Galleon sinks
Eight years in the making, the subject of more coverage than the world’s largest duvet and Lara Croft’s inflated chest couldn’t even save it from drowning in the choppy waters of the UK chart.
Galleon has resoundingly failed to make a splash in the UK charts following its first week at retail, despite eight years in development. Ranking at seventh in the Xbox chart and 36th in the full price all format chart, the piratic adventure appears to have stalled from the outset.
Creator Toby Gard, the now legendary designer of Lara Croft, remained unavailable for comment this morning.
The game has been the subject of a huge amount of attention in the past eight years, given Gard’s track record at Core, but Gard admitted recently that massive ambition coupled with a tiny team size caused huge delays and eventually pitched the game into a completely advanced arena.
SCi eventually published Galleon, following its separation from Interplay late last year. “Galleon no longer fits with Interplay's strategy going forward,” said the publisher at the time. “Heading into 2004, Interplay is facing critical decisions about its future strategy, its resources, and its product lineup.” Interplay’s recent troubles are at least some comfort to Gard that he jumped ship at the right time.
But despite the fact Galleon did actually make it to market, chart doldrums are the final, bitter twist to one of the most famous games in the past 10 years. So sorry. Watch for our full review later this week.