Xbox exclusive flop The Lamplighters League causes publisher Paradox to abandon genre completely

[Cool hand luke]

In yet more news of an Xbox-associated title flopping and wreaking havoc for everyone involved, Paradox Interactive has revealed that the sales for The Lamplighters League were so disappointing that they now think "there's no point" in ever releasing another title in the genre again.

Paradox think there's no point competing with XCOM after their Lamplighters flop - it's "winner takes all" in the "tactical gaming space"

Last October, Paradox Interactive announced that they and development studio Harebrained Schemes were breaking up, foll…

www.rockpapershotgun.com

The publishers had already made layoffs at Harebrained in the run-up to release, implying that preorder numbers were low; ultimately, Paradox wrote it off as a $22 million flop. At the time of the "parting of ways", Paradox chief operational officer Charlotta Nilsson washed her hands of XCOMlikes entirely, commenting that "a new project or sequel in the same genre was not in line with our portfolio plans".

"The game was basically commercially dead on arrival," Lilja commented. "And the studio, this is what they do. And it is very specific, what people are good at in [games development] - certain talents, you can move, but the core team of a game is really hard to pivot to something else. They're not going to be very good at it.

Notably, this game was released on PC as well, where it also flopped.

No PlayStation, no play.

 

[ethomaz]

Never read anything about that name you wrote and called game…

 

[KvallyX]

Looks like the game sucked.

 

[Orangee]

22mln$ budget!?
No wonder everything is a flop, when all games are so overpriced in development.

Maybe switching to UE5 and hiring outsourced Indians to crunch for pennies to make your game is not as bad of an idea, as It first seemed lmao

 

[Cool hand luke]

Looks like the game sucked.

View attachment 5720

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III Reviews

Modern Warfare 3 delivers a multiplayer experience that continues to raise the bar by focusing on fast-paced, gun-on-gun combat, along with innovative features that support and enhance a large variety of play-styles. Killstreaks have been redesigned, new game modes are being introduced, and a...

www.metacritic.com

Not relevant

 

[BloodMod]

Looks like the game sucked.

View attachment 5720

Also, not an exclusive.

Easy on the sensationalist thread titles.

 

[Cool hand luke]

Also, not an exclusive.

Easy on the sensationalist thread titles.

?

The Lamplighters League - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

The game was released for Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in October 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial disappointment.

Please change the title back to the correct, original one. You must be confusing it for Metaphor, or assuming it's a Metaphor-like situation?

This thread is about the mounting evidence that an association with Xbox is tanking game performance.

 

[BloodMod]

?

The Lamplighters League - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Please change the title back to the correct, original one. You must be confusing it for Metaphor, or assuming it's a Metaphor-like situation?

This thread is about the mounting evidence that an association with Xbox is tanking game performance.

I was thrown off by the OpenCritic screengrab which listed PS5 as a platform, sorry for the misunderstanding. I stand corrected. Original title restored.

 

[Yobo]

Studio name Harebrained Interactive

Makes sense why they'd think releasing an Xbox exclusive is a good idea

 

[Dr. E99]

This was an original IP, in an already niche genre, Xbox exclusive, dumped into Game Pass.

The odds were not for long term success with that strategy.

 

[quest4441]

Bruh this game was just not very good, Xcom has brilliant AI that tests you at higher difficulty levels. This is like wet slop that grows mould

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Maybe switching to UE5 and hiring outsourced Indians to crunch for pennies to make your game is not as bad of an idea, as It first seemed lmao

Please Saar we friends Saar

 

[Evilnemesis8]

Lmao Paradox. They're really been on a run lately haven't they? All their games are buggy at launch and undercooked.

 

[klomzi]

OP tries to make this about console warring.

 

[Kokoloko]

I thought exclusives were anti consumer? Or only when its PS that does it Phil?

 

[Cool hand luke]

This was an original IP, in an already niche genre, Xbox exclusive, dumped into Game Pass.

The odds were not for long term success with that strategy.

There does look to be a correlation between game quality and inclusion into game pass.

 

[Boswollox]

The game was fun and an interesting idea. It's a shame i flopped really

 

[BarrierIslandZilla]

I feel like Microsoft only associates themselves with niche titles that end up failing. Or big titles that end up failing.

I feel like this just par for the course at this point.

 

[Zzero]

Cog wouldn't stfu about this game last year. Paradox is getting hit pretty hard right now, all of their expansion outside of Grand Strategy has failed.

 

[Cool hand luke]

Cog wouldn't stfu about this game last year. Paradox is getting hit pretty hard right now, all of their expansion outside of Grand Strategy has failed.

Begs the question why there aren't infinitely more threads about this. Paradox saw success with multiplatform games like Stellaris but then took a moneyhat from Xbox to release exclusively on their dead-end waste of shelf space.

To bomb so badly that they're abandoning the entire genre? That'd be like Square Enix quitting RPGs after FFXVI. Only, wait! The FF franchise just sold 10 million units last year off the back of 2 exclusive PS5 releases.