Why did PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale BOMBED? LAYOFFS announced

[Syphon_Filter]

The game is good not bad and fun as hell to play. I don't no what is happening these days. Good company and good games aren't doing well.

[Lasombra]

Does anyone have any official sales numbers?

[darksora]

They flopped due to roster choice in my opinion and most of that is due to lack of 3rd party support or demands.

Missing roster:

Any PS final fantasy hero/ villain:
- Cloud / sephiroth/ tifa
- Squall
- Zidane/ vivi
- Tudus/ yuna
- Ramza/ Delita (from tactics)
Etc

Kingdom Hearts:
- Sora / Riku

-Ryu from any ps Breath of fire
- Character from a ps tales game
- Leonard from White Knight Chronicles
- Dark Cloud character like Max or Monica
- Valkyria chronicles : alicia or selvaria
- Crash Bandicoot
- Spyro
- Lara Croft
- Solid Snake

Characters that are not all stars:
- Fat princess ( seriously wtf?)
- Big Daddy ( not even exclusive)
- New Dante ( this was a mistake as it doesn't celebrate ps history like old dante)
- Raiden ( mistake since it doesn't celebrate history)

Other odd choices: Radec, 2nd Cole

I don't have the game but they should also acknowledge games that dont fit the roster like:
- Gran Turismo stage
- Wipeout stage at launch ( not dlc)
- Motorstorm stage ( potential environmental hazards)

Also the story mode is horrible too. Evil cole nemesis is fat princess?

Thats off the top of my head but it amazes me with the roster choice. It felt more like a celebration of ps3 gen and western games with very little jap game support.

[LastManDancing]

I'd say its several things:

1. Timing, in the fall after the other big releases (BO2, Halo 4, Assassin's Creed 3) in 2012 where I think games don't sale as much as 08-09. I think this would have been a great launch title with the ps4.

2. Fighting games, the game is fun and simple to get into but difficult to master (blah, blah, blah), but there are so many fighting games now you have to be pretty fucking amazing to pull me/others away from UMVC3/KOF13/TTT2/SF4AE2012, etc.

3. I think this is a small thing. I know people were pissed that Crash or Spyro weren't in the game, but even if they were and weren't top tier people wouldn't play them or if they were the best fucking characters in the game people would NOT buy the game for that reason. Some would, I mean... I'm not sure if I'd buy SF5 if Juri wasn't in the game (It was a huge factor in SFxTK) when I'm worried I wouldn't find another character I like (SF side).

However, I'd say if Lightning/Crash/Spyro/Cortex/Isaac Clarke/Connor/Sam Fisher were in the game and not Evil (or good) Cole (You only need one) that'd convince more people. Roster is important overall, but a lot of people who say they won't buy the game because ONE character isn't in.... STFU.

Edit: How do you know if you'd like a character or not if you don't know how they play and if you'd find them fun?

Anyway, sad to hear. There was promotion for the game. I saw the commercial of Kratos/Cole/Drake fighting (Live Action) several times on tv.

[Suzano-O]

I honestly have a hard time believing that the roster would have made ANY difference in whether or not this game would have sold well...

Let's be serious, do you people HONESTLY believe that including Crash/Spyro/etc. would have done anything more than garner a sale or two from about 20 or so people on the internet complaining about the lack of "BIG NAME PS3 BRAND CHARACTERS ZOMG"?...so out of touch with reality we are...

There weren't that many REAL consumers interested in this game to begin with...virtually everyone that doesn't frequent gaming blogs/forums still don't even know it exists...

[KyleOnTheRun]

I honestly have a hard time believing that the roster would have made ANY difference in whether or not this game would have sold well...

Let's be serious, do you people HONESTLY believe that including Crash/Spyro/etc. would have done anything more than garner a sale or two from about 20 or so people on the internet complaining about the lack of "BIG NAME PS3 BRAND CHARACTERS ZOMG"?...so out of touch with reality we are...

There weren't that many REAL consumers interested in this game to begin with...virtually everyone that doesn't frequent gaming blogs/forums still don't even know it exists...

The demand for characters like Snake, Sora, and so many others people have mentioned is such that, yes, I honestly believe Sony missed out on at least tens of thousands of novelty sales. They totally missed out on a huge market of casual people who don't care much for fighting games, but would see Snake fighting Cloud or any number of other match-ups on TV and go, 'Wow. That's pretty bad-ass.'

