Enslaved sales fail to break 500,000

By Robert Purchese Published 3 February, 2011

The end?

Sales for Ninja Theory's cinematic action game Enslaved: Odyssey to the West are much lower than expected.

November reports of 800,000 units were greatly exaggerated; today's Namco Bandai money report shows only 460,000 copies of the game have been sold - worldwide.

Such numbers are unlikely to vindicate Namco Bandai's decision to green-light Hollywood hires Alex Garland and Andy Serkis. Ninja Theory's Tameem Antoniades called these "above-the-line-costs" that have to be pitched to the publisher.

Those numbers are also unlikely to bring about an Enslaved sequel, even though Antoniades said there was "lots of material to draw on" and "an opportunity to serialise it".

Not that Ninja Theory will mind, having been put to work by Capcom on reinventing Devil May Cry.

Nevertheless, it's a pity; Enslaved was a beautiful, tight and well-acted action adventure. Eurogamer scored it 8/10, Ellie Gibson calling it "a bit special".

The best seller for Namco Bandai from September to the end of December 2010 was Tekken 6, which managed over 1 million sales in the US.

This year, Namco Bandai pins its hopes on Demon's Souls successor Dark Souls, which was announced over night.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (138) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • Progguitarist #1 1 year ago

    Maybe EA are right about single player games going the way of the dodo

  • Grump #2 1 year ago

    Pity - would have loved to see a sequel

    :(

  • andywilkie35 #3 1 year ago

    This is what happens when you try to tell a good story in a game that looks very different to everything out there. Unless you call it "Shooty Bang Bang 27" then you won't sell anything.

    Feel very sorry for Ninja Theory. They must literally wonder why the fuck they bothered trying to supply something new and good, to a market full of chav nutjobs.

  • alimokrane #4 1 year ago

    I really hate the world we live in..... a sequel sells 10 millions on one platform when a new IP struggles to sell 500k on multiple platforms......

  • J0rdan_KZ #5 1 year ago

    Enslaved had it's flaws. But at it's centre was a really, really great game that stood out from the crowd last year. This is a complete shame.

    I can't believe the millions of copies of Generic Assed First Person Shooter get sold and no one buys a game with an ounce of imagination. God damn I hate this industry some times! :-/

  • BillPoon #6 1 year ago

    It was too tight. Platforming wasn't as fun as it could have been. Combat was OK. Environments were pretty, but a chore to move around. a solid 7/10.

  • RoaringPanda #7 1 year ago

    I thought Enslaved's story and graphics were nice, but the gameplay itself didn't grab me when I tried it

  • barrylyndon #8 1 year ago

    I can understand why it didnt sell, no depth to the gameplay, just fly through it and then forget about it. Enjoyable enough but nothing special. First game I have finished in one day.

  • evild_edd #9 1 year ago

    O.o

    It's so frustrating that we gamers continuallyl cry out for new IP, and then when something comes along - and a solid title to boot, by all accounts* - it fails to sell as well as needed.

    I don't think we can blame this on lack of promotion by the publisher either. This is just gamers failing to put their hands in their pockets by the sounds of things, especially as this can be bought for less than £20 new at a lot of places now...

    * my new copy remains unplayed on the shelf, but is next on the list after I've finished my playthrough of Vanquish on Hard difficulty.

  • cianchristopher #10 1 year ago

    Stop slagging off FPS games (specifically Call of Duty) you guys. It's not CoD's fault.

    The fact is, nearly every review made mention of the gameplay in this being below-par, while the story was quite good.

    Poor gameplay/good story does not make a good game. Good gameplay/poor story does make a good game. Ninja Theory don't seem to have grasped this. They kept going on about Uncharted 2 all the time, but they seem to have failed to notice that it's the gameplay in Uncharted 2 that makes it stand out from the crowd; the fact that it as a good story and good cutscenes is simply the icing on the cake, not the cake itself...

  • AmherstWind #11 1 year ago

    I didn't fancy the game much to be honest, the story seemed alright... nothing special, but more importantly the gameplay was just bland... the whole partner mechanic basically amounted to telling Trip to use her hologram for distraction and thats about it, oh and boosting her up platforms... you can try and tell an amazing story and use as many hollywood names as you like but if the gameplay is average then expect average sales.

  • joe90 #12 1 year ago

    Another Beyond Good and Evil then..

  • rodpad #13 1 year ago

    An utter shame. Enslaved had some top quality acting and fun gameplay to boot.

  • iHAZaCHEEZ3burger #14 1 year ago

    WTF?

    Even Kane & Lynch: 2 managed to sell a million units. Shame.

  • kinky_mong #15 1 year ago

    Average game with pretty graphics and reasonably decent story until the Matrix rip-off ending has average sales figures. Some gamers lament. More at 11.

  • Quint2020 #16 1 year ago

    There was just nothing that appealed to me about this game, even with the fantastic scores, I didn't like the character designs, the platforming looked very automated, the combat seemed rather dull, etc, etc, I will say though I never saw it going in person so I guess I could have been hugely mistaken.

