Comment on PS5 Exclusive Saros Has Reportedly Only Sold 300K Copies

Katana314@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I’m not sure we can help you if you’ve never heard of this game. It’s been in every major gaming news site’s release calendar, reviewed very well, and it’s been in several of Sony’s showcases.

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  • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I mean it’s the first I’ve heard of it too :o

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    • ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      What sites do you follow for gaming news? OpenCritic aggregated 129 different outlets that reviewed it, and it’s a front page sort of deal for any of them.

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      • Katana314@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I just go to YouTube, Lemmy, BSky, maybe a few others. I don’t go directly to any major gaming news sites, since they’ve had declining track records for decades.

        And of course, Steam. Criticize the monoculture if you like, but when Sony and MS have killed their community features in favor of EpsteinNet, it’s not surprising people will go to platforms designed to discuss games.

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      • Cybersteel@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I mean I’ve even heard of the specrcular failure that is Highguard but not Saros. The internet is definitely much more fragmented even within gaming niche.

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      • lath@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        Lemmy.

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      • Ashtear@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I mean, if I didn’t have a standing appointment to watch game showcases with some friends, I could definitely see a scenario where I missed this. It’s not the kind of thing that would pop up at all in my regular gaming feeds.

        The funny thing is that I was genuinely tired of seeing it at every single State of Play for however long it’s been now. It was heavily marketed within a specific media channel, and didn’t stir up any controversy or buzz that reached my eyes or ears.

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      • Zahille7@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        I mean I only know about it because I saw a couple ads on Instagram, then I watched the sponsored (by Sony/Saros devs mind you) Iron Pineapple video.

        It looks cool visually and seems like it’d be fun once you get into the flow of the game, but it’s PlayStation exclusive and I’m not really a bullet hell person.

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  • Senal@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    It was not set up to succeed, either.

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  • M0oP0o@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Edit response time: That people interested in games did not know about it would be very indicative of a major failing and current lack of relavance of mainstream gaming media. That would seem to be very much on point, as there is no need to help us for not knowing, but it would seem Sony might need help.

    The fact that I never seen or heard of this is no surprise though, the only time gaming news coverage shows up for most is when there is some sort of scandal. Its why I know more about “Mix Tape”, “High Guard” and “Marathon” then this game.

    I like my small indie / oddball games but I find I get more info from people steaming a game and talking about it then a “review” that had clearly been bought and paid for. And it seems I am not the only one, as clearly no one is reading the “major” gaming news sites anymore. Well at least in this case no one from their target audience is.

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    • ampersandrew@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      This is the only gaming space I’ve encountered on the internet that has this many people unaware of Saros’ existence. The prevailing theory elsewhere for its lack of success is launching at $70, only on PS5, and people having already bounced off of its predecessor, Returnal. There aren’t 130 outlets reviewing the game because no one is reading them.

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      • M0oP0o@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

        What other gaming areas are you thinking of? Are they user driven for content and discourse like this?

        And there are 130 outlets reviewing the game because they are in the business of reviewing games and this one was a rare exclusive for the ps5. It would be odd if they did not review it (and give it questionably high marks). If you look at a game like xenonauts 2 that also came out recently that sold about the same number of copies (very odd since one is very niche) they only have 14 critic reviews vs 130. The issue is the critic reviews clearly don’t hold the same value to consumers as they once did.

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  • BananaIsABerry@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    They definitely did a lot of sponsored YouTube content. Iron Pineapple did a sponsored video. Seemed mid, not a $700 (ps5 + game) game.

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