- [Falcon] We talk about failures in the world of video games all the time. Frankly, it's an industry full of failures and mistakes and missteps, but sometimes, there are absolutely fantastic games out there that just don't quite catch on. Today, we're gonna talk about 10 great games that didn't sell well.
Whether it's from the corporation or the publisher's perspective, or a game just not making its money back, there's a lot of reasons why some great games don't really sell well, and we got interesting examples. So let's get started off with number 10, "Okami". "Okami" at this point is like a legendary game.
I mean, it was headed up by Hideki Kamiya. Famous game developer, leader behind things like "Resident Evil" and the "Devil May Cry" series. "Okami" was a great 3D, kind of Zelda-like adventure that people still love to this day.
Its paintbrush mechanics were absolutely unique. (upbeat music) (creatures roaring) The game was gorgeous. The art style was unlike anything we'd ever seen, and it is still beloved to this day.
Like I said, it has its fans, it has a fandom. I've seen people with tattoos of the main character. People just love "Okami" and couldn't get enough of it.
But unfortunately for Capcom, it seems like it just wasn't enough. This was from Clover Studio, the people behind the fantastic beautiful Joe Games and "God Hand", the same year as "Okami". This 2006 game sold hundreds of thousands of copies where it seems like Capcom was hoping it would sell millions of copies.
Eventually it would go on to do so, thanks to the fandom really bubbling up and word of mouth online, but for years it was technically considered more of a failure as much as people didn't want to admit it. According to Wikipedia, Guinness Book of World Records called it the least Commercially successful winner of a Game of the Year award. After this, and "God Hand" Capcom ended up disbanding Clover Studio and eventually some of the folks behind that, including Hideki Kamia, would go on to establish Platinum Games and then the rest was history.
They would go on to make "Bayonetta" and a bunch of other incredible games, but "Okami" was an interesting point in their history. Thankfully, its legacy is strong. It's remembered more as a great game and not as a game that like sold poorly, or didn't hit expectations or whatever.
(upbeat music) (creatures roaring) Next, over at number nine, we have "Kingdoms of Amalur". "Kingdoms of Amalur" was a big ambitious single player open world RPG that took years and years to develop, was filled with tons of drama and scheming, so much so to the point where we don't have time to talk about it in this video, but look it up. It is a pretty fascinating story of game development.
It was a massive project with like heavyweight artists, writers, developers behind the team. This was supposed to be the next big thing, big IP, and people did really enjoy the game, even if it had its issues and it was generic in spots. (swooshing) (character gasping) There are a lot of fans of "Kingdoms of Amalur".
It got re-released eventually and saw a resurgence of popularity. Most people look fondly back on "Kingdoms of Amalur", despite all the drama. Still with that, according to Euro Gamer, the game managed to sell 1.
2 million copies in 90 days from launch. And although the game development studio boss did say that the game had outperformed EA's expectations, apparently after all that big development, the game needed to sell quote, "in the 3 million units range just to break even. " This came directly from the governor of Rhode Island at the time, who at that state had put significant investment into the game development studio.
Like I said, it's complicated. This game did not sell enough to the point where eventually the game development studio had to declare bankruptcy and shut down in around 2012. Like I said, eventually "Kingdoms of Amalur" would be like republished with new content for a new console generation thanks to THQ Nordic.
And people still generally like it, but it is a shame that we never saw it become a bigger thing. - Well, that's it for you then. Better luck next time.
- [Falcon] Next, over at number eight, we have "Alpha Protocol". This is one of Obsidian's weirdest games. It's like a third person action adventure spy game, but it still has all the Obsidian stuff, great writing, questing, dialogue, and decision making that changes the outcome of the game.
- You check out your new home yet? It's got some perks you might be interested in. - Such as?
- A computer with a hub connection so fast, you'll feel like you're going back in time. - [Falcon] For Obsidian to have applied that type of RPG stuff to a just regular old third person shooter spy action game, it was a really novel and cool idea. This game had tons of flaws, and it was kind of goofy and awkward at points, but it is absolutely beloved.
It's such a unique thing. There's no other games like this, that we've loved it for years just for that reason. It stuck around in our memory.
According to GameSpot, unfortunately a month after release, the games sold 700,000 copies, and then apparently the game's slow sales eventually ended up impacting Sega's like fiscal financial quarterly number type things, and they weren't happy. To them, the game commercially underperformed and they announced straight up that there would not be a sequel to it. Still at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because "Alpha Protocol" is out there and people absolutely love it.
It was actually taken down from stores like Steam for a few years, but thankfully now it's back, and you can experience it in all its glory. It's weird and it's cool, and even if people didn't buy it, some really love it. - Who's that- ah!
- [Falcon] Next over at number seven, we have the original "Alan Wake", believe it or not. "Alan Wake" had a tough time when it first launched, because it released the same week as "Red Dead Redemption". So things kicked off pretty slow.