  • Steizgr8 #17 1 year ago

    Coz it's not that good.

    I need both story AND gameplay to justify a purchase.

    Rented it, completed it and enjoyed it.

    NO desire to ever play it again.

  • customfirmware #18 1 year ago

    If the controls in the demo carried over to the full game I can see why some would have tried it and then turned away from it in disappointment.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #19 1 year ago

    Now I feel bad for not buying it. I wanted to (and still want to) but I just did not have the time. The demo was very nice though and I was looking forward to the title the minute I saw the first screen shots. After all, it's a game with colors in it!

    A shame really.

  • JahB #20 1 year ago

    There was just nothing that appealed to me about this game

    exactly the same. i found all of it very unappealing, and despite the great scores was never even tempted to pick this up.

  • Raz76 #21 1 year ago

    The fact that Medal of Honor sold more than ten times as much as this is just tragic.

  • Shinetop #22 1 year ago

    The fact that it's new IP doesn't automatically make it good.

  • butler` #23 1 year ago

    @cianchristopher
    The fact is, nearly every review made mention of the gameplay in this being below-par, while the story was quite good.

    'cus reviews have a huge impact on sales, right?

  • StolenGlory #24 1 year ago

    "Coz it's not that good.

    I need both story AND gameplay to justify a purchase."

    If only the idiot massive out there thought the same as you eh? Then we wouldn't have K&L2 selling as well as it did.

  • glottis0 #25 1 year ago

    I bought and loved this game, but it was short-lived enough that a lot of people I know rented, borrowed, or skipped it altogether.

  • Ikaros_O #26 1 year ago

    Such a shame, a videogame that actually has a well written script, a rarity of videogames, and it fails to achieve a million sales. Really is disappointing as I adore Enslaved.

  • Deckard1 #27 1 year ago

    Great game, deserved to do much better than this.

  • Keivz #28 1 year ago

    This game sounds like a perfect rental to me: short on length with limited replay value; good, but not good enough to keep in a collection; and no online. Then again, Heavy Rain did pretty well...

  • McBradders #29 1 year ago

    The demo was pretty awful, that can't have helped at all.

  • Spanky #30 1 year ago

    Half a million units is bad nowadays? I think they were just expecting rather too much. Good on them for their ambition in the product, need to rein in the sales ambition though. 20 million quid ain't bad.

  • gillri #31 1 year ago

    im about to buy it actually

  • menage #32 1 year ago

    Shame, but worst time to release it as well. I mean, compared to giants like Fallout, Fable and COD would you really put your 7 hour SP game against that and hope you would sell enough? They even released it on the freaking same day as Castelvania, a much more well known entity in SP land.

    Publishers and merketing fail yet again.

  • dither #33 1 year ago

    shit :(

  • chiefian #34 1 year ago

    I honestly thought it was a nice game with a weak ending. Shame it did so badly in terms of sales. I certainly got my monies worth.

  • weejok #35 1 year ago

    Fucks sake, what's wrong with people!

  • glottis0 #36 1 year ago

    Also just an aside - everyone talks about 'the story' to cover such a broad spectrum of qualities. The art style, character design (both visually, and their writing), the actual event-by-event plot, the locations, the pacing, the dialogue, the acting - all these things contribute to making a game immersive and convincing. I think this is what ninja did well with Enslaved - they brought all of this stuff together to make a believable world. Very few other companies manage this - Bethesda get the locations and lore right, but their characters and plots mostly suck. Bioware do characters well but the plot is usually cliche-ridden and follows the same formula. Obsidian are better at plot but generally worse at writing characters, in my opinion.

    ... of course some people get it all right and nail the gameplay too. That's when you get Batman: AA, Uncharted 2, Half-Life 2, etc.

  • Raiten #37 1 year ago

    It's a crying shame games like cod:blop MoH, being avarage to bad at best, sell in their millions and a good game struggles to reach even half a million sold copies, tells about the game test of us westerners, seems we prefer compleat garbage over good products and no, it's not just the case with Enslaved, there's been plenty of good releases that have gone compleatly ignored.

    No multiplayer? god, does every game these days require multiplayer? no wonder 2 hour long fps games sell.. they've multiplayer woopdedoo. I get the feeling multiplayer is what's degenerating gamequality thesedays the most.

  • Lunastra78 #38 1 year ago

    Those are very low sales for a game of such high quality as Enslaved.

    But if I remember correctly it was released at the same time as Castlevania LoS. Those two might have been competing directly and in similar genres, never a good decision for a new game franchise that also had minimal advertising.

  • Darren #39 1 year ago

    I admit that I didn't buy the game when it was first released as I was hoping for a PC version but I saw it cheap in the pre-Christmas sales so decided to get the Xbox 360 version. I have not regretted it; played and completed it over the Christmas-New Year period and thought the game was outstanding. It wasn't a very long game but it was beautiful made with memorable characters, terrific voice-acting and a compelling storyline that kept me gripped right up to the final (I have to confess, slightly disappointing) revelation. Looked and sounded great too. It's sad to hear that it didn't sell well.

