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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Japanese developer Hytacka and publisher Kodansha released the new action RPG Rise of Rebellion on April 22 on Steam. A week later, Hytacka says that the ambitious game has had a poor launch both in terms of sales and critical reception. While he intends to remain active as a game developer, he suggests that he is likely to lose the support of his publisher for future projects.

Rise of Rebellion is a single-player 3D action RPG focusing on close-range sword combat. Leading up to its launch, the indie project had been on the radar of many soulslike fans due to its combo system, directional parry and dodge systems, powerful enemies, and the fact that it's being developed by a former Dark Souls 3 developer. However, a week following launch, Rise of Rebellion has a Mixed rating on Steam, with only 40% out of 119 user reviews being positive.

In an update on his YouTube channel, Hytacka reflects on the game's performance. He doesn't disclose specific sales figures, but mentions that using commonly cited review-to-sales ratios (for example, 'number of reviews x 30 = number of copies sold') should give you a decent estimate of how many copies Rise of Rebellion has sold so far. Based on this, the game likely sold between 3k and 5k copies – which is indeed low compared to its 40,000+ Wishlists and Hytacka's target total of 100,000 copies. "The results are not good, or rather – in terms of what my goal was – I would say it bombed completely," Hytacka comments.

Rise of Rebellion's development originally started in 2020, but the project went through a complete overhaul in 2023 in response to criticism from early demo players. Despite rebuilding the game from scratch to improve controls and other issues, it seems Hytacka was unfortunately not able to reach a level of polish that would satisfy his target audience. "Like the reviews say, the quality was disappointing," he reflects in his video. To be fair, though, while Rise of Rebelion has received some harsh criticism from Steam reviewers, specific aspects of it – especially the combat – have been singled out as entertaining and worthwhile, especially given the game's low price point.

Given Rise of Rebellion's weak commercial performance so far, Hytacka doesn't have any big plans for it. Future updates will include only bug fixes and the addition of an (optional) easy mode that does away with directional inputs for parries and slows down the speed of some enemy attack motions.

As for his future as a game developer, Hytacka says he intends to stay active, but that he is likely to lose support from publisher Kodansha, which will significantly slow down the pace he's able to work at. "Honestly, it'll probably be a while before I get to a point where I have something to show." Hytacka acknowledges that his followers are being "extremely reasonable" for advising him to make a smaller game, but that his next project "likely will not follow that advice" as his ambition is still strong.

Former FromSoftware dev says his ambitious new action RPG “bombed” commercially and critically - AUTOMATON WEST

Former FromSoftware developer and Dark Souls 3 designer's new independent project Rise of Rebellion has underperformed significantly.

automaton-media.com

 

[Shubh_C63]

using commonly cited review-to-sales ratios (for example, 'number of reviews x 30 = number of copies sold') should give you a decent estimate

I did not knew that. Nice.

 

[kruis]

"Ambitious" is not how I would describe either the game play, the character designs or the environments....



Looks like the devs released a work in progress alpha version without a background story, plot, soundtrack or any other things that might attract a buying audience.

 

[PeteBull]

"Ambitious" is not how I would describe either the game play, the character designs or the environments....



Looks like the devs released a work in progress alpha version without a background story, plot, soundtrack or any other things that might attract a buying audience.

As big From Software and jrpg fanatic:

 

[SJRB]

Never heard of this game before but I checked Steam and they're selling it for 9 bucks.

Yes: nine bucks.

Game looks kinda insane considering that price point.

 

[mèx]

I didn't even know it existed. The market is oversaturated with these kind of games, it's difficult to get noticed if you are not well above the average when it comes to overall quality.

 

[mdkirby]

I mean it's probably not a good sign that, I, as someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time of gaf, and has an interest in the genre (as among the most clued in and target audience) had never heard of until now

 

[NanaMiku]

Iron Pineapple featured this game, and it looks rough and hard to play

 

[MaxwellParrish]

"Ambitious" is not how I would describe either the game play, the character designs or the environments....



Looks like the devs released a work in progress alpha version without a background story, plot, soundtrack or any other things that might attract a buying audience.

