LawBreakers Publisher Blames “Blockbuster” PUBG For the Game’s Lower Than Expected Sales

The publisher of LawBreakers, Nexon, believes that the launch timing of the shooter was unfortunate with PUBG becoming available as well.

[ninsigma]

So basically they're saying it's unfortunate a game that everyone thought was better released at the same time...

[NewMonday]

lame excuse, LawBreakers had more hype than PUBG

[ninsigma]

Yeah I'd never heard of PUBG until it was shown at Microsofts E3 conference. Law breakers was definitely a bigger name.

[Death]

Pfft. I thought for sure they were going to take full responsibility and blame Comey. Got to love living in a world where “personal responsibility” is an oxymoron. It’s pretty clear Cliff made a game that no one wanted. It happens.

[Gazondaily]

PubG isn't even out on PS4 lol.

[Rude-ro]

Yet @septic.
Just timed release... but by the sound of it... ps4 is not missing anything yet.

[DaMist]

@Rude-ro

I think septic is referring to their weak excuse, as in, PUBG isn't out on PS4, so why wasn't Lawbreakers successful there at least.

[thekhurg]

Lawbreakers killed Lawbreakers.

It's a fast paced, high action, twitch 600mph shooter, with increased Z-Axis movement built into the game. It's far too much for standard gaming audiences to handle. It's a niche experience, and since it's an online shooter, that niche experience killed the game.

[Frodosmugins]

I knew there was a Cliff game out there somewhere but I never heard of lawbreakers till it died.

[ravinash]

Personally I think it was Overwatch which shot down Lawbreakers.
It already had the multiplayer team shooter wrapped up just before Lawbreakers came out.
It also has more character that Lawbreakers which looked more generic in comparison.

[aarogree]

Even though the releases of the game were separated by several months. And the games had nothing in common.

[Mr Pumblechook]

Don't blame market conditions, blame your game.

[Michiel1989]

i do think they appael to the same audience, most players who play pubg, fortnite etc also like overwatch /cs/lawbreakers. But to say that pubg ruined their release is just ignorance.

CliffyB ruined the game by sitting on his high horse. At least he finally got kicked off it and is now humble as fuck. Also there was hardly any promotion for the game.

[Mr Pumblechook]

@Michiel1989. I really don't think PUBG is an adequate explanation because PUBG is not available on PS4 and LawBreakers still failed to sell on that platform. I don't even think the obnoxious Cliffy B. is to blame because if the game had an attractive appeal it would have still bought the players.

Before the game was released when they were showing footage the game's biggest problem is that it just seemed GENERIC and BLAND. Like a churned out second-rate TPS from the 360 days. I can't remember a single character from the marketing. Maybe the mechanics were great but early in development the team should have taken the time to ask 'Why will gamers want to play this game above the competition?'

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Getting sick of devs blaming EVERYONE but themselves for a failure of a game.

[getbacktogaming]

I'd argue LawBreakers was a better game in the 'polished' sense yet PUBG is much more innovative and original ... and that makes it a more successful game.

[SuperSonic91]

LoL at Cliffy.
He predicted the doom of console gaming.
He just reaps what he sow.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Lame excuse

[FlyingFoxy]

PUBG had review scores in the 7.x range, and according to sheep who hang around reviewers like flies on crap, they say it's a bad score.

I don't pay attention to people who say "this sux but this is great", i have my own tastes and likes. Many people liked Dead Island, i didn't.. I enjoyed the L4D and Killing Floor series way more.

Console players didn't even know what KF or PUBG was until they came to console.

[yeahokwhatever]

PUBG is hella broken, but even so, its a great game. I'm glad Sony is waiting to allow the game on their platform. I have it for PC, and I've had it for a while, and its a broken game that is not what you should want representing your platform. Hopefully the additional 60 million + PS4 potential customers can make BlueHole(<-worst name ever) fix their broken mess in a timely manner. The game is rampant with cheating, exploiting, glitches, bugs, and crashes. Just walk around the maps and you can see silly things like trees floating above the terrain, items floating sort of near things, loot that is too close to doors so you cant pick it up without accessing the inventory screen, and rocks you can literally crawl into. Its a hot mess, but its fun. Give it time.