  • GAmbrose #40 1 year ago

    I didn't buy it, ergo I am part of the problem.

    I think it came out around the same sort of time as loads of other great games, sadly.

  • Trigga_Tybalt #41 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 15:43:01 23-02-2012

  • parablax #42 1 year ago

    It all comes down to the gameplay - don't care how pretty it looks, if the gameplay is dull then it's not a sale from me.

  • DanForinton #43 1 year ago

    Disappointing. I enjoyed this a lot - although the game mechanics didn't offering anything new or inventive, they were adequate but the presentation was top-notch and I'd be happy to buy a sequel if one ever manifests.
    However, I think Enslaved could be held up as a prime example of a game that was simply too expensive. For what was there (8-10 hour playthrough with minimal replay value), I think most people balked at paying the full £40-ish for the game. Had this come out at, say, £20, I think it would have done much better. As it was, it was pretty much the perfect rental title.

  • Whizzo #44 1 year ago

    If this news was to guilt trip people into finally buying the game it worked on me, I enjoyed the demo but hadn't got around to buying it. At least it's nice and cheap now!
    Edited by Whizzo at 03/02/11 @ 11:18

  • Mockerre #45 1 year ago

    Don't dis me, but... the problem with Enslaved was that it was a bit... shallow. The combat was repetetive and the platforming was 'automatic.' The story was... competent. Don't get me wrong, it was better written and better acted than most, granted, but for me it still fell a little flat. I felt like I played this game before.

  • des #46 1 year ago

    Those sales mean a little without knowing game budget,besides Demon Souls(and many others) didn't sell much but "sequel" is being made(funded by Namco).In short another "big" headline by EG.
    That doesn't mean that Enslaved sequel will be made,though

  • kdoggdayton #47 1 year ago

    It did deserve more but unfortunately with no multiplayer and an 8hr (you could rent it and finish it in a night) story there was little replay value and that's going to put a lot of people off a purchase. But Ninja Theory definitely showed that they are a very capable development studio.

  • Darren #48 1 year ago

    @parablax - The gameplay was a mixture of platforming, stealth and combat, very much like Uncharted/Uncharted 2 meets Prince of Persia to be honest (you even got the previews of the level a la PoP at the start of each new section), and all the more excellent for it. I was actually surprised at just how good it turned out to be as I'd played the demo but it didn't make me rush out and buy the game (I think it came out at the time I was playing the new Castlevania: LoS game). I played the demo later on though right through to the end and thought it was great which then prompted me to buy the full game when I saw it cheap on Amazon.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #49 1 year ago

    I bought it.
    Hated it.
    Sold it.

    Something about the game just didn't click for me... I felt none of the attachment that I felt towards, say, the principals in Uncharted.

  • Uchikoma #50 1 year ago

    I got a copy for Christmas and played through it recently. I though it was decent but a bit rough for all its supposed production values. Some of the dialogue once Pigsy was introduced was just awkward in my opinion and didn't really fit the feel of the rest of the game (the one that sticks with me particularly is a crack about 'hair product').

  • bf #51 1 year ago

    Reading news like these makes me think that Nintendos US boss is right (his name escapes me) publishers needs a different perspective for the titles they publish. Enslaved was released early october, that is four tiny months ago stretching over block buster xmas and already they are writing it of as a failure? If they want sales hang bloody well in there and believe in and market you product! The price has already fallen but how about including the first DLC in a new batch of boxes? How about making some new DLC? How about maybe some new free DLC to get interest going. How about having a lower RRP to start with instead of cutting it in half a month later?
    Considering the time games spend in development I find it appalling that publishers seems so determined to make a quick buck.

    Oh well, I think that's enough angry ranting for today.

  • kalinichenko #52 1 year ago

    How abt a PC Port,will gladly pick up a copy.

  • sneetch #53 1 year ago

    Well I bought it. It's a shame it didn't do better.

    I wonder how many of those sneering at it or dismissing it now will be praising it in 10 years when there's rumours of remakes à la Beyond Good and Evil.

    (No, I don't think it's as good as Beyond Good and Evil but it stands out in a market dominated by FPS games).

  • Antaios #54 1 year ago

    Didn't like the demo at all, which held me back from buying this in the first place. But damned, I feel sorry for Ninja Theory. They try so hard (and I love Heavenly Sword so much!) and it doesn't seem to do anything for them. Still, 2010 being such a good year for quality games as it was for me, it's hard to buy them all.

  • Dizzy #55 1 year ago

    Playing it right now. Great fun!

  • CaptainQuint #56 1 year ago

    Blame the Daves of the world for this injustice.

  • bikmate #57 1 year ago

    No wonder they sold little, I completed Heavenly Sword and while it looked great it wasn't really fun for me so I'll wait until I'll get this. Surely there must be others who didn't purchase Enslaved because of the same reason.

    On another note, I also have a feeling that I won't like the new DMC, though I hope I'm wrong about that.

  • dancingrob #58 1 year ago

    I was given this up for Christmas, but haven't had the chance to play it yet.

