Kingdom of Amalur's lack of sales... 38 Studios in trouble?

[LostSoul]

Originally Posted by Shoganai

Time release played a part of it for sure. I really enjoyed Amalur... I spent 80 hours on the primary campaign alone, exploring everything the game had. I pushed the game to my friends as well, who all play the Elder Scrolls series, Fable, and Diablo. While all but one said they were interested in the game, none of them purchased it. The reason? The price-point the game was released at. All of them are waiting for the price to fall or to pick it up used. I wonder if maybe 38 Studios reached too high in that regard as well...

I have to admit that's still keeping me from buying it even now. I played the demo, found it to have enough potential to be a good game, but even now the $60 to get on board is pretty steep. Not that I haven't paid that much (or more for Grim Dawn) but that I'm somewhat reluctant to combine that price with anything to do with EA (which I might add is still a lingering concern since the demo required logging in to Origin to play).

I still haven't gotten a straight up answer on the Steam version. Do I have to log in to anything after launching the game, or is Steam the only login I need? I want to know and won't buy until I do.

[Shoganai]

Originally Posted by Father Squid

I saw what you did there...

I guess the only problem with the reference is that with Schilling being a pitcher, he'd want the strike out.... so I guess, in a strange way, he was successful?

@Lostsoul - I bought it for the 360... and I do believe that I had to log into to ea servers the first time I played... then it cached the info and always does it automatically afterwards. Similar to Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

[mamba]

Originally Posted by LostSoul

I have to admit that's still keeping me from buying it even now. I played the demo, found it to have enough potential to be a good game, but even now the $60 to get on board is pretty steep. Not that I haven't paid that much (or more for Grim Dawn) but that I'm somewhat reluctant to combine that price with anything to do with EA (which I might add is still a lingering concern since the demo required logging in to Origin to play).

Same here I am waiting for a cheap GOTY edition with all DLC. I will never again buy EA at full price, or games with lots of DLC before a GOTY. I also will never buy a game that requires Origin, no matter what price.

Also, it did not require Origin I believe (played the demo, but certainly did not set up an Origin account), that was only needed if you wanted to continue your demo char in the full game if I recall correctly.

[LostSoul]

Originally Posted by Shoganai

@Lostsoul - I bought it for the 360... and I do believe that I had to log into to ea servers the first time I played... then it cached the info and always does it automatically afterwards. Similar to Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

The boxed sales were EA's gig. Steam's version is "supposed" to be different but I haven't gotten an answer as to just what level of difference that represents.

Originally Posted by mamba

Also, it did not require Origin I believe (played the demo, but certainly did not set up an Origin account), that was only needed if you wanted to continue your demo char in the full game if I recall correctly.

The demo was EA's gig as well, outsourced to yet another company to build. Didn't know that the EA login crap was optional though. Didn't see any way to skip it.

[mamba]

Originally Posted by LostSoul

The demo was EA's gig as well, outsourced to yet another company to build. Didn't know that the EA login crap was optional though. Didn't see any way to skip it.

I was using the Steam demo of it, maybe that makes a difference, I believe retail is bound to Origin, only Steam version is not.

[LostSoul]

Originally Posted by mamba

I was using the Steam demo of it, maybe that makes a difference, I believe retail is bound to Origin, only Steam version is not.

Yeah i used the steam version of the demo and it definitely required I log in to an EA account (which is all integrated now, it's ALL Origin).

[Keyrock]

You can skip the EA Login (in the demo at least), it is not required. Just click the "X" in the corner (it's not very easily visible).

[shawnmck]

The lawsuits have started...

http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mis...studios-loans/

This is going to bode ill for all Developers & Publishers in the future, imho....because they will fear lawsuits if their games fail to sell according to estimates.
It will mean the rise of cost in video-games (to help cover legal fees to prevent such lawsuits), and it will mean that some Developers & Publishers won't want to take chances with some games.

[Truhan]

To be fair, developers and publishers currently AREN'T taking chances with games. The only "mainstream" PC ARPG that's really come out since Titan Quest is Torchlight (which was a budget game), while the X-COM strategy game franchise is being reworked to be a shooter franchise. It doesn't help that the best damn niche games seem to be coming from independent developers (read: Wasteland 2, Endless Space) while publishers prefer to play it safe and just make every damn game a shooter.

[Zantai]

I believe, in this case, the loan was personally guaranteed by Curt and may go beyond the norms. This may give the bank more power to pursue repayment directly.