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Poptopic: IGN and Kotaku Reviews Aren’t Influencing Game Sales Anymore

Arachnid

Member
Fuck IGN

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JohnnyPhats

Member
So, the Wukong people told Sweet Baby to get fucked? $7,000,000 lol. Pay us to tell you your wrong think won’t work. WE WILL DECIDE FOR YOU WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE. And promptly ruin your game. We will rewrite it for the people that don’t buy games.

If that’s what happened I’ll buy the game today.
 
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KINGMOKU

Member
Honestly don't care about any gaming outlets, or any kind of "journalism", of any kind, as it's all been tainted. All of it, no matter the medium.

I just read peoples own experience with the game/book/movie/incident, and do some research, and then make a decision. Hell, now that I think about it, im doing what traditional journalists used to do, and I suspect many, many people do it now as well, without realizing it.

I dont think I've visited a gaming website in at least 5 years, and I buy a ton of games. No clicks from me, so I can read about bullshit that has nothing to do with the actual game.
 

yurinka

Member
Also do we actually know if Outlwas is selling poorly?
While I do think people follow mainstream sites like IGN less (Kotaku is kind of dead), the premise of the article is a bit suspect considering the author is saying “Star Wars: Outlaws” is not selling.

I don’t think we have any numbers for that and I would be surprised if a Ubisoft Star Wars Open World game didn’t sell relatively well.
The article skirts around some legit points but the way it presents Star Wars Outlaws as a game that has failed miserably when it came out yesterday just screams large language model without any context.

The article is totally wrong about Star Wars Outlaws supposedly performing bad in sales.

I just checked PSN store's "top 10 in your country" ranking (so thetop grossing ranking) and is:
  • USA: top 5 (CoD, Wukong, Fortnite, Madden before it)
  • Germany: top 3 (CoD, Wukong above it)
  • UK: top 4 (CoD, Wukong, Fortnite)
  • France: top 4 (Cod, Wukong, Fortnite)
  • Spain: top 5 (Wukong, Fortnite, CoD, EAFC 25)
  • Italy: top 6 (Wukong, Fortnite, CoD, EAFC 25, EAFC 24)
Regarding Amazon's "best selling videogames" (all platforms, not PS5 specific subsection, and counting only games and not accesories or cards):

Amazon.com (USA) : top 2
Amazon.de (Germany): top 1
Amazon.co.uk: top 2
Amazon.fr (France): top 2
Amazon.es (Spain): top 3
Amazon.it (Italy): top 6

P.S.: PSN's average user rating -from those who bought it- of SW Outlaws was back then 4.05/5 stars (so 81/100)
 
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PSYGN

Member
I thought this was known? TikTok/YouTube and word of mouth would convince more people. Don't think 99% of people want to read through politics when trying to see if a game is fun or not.
 
While I do think people follow mainstream sites like IGN less (Kotaku is kind of dead), the premise of the article is a bit suspect considering the author is saying “Star Wars: Outlaws” is not selling.

I don’t think we have any numbers for that and I would be surprised if a Ubisoft Star Wars Open World game didn’t sell relatively well.
yeah, i'm pretty sure that an article labelling a game a 'failure' that was written it'd appear the day after the game released deserves a certain amount of distrust. re-arranging reality to support a premise? never a good look...
 
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PeteBull

Member
There is tons of DEI hires in current day "professional" journalism, so ofc they promote woke agenda super hard, and on top very often give negative points for games that just want to be games, like in the older times, players got deceived many times, and many will still keep getting deceived but more and more slowly realise that review scores mean shit unfortunately, even user score on metacritic is more reliable, just look at concord, terrible game with currently 99 concurent players on steam, 1 week after launch, it has 62 review score and 1.8/10 user score.