    Looks like a casualty of the release window to me, similar to Vanquish, which has also had disappointing sales from what I've read. There's definitely some merit to the idea of new IPs being introduced at quieter times of year, rather than trying to compete with the CODs / Fallouts of this world.

  • hiddenranbir #59 1 year ago

    Why don't these hollywood stars, who talk about how much they enjoyed the game and feel the game is a great platform to tell stories help produce the sequel? You know, throw some money their way for help?

  • Lee_Morris #60 1 year ago

    Such a shame as this really is a stand out game. I suppose it could have been marketed better but the 'hardcore' should have easily bought enough copies to push closer to a million. Shame on you.

    Message to publishers, less story, more bro, more sequels, more Americans in the game to appeal to the only market that games made to appeal too.

  • Miths #61 1 year ago

    That's a shame. The gameplay was a tad mediocre - and some might even say that's being generous - but I really liked the setting and Trip was one of my favourite video game characters ever, thanks in no small part to the excellent voice acting and facial animation/motion capture.

  • Whitster #62 1 year ago

    I think the arguement of it getting lost in the crowd was what happened to me, I remember seeing the adverts but not paying attention to any reviews or otherwise around launch as I was too busy with games like Fallout, it wasn't until I saw it down to £20 that I even bothered downloading the demo.

    Great game though.

  • smithdown #63 1 year ago

    It's been on my Lovefilm list for a while and I was tempted to buy it at one point, but the sheer volume of other games coming out has meant it has slipped further and further down my list. The demo was enjoyable but felt a bit limited to me, maybe they would have done better to include a section with a bit more challenge later in the title. From the demo I got the feeling it was going to be more like an interactive movie than much of a challenge. I agree that the same criticism could be levelled at Uncharted, but the level of polish that Naughty Dog apply to their games is in a different league to Ninja Theory.
    Still, def gonna play this, and if it is as good as others here are claiming I hope for a sequel. Perhaps they'd do well to drop big name writers like Alex Garland and use that money to focus on improving the gameplay instead.

  • RichyRichh77 #64 1 year ago

    It's a shame that it didn't sell enough for a sequel but I too can understand it. I picked this up for £16 (after playing the demo it wasn't a day one purchase I'm afraid) and finished my first playthrough last night. I thought the scripting was very good, some genuinely funny moments mixed up with a number of emotional set pieces. The graphics, motion capture and voice acting are superb but unfortunately the gameplay lacks any real feedback.

    Combat (certainly on normal) is lack luster as it's pretty much stun attack, mash X then Y, rinse and repeat, even button mashers like Darksiders had a whole host of weapons/combos that could be used to mix things up a bit. I realise that an enormous weapons cache wouldn't necessarily fit with the story but a few more moves/combos (aerial juggles, slide attacks etc.?) could have added a little extra variety.

    The 'platforming' is the one aspect that hit me immediately when I played the demo, it totally broke my flow when I hit the invisible wall at the edge of each drop, there isn't even an Assassin's Creed stumble just your character running left & right against thin air. Then it's a stupidly simple case of looking for the glowing jump points, vaguely point towards them and press A until the jump is made (no chance of missing any by the way). No fatal consequences for a miss timed jump = no connection to the character.

    What frustrates me is that I too was after something different to the current mainstream offerings (one reason I bought so many XBLA games last year), which this seems to promise but fails to deliver as a gaming experience. As a well told/acted story then I truly enjoyed it and will again on my hard play through.

  • groovychainsaw #65 1 year ago

    I feel bad as I played the demo and really enjoyed it, liked the art style, story seemed good, well acted. BUT. The gameplay was fairly derivative (for someone who has completed all the recent platformers like uncharted, PoP etc.) and it came out at a time when there were a lot of other games coming out (particularly castlevania, which exceeded all expectations and turned out to be very good). Once I'd played the demo, I felt it wasn't worth £35 for a 7/8 hour, no replay value game and it went on my rental list, as had uncharted, heavy rain, PoP and others before it. I know I will enjoy it, but it didn't do enough to be a day 1 purchase, I know I can complete it in one day. There's so much competition in games, you have to put something out properly special to get noticed now. And the innovation needs to be in the gameplay to get that attention, or it needs replayability thats worth having (not necessarily multiplayer, which would have been a waste of time for this title, much as it was in uncharted 2 for me, but at least something more than 'more collectibles/harder enemies).

  • Kaminari #66 1 year ago

    There's no surprise here, and at least common sense prevaled. Enslaved is a wreck of a game. And despite all the hype around Garland and how he found Heavenly Sword's storytelling not "up to snuff", well, as a game Heavenly Sword was a much better product than Enslaved. It showed in the gameplay, and it shows in the sales figures.

  • midnight_walker #67 1 year ago

    That's a little disappointing, I actually surprised myself with Enslaved because I expected it to be nothing special, but I actually really liked it. Saying that, it was a rental, and like others have said I have zero desire to play through it again. And the demo was utterly shit and not representative of the quality of the finished game.

    Still, it deserved to do better than K&L2.