[yumi76]

I blame the fact it was lead by Cliffy B. who has alienated everyone on every side of the fence.

And even if a game was to be blamed I would blame Overwatch, which was what they like Battleborn and so many other tried and failed to copy.

[yeahokwhatever]

A ton of people thought Lawbreakers was an Overwatch clone, and Overwatch it too good of a game for anyone to want to invest in a knock-off. Lawbreakers isn't really anything like Overwatch, and so it's rather unfortunate that it was sort of perceived as such. Had they said its more of an Unreal Tournament clone more people would have been possibly interested. Possibly.

[Kribwalker]

he definitely shouldn’t have shunned and talked smack to his biggest fan base (the xbox crowd). CliffyB is now nothing more then a clown to all fan bases instead of just the PC and Sony fan base

[yumi76]

Or ya know he should have had the foresight not to talk crap about the PS3 and PC way before anything to do with xbox. And if you think this game would have sold better if it had been on xbox your kidding yourself, this game was doomed from the start.

"Something something burning bridges something something..."

[gangsta_red]

Just goes to show that even though we always hear the thumping of chests about the bigger fanbase it isn't always a garuntee that the game will do well with them.

Nexon and Cliffy could have taken their chances and released on all platforms since the architecture is basically the same and went from there.

This is why I scratch my head when I hear these excuses from developers as there has to be more behind the scenes for these reasons. (Checks being made$$)

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I have to agree wholeheartedly, I think Cliffy B. was a big factor in the game's lack of success, I remember many people here saying they wouldn't buy the game because he was at the helm. The other problem is the gameplay, from what I've see in Youtube videos, it seems to be a blander, somewhat flawed version of Overwatch.

[-Foxtrot]

Haha.

Guys it was beaten by Overwatch first and foremost...Cliffy B and the rest of them were comparing it to OW before it even released.

So it was beaten by old games and new ones....maybe it was just a bad game.

[Rude-ro]

Not a bad game, just online only fast paced twitch based shooters never really make dent in the market.
Not saying some make it through, but it very little of a chance of a game like that to dominate.
Overwatch is more casual and pubg is definitely nothing like a twitch based shooter.

[yeahokwhatever]

It's actually a really solid fast-paced(WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAY faster than OW) arena shooter. Comparing it to OW was what I believe sealed its fate.

[Salooh]

It's simple, the game design was too shallow. It needed more unique and addcitive feeling, some games provide a story to achieve that, some provide a great background and great design to the characters, they needed something like that. Gameplay wasn't enough. Look at rainbow six siege, even if you don't play it you can admire it because what it deliever feels solid. They lacked that feeling to their game. Despite PUBG being a clone , it had that unique feeling to it. It changed enough to satisfy people.

No matter what they blame, the game needs more refining to be relavent, memories, praised. This will encourage gamers to share their experience of their game. If they can't see that than they need to put more time in looking for what will satisfy gamers before releasing a game.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I think the game was just to bland, or simple, it needed more to standout from the crowd.

[RAM0N]

I was going to buy it but then I played the beta.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Would you mind sharing your opinion on the gameplay? I get the feeling this is where the game falls down, from what I've seen on Youtube it doesn't have much depth.

[Liqvid]

The combat actually has a lot of depth and is very skill-based. Traversing the map with the grappling hook and stabbing people with the Assassin was so much fun.

To me, it's unfortunate that the game failed. I loved the gameplay, but unfortunately, shortly after launch, the population became so low that I couldn't find matches.

Tbh, the only thing I didn't like about the game was the art style. Was pretty generic. Maybe if it had a more unique art direction the game could have been more popular.

Oh well, at least I had a blast during alpha/beta. I hope I can see a similar game soon.

[NordicRainy]

Completely different games. You're just scrambling for excuses now.

[Kumakai]

I blame cliffy b being a straight up cocky a**hole who forgot where he came from, burned too many bridges and developed not only a mediocre game, but a bad rep.

