review score is good and number of reviews is normal for a single-player, indie game

[Fomin]

I've recently seen some people in this forum saying that although this game has a higher user-score on Steam than Shadow of the Erd Tree, there aren't enough reviews to matter.

Even aside from the fact that a lot of people playing this game are doing so on Game Pass (and for your information, Microsoft DOES pay companies that put their games on Game Pass) the number of reviews, while it does not compare to a AAA game (or one of the rare indie games like Pal World that actually reach AAA numbers) is completely normal for a single player indie game.

For comparison, Earthlock only has 356 reviews on Steam... and it released in 2018.

Was it a failure? Well actually it spawned a spin-off game and it's getting a sequel. Not bad for a game with only 356 reviews on Steam am I right?

[Namethatworks]

False equivalency, Elden Ring's base game which is what you should be comparing it to has a 91% Very Positive Steam review. From 682,635 Steam players.

Compared to Flintlocks 76% mostly positive with only 339 reviews from Steam players.

The current player count of Elden Ring since you're determined to compare them is 170,563 players.

vs

Flintlocks 194 active players...

[Lebowski]

This guy won’t give up.
Game is bad and it flopped hard.
Doesn’t matter how many times you repeat it’s good, it won’t change anything.

[Fomin]

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

False equivalency, Elden Ring's base game which is what you should be comparing it to has a 91% Very Positive Steam review. From 682,635 Steam players.

Compared to Flintlocks 76% mostly positive with only 339 reviews from Steam players.

The current player count of Elden Ring since you're determined to compare them is 170,563 players.

vs

Flintlocks 194 active players...

Did you even read the OP? The point is that the number of reviews is a normal number for an indie game (in contrast to Elden Ring which is one of the highest-selling AAA games of all time.)

As noted noted in the OP, Earthlock is successful enough to get a sequel and it has only 356 reviews... since 2018 when it released no less.

[Namethatworks]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

False equivalency, Elden Ring's base game which is what you should be comparing it to has a 91% Very Positive Steam review. From 682,635 Steam players.

Compared to Flintlocks 76% mostly positive with only 339 reviews from Steam players.

The current player count of Elden Ring since you're determined to compare them is 170,563 players.

vs

Flintlocks 194 active players...

Did you even read the OP? The point is that the number of reviews is a normal number for an indie game (in contrast to Elden Ring which is one of the highest-selling AAA games of all time.)

As noted noted in the OP, Earthlock is successful enough to get a sequel and it has only 346 reviews... since 2018 when it released no less.

I choose Hades then.

97.20 Overwhelming positive Steam reviews from 244,937 Steam reviewers. Came out in 2018(early access) a fraction of the budget...

5,573 current players for a game that has a sequel...

And Flintlock is a AA title it was budgeted, priced, & sold(lol) as such.

[Fomin]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Did you even read the OP? The point is that the number of reviews is a normal number for an indie game (in contrast to Elden Ring which is one of the highest-selling AAA games of all time.)

As noted noted in the OP, Earthlock is successful enough to get a sequel and it has only 356 reviews... since 2018 when it released no less.

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

I choose Hades then.

97.20 Overwhelming positive Steam reviews from 244,937 Steam reviewers...

Once again, you are bringing up a game which outsold many AAA games. That's not typical for indie games nor is it necessary for an indie game made by a tiny studio in New Zealand to be successful.

You seem to have the idea stuck in your head that a game which doesn't sell better than most AAA products is a failure even when it is made by a tiny studio and has almost no marketing budget. You are wrong about that just as you are wrong about this game (which you obviously haven't played) being "woke".

[Namethatworks]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Originally posted by Fomin:

Did you even read the OP? The point is that the number of reviews is a normal number for an indie game (in contrast to Elden Ring which is one of the highest-selling AAA games of all time.)

As noted noted in the OP, Earthlock is successful enough to get a sequel and it has only 356 reviews... since 2018 when it released no less.

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

I choose Hades then.

97.20 Overwhelming positive Steam reviews from 244,937 Steam reviewers...

Once again, you are bringing up a game which outsold many AAA games. That's not typical for indie games nor is it necessary for an indie game made by a tiny studio in New Zealand to be successful.

You seem to have the idea stuck in your head that a game which doesn't sell better than most AAA products is a failure even when it is made by a tiny studio and has almost no marketing budget. You are wrong about that just as you are wrong about this game (which you obviously haven't played) being "woke".

Flintlock isn't an indie game though. It has a publisher.

At least know what the term means.

So it should technically be compared to other AA games.

Which "are" expected to sell well to make a return on the publisher's funding...

I don't see Kepler Interactive getting their investment back.

[Fomin]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Once again, you are bringing up a game which outsold many AAA games. That's not typical for indie games nor is it necessary for an indie game made by a tiny studio in New Zealand to be successful.

You seem to have the idea stuck in your head that a game which doesn't sell better than most AAA products is a failure even when it is made by a tiny studio and has almost no marketing budget. You are wrong about that just as you are wrong about this game (which you obviously haven't played) being "woke".

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

Flintlock isn't an indie game though. It has a publisher.

At least know what the term means.

So it should technically be compared to other AA games.

A lot of indie games have publishers. I don't know what weird definition you are using but if we are talking about sales, the only points which factor into minimum necessary revenue are production costs and marketing costs.

This game is made by a tiny studio in New Zealand whose last game Ashen was obviously an indie game with very basic graphics. Unless the studio has greatly expanded since Ashen, they aren't going to need gigantic sales numbers to stay afloat. As for marketing costs, well I'm quite sure that they didn't spend very much money on that.