  • SuperFanBoy #68 1 year ago

    @kalinichenko: Indeed, a PC version could have sold really well during the holiday digital distribution sales. You also get the added bonus of a convenient scapegoat: If your game doesn't sell, you can shrug off any notion of it not being good by blaming PC piracy.

  • henro_ben #69 1 year ago

    I bought this and Castlevania and whilst Enslaved looked quite nice and had decent voice actors in it the game itself was... pretty medeocre and average. Ninja Theory just don't seem to be able to crack the gameplay bit of games sadly.

    Castlevania on the other hand had some ropey voice acting on occasion and a pretty generic story but was actually a lot of fun to play.

  • Shikasama #70 1 year ago

    An awful lot of pretentious alpha geeking going on in this comments thread

  • RickHard #71 1 year ago

    Well, not surprised. I was looking forward to play the game after enjoying so much Heavenly Sword and.... gameplay was dull. I did enjoy the cinematics though... but I would have prefered it the other way aroud ;)

  • sneetch #72 1 year ago

    Thank god the king of the pretentious alpha geeks has arrived to show us how to do it right then. :p

  • Chakitty #73 1 year ago

    You have to start somewhere, you can't expect to sell multiple millions from the start.....

  • AdamAsunder #74 1 year ago

    I didn't think Enslaved was amazing but it certainly deserved to do better at retail. The reasons it probably didn't sell (different world etc.) are probably the reasons why I liked it.

    A sequel that truly expanded on the teamwork dynamic that felt underdeveloped here would have been great but alas it's probably not going to happen.

  • morgothemighty #75 1 year ago

    this is no different to the film industry

    An independant film which will probably be shown mostly in art house cinemas will no doubt be seen as a "better" film than some testosterone, explosive action film but which sells the most tickets?

    that's the risk you take as a dev I guess - just look at Shadow of the Collossus - incredible game which has been played by a minority of the gaming public - equally a massive shame

  • Golgo #76 1 year ago

    I would have bought it if only that Gollum cunt wasn't involved...

  • kinky_mong #77 1 year ago

    Forgot this was released the same day as Castlevania, which is head and shoulders above Enslaved in every way.

  • DonnieDarko333 #78 1 year ago

    Loved this game! :(

  • gillri #79 1 year ago

    @kalinichenko

    if you have that attitude towards you must miss out on ALOT of games

    jeez get a console to compliment your PC, sticking to one system will always result in you missing out on great games



    why stick to one system?.......only people like you know the reason or that


    Edited by gillri at 03/02/11 @ 12:04

  • Lunaticorc #80 1 year ago

    I too would have paid for a PC version.

  • HermitArcader #81 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Ferral #82 1 year ago

    Shame really, great characters and environments and a decent story to boot. Yeah its a bit linear but so enjoyable to play, hooks you from the word go. I REALLY hope that they do decide to make a sequel, its a great new IP that needs exploring more.

  • digoutyoursoul #83 1 year ago

    i fucking hate the fps genre with a passion, no progression, no invention, just the same shite every year. i'm would be willing to give killzone 3 and crysis a try but give me something like enslaved/uncharted/mass effect anyday
    Edited by digoutyoursoul at 03/02/11 @ 12:22

  • FuzzyDuck #84 1 year ago

    I really don't understand the plaudits for this game.

    Story was good, audio/cinematics were also good but what did it do that was original/interesting for a new IP? Nothing. Hell, it couldn't even get the basics right - platforming was like a poor man's Uncharted/PoP, whereas the combat had less depth than Turtles In Time.

    Now take Vanquish - a very similar set up (new IP, single player that can be easily blitzed in less than 10 hours, no multiplayer etc.), but used gameplay mechanics that now makes some of its antecendants feel redundant.

    I do applaud NT for trying, but in these tough times, trying isn't enough.

  • davisorle #85 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • PoundHound #86 1 year ago

    I liked this too and would definitely buy a sequel. Ninja Theory and Namco-Bandai should take hope from Dead Space. That sold less than expected/deserved first time round, but came back with huge sales 2nd time around.

  • Gaol #87 1 year ago

    Fuzzyduck is right. The controls and combat in this game were hopeless. The visuals, acting and plot were great, and the only reason I persevered with such a turgid game. 6/10.

  • King_Edward #88 1 year ago

    Great news. Maybe NT will learn their lesson in time to save DmC from being the god awful trash Enslaved was.

  • RelaxedMikki #89 1 year ago

    I bought it on release after it was recommended and traded it in 2 days later. Gameplay did not work for me, even though I really enjoyed the demo.

    Recommending a video-game cos it's got a good story feels a bit like recommending a movie because it's got good special effects. I mean, fair enough if the story or effects are incredible but a mistake if the rest of the film or game is not so great.

  • arcam #90 1 year ago

    That sold less than expected/deserved first time round, but came back with huge sales 2nd time around.

    Because it got awesome word of mouth from the first game and a giant marketing budget for the sequel. I don't think another Enslaved game would get the benefit of either of those things.

