Box office bomb?

[Zothen]

Well, the EA release doesnt look ....stellar.
This game looks so much like a box office bomb.... theres barely any traction. Even when they tried to boost it by slapping "Stellaris" onto a rather generic digital board game and having Paradox as big pants in the back ground.
Yes, EA, but I honestly expected it to performe much better at release.

What went wrong?

[Ninja Sloth]

If I had to guess, it's because this is basically a Stellaris themed digital board game. Board gamers don't want to play 4X games, and 4X players aren't looking for digital board games, so it flew under both communities' radars. As a board gamer coming away from Gloomhaven and looking to play TI in the new year, this game looks like exactly what I want - but I only came across it by pure chance - I would 100% have bypassed it otherwise (never played any other Stellaris game).

I think the marketing would have benefited from either separating the game from Stellaris, or calling it Stellaris:The Board Game or something.

[Ruanek]

It definitely feels like it should be really popular if marketing gets it to the right people. Unfortunately the digital board game genre is still fairly small.

[Ninja Sloth]

The digital board game genre is massive - just not on Steam. It's already been cornered by BGA.

[TheBWinks TTV and YT]

I'm an avid 4x gamer, and historically HATE card-like games (or u can call them board games i guess); but i thought this was a smashing hit. I only learned about this game by chance from my smart feed... So i think maybe EA never had plans to properly advertise/market this game in the first place.

Anyways, I LOVE this game. Yes, its definitely early release (v0.27 not a v1.0+) and it shows with the stupid ship animations... or lack there of. Love the dual layered backdrop with the unique and inspiring planets and the cosmos beyond... hate the still imaged ships.

[Zothen]

Originally posted by Ninja Sloth:

The digital board game genre is massive - just not on Steam. It's already been cornered by BGA.

I really would love to see user stats of BGA compared to TTS.... Somehow I would still put my bet on cranky TTS.

[Handbanana]

Its pretty simple. They had multiple open beta events that allowed everyone who wanted to see what it is see exactly what it is and all of those people chose to not buy the game in its current state. The Stellaris name is dead weight. They should have branded it differently. What the fanbase of Stellaris want isn't whatever this is trying to be which has been proven by no sales.

[Medicus]

Originally posted by Handbanana:

Its pretty simple. They had multiple open beta events that allowed everyone who wanted to see what it is see exactly what it is and all of those people chose to not buy the game in its current state. The Stellaris name is dead weight. They should have branded it differently. What the fanbase of Stellaris want isn't whatever this is trying to be which has been proven by no sales.

I kinda agree with the name. When I first read Stellaris I skipped it. Much later I learnt it is in fact a twillight imperium clone and I was hooked.

To see what a good name can do, check matrix games like Starships Troopers, Galactica or w40k. But other firms also can do similar style games, like Dune.

But when u read Stellaris you think automatically DLC spam, overcomplex but still no depth etc.

[Deathclutch2000]

People keep comparing this game to a board game? I don't get it. It is a 4x lite. Plays like Galactic Civ or endless space mashed with dune spice wars with short, to the point gameplay.

[Zothen]

Originally posted by Deathclutch2000:

People keep comparing this game to a board game? I don't get it. It is a 4x lite. Plays like Galactic Civ or endless space mashed with dune spice wars with short, to the point gameplay.

Simple, easy perspective if you dont know such board games.
But yes, 4x board games look like a "4x lite" in digital form. (Btw, is there even such thing as "4x lite"? Never heard that term...)
And especially Nexus looks so suspiciously strongly influenced by Twilight Imperium that it would be a very, very strange coincidence if TI4 had no part in this, hehe.

[Shadowhal]

Just a little bit of encouragement for the devs: this looks very much like a game I'd like to buy ... for the right platform. Looks a great title for my android tablet or at least the playstation. I had been looking for a game that can distil 4X down to a more manageable time frame while still retaining a good amount of complexity and avoiding the stress of RTS. This one looks like a candidate. I enjoyed the Eclipse board game app and this is somewhat similar.

PC gaming is more sitting down at the desk and I'm more inclined towards a full-fat 4X experience there.

