Payday 3 окупает инвестиции, но катастрофический старт ограничивает дальнейшие продажи – GameTopic
Payday 3 инвестиции окупаются, но катастрофический старт удерживает продажи - GameTopic
It’s a mixed bag for Payday 3, Starbreeze’s co-op shooter that saw impressive early sales but has since struggled significantly.
Payday 3’s launch was plagued with server issues that forced Starbreeze CEO Tobias Sjögren to apologise. The developer apologised again for a lack of communication, then apologised again for failing to deliver a promised patch. Despite all this, Starbreeze said Payday 3 had an impressive 3.1 million players as of October 2, a figure no doubt boosted by launching day-one on Xbox Game Pass.
But there is a question mark over Payday 3’s current popularity, which appears to have dwindled. At the time of publication, more people are playing the 10-year old Payday 2 on Steam than Payday 3.
Starbreeze and Embracer Group, which owns Payday 3 publisher Plaion and is having significant trouble of its own, both said investment in the game was recouped as of the end of September, less than two weeks after launch. But Embracer said Payday 3’s ongoing contribution to the company’s bottom line will be “below management expectations, due to a softer launch where an unforeseen error relating to external matchmaking software impacted the experience for gamers.” That’s corporate speak for predicting sales and revenue won’t be as high as hoped because the disastrous launch has driven away players.
Starbreeze itself paints a rosier picture for the future of Payday 3, while acknowledging the issues. “On September 21 Payday 3 was finally launched, a milestone for Starbreeze and a reason for the team to be proud and celebrate,” CEO Tobias Sjögren said. “Both interest in the game and initial sales exceeded our expectations, it was clear that many people have been waiting a long time to play Payday 3.
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“Unfortunately, it quickly became evident that the infrastructure on which the game rests was not holding up — this despite extensive internal and external tests carried out leading up to launch. The consequence is that sales after the period are somewhat lower, but we are convinced that what we have in store will increase sales over time.
“I myself have often said that ‘you are never better than your next game’, and the events of September and October have given reason for extensive analysis, investigation, and action. The team’s focus is, and will continue to be, building Payday 3 according to plan and repairing the short-term drop in confidence that the launch entailed.
“That Payday 3, at September 30 based on preliminary total revenue, had recouped the investment Starbreeze made in the game up until launch shows both the strength of the brand and the trust placed in us from our players. One of our most important tasks is to manage and nurture this trust in us. We have a clear vision for what Payday 3 will be with our games as a service model, and we continue according to our plan where the goal is to always deliver maximum value for our players over time and results for Starbreeze.”
Up to September 30, Payday 3 brought in SEK 441 million (approximately $41.6 million) in net sales. That figure includes digital and physical sales on Steam, Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, the Epic Games Store, and an initial “one-time revenue from platform owners”, which will be the payment Microsoft made to secure Payday 3 as a day-one Game Pass game. There’s an accounting reversal of debt for game financing received in there, too. Money continues to come in from Payday 2 as well, to the tune of SEK 51.6 million (approx $4.9m) in sales during the period.
Payday 3 has now entered its next phase: live service. The development team will focus on new features and improvements, Sjögren said, with “frequent” delivery of new content. In November, two new free heists will be launched for Payday 3 (two Payday 2 community favourites that have been refreshed and adapted for the new game). Along with them comes new first-person animations, weapons, skins and other improvements. Production on next year’s content is already underway, Sjögren said, with four announced DLCs “just a subset of what we plan to release”.
Тем временем, сотрудники, работавшие над основной игрой Payday 3, перешли к проекту Baxter, новой грядущей кооперативной многопользовательской игре, созданной в новой среде. Предварительная работа продолжается. В проекте задействован партнер по лицензии, что указывает на то, что игра основана на существующей интеллектуальной собственности.
“Нет внутренней ценности в хранении секретов, как только наступит подходящий момент для нас и нашего партнера по лицензии, мы с удовольствием расскажем – и покажем еще больше – о проекте Baxter,” – сказал Шёгрен. “Это, как уже упоминалось, один знаковый бренд, ДНК которого характеризуется коллективными впечатлениями и историей в обширном мире – в совершенно новой среде по сравнению с Payday, но с ДНК, в которой Starbreeze преуспела в течение последнего десятилетия, – кооперативные многопользовательские игры”.
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