  • dsmx #91 1 year ago

    Again I really don't understand the logic in releasing a new IP in the busy christmas release window, it's just asking for a game not to sell. There are another 9 months in the year you can release games in why publishers insist on releasing them all around christmas makes no sense.

  • CraigMcG #92 1 year ago

    not surprised, combat was crap and i wanted to snap trip's neck

  • crooky369 #93 1 year ago

    I'd honestly never heard of it until this article... I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or a game by it's title by I think this is one of those games unless I hear good things about that I'll just ignore because the title makes it sound like just another generic "magic" game.

  • Mkwone #94 1 year ago

    The question shouldn't be how many it sold, but how much it made and did it cover it's costs?

  • Jojo51 #95 1 year ago

    I'm not astonished, like some one already said, a good story isn't less to make a good game. For the Enslaved case, the gameplay was not really exemplar, very poor combat and limited plateform system failed to put the experience to an good level, just average. But the biggest failure of this game is his lack of optimization, I never saw a game with so many bugs that can ruine the enjoying. For this last reason, I haven't make the pub of Enslaved around me, and no one in my friend list have purchased it. For this reason, I strongly advise the Ninja Theory team to learn how optimize and finish a game before launching it on the market...
    Edited by Jojo51 at 03/02/11 @ 13:09

  • EVERYGAMER #96 1 year ago

    I have recommended Enslaved constantly and most people who took my advice have thanked me for putting them on to a great game they would otherwise have missed. I really hope that Enslaved gets another outing but I guess its will probably go the way of ICO and other unsung classics :-(
    Edited by EVERYGAMER at 03/02/11 @ 13:07

  • gjgjg #97 1 year ago

    Highly paid VO is often not worth it, there's plenty of good young actors that are looking for work

  • Sniper_007 #98 1 year ago

    This is the problem of selling so many titles in the over-saturated pre-Christmas rush!!

    It's a real shame, but I must admit that I also didn't give it the chance it deserved because too many titles were vying for my attention!! (and not Call of Duty, thank god).

  • orangpelupa #99 1 year ago

    im completely baffled. WHY THIS HAPPEN... endlaved is an awesome game.

    nbgi. port this to pc. i will try to save more money then buy the game again.

  • Dangerous_Dan #100 1 year ago

    Usually i have an opinion about a game when i read about it in reviews or see it in a trailer. But enslaved just did not make me curious at all, whether it's good or bad. Maybe i was not the only one.

  • evild_edd #101 1 year ago

    Blimey, at this rate the comments on this thread will overtake the sales...!

    Seems like a lot of negativity towards the title. Think people should give NT a bit of slack in that they'vee tried to do something a little different and original, with more focus on the story than perhaps suits everyone. Often such approaches can be difficult to nail first time round, and sequels can help improve the formula. NT may not get the chance to improve on the original though, without the sales.

    As I said in my first post, I'm still yet to play the full game. Some of the criticisms may well be justified, but I generally cut original titles with new IP a little more slack as at least it's not just another Medal of Modern Warfare....

    Looking at the comments, lots seem to have been put off by the demo. Wonder whether they regret putting that out pre-release.....?

  • NunianVonFuch #102 1 year ago

    You bastards! Why didn't you buy this great game world? I did and loved it, was ooking forward to sequel. People have no excuse either, it's been €20 since before Christmas.

  • knightmt #103 1 year ago

    I bought this new for 20 quid because I had been waiting for it to drop in price. I enjoyed it though it was a single play for me.
    It seems that new IP has a pretty difficult time, maybe they should of released it in chapters on digital download to get the most feedback and interest. It is not surprising to me that Black Ops sold so well it is a sequel to a massively successful series with tonnes of advertising. I am much more likely to buy a 2 hour game for £5 than an 8 hour one for £40. If it did well digitally then that would justify a sequel and keep costs down?

  • addman #104 1 year ago

    It wasn't a shooter, it wasn't called Call of Duty and it wasn't grey and gritty enough. That's why it didn't sell. Also, it didn't have multiplayer and if good singleplayer games are going the way of the dodo, then so am I. I need a purpose for playing my game, I don't care about statistics, achievements or competition. I play games to experience new things not for grinding, I clean my apartment big time every weekend, that's the only chore I want to do on my spare time :) Also, I don't have ADHD.
    Edited by addman at 03/02/11 @ 13:28

  • PodlingJuice #105 1 year ago

    Sorry, but the demo was boring so I didn't buy it.

    /Shrugs

  • byakuya83 #106 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 10:03:41 30-03-2012

  • wowami #107 1 year ago

    Maybe if they'd called it "Monkey sommat or other" it might have sold more?

    i've been playing through recently and quite enjoying it. thank you Ninja Theory!

  • wowami #108 1 year ago

    Maybe if they'd called it "Monkey sommat or other" it might have sold more?

    i've been playing through recently and quite enjoying it. thank you Ninja Theory!

  • bodypopper #109 1 year ago

    A new IP released at the busiest, most competitive period of the gaming year was never going to sell big. If it was released post-Xmas, it would have been a different story.

