Former Nexon Exec Says He Blew Millions on Lawbreakers; Calls it Biggest Flop of 2017

Former Nexon exec is delivering a presentation at Seattle-based professional conference DevGAMM, which will discuss how he blew millions on the biggest flop of 2017.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Tough tittie but somebody has to suck it🤣

[SierraGuy]

Lol

[TimelessDbz]

I blame nexon. Game was supposed to be free 2 play not $60

[chris235]

there is a thing called market research. you went to the market with a product no one waited for. and now you are really wondering why this thing flopped? way to go.

[JokerBoy422]

The market for this product was already too saturated with similar games. Dont know what they were thinking...

[TheEnigma313]

You're right; You would think devs do more research. This will happen to more devs son following the battle royale trend.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I actually blame devs for trend following, someone sets a good game, others try to emulate it, most fail horribly. Lawbreakers wanted some of that sweet Overwatch market revenue, flopped badly like Battleborne did.

[AAWELLS09]

Its not always easy to just "know" whats going to be a big hit. The original Minecraft creator had no clue his little side project would be what it is today. No one knew that Fortnite was going to be this massive hit. No one was "waiting on" either of those games and they just exploded.

[JokerBoy422]

Minecraft was unique. There was nothing like it on the market and it filled that love of building with legos but in a video format. Fortnite was an obvious win because it filled that hole of consumers wanting to play PUBG but not wanting to pay for something when Fortnite was free and basically the same game. Lawbreakers was trying to be a new shooter in a market that already had CoD, Halo, Battlefield, Overwatch, etc, etc. Every niche market for shooters was already filled. Had they launched as a free-to-play game things might have been different, but by the time they had finally gone that way, word of mouth had already spread that it wasnt really that great anyway. Im not even a paid analyst and this shit was obvious to me. The publishers of that game just wanted money, and didnt do any market research.

[annoyedgamer]

Now if only Battle Royale games would start losing money..

[ravinash]

Why would they if millions of people enjoy playing them?

[TheEnigma313]

Only fortnite is so far. Any company that tries (besides PUBG) will more than likely fail because of fortnite's success.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I don't think there's enough room for another battle royale game, not unless someone comes up with a great twist like Fortnite did, if anything I expect PUBG to continue losing popularity.

[Angelin]

I think there’s still room for a super realistic battle royale game. Pubg is not realistic enough imho.

[kevnb]

How many of them do you actually think are successful? I wouldnt make one right now unless you have a brand like call of duty to attach to it, its a huge investment and risky as hell right now.

[annoyedgamer]

Don't forget Battlefield 5..its Battle Royale from the ground up.

[kookwes]

they misunderstood the market the market wants a more casual experience. Thats why Overwatch and Fornite are far more successful than their rivals. Don't get me wrong these games take a lot of skill to good or great at them but are far more accessible for the casual.

[slate91]

Good point. Especially if they were looking for a more successful run than Overwatch or Fortnite.

[kevnb]

How else are you going to get millions to play a game? It simply has to be accessible.

[Sirk7x]

Overwatch is actually a great example. Like you said, very easy to get into and attractive to customers for that reason, but when you get to higher ranks of competitive play, that game turns into a religion almost lol. Players know every single point of detail about every character. Damage per ability, range, dropoff, cooldown time, hitboxes, upcoming balance changes, lore, etc are all common knowledge. Very dedicated fan base.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I couldn't agree more, after playing alot Overwatch it's simplicity for each character is great, but watching the complexity of high level play is maddening. It's just a really well thought out team-based shooter.

[Gaming4Life1981]

damn cliffy that gotta hurt

[letsa_go]

I bet Cliffy feels like David Jones did when he left Rockstar before GTA3 came out. Cliff probably wishes he was still at Epic working on fortnite!

[slate91]

Unfortunate. I loved that game. Pretty high quality. Not sure if not enough marketing or just trying to go up against the behemoth of overwatch.

[kneon]

I'd say the marketing was inadequate. I hadn't even realized it had been released until several months after the fact.

