Blades of Fire, MercurySteam’s dark fantasy adventure game, hasn’t hit the mark.
According to a press release from Digital Bros — the parent company of publisher 505 Games — the game “underperformed the Group’s expectations, despite receiving generally positive reviews from both the industry press and players.”
blades of fire wasn’t a bad game
I reviewed Blades of Fire back in May, and while I wasn’t insanely high on it, giving it a “Recommended” verdict, there was a decent amount to like about it. While it did feel dated in some respects, there were other aspects to build on.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that MercurySteam will get that chance. It’s hard to get an original IP going if the first game doesn’t do well.
Digital Bros noted the lack of success was due to “an oversupply of new releases and increasingly selective consumers.” And while that is indeed a somewhat valid reason, given rising game prices and other factors, there’s always been some room for a new IP to kick the doors in.
The most obvious example is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Brand new game, original IP, and yet it went crazy. That success was mostly due to the quality of the game. People will always show up for a great experience.
I could see Blades of Fire catching on down the road, after it goes on sale a few times. By then, it may be seen as too late, but there is an audience for its type of game.
There needs to be room for the mid-tier games to breathe. But this is an industry-wide problem built by over-reliance on blockbusters and big-budget games.
keep LOOKing TO THE INDIES
We keep banging this drum, but it’s a real belief. The indie scene is where people should be looking to keep things going. There is so much creativity and quality to be enjoyed.
Breaking through the noise of new releases isn’t easy, though, and there are significant hurdles in that regard. At this point, gaming is becoming like music, where you end up having to do some real digging to find the heat you’re looking for.
Developers shouldn’t have to hinge their hopes and jobs on hitting a projection that didn’t account for what we’ve already known about the industry. You know the state of things. Be realistic for once. Look at the game you have and the landscape of gaming as a whole. Budget correctly. Give the devs the chance to put the quality into it that they would like to. Make all those shifts, and I bet you see a change in how this goes.
The post MercurySteam’s Blades of Fire Is a Commercial Failure—But Should It Be? appeared first on VICE.