  • FladgeMangle #110 1 year ago

    Ellie was right about this, it was a bit special.

    I have many fond memories of playing it, it was an enjoyable and visually satisfying experience from start to end. Isn't that the point? Isn't that the reason we play videogames?

    Something told me this was never going to do particularly well, it wasn't lowest common denominator enough for the mass market.

  • kangarootoo #111 1 year ago

    "Another Beyond Good and Evil then.."

    Well, no.

  • Crea #112 1 year ago

    I bought it, and it's good, but to be honest, better games have sold less, if people are looking for an injustice.

  • patchbox360 #113 1 year ago

    the problem with Enslaved is that it's the perfect rental.

  • uknortherner2000 #114 1 year ago

    I tried the PS3 demo and I simply wasn't impressed. It felt too much like it was on rails - there was absolutely no chance that Monkey was going to die, leaping from platform to platform. You had this great scenario of a ship plummeting towards the wastelands of New York, and yet at no point was there any suspense as huge chunks of debris flew past you, because you knew they would always miss, just like you knew you would make every single jump. Sadly, it felt like I was playing a collection of barely-interactive cutscenes than a game, and I wasn't prepared to cough up £35 for more of the same.

  • stegabba #115 1 year ago

    add multiplayer and sales would of been well over 1 million

  • DiamondIce #116 1 year ago

    Speaking for myself and my gaming habits:

    I am quite selective now, in fact make that very selective.

    A game like Enslaved was probably more likely to be bought by people who were more mature in age. The problem for me is because I am at that age I also have a shed load of bills to pay and things like gaming have become a more selective hobby.

    I did like the demo and felt there was quite a bit to offer but I also have a few games to clear that have built up over time. Being older is bloody rubbish sometimes.

  • jbrollse #117 1 year ago

    Enslaved would have been better if they'd taken out the unambitious platforming and combat, and just strung the cutscenes together as a short film. Having played through the core game and the DLC, Pigsy's Perfect 10 felt more varied and challenging. Enslaved held my hand all of the way through, never surprising me or forcing me on.

    Ninja Theory need to recognise that in gaming, the GAME part is important. A rubbish storyline can be overlooked if the gameplay is good, but not vice versa. And TBH, the storyline isn't great - too many unexplained issues (why the mechs? why so little explanation of pyramid until they suddenly become the main villains, despite only seeing them on the tutorial level?). The voice acting and general level of the cutscenes was superb though, just a pity they didn't have more to work with.
    Edited by jbrollse at 03/02/11 @ 14:34

  • pasota #118 1 year ago

    Sadly, the game would haven't sell more copies if the gameplay hadn't been so shallow. The reviews were good enough and the marketing was quite good. The game simply is not attractive to many players,

  • duffster #119 1 year ago

    It got boring quickly. Rented it, and glad I did.

  • DurzoBlint #120 1 year ago

    What's the surprise? A shallow vanity game failed to find a market. Capitalism at work, folks.

  • man.the.king #121 1 year ago

    This just proves to me that not enough people do research before buying games, and as a result, advertising becomes all the more important.

    And I think the argument that the gamer audience is made up of mostly "chav nutjobs" does not really make sense. I, for one, find it hard to believe that a gamer audience that has the patience to slog through hundreds of hours on an RPG (e.g. Oblivion, Demon's Souls, FFXIII, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas) would not have the capacity to play through an Adventure game.

    In my opinion, the reason is two-fold:
    (1) Lack of promotion: Here in the US, I did not see this game being marketed even to 1/100th of the degree to which something like COD is promoted. That also affects how prominently Retail stores display the copy.
    (2) Gameplay: While I did enjoy the game (and bought the DLC as well), I have to admit that the gameplay is quite below average, with very poor controller response and inertia, and poorly implemented platforming (which is a significant aspect of the gameplay as well). For example, I remember this one section where as the Mechas start shooting, I need to jump from a ledge onto a girder and climb - but the poor platforming controls meant that after I jumped onto the girder, Monkey stopped to take a breather and even though I tried everything to make him climb, he absolutely refused to and stayed there staring at the handhold while the mecha industriously disposed of Monkey. That kind of thing can become very irritating.

  • Vyggo #122 1 year ago

    Hey, it was a good game and I finished it. Problem is it was the very definition of a rental, story heavy game that can be completed in 10 or so hours without much replay value.

  • PixelPirate #123 1 year ago

    The problem isn't the story, its the fact the game basically plays itself, offering little challenge, and was released right in the middle of AAA bonanza before Christmas.

    I had the choice to buy it and my buying decision went like this:

    a) Its nearly Christmas, I am strapped for cash so want game that will last quite a while.
    b) Enslaved looked nice, but the demo was really easy, ill pass
    c) Ill buy Fallout, its the same price but will last ages.
    Edited by PixelPirate at 03/02/11 @ 16:26

  • Collymilad #124 1 year ago

    *slow clap*

    Enjoy CoD.

  • peacefuloutrage #125 1 year ago

    I liked the game and bought it, but there really wasn't much to do. A game doesn't have to be multi-player to have re-play value, though. I don't know who made that nonsense up. I liked the world and the characters, which they could expand upon.