[Kornholic]

That's rich.

[InTheZoneAC]

lol wut? I play neither...

[Dragonscale]

So its any reason but that the game isn't very good lol.

[gangsta_red]

Wait, wut? But Cliffy was so sure it was going to do so well by releasing it on platforms with the higher install base...Now here comes Nexon blaming the sales or lack of on PUBG?

So what's the excuse for the low sales on the PS4?

[Fist4achin]

Oversaturated market and it was sub par in comparison to the others who did it better and bigger.

[Cy]

Or maybe the face of your game was a massive douchebag and there were better versions of the same concept out around the same time. Might as well blame Battleborn too, since they were the main competition for "class based MP game no one plays"

[Godmars290]

PUBG didn't release later and with less fanfare/advertising? Has become what it is through word of mouth?

[Zjet]

Should have had a single player campaign offline. You gave the game an expiry date as soon as you made it online only.

[Gh05t]

I blame the fact I am not an NBA all star on other people who are taller than me and can play better than me. If it weren't for ALL THOSE PEOPLE, I would be playing in the NBA right now.

Garbage in garbage out, you let Cliffy run the game and you got what you paid for a Cliffy game.

If anything PUBG should show you that PEOPLE have a huge willingness to spend money on products they think are good or that are popular. Your game was neither.

[Tedakin]

Lawbreakers Devs have more excuses than Hillary Clinton!

[balance2theforce]

Or the guy in the white house right now who's still bringing her up even though he's president lol. And instead of governing is blaming everybody from Barack Obama to people that he hired like jeff sessions, his aides and others for his failures, the lies that he's getting caught in and for knowing more Russians than Anna Kournikova LOL. Please let's keep this on the topic of video games.

[DialgaMarine]

Or it could be the fact that the game wasn’t remotely original and everyone knows Cliffy B is a cocky asshat.

[isa_scout]

I'm just grasping at straws here, but maybe it's because LawBreakers is an average dull completely lifeless online shooter...I'd be more honest with yourself so you don't make the same mistake twice. Blaming the games failure on outside sources only further proves that it wasn't a great game in the first place. Cliffy B needs to humble himself, and realize he's not a game dev rockstar anymore. He's burnt far to many bridges with gamers to expect them to gobble up a half baked mediocre online shooter.

[Gwiz]

They tried to copy Overwatch and failed (remember it was Overwatch that was rated as GOTY and not PUBG prior).
Even Gearbox's Battleborn tried to do the same while stating " It was insanely different " yeah right lol.

[YEP414]

Makes no sense lawbreakers was on ps4, pc and pubg on xbox ,pc... lame excuse!!!
I love when developers try to diss xbox and their games fail!!! Love it

[sk8ofmnd]

😂

[TheSplooge]

Souns like a pretty lame excuse to be honest. You should probably take a good look at Mr. Cliffy n ask him why his shat game failed..

[Chaos_Order]

*Totally different type of game released months apart*

"Yes, that's the one that killed our billion dollar franchise."

[ziggurcat]

Uh, no, Cliff... it has nothing to do with PUBG.

[OGzeus]

now all that is left from the lawbreakers game is that E3 2017 rock they gave out, its like they suggested that this is what would become of the game once it died and explodes into pieces, RIP

[Artemidorus]

It's called competition, do something about it or leave.

[senorfartcushion]

You added a hero shooter to that already-crowded market that had no personality.

[zaherdab]

too bad the game failed ... it looked fun but was too darn fast paced for its own good

[brich233]

Had Lawbreakers been f2p with microtrashactions, they could have did something.

[Kitsunami]

I mean its got nothing to do with the fact that the game was just EXTREMELY FUCKING AWFUL to play, right?

[babadivad]

Or. . .

[cyx]

Lol wtf blaming pubg? How about blaming your designers for making butt ugly character models and trying to create a game coincidently similar overwatch?

