Real talk: Why this game failed

[Old Wolf]

Can we be real for a sec? I won a copy of VC during the Vicious Summer live event on the RT site, played on launch day and had a great time. I'm not great at video games, I mostly play for fun so I don't play MP games very often. My first day on this game was great, my teams were super supportive (as the RT community generally are) didn't get yelled at once. A week or so later I jumped in again and suddenly things had got toxic, had teammates giving me ♥♥♥♥ and being ♥♥♥♥♥ because they take this hobby way to serious. It's off putting, word gets round that the community is toxic, people stop buying the game, game fails. The irony is that the same people acting like cockwombles because someone on their team isn't up to their exacting standards are usually the same asswipes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ about a game being dead and blaming everyone but themselves. This is why VC failed, gamers get your ♥♥♥♥ together.

[camvanit]

It failed because this game was advertised to absolutely NOBODY outside the RT community, giving faith and trust only to word of mouth. They didn't even *attempt* to market it.

On top of that, it launched immediately after the First subscription price change announcement(including no longer honoring grandfathered subscriptions and giving free copies to existing subscribers), giving it its own death sentence. Nobody's going to care about Vicious Circle when even the most loyal of fans have been effectively alienated. When it didn't sell well...at all, it went F2P, dropped all DLC announcements and support, and issued refunds after only 3 months. Which renders one perk to subscribing to First or (ugh)First+ completely moot. Goodwill is one thing, but that's just embarrassing.

[Slaven Harkin]

A few things killed this game.
Both of you are actually correct. Toxic players who abused the game's mechanics, and the lack of a player base outside of the RT community due to a failure of advertising outside of the RT community. Video wise if you go back, and look even RT/AH barely played the game in livestreams, or video's. It's quite sad. I wish this game stayed up even if only as self-server hosting for players or at least have allowed bots so people could still enjoy the game offline.

[Old Wolf]

Originally posted by CandidCamzy:

It failed because this game was advertised to absolutely NOBODY outside the RT community, giving faith and trust only to word of mouth. They didn't even *attempt* to market it.

On top of that, it launched immediately after the First subscription price change announcement(including no longer honoring grandfathered subscriptions and giving free copies to existing subscribers), giving it its own death sentence. Nobody's going to care about Vicious Circle when they're preoccupied with how angered and betrayed they feel, especially amongst the most loyal of fans. When it didn't sell well...at all, it went F2P, dropped all DLC announcements and support, and issued refunds after only 3 months. Which renders one perk to subscribing to First or (ugh)First+ completely moot. Goodwill is one thing, but that's just embarrassing.

Thats actually totally fair aswell, it wasn't advertised well at all and I was never sure if that was by design or not. Sometimes I think RT overestimate their fanbase. Ah well I'm not too bothered myself because I got mine for free it's just a shame because it was actually a somewhat original premise for an online shooter in a world of BR games

[TheMonkofDestiny]

It's a multiplayer game, an influx of crappy people playing it should be par for the course. If you don't like trash talking tryhards, then any type of competitive multiplayer is probably not for you.

That being said, this game was never going to be a hit. The push that RT half-heartedly gave it, including that awful livestream where the biggest accomplishment was wasting food, was never going to be enough to lure players away from better and already established games.

They gambled big on their fanbase being able to sustain it, they lost. Assuming the entire RT Games division wasn't shut down shortly after this flopped, the next thing they aim for needs to have more planning behind it if they want it to succeed.

[camvanit]

Originally posted by TheMonkofDestiny:

It's a multiplayer game, an influx of crappy people playing it should be par for the course. If you don't like trash talking tryhards, then any type of competitive multiplayer is probably not for you.

That being said, this game was never going to be a hit. The push that RT half-heartedly gave it, including that awful livestream where the biggest accomplishment was wasting food, was never going to be enough to lure players away from better and already established games.

They gambled big on their fanbase being able to sustain it, they lost. Assuming the entire RT Games division wasn't shut down shortly after this flopped, the next thing they aim for needs to have more planning behind it if they want it to succeed.

Their Twitter handle is gone and their official website, games.roosterteeth.com, doesn't operate anymore. It's pretty safe to say RT Games is dead.

[Old Wolf]

Originally posted by TheMonkofDestiny:

It's a multiplayer game, an influx of crappy people playing it should be par for the course. If you don't like trash talking tryhards, then any type of competitive multiplayer is probably not for you.

That being said, this game was never going to be a hit. The push that RT half-heartedly gave it, including that awful livestream where the biggest accomplishment was wasting food, was never going to be enough to lure players away from better and already established games.

They gambled big on their fanbase being able to sustain it, they lost. Assuming the entire RT Games division wasn't shut down shortly after this flopped, the next thing they aim for needs to have more planning behind it if they want it to succeed.

Toxic people should never be considered the norm, trash talk and being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ are two completely different things. This wasn't nearly as big an issue 20 years ago and it's exactly that "deal with it" attitude that has let it become the issue it has.

[Mikoto]

Originally posted by CandidCamzy:

It failed because this game was advertised to absolutely NOBODY outside the RT community, giving faith and trust only to word of mouth. They didn't even *attempt* to market it.

Not only that but the devs loathed getting any feedback, positive or negative. Which is kinda standard for RT in general really. You honestly cannot make a successful game with the feedback ethic that RT has. It just isn't possible. This same thing happened with their previous gaming venture with their RWBY game.

A shame because they clearly had some talent for making a working game, but you just cannot alienate your community and expect to do well.

[Thumb]

This game deserves a tencent buyout tbh. It's a gem I wanted to continue playing.