Game was a commercial failure, according to Jason Schrier

[Mazisky]

The man is the most professional and trusted gaming journalist out there, so I am afraid it is true.

Probably Firaxis learned they'd better stick with Xcom and Civilization which have an already established fanbase they are guaranteed to sell well

[Zebedee]

Have you got round to ever playing the game yet?

The full quote is this:

Some news: Marvel's Midnight Suns was a critical success but a commercial flop. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told me in an interview this afternoon that "it's possible the release window wasn't perfect" but that he thinks it could have a long tail, like other Firaxis games

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1622707723480563721

If anyone is silly enough to think this game not selling millions is going to make X-Com 3 come faster then Solomon has already said he's still working on the DLC for Midnight Sun's season pass.

[boytype]

There are multiple articles about the interview Jason Schrier did with the execs about this game, and they all boil down to the same thing: The game was a commercial flop.

DualShockers
https://www.dualshockers.com/marvels-midnight-suns-commercial-flop/
PushSquare
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/02/social-strategy-marvels-midnight-suns-was-a-critical-darling-but-commercial-flop
ComicBookDotCom
https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/marvels-midnight-suns-commercial-flop-ps5-xbox-series-x-s/
Resetera
https://www.resetera.com/threads/take-two-ceo-says-midnight-suns-was-a-critical-success-but-not-a-commercial-one.684001/

[Mazisky]

Originally posted by Zebedee:

Have you got round to ever playing the game yet?

The full quote is this:

Some news: Marvel's Midnight Suns was a critical success but a commercial flop. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told me in an interview this afternoon that "it's possible the release window wasn't perfect" but that he thinks it could have a long tail, like other Firaxis games

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1622707723480563721

If anyone is silly enough to think this game not selling millions is going to make X-Com 3 come faster then Solomon has already said he's still working on the DLC for Midnight Sun's season pass.

It doesn't matter if Xcom 3 come faster or slower.

What's important is that Firaxis learned to not make games like this again in the future if they don't want to go bankrupt.

It is still a positive outcome in my book.

[Zebedee]

Originally posted by Mazisky:

It doesn't matter if Xcom 3 come faster or slower.

What's important is that Firaxis learned to not make games like this again in the future if they don't want to go bankrupt.

It is still a positive outcome in my book.

Not sure those are lessons the Take Two's CEO is learning, either in the quote there or the fuller coverage of Take Two's results.

[boytype]

The CEOs take as covered in the multiple articles I posted is;
1) It has not sold well
2) the release window being in December might be part of the reason
3) He hopes that the game will have "long legs" like most other Firaxis games, and pick up sales later in its life.

The CEO admits that the game sold poorly in the inverview.

[Mazisky]

Originally posted by Zebedee:

Originally posted by Mazisky:

It doesn't matter if Xcom 3 come faster or slower.

What's important is that Firaxis learned to not make games like this again in the future if they don't want to go bankrupt.

It is still a positive outcome in my book.

Not sure those are lessons the Take Two's CEO is learning, either in the quote there or the fuller coverage of Take Two's results.

When he will see that the game costed more to make than the incomes it provided, it is likely he would tell Firaxis to not "experiment" more and just go back to Xcom.

[Zebedee]

Originally posted by Mazisky:

When he will see that the game costed more to make than the incomes it provided, it is likely he would tell Firaxis to not "experiment" more and just go back to Xcom.

He's looking to longer term sales for that though. Overall impression is that Take Two needed to moderate initial sales expectations and they think they screwed up launching the game when they did (December particularly and, just as an additional factor, at a time when sales for many games were lower than anticipated). The conclusion from "good game but had poorer than expected initial sales" isn't to stop doing the "good game" part.

[kaycali86]

Game appeals to niche crowds who enjoy card type games such as Slay the Spire, Griftlands. Unfortunately, not going to appeal to a casual crowd. I'd legit put this as top 5 of 2022 personally.

[Mazisky]

Originally posted by Mystickay86:

Game appeals to niche crowds who enjoy card type games such as Slay the Spire, Griftlands. Unfortunately, not going to appeal to a casual crowd. I'd legit put this as top 5 of 2022 personally.

So, not appealing Xcom fans, not appealing casuals, not appealing Marvel fans that want an action game, yet very costly to produce.

Not surprised it was a failure.

[Homac]

That's a shame cause I truly think this game is incredible. Obviously has a few flaws here and there but it's become one of my all time favorites.

[RasaNova]

Originally posted by boytype:

There are multiple articles about the interview Jason Schrier did with the execs about this game, and they all boil down to the same thing: The game was a commercial flop.

