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Beyond Good, Evil, Sales, As UbiSoft Ponders Popularity
Thanks to GameSpot for reprinting news of UbiSoft's improved financials, but disappointing specifics, as the company noted in particular: "In a very competitive year-end market, sales of new brands such as Beyond Good and Evil and XIII, products which had been heavily marketed, were lower than the early-December forecasts... this had an impact of 10 million euros ($12.5 million)." Coincidentally, GameSpy has an editorial discussing the allegedly disappointing sales of UbiSoft titles, and notes: "Many of my peers felt that BG&E's style was too eccentric and didn't convey what type of game it was." Although Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time has "sold 2 million units worldwide", UbiSoft's welcome announcement of a Prince Of Persia sequel with reference to "improved marketing positioning" implies some dissatisfaction with the initial sales, and GameSpy argue "the [U.S.] advertisements for both [BG&E and PoP] were horrendous", but overall, this didn't stop UbiSoft becoming "the second largest publisher in France, the third largest in Germany, and the sixth largest in the UK" over the holiday period.
Aah, looking forward to Prince of Persia 2!
it ranks up there with windwaker, and metroid prime as THE games of the last year. (so, yea, perhaps prime is a bit old now, but it was years ahead of its time) these are the games that make consoles worth having, and its a shame they flop in comparison to the crap sequels that are getting so mass produced these days.
-and occasionaly a giant moose.
Spending lots of money on advertising increases the purchase price of games and distracts the people making the game from putting all their efforts into making sure the game is excellent (as opposed to the ads).
Good games rise to the top (in respect and sales) because they are good, not because they had a great marketing effort. The worst part comes when a shitty (or average) game blames its sales on bad marketing.
Good games sell well. End of story.
A Multiplayer Strategy Game for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux
I'd like to know why BG&E was marked down to $10 so soon after it was released. It wasn't even out 2 months before they chopped the price.
I thought PoP was awesome, but I know alot of people who didn't buy it because they thought it was too short. Console games are expensive and I guess people want more gametime for their dollar.
(personally I'd rather have great short games than ones I get sick of playing halfway though...)
don't pick Iran as the setting.
What's next, Thus Spoke Zarathustra as a first person shooter?
Ubisoft didn't release BG&E or PoP for XBox or Gamecube in Europe in time for Christmas. PoP is still not out for Xbox over here yet, despite them both having been out for all systems for some time in the US. Allegedly Sony did some deal with them to delay the games.
Now, granted, the PS2 has a much larger install base than the XBox and Gamecube in Europe, with about 20 million units compared to almost 4 million units each for Xbox and Gamecube. However, that's nearly 30% of their potential audience they're cutting out there, and as both the Xbox and Cube have smaller catalogues, there's less internal competition.
Dunno how much Sony paid them to hold those games back, but I'm not convinced it was worth it...
What really sucks about all this is that two GREAT games (BGE and POP) are getting horrendus sales, EVEN after BGE has a price drop, while something like Fugative Hunter is probablly going to get in top ten game sales. And WTF does gamespy mean when they say the ads sucked? I thought POP's TV spot was one of the better game ads this year! Hell of alot better than listening to Flock of Seagulls for some overrated crap game.
I guess this just shows what happens when you decide to release original (with the exception of PoP, although that's negotiable) titles.
It's a sad state of affairs, really.
Glog!
What a worthless company.
In Beyond Good & Evil (pc version) there is a game ending bug. Affects a whole lot of people. Message boards everywhere have people desperately seeking an answer as to what is wrong (search on Google for the second triangle key bug) and guess what Ubisoft says about it.. NOTHING!
So all of these people, including myself, are completely screwed. Ubisoft hasn't released a fix for it and hasnt said a word. The only reason I have even been able to get past that point is because I stumbled across an unofficial hack that some guy wrote to specifically get past the part in the game that is broken.