[TheOttomatic91]

That and Overwatch, The Division, Destiny 2 etc. What GaaS publishers and developers fail to realise that gamers who play those kinda games already have their choice and are content with it. They aren’t gonna just drop everything and play another type of GaaS title just because it’s new.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Yeah not the boring designs and aesthetics. Anyone random person who takes one look at Lawbreakers will find nothing that looks interesting. Compare an image of tracer to the Hellion they keep using as a marketing image and you'll see everyone will pick Tracer everytime.

[rocketpanda]

PUBG didn’t even need marketing behind it, a lot of twitch streamers and youtubers got into it and it went viral through their fan base. Lawbreakers can’t blame the game. This isn’t some Overwatch and Battleborn release situation.

[balance2theforce]

I meant to type this with my first comment, but a phone call interrupted me and only have 15 minutes to edit. So I'll just say this here. Cliffy B, maybe you need to take a good hard look in the mirror. Remember it was you who (to your credit) decided to bet on yourselves. While certainly admirable and commendable, you could have done it in a much better way. Instead, you crapped on the group of fans who helped you get your name while pandering to a base who on the other end of the Spectrum crapped on you pretty consistently over the years. Also it certainly didn't help that on PC the response was tepid as well

And I can understand where he thinks that they did great work, but sometimes things just don't hit. I never played the game myself, but just like some have said that it's just okay, others have said that it's fairly fun. In any case, you can't just blame PUBG if it's not resonating as much as you expect and that it and other games have. And certainly you can't go after the gamers. After all they're who (outside of the gaming media with reviews and such) are going to be the ones that make or break you. And being that they can be as fickle as they come, you need all the positive reception and good will with them that you can get. Even if that means just taking your lumps.

Maybe you should have made it multi-platform in the first place instead of hedging your bets that one base was going to save you. Especially since you didn't owe that platform maker shit. It isn't like they were paying you for it or offering you any incentive for it to be exclusive or anything. Not to mention how similar to one another they are and it being your first studio's game. So you could have probably used all the exposure that you could get. At the very least you shouldn't have crapped on a base that helped you get your name. Now you certainly can't rely on them in even the slightest to help pull you and your game's bacon out of the fire. Couple that with the lukewarm response to your game, the willingness to blame any and everybody and now you may have even alienated a lot of people from your future work.

Now though that the game's turned out to be a dud, not worthy of being used as ammo and that the brief lovefest with the base you cozied up to is over, it's clear that he's at least done one thing right. He's now gotten pretty much everybody to hate him lol. Maybe he'll have kind words to say to you the Nintendo fans that he is ignored all this time LMAO. Not that I'm laughing at his games failure or his seeming lack of success at the moment. Just at the situation in general. I do actually hope that doesn't deter him from dusting himself off and continuing to follow his passions with his team.

[CBaoth]

You wrote a wall of text and never bothered to read the article. Show me where Cliffy B blames PUBG. It was the publisher's chief financial officer Shiro Uemura that did. You didn't even play it. Credibility out the window.

[balance2theforce]

I know that you're trying to be cute and maybe impress your little interweb admirers and perhaps wanna show off a little, but at least know what a term means before you go parroting it because you wanna sound witty and cool trying to use it! See, while indeed lengthy, that is NOT a wall of text.

A wall of text would be all those words uninterrupted. Possibly with little to no punctuation. And they certainly don't have what even 3rd graders would know are paragraphs. Paragraphs which are used to break up the wall so that ithere's no longer one. All with enough punctuation marks to be well out of the range of your oh so fresh and misused use iof the term. And while I know that some of you are only used to speaking in 140 characters or (whatever they've bumped it up to) or less, but paragraphs are still around.

And as far as not playing it, no I didn't. And that's why I made it clear that I hadn't Also why I didn't just praise/crap on it. Or lie and pretend that I did like so many others here do. Damn me for not using the cloak of internet anonymity to hide behind and lie to folks like I could've (and others do). I will say though, that if actually playing something before speaking was a prerequisite, these boards would be a lot less busy.