It's a ten bucks games from a almost one-man studio with a target of 100000 copies. To me it seems quite ambitious and also( judging just from your video) a decent realization of that ambitions. Obviously it cannot be on the level of a Elder Ring or even a Lies of Pi. Possibly it's been an entirely misguided project , but I wouldn't negate its ambition

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Never heard of this game but after seeing this compared with how great Lords of the Fallen looks, I can see why people are critical of it.

 

[M1987]

Might as well try it at £5.99

 

[kruis]

It's a ten bucks games from a almost one-man studio with a target of 100000 copies. To me it seems quite ambitious and also( judging just from your video) a decent realization of that ambitions. Obviously it cannot be on the level of a Elder Ring or even a Lies of Pi. Possibly it's been an entirely misguided project , but I wouldn't negate its ambition

But why should any potential customer care about that? When I go to a restaurant, my only concern is the meal, that's what I pay money for. But I guess some people like to suffer through an unsavory, badly prepared, ice cold main course because they want to support restaurant startups, no matter how bad the food is.

 

[Pejo]

"Ambitious" is not how I would describe either the game play, the character designs or the environments....



Looks like the devs released a work in progress alpha version without a background story, plot, soundtrack or any other things that might attract a buying audience.

Yea after checking out some info on the game, this looks like alpha footage that you use to shop around to get investers/publishers, not a finished game.

Honestly the combat doesn't even look good, which seems to be its core selling point.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Never heard of this game before but I checked Steam and they're selling it for 9 bucks.

Yes: nine bucks.

Game looks kinda insane considering that price point.

It must have just went on sale because it's showing $7.19 on Steam now.

 

[IAmRei]

i think i will try it, looks okay, and not gloomy (i'm kinda bored with gloomy things recently)

 

[SJRB]

Iron Pineapple featured this game, and it looks rough and hard to play

This looks wildly different than the final game, gameplay-wise.

This footage is more like a 1v1 fighting game with an insanely in-depth combat system. The move set and animations are actually amazing considering this is made by what, one guy?

I checked some gameplay of the final game and so far none of this is in the actual game. Maybe they had to scale back at some point since that demo? Not sure.

 

[Osaka_Boss]

#ad

 

[hemo memo]

It feels like everyone and their mother is developing Souls-like games. So if he hadn't followed this tired trend and instead created something unique, it might have had a better chance of success.

 

[Sentenza]

It feels like everyone and their mother is developing Souls-like games. So if he hadn't followed this tired trend and instead created something unique, it might have had a better chance of success.

This doesn't even look like a "Souls like".
It seems more something like Infinity Blade.

 

[Kurotri]

Put his foolish ambitions to rest amirite fellas

 

[justiceiro]

It feels like everyone and their mother is developing Souls-like games. So if he hadn't followed this tired trend and instead created something unique, it might have had a better chance of success.

I mean he literally worked on souls, so I suppose he knows more about this genre the most, just not enough to built a entire game on it.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Never heard of it. Looks kinda interesting for $9. Never heard of the rest of the games from this publisher either.

 

[StereoVsn]

"Ambitious" is not how I would describe either the game play, the character designs or the environments....



Looks like the devs released a work in progress alpha version without a background story, plot, soundtrack or any other things that might attract a buying audience.

Why not use Early Access then? At least they could bring in revenue and essentially get paid for users testing their game.

 

[Sebastian1295]

So i looked this game up and i gotta say that it looks like crap tbh. I mean even the release date trailer on YouTube looks awful. There's just 0 story or dialogue, the animations look insanely jank and unfinished, and you're just in a big area fighting 1 enemy at a time it seems with no context. Legitimately am baffled as to what this game even is or what he was hoping to accomplish by releasing this in the state he did.

 

[Hideous Snake]

Game looks shite. Maybe be original and do something other than the other 500 cunts that tries to make a Souls-like..

 

[TerribleAtThisGame]

This is like when the bassist in a Metal band goes solo and it inevitably is a dimestore clone of the band he came from where everything good was written by someone else.