So sure, there is a fix, but what about all of those people who aren't as good at the internet and can't find it? Or the little kids who got the game as a present and don't have internet access? It wasn't an official fix, it wasn't found on the BG&E site, there were no notes on the tech support pages. It was only through searching on Google and bouncing myself around on different message boards did I eventually find the fix. Heck, FAQs on gamefaqs even mention the bug and say that if you find it your best bet is to find someone with a save game past that point.
Releasing a game broken and then refusing to fix it is a huge mistake on their part. As soon as a bug like this is found they should release an official fix for it the next day, not drag their feet and maybe address it in a few months.
Splinter Cell (PC) had the same sort of problem, in many cases a player would shoot his weapon and the sound would go completely nuts. Loud static would make it unplayable. Gamers would have to quit out of the game completely and go back in to make the sound go back to normal.
So what did Ubisoft do to address the problem? Jack. They did nothing. People were trying to find an answer but they provided nothing.
So sure, they can release killer games but if they keep releasing them broken and refuse to support the people who spent their money, why should anyone bother?
"Many of my peers felt that BG&E's style was too eccentric and didn't convey what type of game it was."
Is it such a crime that a game not fit neaty into one genre? Aren't people getting sick of the same old "shooting game" or "jumping game"?
I bought both the day they came out, and I couldn't have been happier. When I used to work at EB, the Wednesday before the week of Thanksgiving was absolute hell because you'd literally have over 50 games coming out. The Tuesday night before that Wednesday you always had to have the staff clear off every new release shelf to prepare. Most of this 50 new releases just got filed in with the old ones because we didn't have room. And we were a well-staffed and district flagship EB. I can't imagine what would happen to those 50 new releases per system at a out of the way Best Buy or Wal-Mart.
Moreover, when the mom comes in to buy the kid a Christmas game, or even the wife for the gameplaying husband, all she knows is that she's looking for that game that's like GTA that's been on TV, or the new Mario game (even for the PS2). When I bought them at Toys R' Us during their Buy 2 Get 1 Free, the guy behind the counter knew Prince of Persia was good but couldn't find it, and it took him a good 3 or 4 minutes to track down Beyond Good & Evil.
What Ubisoft was trying to do, at least with PoP, was create another Splinter Cell. The difference though is that last Christmas, when Splinter Cell was released for Xbox, you really didn't have much in the way of strong titles. Maybe MechAssault, and that's pushing it. In Christmas of 2003, the "new" Splinter Cell (PoP) had stuff like KOTOR and Rainbow Six (ironically, another Ubisoft title) and that was only on the Xbox. The other platforms were probably even stronger (Mario Kart, SOCOM II). The problem is that investors create such an expectation for Christmas that if Ubisoft didn't get closer to EA's numbers during Christmas, what good is the Ubisoft stock? Consider this an insder retail proverb : A dollar in profit during Christmas is worth two during third quarter.
It's a shame, because it's investors that are indirectly responsible for half-shipped games and marketing mistakes like this. If you haven't already noticed, there are these mini-huge release days (like the one before Thanksgiving) on the Wednesday at the end of every financial quarter (next one is at the end of March I think). The releases will all clump and crowd on that one day. Another proverb: a dollar made at the end of the quarter for a half-finished game is worth two dollars made for a complete game released in the middle of a quarter.
I was so suprised when I walked into EB the day it came out in Canada to find the price had already been reduced. This game beats Zelda Wind Waker on a bunch of fronts, but not all. I actually liked BG&E better.
Laugh if you will, but the Ubisoft developers can blame themselves for truncating the growth of XIII on the PC. Mod and map development has become a critical aspect of a growing FPS title and with the Unreal engine as it's core - XIII should have been an easy sell for that. Built in map editor, OO scripting language, and the only cel shaded toy on the block.
So what did Ubisoft do?
Well, they released the US version of XIII with a flaw that disabled the use of custom maps thanks to the CD checking software. Yup. It came with an editor, you just couldn't really play with them.
