BaD #10: Deus Ex and Heartbreak

On 02/14/2017 at 07:33 PM by daftman

I know this isn't breaking news—the story I first saw was posted January 30—but the Deus Ex franchise has apparently been put on hiatus after Mankind Divided failed to meet sales expectations. As a big fan of the series that waited five painstaking years for this sequel, this news is crushing, especially considering how Mankind Divided left the story just hanging there. What if we have to wait another five years? WHAT IF WE NEVER GET ANOTHER? I am very frustrated. And so they can work on Guardians of the Galaxy? *grumble grumble*

What's further frustrating is Square Enix's history of unrealistic sales expectations. The 2013 Tomb Raider reboot sold 3.4 million units in its first four weeks yet failed to hit Square Enix's goals. That's a lot of units in four weeks! I don't know the numbers for Mankind Divided but I'm sure Squeenix had very lofty expectations for it, even though they failed to generate serious hype for it leading up to launch. Then there is the fact that NONE of the AAA titles did really well last year. Dishonored 2, Infinite Warfare, Titanfall 2, Watch_Dogs 2—all sold under expectations. Infinite Warfare was the top selling game of 2016 but Activision considered its sales a disapointment. I don't think it's fair to hold it against Mankind Divided when the whole AAA business seemed to take a hit. So now we're on to licensed fare! And even if that turns out very well, it's not what I want and I'm peeved...and maybe a little sulky.

This sucks.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/14/2017 at 07:53 PM

I hear ya man. I havent played the last two but id like to. Its a pretty venerable franchise though... and its survived droughts before. Sucks though. Good franchise.

daftman

02/14/2017 at 08:51 PM

My suggestion: Get the Director's Cut of Human Revolution for the Wii U. It addresses the issues that game originally had and makes great use of the game pad (plus it's really cheap on Amazon now). Then play Mankind Divided after that. They're both great games.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/14/2017 at 08:27 PM

That sucks, but hopefully they can find a way to continue the story. Comic books seem to be a good medium for doing that.

I didn't know last year's sales were down. I think it has a lot to do with how flooded the market was. It was like a golden age of gaming in one year and I bet a lot of people were scattering their purchases more than usual. I certainly was. I definitely took advantage of sales quite a bit too.

02/14/2017 at 08:49 PM

I also don't know if THE NUMBERS include digital sales, which are taking a greater share all the time, I think. But yeah, 2016 had a lot of great games.

Halochief90

02/15/2017 at 03:00 AM

According to vgchartz (which I know isn't exactly the most reliable source of information), Mankind Divided has managed under 1 million sold. Compared with Human Revolution, which apparently got over 3 million sales, those are pretty concerning numbers. I blame Square-Enix's abysmal pre-order disaster and poor marketing though.

02/15/2017 at 08:23 PM

The lead up to launch seemed so halfhearted. It's like, don't you want this to be successful?

Julian Titus Senior Editor

02/15/2017 at 09:35 PM

I, too, was heartbroken to hear about Deus Ex getting put on the shelf. I have loved the Adam Jensen games, and I was looking forward to more. I worry about Square Enix's expectations for sales. You mentioned their disappointment with Tomb Raider 2013, and I have been scratching my head over that for years. Tomb Raider: Underworld sold 2 million copies worldwide over the game's entire run. Tomb Raider 2013 beat that number in the first MONTH, and SE was calling it a failure. Like, what were you expecting, Call of Duty numbers?

It gets weirder when you look at the series as a whole. I was reading a story about Tomb Raider in a retro magazine, and guess what? The 2013 game is the highest seller in the history of the franchise. Yep, it did better than Tomb Raider 1 and 2, which are the only games that come close to its sales.

Now, it seems like Mankind Divided is not doing as well as Human Revolution, but we're still in the early days (well, not SO early) of this generation, and there just aren't as many Xbox Ones and PS4s on the market as there were 360 and PS3. I just hope that Deus Ex is a temporary hold, and not put into the cold storage lockup that the Legacy of Kain series was banished to when Square Enix bought Eidos.

KnightDriver

02/22/2017 at 11:41 PM

I guess that's the cost of AAA game development speaking. A game's gotta be a blockbuster or the plug'll get pulled.

Eidos Montreal is working on a Guardians of the Galaxy game?

PixlBit