  • funkateer #126 1 year ago

    I was looking forward to it, until I played the tearing choppy challenge-free mess of a demo.
    They should have taken a (lot) more time to tweak the gameplay and rendering performance. A missed opportunity with that great artstyle and writing talent.

  • Spekingur #127 1 year ago

    Enslaved 2 would sell more than 1 million! Because it has a 2 in it...

  • beatwolf #128 1 year ago

    and 5 news stories down today: "Kane and Lynch sells a million". We live in a sad, sad, sad world full of retarded indidviduals.

  • rotsujin #129 1 year ago

    So much for NT's "We need to go multi-plat, because Heavenly Sword's 1.5million sales aren't enough to justify a sequel" line of bullshit.

  • mrblonde #130 1 year ago

    Shame i enjoyed the game and bought it FP But was then gutted, as it was online a few weeks later for 19.99. I doubt it has as much to do with being a single player game only, as publishers like E.A. seem to think . because the vast majority of mp attached to most games have empty lobbies within a few months. Only COD,halo etc seem to keep a large MP user base for long.
    for this reason MP is utter pointless in most titles imo.
    NT are a very talented dev , lets hope they get their much deserved sucess eventually

  • afghan_jones #131 1 year ago

    Nice as the acting bits were, the truth is it was actually quite a boring game to play. For all the whining in this thread about COD and other sequels outselling Enslaved, they are just more fun to play. The five percent of enslaved spent watching cutscenes was a glorious step forward for videogame storytelling but the 95% spent playing the game was far more generic and dull than any of the long standing IPs it was up against.

  • jarek98 #132 1 year ago

    It is a pity. The game has its flaws - the closer to the end, levels are more and more repetitive, but first 2/3 of the game justify its purchase anyway. The story is good (for the most part), and the way it is presented is really great.
    I loved Heavenly Sword and I really liked Enslaved - both game mostly for the story and its presentation.
    I have no deep feelings and didn't buy CoD:MW2 so I think I'm not the "mainstream" gamer ;-). I hope I will be able to play some more games I like though...

  • andy10 #133 1 year ago

    But... but... I just bought it yesterday! Make that 460,001 copies. Absolutely loving it so far.
    Sadly, a lot of people are buying the latest blockbuster Halo or Call of Duty and playing multiplayer for months on end, at the expense of everything else out there. Doesn't bode well for gems like Enslaved.

  • Geminosity #134 1 year ago

    While the sales numbers would be affected by blockbuster stuff coming out (none of which I bought admittedly :p ) I really don't think it's as heavily down to them as the Enslave advocates would have us believe.

    I played the demo before it came out and what I got from it was...
    1) I don't like the main character
    2) I don't like trip
    3) The gameplay felt very 'me-too', like it was aping (ho-ho!) Prince of Persia/Uncharted 2

    I love new IPs, I love new exciting worlds, I haven't played an FPS in ages and yet none of that got me to buy Enslaved, nor would I bother with a sequel. I've yet to be grabbed by anything poor Ninja Theory has done and quite frankly, judging by what I've seen of the new Devil May Cry, they're not about to start grabbing me any time soon either :/

    Them's the breaks. If you like it, then I'm glad, but with or without CoD or whoever you want to blame, this was never going to be a breakout title. Heavenly sword had it's status as an early title on the PS3 to help shift units, while Enslaved had no such saving grace.

  • Number1Laing #135 1 year ago

    I was shocked at how bad the game was when I played it quite frankly, it was essentially a dumbed down Prince of Persia 2008 which I didn't know was possible. Yes the story was nice but I play games for the game part. Evidently I am not alone.

    I don't want any dev to fail since they are made up of real people trying to put food on the table, but I'd rather see a poor game sell less and a great game sell ore. Hopefully Ninja Theory focuses on gameplay next time... ah who am I kidding.

  • EVERYGAMER #136 1 year ago

    @The Driffter
    "don't mention ICO and Enslaved in the same sentence. One is a masterpiece and one is a nice looking turd."

    Point isnt to compare the 2 games. Its about the decline of decent single player games on the whole. But especially those that have tried something new in the face of the constant stream of sequels and reimaginings.
    Thing you have to remember is that whether the game is good or bad doesnt matter once the masses have spoken because only a very select few who liked it will ever remember it (cause if everyone had liked it.....well you see where I'm going with this). Right now Enslaved is sitting there right next to ICO, Okami, and many others that people will be poorer for missing out on.

  • metroid455 #137 1 year ago

    what a dam shame i thought enslaved was a fantastic game, its a pity that most gamers would rather buy ShitOps instead of this refreshingly different masterpeace.
    please dont give up on it Ninja Theory I for one would love a sequel;D;D

  • frazzl #138 1 year ago

    The game hasn't been out for too long, so I hope it gradually accumulates enough sales to warrant a sequel. As to the people complaining about the gameplay, specifically the platforming segments being "on rails", pray tell me how that is any different from what you get in Uncharted (1 & 2)?