Mods? They stripped out the source of the scripts required to get a full compile. Epic told me that it might be possible to get a compile if you had UT2003 handy, which has similar core classes, but you probably wouldn't get very far.
Community? For some reason, Ubi added a Map/Mod community to their XIII forums. It's a joke. Developers don't go there, heck moderators rarely go there.
Not to mention that they reworked the basic gametype framework so that even once you get past any of the above, it's still annoying to get custom material running in the game.
Result? XIII is probably a better buy as a console title than PC. At least that way you can easily sell it to EB when you're done. Because when you finish the game, that's it. You have a coaster.
And WTF does gamespy mean when they say the ads sucked? I thought POP's TV spot was one of the better game ads this year!
A-freaking-men. The POP ad was absolutely awesome, particularly the 1-minute spot. I'd see it on Adult Swim, and wake up my wife because I was wanting her to see it. I'm hoping that UbiSoft releases an OST for the game, as I'd be really interested in getting it.
"Mod, mod, mod...and another troll bites the dust."
I've been slow picking up PoP (it has been on my list because of my love for the old games back when I was in middle school), but the two-pack is what sold me.
And, dammit, it shouldn't have needed to be packaged with SC (not that my wallet is complaining)! This game is easily the best I've played in years. I've already spent six or seven hours playing the game, and it is a massive step forward for gamers who have been following the Legacy of Kain series or who love good platformers or who thought Enter the Matrix could have been so much more than it was (if only Ubisoft and this development team had worked on that game as opposed to Atari and Shiny..). I cannot sing PoP's praises more! BUY THIS GAME.
As for Splinter Cell: I'll play it at some point. :)
You can't expect people to lay money down and not know what they're getting. This may be symptomatic of a marketing system that doesn't know how to sell new types of games. If you're selling the next first person shooter, then all you have to do is say "it's just like that last game you liked, only better!" And in fact that's the only message video game marketing is any good at pushing.
Secondly, as video games get more popular, there's a whole crap load of people who haven't played the shooting and platform games you've gotten sick of. New consumers are born everyday, which means there's money to be made selling the same thing you sold yesterday, only NEWER(!!!) and SHINIER(!!!).
Finally, while it is possible for an innovative game to become famous mostly by word of mouth (The Sims would probably be a good example of that), it has to be a REALLY innovative or great game. Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia are undoubtedly excellent games, but neither is a revolutionary game--PoP is a sequel to what was once a famous franchise, and BGaE sounds like just another Zelda-type of game. There's a LOT of games out there, so something has to be totally mind blowingly awesome to stand out without proper marketing.
This has to be one of the best deals on games right now. If you don't already have Prince of Persia, you've got to get the 2 for 1 deal now! And BG&E for $20 is a steal!
The deal's at ubisoft's store and I'm sure you can find it elsewhere too.
Ubisoft's Store
I don't think marketing or even release date issues effected my choice to not buy Ubisoft games as much as the fact that *every single game* I have that they published was buggy, unentertaining garbage.
Is it such a crime that a game not fit neaty into one genre?
Actually it's not particularly innovative gameplay wise, as it fits perfectly into the classic Zelda mould. Unfortunatly Ubi seemed to forget to tell anyone this, with the result that no-one really knew what it was.
Mind you, the release date was more than half the problem. Original titles at christmas are a very big risk, as the bulk of christmas titles seem to be bought by doddering relatives.
After putting out the rushed, buggy, piece of shit Shadowbane, ruining all the good concepts in it, renegging on their promise to support role play and run rp events, and having the worst customer service I've ever seen, I am never giving them a damn penny of my money again.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Can't buy it. Have a GeForce4 MX. I have $50 disposable cash at the moment and no ready way to get more.
Bastards.
Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia are undoubtedly excellent games, but neither is a revolutionary game--PoP is a sequel to what was once a famous franchise, and BGaE sounds like just another Zelda-type of game.