Shit, most of the people still whining about BOTW or trashing the Switch since last March have never played it, will go on the record to tell anyone listening how they've not touched a Nintendo platform/product since a GC snd whatever else. Surely admitting to not playing it while choosing not to just pile on the actual game doesn't top that.

As far as reading the article though, you got me. Wasn't the 1st time that we've heard of other factors being thrown in as the reason for it's failure. So saved a click and went off the headline and others I hoped read enough to get the gist of it. Most of the shit I said though, I would've regardless. So I stand by pretty much all of it!

[FPS_D3TH]

Hahahahahahahahaha

*inhale*

hahahahahahahahahaha

*wheeze*

Randy Pitchford 2.0 everybody. PUBG isn’t even out on PS4. What’s the excuse there? I was hoping this game would be alright since I’m not big on overwatch but there’s just nothing to get excited for with this game. It’s just an arena shooter... wrong time for this game to come out. It had a chance two years ago, maybe before titanfall 2 and the likes. It’s game over now though. Stop embarrassing yourselves...

[Chumdiddy]

Yeah......that's it maybe not really?

[opinionated]

Eat the loss and carry on.

[BassMan125]

That excuse is beyond stupid. Lawbreakers was build to be the "adult" Overwatch. Now they're blaming PUBG, a whole different genre? Lawbreakers not even a contest for those two games. Even Doom 2016 Multiplayer is more fun than Lawbreakers IMO.

[opooqo]

How about.... Overrated cliffyb? Got lucky with gears and tried to be a gaming rockstar.

[MetroidFREAK21]

Or it could be... oh I don't know, no one was interested in your game?

[jjb1981]

The game is crap, like 20 people think its fun. Its so Battleborn-ish. Cliffy B had a terrible idea. Should have stayed with Epic but I bet Cliffy B thought Fortnite would flop.

[Nybz]

This hurts my brain, to think how ignorant a company like Nexon can be. Just wow.

[TechnoGoat]

Lawbreakers was just flat out boring...

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Pretty sure PUBG was popular before Lawbreakers was released, not only that, Law Breakers compete with games like Overwatch moreso than PUBG's audience.

[KillBill]

So how did PUBG influence the Playstation gamers not to purchase Lawbreakers? Not like it was competing with it at all.

[adonisisfree]

PUBG just came out of nowhere really.. I didn't even know it was being ported over to console until it showed up on the shelves. It's just the better game.

[Felsager]

Cliffy B, your douchebag days are over in the video game industry. Do us a favor and stop giving excuses. People decided to move on. They had enough with your games. It's time for you to move on in life and leave the development of games to other true talented developers like Blizzard. You had your time. Enjoy your money and do something else with your life.

[Kiknyonutz]

PUBG is great but other games have sold just fine. I think your game didn't sell well because it didn't do anything interesting enough. I'm really surprised they didn't even try the F2P model.

[DillyDilly]

Oh no another game was better than yours

[Xack]

Had a feeling this game was going to be another Evolve.

[DONTB]

Are you sure. I think it is because the game is cultrally antiquated because it doesn't have things like gender-neutral bathrooms.

[frostlatch]

That piece of shit CliffyB is sulking over his shit game and blames another better game. Wow. I know its the publisher saying this but you know CliffyB is shitty enough to probably have said the same lol.

[ocelot07]

I don't think it has anything to do with PUBG at all. I liked Lawbreakers it was an arena shooter that has some good ideas. However, I just think these fast paced arena shooters are not all that popular anymore (except for Overwatch). I think they really should of went with a Gears of War type game my self.

[Scatpants]

I'd buy it if they put it on Switch. It doesn't really have any competition in that genre other than Doom. Missed opportunity if you ask me. Looks like it would probably run on Switch without too much tweaking too.

[kayoss]

I score lower than expected on my test because the other guy scored higher.

[C-H-E-F]

LMAO, this guy just can't take his L and live with it huh? lOl... That's like NFS blaming GT for it's poor sales like no if you had a decent game it would sell I bought both NFS and GT, alot of people did and alot didn't because NFS was seen as trash in their eyes lOl.

[zaherdab]

just make it free to play ...