I stand by my thoughts about the game's quality, but the roster is bad to the point of farcical.

[darksora]

Roster is important overall, but a lot of people who say they won't buy the game because ONE character isn't in.... STFU.

Edit: How do you know if you'd like a character or not if you don't know how they play and if you'd find them fun?

Anyway, sad to hear. There was promotion for the game. I saw the commercial of Kratos/Cole/Drake fighting (Live Action) several times on tv.

The complexity of the game or how the characters are tiered etc isn't an issue. This game shouldn't be competing with the hardcore fighters like SF, tekken etc. Look at smash bros for its direct competition.
Both these games are a celebration of their console history.

I don't care if Kratos is the weakest player in the game, I'd still enjoy playing with him because I like that character.

[LastManDancing]

The complexity of the game or how the characters are tiered etc isn't an issue. This game shouldn't be competing with the hardcore fighters like SF, tekken etc. Look at smash bros for its direct competition.

Well... it is. You have Seth Killian, Ed Ma, and Clockwork making it a more legit fighter. I'm saying, its hard to get the competitive fighting scene. Smash Bros has had since N64 and a fan base already installed so... you have to rely on the general gaming population and the timing window and overall roster could have been better.

Two Coles... really?

I mean seriously... if this game was being streamed and fighting game experts were playing and this was at evo it'd get more exposure and there'd be a bigger scene and that would encourage more people to play because online fighting games suck and are terrible and they can get out the house and meet people who like PSASBR also and yadda, yadda, yadda.

A lot of the people who do play PSASBR though are new faces, so that's nice. It's a fun game to watch.

Both these games are a celebration of their console history.

Duh?

I don't care if Kratos is the weakest player in the game, I'd still enjoy playing with him because I like that character.

Then that's you, me, and few other people; but there are others who would rather switch to another character like Kratos/Nariko and win rather than play Sweettooth (Who they love) and get bopped.

A lot of people who don't buy the game because one of their favorite characters isn't in, and say... "No Crash no buy," are blowing smoke. You haven't even played the game, how do you know there isn't another character you'd like? I was like... what? No, Ship from Super Stardust? That's food, lemme try another character. What? Drake? Yo... I like.

And... people who go... "lol, Smash Clone..." stfu. I didn't know Smash is like the only game of its kind that can exists (Monopoly fool!) and I like PSASBR better anyway. Subjective opinion and stuff, blah, blah, blah.

[TDbank24]

Obviously it just didnt appeal to the majority of PS3 gamers. It wasn't lack of marketing because I saw a commercial for it that was ran fairly often. I just think the majority of the PS3 userbase is not the same ride or die with Sony PS1 and PS2 audience. That audience would have been more likely to appreciate that game and I think thats who that game was really made for. But obviously if that target audience is in the vast minority then your game will most likely not sell.

Yeah, PS All-Stars Battle Royale is really a tribute to long standing PS fans.

It's a great game and i've had lots of fun playing it but if you haven't been with the brand from the start you're not likely to appreciate it like others that have will.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Thats true as well. Motorstorm Apocolypse and Forza Horizon for example are both awesome games IMO despite the fact that they didnt sell very well. I thought they both deserved to do better.But thats just the way that it is sometimes.

Apocalypse had everything going against it (one very obvious thing), but to me it's the best in the series. I didn't see any marketing for the game in the UK, maybe Sony pulled all the ads.

[Yungstar 2006]

Was it really that bad? I mean there have been plenty of games of which bombed much harder than All Stars.. and they didn't lay people off for it (from what I know of)

i know it'll probably not be the same for every country.

but it never entered the UK individual formats top 40 chart while it did enter the combined top 40 chart at 38 for 1 week. it managed a high of 12th on the UK PS3 chart.

perhaps the audience for this kind of game don't own a PS3?

at least they tried i suppose..

[Suzano-O]

The demand for characters like Snake, Sora, and so many others people have mentioned is such that, yes, I honestly believe Sony missed out on at least tens of thousands of novelty sales. They totally missed out on a huge market of casual people who don't care much for fighting games, but would see Snake fighting Cloud or any number of other match-ups on TV and go, 'Wow. That's pretty bad-ass.'