According to NPD group, you know, the game had sold 145,000 units in the first two weeks, where "Red Dead Redemption" was crushing with like 1. 5 million sold. Obviously two very different types of games, different levels of hype, but it was a slow start out the gate for "Alan Wake", which I mean most people didn't even realize or completely forgot about, because the game was so good.
And thankfully, even though initially it didn't sell well, things picked up. Word of mouth, good reviews, and people just maybe looking for something to play after finishing "Red Dead Redemption" led to the game really getting a boost. Thankfully, we now know from Remedy, the developers themselves, that after a couple of years, the original "Alan Wake" and "Alan Wake, American Nightmare" had sold over 3 million copies, making the game ultimately over time a success.
And thank goodness because now we've got "Alan Wake Two", and that game kicks ass, and frankly, Remedy is still going strong to this day. - Alan! What are you doing?
Put the light back on. Stop! Put the light back on!
- It wasn't true. Nothing like that had ever happened. - [Falcon] Next over at number six, if we're talking about games like "Alan Wake" that had a slow start, you know, a weak launch with sales, but eventually picked up, thanks to word of mouth, we have "Guardians of the Galaxy".
This game, this third person "Guardians of the Galaxy" Adventure Game is absolutely awesome. It's got heart, it's got interesting character beats, it's got compelling levels, it's got a lot of really great comic book references and although it feels a little bit like Marvel's "MCU Guardians of the Galaxy", it does go out and tries to do its own thing. It was an awesome adventure, a linear, straightforward game that you buy, you play, you finish, you're entertained.
- Mantis! What are you? - Do you still have those suicide urges?
- What? No. - Huh.
And you thought joining a team would be bad for you. Hi! Sun Lord, right?
Is it Rockstar? - It's Star Lord. - [Falcon] But looking after launch people were able to analyze that like, the Game's Steam concurrent player count was pretty low.
11,000 players with Bloomberg giving perspective that like you know, their last game, "Shadow of the Tomb Raider", had peaked at 38,000, and there was a quarterly earnings report where Square Enix the publisher said that the game did underperform in its launch sales, completely undershooting their initial expectations. But this is another game where after critical praise, fan praise, sales apparently picked up. A lot of analysts and pundits out there actually speculate that it was the "Avengers" game that did this one dirty because they were so close together.
And "Avengers" really kind of having a little bit of a black mark on it, a lot of negative word of mouth. It led to a lot of reservations, a skepticism towards a "Guardians of the Galaxy" game. And I even will say that the trailers for this game didn't really sell the game exactly well, but again, thankfully the game went on to do pretty well.
If you look up more recent stats and headlines, sales have improved. I don't know if we're ever gonna get a sequel to this one, but it's another one where I'm just glad it exists. Next over at number five, we have "Splinter Cell Blacklist".
This was going to be the resurgence, the revival of my beloved "Splinter Cell", with a fresh new Sam Fisher with a different voice actor, and a little bit more of an open-ended gameplay style. With a lot of missions that take place during the day! Still it was a stealth game through and through.
You were running around being an awesome badass with night vision goggles. And despite my reservations, it actually ended up being a pretty fun game. Not my favorite splinter cell by any means.
And I'm definitely still gonna always have my chip on my shoulder because of this one. But still fairly decent and had some good gameplay moments. Well, I guess my opinion doesn't really matter, because despite the game topping a lot of the game's sales charts, Ubisoft did come out and announce that "Splinter Cell Blacklist", say it with me now, failed to meet sales expectations.
I don't know if all these companies just have such massive demands of all their games that you expect every game to be a gigantic mega hit, but unfortunately "Splinter Cell" was another victim of this. And eventually we know that the game had sold around 2 million units. - Nice work securing the package.
- Roger that. - It's not him. Confirmed Cobin was in here, Briggs.
- Right place, right build, I assume, sir. - Don't make assumptions when I'm on the ground. Clear?
- Sam, talk to me. - Your contact's been made, he's dead. - You got more militia en route advise you move out sir.
- Alright, I need options now would be good. - Gimme a minute. - Oh yeah, it's on me baby.
Pass the phone through the offset. I can hack this cheap bootleg crap easy. - [Falcon] So a pretty decent "Splinter Cell" game.
Obviously not our ideal "Splinter Cell" game, but a pretty good game nonetheless. Unfortunately that didn't sell well enough. And I wonder if this led to us not really seeing or hearing from "Splinter Cell" for quite some time.
We know there's another one in the works. We know they're kind of remaking the first game. Who knows when we're gonna see that, but I bet "Splinter Cell Blacklist" and the sales are to blame for us not really hearing much from Sam Fisher in in quite some time, but I gotta say I really miss the guy.