While I don't really disagree with your statement, I have a bit of a problem with your reasoning. Super Mario 64 was revolutionary, and Mario was an old franchise. PoP is to the older incarnations as Mario 64 is to the original.
BG&E is...fairly similar to Zelda, in the sense that it's a 3rd person action/adventure, but it's different in a lot of ways. Some interesting things that come to mind include the use of a companion's special abilities, stealth sections that really started to remind me of Splinter Cell, and maybe even the use of a camera as one of your most vital items. I love that camera. It adds a weird, 'everyday life' element to the game, I think.
Anyway, no, I don't think they're revolutionary, either. But that's not at all because they have similarities to other games in name and general play style (the artistic style of BG&E is very fresh, by the way). These games are evolutions, at least, just not enough to be 'revolutionary.'
What most hurt the sales of their games is that they were released at same time at the peak of game releases.
According to Gamefaqs for PS2:
XIII 11/18/03
PoP 11/06/03
BGaE 11/11/03
The did a lot of marketting, but they didn't explain the gameplay of the games, they tried to market them by graphics/story. They did nothing to try and differentiate themselves from the other releases. This put them in a position of competing with themselves and the million other xmas games.
Xmas is overrated. There is way to much competition, plus its plagued with buggiest games. I never buy a game that is released after Thanksgiving, because its sure to be a rushed product. They could of better spaced their games over a longer timeframe.
I've only played PoP and BGaE and they were both great games but really short as well. Maybe they were hoping people would finish PoP in the 5 days before BGaE, so they'd buy it too.. but thats reason not to buy it for people who want more playtime for their buck.
For Beyond Good and Evil, it is really sad that it hasn't performed very well. I have the GameCube version, and despite it being shorter than many games, I feel that it is the best game of 2003. Yes, it is better than Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Kart: Double Dash. (I have both)
I think the root cause for poor sales is two-fold: 1> They should not have released around Christmas. 2> It needed better marketing. Not more marketing, mind you, but better. I saw plenty of ads for it, but none of them really explained what type of game it really is. It is a story-driven adventure/action game.
Beyond Good and Evil is an excellent game. I highly recommend it to everyone. It's more than just a game, it is essentially an interactive movie. For most games, the story is nothing more than an excuse for the action. For BG&E, the story is the focus, which allows you, the player, to be a part of it. It would actually make a pretty good stand-alone movie. But this doesn't detract from the gameplay, as the game itself plays really well. I've seen games that have an intriquing story, but the gameplay is lacking (Eternal Darkness comes to mind). This is not a problem in BG&E.
As a side note, I'll be very disappointed if they don't produce a sequel. For those of you that have finished the game, you know that there is a nice little teaser scene after the credits that directly open it for a sequel. But even without that scene, there are so many unanswered questions at the end that a sequel is badly needed. I liken it unto the original Star Wars (the 1977 movie). It was fairly clear that that movie was the middle part of a much larger story. I see the same type of situation here. There's lots of material that could be covered both before and after the game we now have. I'm not going to go into any details because I don't want to give spoilers, but if you finish this game you'll see what I mean.
So, anyone out there reading this, do yourself a favor and get BG&E. At $20, it's a steal.
Intelligent responses welcome, flames will be met with marshmallows.
That was my problem with it. I picked it up at the store and looked over the box. I couldn't tell what style of gameplay it was. RPG? Action/Adventure? Mindless FPS? Tetris? Well, probably not tetris, but you get the idea. I could tell what the *story* was like, but nothing about the *gameplay*. It doesn't help that you can only download the free demo on IE...
-Redundancy Man strikes again!
"...sales of new brands such as Beyond Good and Evil and XIII, products which had been heavily marketed..."
While I did see TV ads for XIII all over the place, I never saw an ad, outside of the occasional magazine, for BG&E. Which is strange, because BG&E would be, for many, a far better game.