I stand by my thoughts about the game's quality, but the roster is bad to the point of farcical.

The demand wasn't NEARLY that great, and came mostly from people who had no intent on buying the game anyway...from the SMALL percentage of people who were knew of and were actually interested in the game period...

It's pretty much exactly as LastManDancing says...

[Bio]

I really don't think PSAS bombed. Initial sales just did not meet expectations and the investments into development sometimes depend on that.

I think PSAS is successful enough to have a bigger community over time. I am also expecting much more success out of the inevitable sequel because of this (in both sales and in the amount of leverage Superbot will have when negotiating with IP holders).

I'd say its several things:

1. Timing, in the fall after the other big releases (BO2, Halo 4, Assassin's Creed 3) in 2012 where I think games don't sale as much as 08-09. I think this would have been a great launch title with the ps4.

2. Fighting games, the game is fun and simple to get into but difficult to master (blah, blah, blah), but there are so many fighting games now you have to be pretty fucking amazing to pull me/others away from UMVC3/KOF13/TTT2/SF4AE2012, etc.

3. I think this is a small thing. I know people were pissed that Crash or Spyro weren't in the game, but even if they were and weren't top tier people wouldn't play them or if they were the best fucking characters in the game people would NOT buy the game for that reason. Some would, I mean... I'm not sure if I'd buy SF5 if Juri wasn't in the game (It was a huge factor in SFxTK) when I'm worried I wouldn't find another character I like (SF side).

However, I'd say if Lightning/Crash/Spyro/Cortex/Isaac Clarke/Connor/Sam Fisher were in the game and not Evil (or good) Cole (You only need one) that'd convince more people. Roster is important overall, but a lot of people who say they won't buy the game because ONE character isn't in.... STFU.

Anyway, sad to hear. There was promotion for the game. I saw the commercial of Kratos/Cole/Drake fighting (Live Action) several times on tv.

1. EDIT: yeah, timing wasn't the best, but it wasn't too bad of a window since it was right before the holiday season and there wasn't much else for PS3 during the holidays.

2. Fighters seem to be slow burners anyway and not all good fighters were highly popular at first. Not to say that PSAS will be elite status...it just doesn't explain much, IMO.

3. Roster is the biggest reason you mentioned that made PSAS have low initial sales. It's no small thing when a new series is based on the novelty of characters from separate IPs fighting against each other in one game (this is why you can't compare this plight to games like SF). The fighting system did not impress the competitive scene in a big way in the beta, so all you have left are the majority audience that is relatively casual; who mainly want something good enough for playing alone, online and/or in get-togethers.

For these people, the excitement of using beloved characters becomes more seductive...but the most highly anticipated characters are not in PSAS. Even DrDreDetox said he'd buy the game for Snake alone. Don't underestimate how many people there are who would buy into something because of a novel idea that sparks their interest. In this case, they are in the form of missing characters. The wiser of the bunch will get the game later...but they dodged it initially because there wasn't that incentive.

As for promotion, there was bigger promotion than what Sony usually does...which is still not big lol.

Edit: How do you know if you'd like a character or not if you don't know how they play and if you'd find them fun?

Many players chose a character as their main because they simply like the character irrespective of moveset. If the moveset sucked, they'd ride it out with hope in their skill level eventually overcoming character flaws or hope in finding new ways to use them (when metagames change, characters can become better than initially expected). When I played Smash Bros. competitively, the most common reason why top level players chose a certain character was because it was "their favorite" prior to release and stuck with that character ever since. You of course have those who choose/switch based on movesets and tiers, but they usually keep the first character going. In Smash, the top players of a given character were usually HUGE fans of that character or IP.

[Sir_Scud]

Many characters are chosen as their "main" because they simply like the character irrespective of moveset. Having once played Smash Bros. competitively, the most common reason why top level players chose a certain character was because it was "their favorite" prior to release and stuck with that character ever since. You of course have those who choose based on moveset, but they generally aren't in the majority from what I can tell. In Smash, the top players of a given character are usually HUGE fans of that character and IP.