[RealCoolBreeze]

I guess I don't get it. 4X has it's roots in board games. And lots of little artifacts like the hexes and "drawing" for technologies, etc are still in there. I also don't know why 4Xers wouldn't want a quicker, more nimble but still somewhat deep (in that it gives you consequential choices to adjust your strategy every turn and you can't just play "Turtles in Space" micro-managing a dollhouse - which, admittedly is what I do too often) space-themed, Stellaris-flavored game they could play and still get something done in that day. Or with friends who can't commit to a 30 hour session and can then interact with and do some real-time social dynamics knowing this won't last that long. It doesn't replace Stellaris proper it just adds to your options for less than the price of a Stellaris expansion. Like I said, I don't get it. Press on Dev's! Make this so good the Stellaris and board game communities won't be able to resist it!

[TeutonTHICCknighT]

Originally posted by Zothen:

Originally posted by Deathclutch2000:

People keep comparing this game to a board game? I don't get it. It is a 4x lite. Plays like Galactic Civ or endless space mashed with dune spice wars with short, to the point gameplay.

Simple, easy perspective if you dont know such board games.
But yes, 4x board games look like a "4x lite" in digital form. (Btw, is there even such thing as "4x lite"? Never heard that term...)
And especially Nexus looks so suspiciously strongly influenced by Twilight Imperium that it would be a very, very strange coincidence if TI4 had no part in this, hehe.

Personally I don't like this "digital board game" reference and maybe people should stop branding the game as such. It sounds so offputting. Maybe my inner CoD kiddie or whatever, but if I was a potential buyer gathering info, this would be a no for me cause it sounds like one is about to buy ultra chess or some tabletop sim lmfao. Maybe there are similarities with existing board games, but it still feels and plays like a video game. We also don't call Civ a "board game" even if it feels like one at times/ is clearly inspired by board games.

This game, when I played it in the playtest, felt like you combined Stellaris with Northgard and made it round based instead of rts and threw the card system on top, to limit round choices keeping the game fast paced. Overall enjoyable: It is a digital 4x game through and through, no need for unenticing brandings. But atm I restrain from buying, because it seems kinda dead for a mp focussed game and I am planning on getting main Stellaris dlc next sale and playing that for my 4x fix so not interested to invest in this atm. Maybe will bother when they add more interesting sp content/ game is somewhat more alive.

[Zothen]

Originally posted by TeutonTHICCknighT:

Personally I don't like this "digital board game" reference and maybe people should stop branding the game as such.

Oh, a person with opinion doesnt like something! Public, abort! Abort!

Joke aside, maybe educate yourself about Twilight Imperium (or maybe even Eclipse) before you jump to conclusions? Just an idea.

But then, youre going offtopic. This thread was about why the game surprisingly fails to gain (at)traction.

[Deathclutch2000]

Where they're going wrong is trying to advertise it as a digital board game for 6-8 players. You watch the videos for it and they focus on the multiplayer and people socializing and talking. Look, this isn't a digital board game it's a streamlined fast pace 4x game, plain and simple. As for multiplayer the undeniable reality of 4x games is that they are almost exclusively played single player. It is a pipe dream to think you are going to get 6-8 adult males together for a 2 hour gaming session. It doesn't happen in reality which is why you have to pay streamers to make a video showcasing that. Outside of streamers and the game devs the 6-8 player social game is a unicorn.

So the fundamental problem here is you are bringing in people who think they are going to be playing a multiplayer social game and ignoring the normal 4x audience. 4x gamers think it isn't a game for them, and social gamers show up and realize that in reality it is impossible to get 6-8 friends together to play. And obviously rando games aren't going to work very well for this because people will quit, troll, abuse cheese and do all the other things that make multiplayer games obnoxious.

As you can see people are having a hard time finding games which isn't surprising. This will obviously disappoint people looking for that social experience but don't blame me. I am just pointing out reality. There are a few people who have gotten some good MP games in, but the game isn't going to survive on such a small player base. It really has to advertise and cater to the much larger 4x single player audience. Otherwise there wont even be a game for the small handful of social players.

[Proper Skux]

People call it a digital board game because like... half the mechanics are literally just Twilight Imperium but with things switched up to be more functional for simultaneous turn computer game stuff.

It's a 4x focused on staying big, nimble and not bloated down while you cold war against other factions for titles and rules players voted on and do The Big Dumb War at Metacol Rex, I mean Nexus.