(electronic beeping) (gunshot) (intense music) (gunshots) Now down at number four, we have "Spec Ops: The Line", another absolutely awesome game that many have praised for its narrative, its depth of story, the fact that it's trying to say something and it's fun, straightforward, third person action gameplay. And that just ended up unfortunately not being enough for the big corporate big wigs. According to them, not enough people played this game, this game that everyone was talking about, this game that everybody loved.
Yes, "Spec Ops" The Line" unfortunately had sales numbers that were, and I quote, "lower than anticipated" from their publisher, Take Two. It was a third person shooter, you know, a military shooter on the surface. But it was really a story based game with some heavy, complicated themes.
And maybe they started to realize this, because the game was marketed a little differently, but unfortunately, I guess it wasn't enough to save it. (gunfire) - Reloading! Take him out!
(gunfire continues) Throwing frag! He's down! Hostile dead!
- [Falcon] At least not in the eyes of the publishers, because it was lower than anticipated for them. I really am running outta things to say with this. I don't have too much to say really.
Other than that, guys you backed, you published, you supported a game that had some really heady themes, a game that wanted to be an action game, but really ultimately do way more, say way more, tell a really interesting story. And what were you expecting this to sell like "Call of Duty" numbers? Come on man.
Still, it's another one that even if it was considered a failure by the publisher and never got a sequel, I'm just glad it exists. If you never played this one, you should. You've probably heard a million YouTubers or game journalists or whoever talk about this one.
It's a good ride and worth playing through. Now, down at number three, "Alien Isolation", another one that we've praised in so many videos, it's a good first person horror game that really nails the feel of "Alien". The original horror classic.
Unfortunately for the publisher Sega, the game did not sell enough. It's unfortunately kind of roped in, or packaged in with the financial failures of "Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric" and "Shattered Crystal", leading to Sega dismissing their lineup at that time as all being weak in the sales department. But we know that "Alien Isolation" sold 2.
1 million units approximately a year after release. But still? Not enough I guess.
What does it come down to? The money they spent on licensing the "Alien" franchise? Did they expect a game based on a sci-fi horror classic from the early eighties to sell millions and millions and millions, especially a game rooted in a very kind of niche horror gameplay concept?
I, I don't know, but jokes on them, they put out the money for it and it sold lower than their expectations, but hey, we still have it to play. Now down at number two, we have "Beyond Good and Evil". The action adventure game from Michelle Ancel at Ubisoft, the person behind things like "Rayman".
"Beyond Good and Evil" was really considered to be the next big thing. It was fun, it was colorful, it set up a new universe. It was cool!
People absolutely loved it. I mean, look today, people are still really hoping that sequel will release eventually. I don't think it ever will, but it has a fandom.
But unfortunately the game was a commercial failure for Ubisoft, weirdly enough, they did still, you know, kind of set up a sequel, but the game apparently just did not really end up selling as well as they would hope. And critical reception doesn't always amount to sales. The game was also meme'd to hell because there was like a whole thing going viral back in like 2008, 2009, that the game was actually being given away as a free gift in cheese packages.
Like it was, it was a free pack-in for string cheese for kids. I, I kid you not, I guess they were trying to squeeze every last dollar outta this one that they could. I don't know, it's unfortunate.
Like I said, at least it got a sequel green lit, but it's a sequel that we still haven't seen like decades later. Now, down at number one, we have a more recent game from last year. It's "Immortals of Avium".
"Immortals of Aveum" is really what everybody kind of wants in this hardcore gaming world. New IP, something that isn't based on a sequel or a comic book, or a movie, or a remake, or a remaster. No, this is a new adventure in a new world and it's a linear, straightforward action adventure game with no micro transactions, no BS, but unfortunately not enough people played it.
It was an a packed year for game releases. There were so many things that released in 2023 that absolutely took the world by storm. Like "Balder's Gate 3", I could go on.
Unfortunately "Immortals of Aveum" just did not catch on, and there was a whole studio built up to put this game out. Pretty soon after the game's release, the development studio had to lay off 40 of their developers, which was apparently about 45% of the staff, specifically because of those poor sales. The people, the leadership behind this game development studio had been pretty transparent in interviews, and eventually stated that when dropping the game's price, it got a lot more sales and definitely saw a resurgence.
And that's great, because the game's release date and price is probably what really hurt it. So dropping the price was great, people jumped on board, but unfortunately it still was not enough, because as of right now with Ascendant Studios, what we know is that the remaining developers at the studio, the remaining employees were put on furlough. Possibly an unfortunate ending to what was otherwise a great game, and could have been the start of a fun new franchise.
Still, at least we'll always have this first game and you should definitely check it out. But like we said, those are 10 games that were pretty awesome, that didn't sell well, whether it was from just players not buying it, or publishers and corporations expectations just being like unfairly high. These are some games that just didn't quite squeak by.
There's plenty of other examples out there though, so let us know in the comments what you think. And if you loved any of these games, definitely let us know. But if you like talking games with us every day, all you gotta do is click the like button.
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We'll see you guys next time.