I agree with practically everything you said, but this part I respectfully disagree. I grew up with people who I played Smash with that were in the competitive scene. They "mained" guys like Fox and Sheik, not because they loved those games, but because of their tier status. In my experience, at least. I played as Ganondorf and Young/Toon Link as my mains, and everyone knows you don't play Ganondorf competitively.

I would say the majority of casual or normal players pick characters based on their favorite IP. So this is where I think All-Stars was weak. If the roster was around 30 characters, with more variety from similar or different IPs, it would've brought more sales.

However, All-Stars is a mix of a casual and hardcore fighter. Unlike Smash, it's not as friendly to a newcomer. You can get a group of friends together and instantly start playing and having fun. With All-Stars, there's a bit of a learning curve for newcomers. Every time I play with friends I gotta spend a good chunk of time teaching them how to play the game.

[radgamer420]

Apocalypse had everything going against it (one very obvious thing), but to me it's the best in the series. I didn't see any marketing for the game in the UK, maybe Sony pulled all the ads.

Yep, Motorstorm Apocolypse also released in the US near the same time as RDR (due to being delayed there) which didnt help. Forza Horizon released near Halo 4 and COD so it never stood a chance either.

[Kauldron]

Hate killed the game and a lot of it too.

I find it funny how the western media completely shitted on this game but really really sucked off DmC to try and make it succeed.

SMH.....

[zex494]

It bombed b/c they dropped the ball on the roster. U can argue how great the fighting mechanics or whatever were,but the game was marketed as "A brawl b/w your favorite, heavy hitting, Playstation characters" and on this premise they did NOT deliver. Sad,story really. Sony/Superbot should've took the hit to the wallet and bargained with 3rd party devs for 'iconic' playstation characters

[zex494]

hate killed the game and a lot of it too.

I find it funny how the western media completely shitted on this game but really really sucked off dmc to try and make it succeed.

smh.....

thank you! Lol

[radgamer420]

Hate killed the game and a lot of it too. I find it funny how the western media completely shitted on this game but really really sucked off DmC to try and make it succeed. SMH.....

So its the biased media's fault. People are still using that excuse? So 2006. lol

[Kauldron]

So its the biased media's fault. People are still using that excuse? So 2006. lol

Just an observation son.

I've never seen so many sympathy articles as I have for DmC.

Can't find one for All-Stars.

Fact.

[radgamer420]

Just an observation son. I've never seen so many sympathy articles as I have for DmC. Can't find one for All-Stars. Fact.

Sorry son, but I dont buy into your conspiracy theory. Oh poor Sony, the big bad biased media is against them. lol

[zex494]

A lot of people who don't buy the game because one of their favorite characters isn't in, and say... "No Crash no buy," are blowing smoke. You haven't even played the game, how do you know there isn't another character you'd like? I was like... what? No, Ship from Super Stardust? That's food, lemme try another character. What? Drake? Yo... I like.

I do it all the time. Im like...what? A DMC w/o a real Dante? won't buy. A Dragon Age with no exploration? Pass. A Metal Gear w/o a Snake? Burn. People buy things that they are interested in and pass on things that they are not

[Kauldron]

Sorry son, but I dont buy into your conspiracy theory. Oh poor Sony, the big bad biased media is against them. lol

Well, just look around. You don't have to believe me. It's there.

From Gametrailers, IGN, Gamesradar, Gamespot, PSU and on and on.

Not something I'm making up and I don't know why, but it is just the way it is.

I didn't buy either of them so I have no stake in the claim but I can make a general observation.

[radgamer420]

Well, just look around. You don't have to believe me. It's there. From Gametrailers, IGN, Gamesradar, Gamespot, PSU and on and on. Not something I'm making up and I don't know why, but it is just the way it is. I didn't buy either of them so I have no stake in the claim but I can make a general observation.

There may have been some of that in the very early PS3 days but I haven't seen that for a long time. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the biased anti-Sony media topic.

[Kauldron]

There may have been some of that in the very early PS3 days but I haven't seen that for a long time. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on the biased anti-Sony media topic.

Didn't you see the article where the person was basically cursing out gamers for not buying DmC. Basically it was your fault if you don't like DmC and you need to go buy it anyway.

Man, that is pretty far out there. Neogaf had a pretty good thread on it. I'll see if I can find it.

I was like really?!? Are they serious? lol