In case you didn’t know, a game based on the hit TV show The Walking Dead was released earlier this month, and was made by the studio that made Payday called Overkill Software. If you didn’t know, well, I don’t blame you. Announced way back in 2014, the Overkill-developed The Walking Dead game has been smashed hard by critics since release.
It seems, it’s a bigger bust than we thought, as the game’s publisher, Starbreeze Publishing, has now released a new report stating that the game under-performed, and that the publisher is now reducing costs due to the high financial risk it took for the game.
Here’s what Starbreeze CFO Sebastian Ahkskog had to say:
“We will not be able to recognize the license fee from 505 Games for Overkill’s The Walking Dead as revenue until after the end of the fourth quarter, while initial sales revenues from the game are lower than expected. This will have negative impact on fourth-quarter earnings, but our target of positive EBITDA for Q4 stands.”
Initial sales revenues for The Walking Dead game are lower than forecasted, with Starbreeze stating that it’s because “the share of sales in low-price countries, such as China and Russia, is significantly higher than expected. ”
Starbreeze Chairman Michael Hjorth does mention that the game has a “pulse of concurrent players” which is important to the game’s future.
“This is disappointing, of course, but we have a base to work with in regards to the number of games sold. We have a pulse of concurrent players, which is essential to future performance within the framework of our Games as a Service concept. The team is working at full capacity to deliver improvements to the game and new content, and Season 2 will be starting soon.”
With this unfortunate news, Starbreeze is now commencing a project to “review operations” and has started a program “reduce costs and sharpen focus on core business,” which are internal and external development. These steps are expected to generate significant cost savings during the full year 2019 compared to 2018.
Are you surprised at all by this news? Should Starbreeze just cancelled the game after being MIA for a few years before being abruptly released this month?
No wonder. The worst game I have played in a long long time. I can’t believe they actually thought this shit would sell.
The walking dead has sucked since it stopped being about zombies and instead became about Negan. I gave up on the series last season because at the end of it Negan wasnt dead so that means less zombies and more pointless drama for the future and I had enough of the soap opera named the walking dead (I was promised zombies and instead I get boring drama…PASS!!!) – Anyway, the game is 4 years too late. Should’ve come out when The Walking Dead was still a show about zombies, instead of people who have zero fear of zombies and fight each other…boring…
So what your saying is you know jack about what The Walking Dead actually was and were just one of those simpletons who started watching it because hurrrrr Zombeez show hurrrrr……Its NEVER been about Zombies, it however has ALWAYS been a “drama” about the end of the world as it was and how the survivors would deal with each other after everything fell….Must have missed key information like The Walking Dead refers to the people NOT zombies….I’m convinced the people who think it was zombies and not drama are like moldy rotton bananas levels of stupid and just though they were getting a horror show rather than what it actually ALWAYS was.
“Overkill The Walking Dead Game”? What the heck is that? No wonder it failed.
i tried to search for Overkill The Walking Dead Gameplay, and youtube is just clugged with some many freaking pricks who talk too much over the damn games!
where are the gameplays with no bloody commentaries!???