BulletStorm didn't sell well because of piracy

[Craig234]

I'm not really sure what you think I've demonstrated, I didn't pirate the game at all. I don't think its ok for people to pirate it because it sucked either, I just think that's the real cause of their poor sales and little would have changed even if piracy was impossible.

That's the thing - we agree 'it's not right', but you seem biased to insist it couldn't POSSIBLY be the case piracy prevents much lost revenue, only 'blame the game'.

 

[Craig234]

You guys are all missing the point. It isn't about piracy or shitty games, it's about future online-authorized invasive DRM.

They want it; it will come; so they need to bitch and complain about piracy, so that when they introduce more DRM they have a long history of 'reasons'.

That's a nice conspiracy theory, but I think that's what it is.

As Nintendo said, I think that's likely mainly about reducing the used resell market.

 

[Dranoche]

Ugh, getting deja vu. Didn't they claim the reason they weren't continuing Gears of War on PC was because the port of the first sold poorly and was heavily pirated? The buggy port that they outsourced and didn't support. I haven't played Bulletstorm, don't know how the port came to be, though I do believe it launched about the same time or at the same time as the console versions. Obviously the two cases aren't identical, but ultimately it comes down to Epic not being able to own up to their mistakes. They're QQing because they aren't making as much money because their games just aren't as good anymore.

 

[exdeath]

It was published by EA? Maybe nobody bought it because they were waiting for the inevitable Super Gold Extra Turbo Hyper Black Limited Collectors Edition coming out two weeks later.

 

[VashHT]

That's the thing - we agree 'it's not right', but you seem biased to insist it couldn't POSSIBLY be the case piracy prevents much lost revenue, only 'blame the game'.

I can see where you're coming from, I guess I just don't agree that piracy is hurting the sales of this game as much as you think they are.

It would be nice if it was easily quantifiable as to how much piracy actually hurt sales but it isn't, you can only assume what people would do if they didn't have the option to pirate. I prefer CD Projekt's approach to piracy, they choose to focus on providing a great ongoing experience to people who bought the game instead of brooding over piracy (which as you mentioned was huge for witcher 2).

 

[Dankk]

Bulletstorm was a bad game?

So all those hours I enjoyed lassoing baddies, kicking them in the face, shooting them in the balls, and throwing them into space cactus were really all just one big lie, and I wasn't actually supposed to be having fun?

I'm not defending EA or Epic for their irresponsible claims; not at all. I'm just saying that Bulletstorm deserves way more credit than you give it. I swear, some of you PC gamers wouldn't recognize "FUN" even if it slapped you in the face. (Which is pretty much what Bulletstorm does.)

I also have to disagree about it being a bad port. The PC version of Bullestorm was just fine - and if I recall correctly - it was actually one of the most graphically-impressive games of 2011 (and yes, I've also played The Witcher 2 and BF3). In fact with a Steam library of ~400 games now, I can say I've played my fair share of ports, and I can confidently distinguish the difference between a good port and a bad one.

Now I will say that, as great as Bulletstorm was, it wasn't lengthy enough to warrant a $60 pricetag. That was one of the biggest mistakes IMO... releasing a game only 6 hours long and expecting people to pay a whole $60 for it. I got it for $5 from a Steam sale, so no skin off my back.

 

[Chiropteran]

It's just a business model issue. How does a used buyer compensate the developer?

Is a high resale value a good or a bad thing when you are buying something? If it's a good thing, it would stand to reason that a buyer considering a couple different games might be influenced to buy a game that can be resold over a game that can't, all else being equal.

 

[AdamK47]

Piracy has been Epic's crutch lately. They more they use it, the less significant it sounds.

BTW - I really liked Bulletstorm. Bought it at full retail price at launch *gasp*!

 

[irishScott]

Never heard of it until now.

 

[Childs]

ROFL :thumbsup:

 

[bigrash]

I bought Bulletstorm for like $10, and thought it was a fun game. No way I would have spent more than that though. The game was fun for a bit, but repetetive. There's a reason why it didn't sell well, and it doesn't have to do with piracy.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't buy your attack on the reviewers for a minute.

If nothing else, the many, many gamerankings below 82% show otherwise.

The many, many gamerankings above 82% are what prove my point. Official reviews almost always score games higher than they should be. They're encouraged to. Higher reviews can (potentially) sell more copies, which means more/continued money for the review websites via advertising.

LOL I dunno how I missed this! :awe:

 

[JamesV]

It's just a business model issue. How does a used buyer compensate the developer?

By giving future business is how.

There was no way I was going to pay $60 for the first Mass Effect; I was guessing KotoR style which to me is a casual RPG. So I picked it up for $20 used, and loved it, and when ME2 came out, I bought it on release day.