[kevnb]

Multiplayer games are extremely expensive to make and extremely risky. Even if the game is good, if not enough people are playing it will just die off.

[senorfartcushion]

Publishers always try to steal consumers from certain markets instead of creating their own.

[kevnb]

Great example of how risky and expensive multiplayer games are to make. Single player games are still cheaper to make, less risky and dont depend on having a community.

[senorfartcushion]

Preach!

[rainslacker]

I'd say that the big MP games cost about the same to make as a big SP game. This game was more a mid-tier title.

But its a good example of how not every MP game is a sure thing. Same goes for SP games. The difference between the two though is that a SP game can still maybe manage to at least return the investment over time, whereas a MP game that flops out of the gate is pretty much a total loss.

[Davidgr2]

That’s what you get for copying a good game like Overwatch. This should happen to all those devs copying Fortnite and PUBG.

[FunAndGun]

You really think it was a copy? Overwatch released in 2016. Lawbreakers released in 2017.

It takes more than 1 year to build a video game from the ground up to release. I mean, at least use facts.

Bosskey was formed in 2014. So they just sat in their office until Overwatch released in 2016. Then said let's copy it, built Lawbreakers in 1 year, and released it? I'm not debating if Lawbreakers was good, I'm just tired of the "copy Overwatch" BS.

[dillydadally]

I hear the game isn't even that similar to overwatch if you actually played it. It feels more like a quake or tribes or something.

[KeeseToast]

Of course it was a copy. Battleborne came out before Overwatch and managed to copy it. So why wouldn't they be able to do it in a year /s

[FlameWater]

I love when people who don't give a crap about gaming get ripped off.

[Kumakai]

This game didn’t have a chance. A little market research and testing beforehand would have saved you those millions when you realized no one wanted it even before you made it.

The name is stupid, the characters are stupid and un-likeable or not “cool”. The promotion was weak and didn’t even really explain much to markets and Cliffy B has become a stain in gamers and much of the industry’s minds with his shit attitude and trolling. I hope this was a humbling experience that taught him not to forget where he came from and who helped get him there... before he ruined it.

[senorfartcushion]

It's more than likely this person's fault.

These non-artist douchebag world-killers are who make the decisions and lose all the money.

"OVERWATCH MAKES MONEY. COPY OVERWATCH. I, I MEAN "WE" NEED THAT OVERWATCH MONEY. INVADE THAT ALREADY CROWDED MARKET, THAT SHOULD WORK!!!!"

Artists make the art. These pricks need to stay away.

[kevnb]

yes, this is shareholder type logic and is so wrong.

[senorfartcushion]

Blezinski pitched a game wherein a ragtag group of soldiers have to fight an army of fucked-up-looking dragon warriors.

That sounds a bit more interesting than what we got.

[SierraGuy]

Just create something original new and fun.

In the 8 and 16 bit era every game seemed so original, you never really knew what you were getting into when playing a game for the first time.

This copycat shareholder logic comes from individuals who go home at night and don't game even casually.

Always after a quick buck with the worst possible timing and logic.

[FernDiggidy]

If you would have made a GOOD single player game instead it would have sold great.

TOO BAD

[Elda]

Should have had a single player campaign & it might have had hope.

[deadfrag]

People still comparing Lawbreakers with Overwatch and Fortnite dont know shit and did not play the game ...since the Gameplay of Lawbreakers has nothing to do with those two games.

[Thomaticus]

I wonder if with some updates, this game could be made better. I don't think they should give up on the game.

[Tankbusta40]

Investors... Say it with me now... Cliffy B is like aids... Stay very far away and wear protection when in contact.

[CertifiedGamer]

Lawbreakers is proof that Cliffy B has no creativity. He wanted to brag that he was the big dog behind Gears of War when it was all Microsoft and Epic. He was just someone who worked on it but Gears of War is still as much of an epic game without him. He wants to be a Hideo Kojima, Shingeru Miyamoto but he just doesn't have the skills to make the master peaces they do.

[Benoski]

That's what you get when you release something that's not original enough to stand out from the main competition.