 

[N0S]

 

[El Muerto]

I just played the demo. Settings menu isnt in 100% english. When dashing it feels like you're driving a car. You have to parry in the correct direction, so if the enemy is doing a downward slash you better hold the left stick up then press parry at the right time or else the enemy wont stagger. Enemies look exactly the same. You dont get exp or anything to use at rest points, just shards and i couldnt find any. No music, clunky controls, and shit optimization. Even if the dev continues working on it this game is nothing special. Not even Fanatical will put this turd in their bundles.

 

[Labadal]

I follow the developer on X. There,wasn't really much hype or traction before release. I have also never heard anyone mention the gane by name.

 

[SJRB]

Just bought it, 7 bucks on Steam.

What can I say, it looks like a decent game and a passion project from a good dev with a low budget, and not a cynical cash grab. I don't mind supporting that.

 

[larrybrady]

Just watched a review,couldn't even make through it all(and it was only a 3 minute review), animation looked clunky and robotic,poor hit detection ect.

 

[Loomy]

Looks like the devs released a work in progress alpha version without a background story, plot, soundtrack or any other things that might attract a buying audience.

Yeah, it looks lifeless,

 

[drotahorror]

I mean it's probably not a good sign that, I, as someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time of gaf, and has an interest in the genre (as among the most clued in and target audience) had never heard of until now

Gaf used to be good for finding out about games like this, not so much anymore. There is a hidden gems type thread that needs some love though

I had this on my wishlist but after it dropped and I watched some videos I removed it.

 

[nial]

Never heard of the rest of the games from this publisher either.

Because they're known for publishing printed works, manga magazines in particular, and not for video games.
Never knew Kodansha published games until now.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I almost bought it. I had it on my wishlist. Probably just going to remove it though.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Didn't know it existed. Would probably of bought it day 1 knowing it was worked on by a former Dark Souls dev.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I didn't even know it existed. The market is oversaturated with these kind of games, it's difficult to get noticed if you are not well above the average when it comes to overall quality.

Sadly it can be said about many genres or artstyles and it's definitely even worse news for indie devs without a big publisher having their back. Like remember when one or two low-poly aesthetic games came out and people liked that retro PS1 style? Now dozens of them are already released or in development. I fully expect most of them to end up as flops.

I get it that you want to target what seems popular or cool, but you must be ready to deal with tons of competition. Making games is generally a very risky bussiness right now.

 

[mdkirby]

Gaf used to be good for finding out about games like this, not so much anymore. There is a hidden gems type thread that needs some love though

I had this on my wishlist but after it dropped and I watched some videos I removed it.

Whatever happened to the adventure games megathread, I recall only about a year ago it would get regular updates and was a great place to discover upcoming adventure games. Shame it seems to have fallen by the wayside.

 

[Esppiral]

I've never heard of it

 

[mckmas8808]

I did not knew that. Nice.

Yeah! How accurate is this?

 

[Ribi]

Woe is me, how can I a from soft dev who made this AMBITIOUS project not sell copies for the low price of $9. If only SOMEONE would buy my game I wouldn't be poor. *Peeks out from under fake tears*

 

[A.Romero]

Who would have thought publishing games successfully is not easy?

 

[peronmls]

Do something new and innovative. but that is impossible for indie devs.

 

[Sinozen]

I think indies shouldn't strive for anything complex at all. Just make a genuine game from the heart. Make it exactly how you want it without compromise, but don't try to be overly ambitious or outdo anything.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Yeah! How accurate is this?

No idea but atleast we have some idea now. For AA Dev with low price point maybe the formula is true and usable for future sales gaf discussions.

Don't know if AAA game with high marketting budgets proves this too. Hmm..atleast we can check this and found out a ratio for games whose sales number we know. Like Witcher and Cyberpunk with seperate PC sales numbers. Weekend task lol

 

[Melon Husk]

For a first attempt by 1 person that's amazing. Is it a good game? No, but there's a lot of good in there too.

Creating an expansive RPG world in 3D alone is impossible. Mr. Hytacka shouldn't be so hard on himself.

 

[SJRB]

Gave it a fair shake but quit after about 20 minutes.

It's not mega bad especially considering it's made by one person, but the scope and ambition are just way beyond what any person is able to achieve on his own.

There's still some highlights, the combat animations are pretty amazing all things considered and the game has some cool variation on the typical soulslike combat.