Just to give u quotes from 3 reviews that gave the game 75 or more:
At the risk of disappointing its detractors, Concord is a very good hero shooter that could very well overshadow the big names in the genre, if a community of players takes it that far. Firewalk's service game is based on solid arguments: great shooting sensations, 16 varied and perfectly oiled heroes, impeccable technique and artistic direction and even attractive tactical perspectives. As it stands, we just regret overly classic game modes as well as a universe that would have deserved a more important place within the experience... Two points that are not set in stone and that will most certainly improve with future updates (all free, there is no season pass or battle pass, let us remind you). A very good choice. We loved it.

Concord is too daring a gamble for Firewalk and PlayStation Studios, who are releasing a 100% multiplayer pay-to-play game in a pool of already famous free-to-play games. While the game isn't fundamentally bad, it's slower and less dynamic than its rivals, which will hold some players back, and in no way revolutionizes the genre, which might have justified the entry fee. The game aims to be that “hero-shooter for casuals par excellence”, but does this genre have a place in today's ecosystem, and a paying one at that? Unfortunately, it's hard to see a bright future for Concord without some radical rethinking.

Concord gets the fundamentals right: unique characters, strong art direction and tightly designed combat make for thrilling matches with Crew Bonuses adding a welcome extra level of strategy. Uninteresting progression, unrealised storytelling potential and a lack of personality hold it back, but a commitment to the content roadmap and worldbuilding could salvage things. I am hopeful Firewalk Studios can turn things around given the chance.
 

RaptorGTA

Member
Haven't checked those sort of sites for impressions or reviews in at least 15 year.

I'll take the impressions from a YTer with 3k subscribers vs a YTer with 500k as well.
 
Concord etc cannot be a proof of this.

Gamers have to get informed from somewhere.

Personally I like gamepass best. Play and see if you like it. Delete otherwise.
 

ithilion

Banned
i dont think they ever did. if a game is good and word of mouth amongst gamers is positive nothing will stop the game from success
 
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Plague Doctor

Gold Member
There is a fundamental lack of connection and trust with the audience with established press sites.

Their traffic cow is walkthroughs now if recent reports where they are shifting their focus is to be believed. And google might fuck that up with ai meant to keep people on the google page.

The only solution is smaller outlets (be it a site, streamer, youtuber) that has an audience that follows and enjoys the personalities and trusts their reporting and opinions.
 
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We live in the post-PewDiePie era

If it’s softcore pornographic, it sells. Or if it has any tangential connection to Miyazaki-San.
 

Filben

Member
While I despise these frail attempts of these outlets to push their agenda and try to force Black Myth dev's into submission, this here premise is already flawed. Mainstream gaming sites? While referring to IGN and Kutaku only? While IGN is certainly big you'd need more than that to make a case for "mainstream gaming sites aren't driving force".
 
I haven't read an IGN review in at least 10 years. Every other game they score is a 7 and it's just very clear that they hold back critical commentary and scoring unless they get the green light. Games like Outlaws that are "too big to fail" get a 7. It's just predictable at this point.
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
I don't think Kotaku ever had review influence and IGN definitely has declined in that sense, but they're not the only outlets reviewing games.

Concord has a 62 on Metacritic. Dustborn a 68. In 2024, that translates to a solid 4/10. The critical response to both of these games have been bad.
 

bender

What time is it?
I have never bought a game based solely on its reviews, but I can see the point.

I bough Gungrave because this review made me laugh.


IGN was a fun read at times in the the PS2 era with Dave Z and David Smith.
 

Zathalus

Member
What an absolutely shit article. Review scores have never had a major impact on how well a game has sold, there are games from the 90s or early 2000s that had amazing review scores but were commercial flops. Marketing and gamer hype has always played a far major role in a games success. The article then makes its real agenda clear by mentioning the debunked SBI nonsense with Game Science like it’s a fact. The next zinger, with zero supporting evidence mind you, is that Star Wars Outlaws is some sort of sales flop when nothing has been released on the numbers at all. Amazing work of investigative journalism, real top notch stuff.
 
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SHA

Member
Destin just mentioned months ago anything between 7 & 10 worth your time, well, then why the mods in the comment section? why the messaging is so poor back then? 7 was literally the sites selling point for getting paid from these publishers and not pissing the average users, that's why mods existed in the first place.
 