DualShockers
https://www.dualshockers.com/marvels-midnight-suns-commercial-flop/
PushSquare
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/02/social-strategy-marvels-midnight-suns-was-a-critical-darling-but-commercial-flop
ComicBookDotCom
https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/marvels-midnight-suns-commercial-flop-ps5-xbox-series-x-s/
Resetera
https://www.resetera.com/threads/take-two-ceo-says-midnight-suns-was-a-critical-success-but-not-a-commercial-one.684001/

The problem I have with those and others I've seen is they don't actually say anything that we didn't already know. Every one of them is parroting a very brief tweet by one game journalist who apparently interviewed T2's CEO, but the only actual quote is "it's possible the release window wasn't perfect" and now everyone is taking that and saying "Take 2 says the game flopped!!!" Presumably this interview will actually be made public at some point but for now it seems to me people are taking a single quote and twisting it to fit a certain belief.

Here is an actual quote by T2's CEO, reported by Busineswire:
"Our new game releases and post-launch content received significant critical acclaim; however, our Net Bookings of $1.38 billion were slightly below our prior guidance, as we believe that consumers shifted their holiday spending toward established blockbuster franchises and titles that were offered with pricing promotions in light of macroeconomic conditions. While our catalog benefited from this trend, it affected the performance of certain of our new releases and recurrent consumer spending for some of our console and PC games."

Does "not perfect" or "slightly below" = "Flop?" I mean... I certainly do think the game flopped and I think most of us believe it. It was rushed, badly marketed, it clearly needed another month or 3 of testing & polish, and it sounds to me like T2 is making excuses. But I still think people are reading way too much into a brief opinion tweet by one journalist (from Kotaku, a site not known for being non-biased.) Nothing against the guy, and I do think he's done some good work but I'd rather wait for the article that he was presumably trying to get people excited for.

[Mazisky]

Originally posted by RasaNova:

Originally posted by boytype:

There are multiple articles about the interview Jason Schrier did with the execs about this game, and they all boil down to the same thing: The game was a commercial flop.

DualShockers
https://www.dualshockers.com/marvels-midnight-suns-commercial-flop/
PushSquare
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/02/social-strategy-marvels-midnight-suns-was-a-critical-darling-but-commercial-flop
ComicBookDotCom
https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/marvels-midnight-suns-commercial-flop-ps5-xbox-series-x-s/
Resetera
https://www.resetera.com/threads/take-two-ceo-says-midnight-suns-was-a-critical-success-but-not-a-commercial-one.684001/

The problem I have with those and others I've seen is they don't actually say anything that we didn't already know. Every one of them is parroting a very brief tweet by one game journalist who apparently interviewed T2's CEO, but the only actual quote is "it's possible the release window wasn't perfect" and now everyone is taking that and saying "Take 2 says the game flopped!!!" Presumably this interview will actually be made public at some point but for now it seems to me people are taking a single quote and twisting it to fit a certain belief.

Here is an actual quote by T2's CEO, reported by Busineswire:
"Our new game releases and post-launch content received significant critical acclaim; however, our Net Bookings of $1.38 billion were slightly below our prior guidance, as we believe that consumers shifted their holiday spending toward established blockbuster franchises and titles that were offered with pricing promotions in light of macroeconomic conditions. While our catalog benefited from this trend, it affected the performance of certain of our new releases and recurrent consumer spending for some of our console and PC games."

Does "not perfect" or "slightly below" = "Flop?" I mean... I certainly do think the game flopped and I think most of us believe it. It was rushed, badly marketed, it clearly needed another month or 3 of testing & polish, and it sounds to me like T2 is making excuses. But I still think people are reading way too much into a brief opinion tweet by one journalist (from Kotaku, a site not known for being non-biased.) Nothing against the guy, and I do think he's done some good work but I'd rather wait for the article that he was presumably trying to get people excited for.

Fair points.

[Captain Worthy]

Originally posted by Zebedee:

Have you got round to ever playing the game yet?

The full quote is this:

Some news: Marvel's Midnight Suns was a critical success but a commercial flop. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told me in an interview this afternoon that "it's possible the release window wasn't perfect" but that he thinks it could have a long tail, like other Firaxis games

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1622707723480563721

If anyone is silly enough to think this game not selling millions is going to make X-Com 3 come faster then Solomon has already said he's still working on the DLC for Midnight Sun's season pass.

Yes, the good Marvel games tend to sell a few million copies but nothing staggering like tens of milions. The issue is that ever since the 2018 Spider-Man game which did sell tens of millions of copies the publisher expectations and the budgets for Marvel games tend to be grossly overbloated.

Therefore these games also tend to fall short of the sales estimations. It also does not help that Disney is sinking the value of the IP right in front of the main fanbase of these games.

[Gibble]

Enjoyed the game but not surprised. The catastrophic failure of Marvel's Avengers has poisoned this well for a good few years. Character specific games will probably continue to do well though.

[RaphaOrion]

being sold at this price, it's nothing new