Call of Duty or Gears of War or Uncharted. But apparently that notion doesn't exist in publisher's minds.
 
The worst part of this may be that even shifting it to a FPS didn't alleviate EA's worries.

Edge Article said:
But there's no arguing with the figures: Syndicate sold poorly - an estimated 150,000 copies worldwide - prompting EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau to describe the game as "something we took a risk on. It didn't work."
How much would they have had to transform it to make it less risky?
 
If that's true, I really have to wonder how badly the game was hurt saleswise by not being on Steam.

I mean, it probably wouldn't have helped THAT much, but it still would have helped. Especially since it'd be getting a Steam Sale or two soon.
 
He says they have a small team, but surely they have at least 2 people working for them. That's enough for 1 guy to tell the other that the ultra bright bloom looks fucking terrible.
 
besides the bloom and minimal story, I liked Syndicate (as far as playing a coop game SP goes). It's probably the most straight forward "shooter game" Starbreeze ever nade,
 
If they can come flat out and tell me why it had to be a First Person shooter then I'd swallow their horse shit. It could have been anything under the sun, just admit you tried top pidgeon hole the I.P into an exterior that would lend itself favourably to Call of Duty 12 to 17 yr olds and it back fired.
 
I kind of feel bad for Starbreeze. They are the guys that made the Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay Xbox game right? They seem like they are a studio with talent, but have had bad luck with the financial success of their products. Didn't Syndicate get pretty good reviews too?

I'd be more willing to blame the poor sales on the over saturated FPS market rather than Syndicate fans balking at their beloved IP being changed into a FPS. Both Syndicate and X-Com are kind of old IP's at this point. It's probably akin to trying to launch a new IP rather than fans of the IP not liking the direction of the reboot.
 
Once I saw that it was going to be a FPS, I automatically removed it from my radar. If they were trying to sell the game to those who remembered the original, then changing it's genre wasn't a good idea at all. Otherwise, they could have named the game something else and have been fine. Might even have worked better for them considering how much the game sold.

I don't think anyone would have complained if the game was like the original games.
 
"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."

What about Fallout?
 
In all honesty, I was interested when it was first announced but I never followed it closely enough to get a sense of its release date. For whatever reason, I don't think they did a good job of reminding gamers that it was out there.
 
Still hasnt done the bomba drop on Amazon. Waiting on 20$ before i purchase.

Darkness 2 has been 20 for some time now. Picked that up last week.
 
Maybe if they made the game more like Syndicated and less like COD they would have sold more copies.

I personally enjoyed the game but their is no denying how limited the scope was of the single player campaign. This game should have been an open world city where you choose which missions you want to accomplish, along with the cyper punk/corporate feel and you would have had a much better game.
 
What about Fallout?


Fallout 3 succeeded because it was a post apocalyptic open world fps. It fit a niche that had so far been completely ignored. That type of game was something that would obviously do well if it was well made. Much like an open world game set in the future would. Yet still no one has made one of those. But when someone does make a good one it will be huge.
 
Idiots probably could have released a PC exclusive isometric tactics/strategy game and sold twice that. Probably would have cost less to make, less to advertise and they could have sold it exclusively through Origin and kept a bigger piece of the purse.

But nooooooooo, had to make it a console FPS sold on a disc because that's what everybody else is doing.
 
Fallout 3 succeeded because it was a Betheseda game and a pretty good one. Syndicate is just an EA game, and people don't line up to buy EA non-sports games.
 
This surprises me greatly considering the Syndicate reboot was a chart topper for almost a full month.
On tpb that is. Like Need for Speed: The Run.
I want to say that even if it reaches $5, I still wouldn't buy it after all the horrible feedback I've heard about the game. Plus not wanting to do any part of encouraging this nasty trend lately of terrible franchise reboots, however small.
 
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