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Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Ah if it isn’t the “dude trust me bro” source of information.

Totally baseless and being lead go stoke flames for those who hate these sites.

IGN may be retarded but they put out decent content. They generally explain why or why not they like a game. However, they are bought out and rarely score below a 7, when a game may very well be a 3.
 

Sooner

Member
Didn't IGN give it an 8? Was that meant to negatively affect sales?

This game is a special case anyway. It's sales are coming mostly out of China. I doubt they are checking IGN over there.
 

Generic

Member
Star Wars: Outlaws, Concord (PS5, PC), and Dustborn. Despite receiving glowing reviews from these outlets, these games failed miserably upon release.
Games with 60-70 in Metacritic received glowing reviews?
 

Generic

Member
Didn't IGN give it an 8? Was that meant to negatively affect sales?

This game is a special case anyway. It's sales are coming mostly out of China. I doubt they are checking IGN over there.
Wukong got better reviews overall than Dustborn, Concord and Outlaws. This article is just trying to push the "critics are always wrong" meme.
 

Preseznik

Member
Reviewers haven't known more about games than I do since paper magazines in the early 90s.
To me, they've been irrelevant for 30+ years.
 

TehDark

Banned
The majority of mainstream gaming media are basically the same as mainstream media news, trash.

They exist to push narratives and ideologies.
 
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The Cockatrice

Gold Member
People here make fun of IGN but when they do a review some if not most of you buy based on what they say or you're enraged if its your favorite franchise/game/universe and they have a lower score. If you're going to call IGN shit, how about you stop putting their reviews in your review threads and ignore them completely? Oh right, the double standards, aint gonna happen.
 

LRKD

Member
I can't imagine ever a time looking towards reviewers personally. Even in the early 2000s I didn't trust the reviewers, the magazine was more just to know what was releasing when, and to get a few more details about the game, then some idiots opinion about it.
 

Fahdis

Member
Man alot of you following influencers for your gaming choices is weak sauce. Literally look at the marketing of the game and decide for yourselves. Why do you need someone else's permission? Wtf.

Also, fuck IGN and Kotaku. I stopped using any sites 15 years ago and just looked at forums in terms of user input. I still played what I liked.
 
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IGN has never been a "trusted voice" that "every gamer looked up to".
They just had big media money behind them for their entire existence.

I don't know anything about Kotaku's history because I never visited there.
But I know that they haven't been "gaming media" for several years now.
This. "Can't spell ignorant without IGN" didn't originate yesterday, I already heard that 20 years ago. Which is also when I stopped going there, because their reviews were so generic (ok, maybe more like 15 years ago). Which clearly was the right decision from the few tidbits I've seen from people like those Destin or Greg Miller guys, who apparently all spawned there. Terrible.
 
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While I do think people follow mainstream sites like IGN less (Kotaku is kind of dead), the premise of the article is a bit suspect considering the author is saying “Star Wars: Outlaws” is not selling.

I don’t think we have any numbers for that and I would be surprised if a Ubisoft Star Wars Open World game didn’t sell relatively well.
It’s complete bull. They knew they couldn’t base an article on just two games so they decided to throw Outlaws in there when most likely the game is selling like hotcakes.
 
While I do think people follow mainstream sites like IGN less (Kotaku is kind of dead), the premise of the article is a bit suspect considering the author is saying “Star Wars: Outlaws” is not selling.

I don’t think we have any numbers for that and I would be surprised if a Ubisoft Star Wars Open World game didn’t sell relatively well.
Aside Avatar saying "hi", Star Wars game will sell with or without media due to its IP. It is like Hogwarts Legacy game - no matter how triggered folks on Resetera are or media outlets, it will sell.
 
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WoJ

Member
I haven't read or watched an IGN review in years. If I want to get a sense of how a game is there are plenty of YouTubers I trust who will tell me what the game is about and whether or not it is worth my time. IGN and Kotaku aren't part of that.
 
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