There are literally a hundred games I've bought used that have gotten me interested in other games. Games I'd have no interest in if I didn't play used games.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Um what? Bulletstorm was a great game imho, I know it wasn't everyone's cup of team. But overall reviewers really liked it, it's 82% average on Gamerankings, which is not bad at all. I absolutely loved it. Was one of the last games I remember actually beating. And I did it over a maybe 3 day period. Which is fast for me. It was short and linear but it really kept my interest.

This makes it sound like there won't be a PC port if there's a sequel, which makes me a sad panda because I'd absolutely buy it.

It was a mediocre game at best in a sea of games mostly just like it. Website reviews and aggregates there of that rely solely on advertisements from the people making the stuff they review aren't really a dependable place to get your rankings. 8.2 is a terrible score from places like that. Games basically start becoming decent at 9+ and even then a low 9 has to be questioned.

 

[Childs]

By giving future business is how.

There was no way I was going to pay $60 for the first Mass Effect; I was guessing KotoR style which to me is a casual RPG. So I picked it up for $20 used, and loved it, and when ME2 came out, I bought it on release day.

There are literally a hundred games I've bought used that have gotten me interested in other games. Games I'd have no interest in if I didn't play used games.

You could make the same argument for piracy. Used games are worse then piracy, because a used game is an actual, quantifiable sale that the publisher did not get.

 

[Ferzerp]

I was slightly interested, read a few reviews that said it was extremely short, and decided it wasn't worth my money based on that, so i've never played it.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

By giving future business is how.

There was no way I was going to pay $60 for the first Mass Effect; I was guessing KotoR style which to me is a casual RPG. So I picked it up for $20 used, and loved it, and when ME2 came out, I bought it on release day.

There are literally a hundred games I've bought used that have gotten me interested in other games. Games I'd have no interest in if I didn't play used games.

Often times the person that sells the game will go on to use that money toward buying other games. Despite what people want to think there is a limited pool of money available to buy games. People simply can't afford to buy every game they pirate/buy used/just try a demo of and trying to force them to won't result in particularly increased sales because many people would simply run out of money long before they'd buy crappy game x.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I default to the normal everything has a used market. Software should be no different. If you think otherwise, find a different line of work and quit whining about it. There is no difference. Once the final product has been produced, mass production costs almost nothing. Copyright law is a farse and ultimately doesn't protect the creators, only the publishers (or whoever owns the copyright)

Now back on topic. No Piracy is not the reason this game failed. It had as much chance of succeeding as every other game that is pirated. It wasn't some unknown small dev.

 

[gothamhunter]

I was slightly interested, read a few reviews that said it was extremely short, and decided it wasn't worth my money based on that, so i've never played it.

LIES! IT WAS OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE YOU PIRATED IT! THAT'S THE ONLY EXCUSE FOR LOW SALES!


caps

 

[BurnItDwn]

Hmm, never heard of or read about this one before ...
Sounds like it could be decent fun ...

I shall pick this up next time it's on sale/cheap on steam.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Hmm, never heard of or read about this one before ...
Sounds like it could be decent fun ...

I shall pick this up next time it's on sale/cheap on steam.

I think it's been $5 for months....

 

[BurnItDwn]

I think it's been $5 for months....

ok, in that case, it won't be a very long time before I pick it up Just need to be at home rather than at work to log into steam and buy it.

 

[Craig234]

By giving future business is how.

There was no way I was going to pay $60 for the first Mass Effect; I was guessing KotoR style which to me is a casual RPG. So I picked it up for $20 used, and loved it, and when ME2 came out, I bought it on release day.

There are literally a hundred games I've bought used that have gotten me interested in other games. Games I'd have no interest in if I didn't play used games.

The 'cost them revenue but get you to buy a sequel' argument is a silver lining, but only reduces the impact a little bit.

It's also a bit ironic in this thread, given the topic is how piracy has been an important factor in cancelling any sequel.

They could just 'give away the first game in the series' if it was that effective.

 

[Childs]

I default to the normal everything has a used market. Software should be no different. If you think otherwise, find a different line of work and quit whining about it. There is no difference. Once the final product has been produced, mass production costs almost nothing. Copyright law is a farse and ultimately doesn't protect the creators, only the publishers (or whoever owns the copyright)

Used digital goods are 100% equivalent to new, so there is a difference. Physical goods experience wear when used which usually translates to lowered performance and therefore effects the value. However, with the online pass type of thing that EA is doing, a used copy does not equal a new copy, so that is closer to the traditional used market that physical goods have.

 

[Craig234]

LIES! IT WAS OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE YOU PIRATED IT! THAT'S THE ONLY EXCUSE FOR LOW SALES!


caps

Hey, another straw man, proving my point again.