I'll never understand why someone could hate a game he never played as much as you seem to, especially considering how this game wasn't falsely advertised like Cyberpunk, isn't packed with lootboxes, and doesn't have any content hacked out to be a Playstation exclusive or whatever.

If you would game more and hate less, I think you would have a better time on Steam.

[Namethatworks]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Originally posted by Fomin:

Once again, you are bringing up a game which outsold many AAA games. That's not typical for indie games nor is it necessary for an indie game made by a tiny studio in New Zealand to be successful.

You seem to have the idea stuck in your head that a game which doesn't sell better than most AAA products is a failure even when it is made by a tiny studio and has almost no marketing budget. You are wrong about that just as you are wrong about this game (which you obviously haven't played) being "woke".

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

Flintlock isn't an indie game though. It has a publisher.

At least know what the term means.

So it should technically be compared to other AA games.

A lot of indie games have publishers. I don't know what weird definition you are using but if we are talking about sales, the only points which factor into minimum necessary revenue are production costs and marketing costs.

This game is made by a tiny studio in New Zealand whose last game Ashen was obviously an indie game with very basic graphics. Unless the studio has greatly expanded since Ashen, they aren't going to need gigantic sales numbers to stay afloat. As for marketing costs, well I'm quite sure that they didn't spend very much money on that.

I'll never understand why someone could hate a game he never played as much as you seem to, especially considering how this game wasn't falsely advertised like Cyberpunk, isn't packed with lootboxes, and doesn't have any content hacked out to be a Playstation exclusive or whatever.

If you would game more and hate less, I think you would have a better time.

Indie game is literally short for independent video game which means it was self published.

Independently without outside funds.

And Ashen was published by Annapurna Interactive again not indie...

[Fomin]

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

Indie game is literally short for independent video game which means it was self published.

Independently without outside funds.

And Ashen was published by Annapurna Interactive

If a small studio decides to use a major publisher to get their game to market, that doesn't result in a need for massively increased sales unless said publisher dumps a lot of money into marketing which they obviously didn't in this case.

As a minor aside, the simple fact that this game is made in Unreal Engine is a good sign about it's profitability. That engine is especially good for efficient workflow but it also looks great.

You could actually learn Unreal Engine yourself. There are a lot of tutorials already on YouTube and it would certainly be more rewarding than criticizing a game someone else made.

[Namethatworks]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Originally posted by Namethatworks:

Indie game is literally short for independent video game which means it was self published.

Independently without outside funds.

And Ashen was published by Annapurna Interactive

If a small studio decides to use a major publisher to get their game to market, that doesn't result in a need for massively increased sales unless said publisher dumps a lot of money into marketing which they obviously didn't in this case.

As a minor aside, the simple fact that this game is made in Unreal Engine is a good sign about it's profitability. That engine is especially good for efficient workflow but it also looks great.

It by definition makes it not an indie game. As they took outside funding, it is up to the dev team how to use it.

They choose the amount of marketing, as game developers have people in charge of marketing.

Publishers just fund & publish. It's why many games get pushed out to release half baked as the publisher want a return on investment.

And this should be compared to other AA titles, unless you think it should be compared to AAA.

I love how you try to sneak in ad hominem whenever you don't have an argument.

And no, I'd rather learn a different engine then the one made by Epic that wants to change coding language for no reason.

[Fomin]

Regardless of how you choose to categorize it, a game made by a tiny studio in New Zealand using the best engine for indie games with almost no money for marketing doesn't need a gigantic number of sales to be successful... especially if they are getting paid by Microsoft as part of that company's efforts to make Game Pass "a Hub for Soulslikes".

https://gamerant.com/flintlock-siege-dawn-xbox-game-pass-soulslikes-lies-p-jedi-crab/

[Namethatworks]

Originally posted by Fomin:

Regardless of how you choose to categorize it, a game made by a tiny studio in New Zealand using the best engine for indie games with almost no money for marketing doesn't need a gigantic number of sales to be successful... especially if they are getting paid by Microsoft as part of that company's efforts to make Game Pass "a Hub for Soulslikes".

https://gamerant.com/flintlock-siege-dawn-xbox-game-pass-soulslikes-lies-p-jedi-crab/

It needs to at least cover it's expenses to be considered even close to a financial success.

I hope for their sake they took the flat payout option from gamepass & not the one based on people playing it.

That article doesn't even bring up Flintlock(after the title) until the very end, I read the entire thing.

It just points out that there are 510(473 on pc) games on the pass. so 509(472) different games they are probably playing like BG3 for example.

And talks about other souls-likes. Even though this is by the Devs insistence a Souls-lite.

Neither of the 2 comment on the article even talk about this game.

[Traumaturgy]

Indie games dont usually sell much, unless they are some major hits like Hollow knight or Dead cells. So its important to stick to good ideas. Their first game was quite good (Ashen), what they really needed is to put some improvements to it and it would sell decent numbers.
Instead their COO decided to hire SBI and change indie game to cater to non-existent audience, which is really hard to understand. Remaining employees should sue her for sabotaging this project. She is the main reason that this game failed.

[ko]

This is a huge, huge sales flop my friend. But use whatever coping mechanism you need, you are clearly very invested in this massive bomb for some reason.

[Fomin]

Originally posted by ko:

This is a huge, huge sales flop my friend. But use whatever coping mechanism you need, you are clearly very invested in this massive bomb for some reason.

Imagine being so filled with bad feelings that you would waste your weekend trolling the forum for a game you don't even own...