I wanted to give an in-depth update regarding our recently adjusted Guardians of Orion production forecast.
https://youtu.be/XY1etHdeTqc
Suffice to say, the game did far less than we expected and we have to adjust our intentions for it respectively. To paint a quick picture, I've included some statistics below:
(LAUNCH DAY - COPIES SOLD)
- ORION: Dino Beatdown: 10,141 Copies (May 4, 2012)
- Guardians of Orion: 694 Copies (Dec 1, 2015)
(WEEK 1 - COPIES SOLD)
- ORION: Dino Beatdown: 39,950 Copies (May 4, 2012 - May 11, 2012)
- Guardians of Orion: 3,800 Copies (Dec 1, 2015 - Dec 8, 2015)
(MONTH 1 - COPIES SOLD)
- ORION: Dino Beatdown: 47,025 Copies (May 2012)
- Guardians of Orion: 5,694 Copies (Dec 2015)
(DAY SALES - 2 MONTHS LATER(+/-)
- ORION: Dino Beatdown: 110 Copies (Jun 30, 2012)
- Guardians of Orion: 3 Copies (Jan 28, 2015)
SOME QUICK NOTES:
- ORION: Dino Beatdown had the least # of fans leading up to it.
- ORION: Dino Horde had 50,000+ fans going into it (Dino Beatdown).
- ORION: Prelude had 500,000 fans going into it (Dino Horde).
- ORION: Dino Beatdown sold 50,000 copies.
- ORION: Dino Horde sold 500,000 copies.
- ORION: Prelude sold 1,500,000+ copies
- Guardians of Orion has sold less than 7,000 copies.
- ORION: Dino Beatdown had an average rating of 30%
- ORION: Prelude had an average rating of 70-80%
- Guardians of Orion has an average rating of roughly 90%
@THE BREAKDOWN
1. Guardians of Orion has the most established fan base going into it (2,000,000+ fans)
2. Guardians of Orion had the largest budget.
3. Guardians of Orion had the smoothest release, especially for Early Access.
4. All owners of Guardians of Orion are very happy/satisfied with their purchases.
5. Guardians of Orion typically averages a 9/10 (compared to a 3/10 with Dino Beatdown)
6. Guardians of Orion had the MOST demand for Press out of any of our titles (with little to show???)
A mega thank you goes out to RPGMinx for continually supporting us and a big thanks to BestInSlot for the early support):
TheRPGMinx @ YouTube
BestInSlot @ YouTube
@PROJECTIONS
Guardians of Orion simply isn't selling. We had forecasted initial projections/promises based on our (then) lowest selling products, including the Source Prototype and Dino Beatdown to use as figure-heads. However Guardians of Orion is doing significantly worse than those projections and it just isn't feasible to continue supporting it as we had hoped.
@2012 ERA
In comparison, ORION: Dino Beatdown had at least obtained a budget that allowed us to forecast/project a product for over a years worth of time, just in the first month of sales. There was obvious support and a desire to see a game like this and it was a very easy decision, despite the backlashing. We knew we'd be able to deliver the product we wanted in the afforded time frame.
@MIGRATION
Guardians of Orion hasn't been supported since Day 1, including it's crowdfunding Campaign on Kickstarter (that we still honored) and it's become very apparent on what you all want and don't want. I cannot safely do the same method with Guardians of Orion as Dino Beatdown/Prelude due to being a smaller company and needing to focus on what works and keeps all of those involved afloat and supported. So instead of supporting a product that is dangerous for us to build up, and one that seemingly few people want, we're going to be moving on to our next project sooner than later.
@UPCOMING CONTENT
Before we do that I want to get Guardians of Orion to a certain state, content wise. Because of this we are re-focusing our efforts on Guardians over the next few months before officially migrating to the new FPS and we are going to focus on features that add longevity and community-focus to the game. Here is an overview of what we are scheduled to add to the game before wrapping production:
- SDK/Workshop Support
- Voice Chat Support
- Voting System
- Steam Achievements
- 4-Player Local Co-Op
- SkyFly Real-Time Shopping
- My Guardian Creation
- 4 New Multiplayer Maps
- 6 New Guardians (FREE for Founders)
- Revamped Slaughter Mode
- Gear/Loot/Inventory/Crafting
- Trek Store (Hats, Guardians, Skins)
- Additional Server Support (Europe, Asia)
What's definitely NOT coming includes Vehicles and Strike Missions, which were related/tied together.
@FOUNDERS
As always, we are going to take care of the people who do come out to support us. We wouldn't be here without you and we wouldn't be doing what we do. We have a great Founder Program scheduled for Guardians of Orion and I've detailed it below:
Q: How to become a Founder?
A: Purchase the game before May 1, 2016. Make sure to login to the game servers, otherwise it won't count as we use our back end to tie it all together. After May 1, 2016 the game will be reduced to $1 for NEW BUYERS (AKA Non-Founders).
Q: What do Founders receive?
A: A full list below:
- All 10 Guardians
- 20,000 Store Credits
- Founder Icon
- Gold Armor Skin
- Gold Weapon Skin
Q: What do Non-Founders get?
A: Everything in the base game except they only start with the 3 Starting Guardians (Assault, Support, Recon). The rest will require a premium purchase via the Trek Store (in-game) and will be $9.99/each.
Q: Best time to become a Founder?
A: There is an upcoming Steam Event will Guardians will be marked down significantly for one last opportunity to become a Founder. Don't say we didn't warn you - now is the time to save!
Q: When do you expect to wrap up development on Guardians?
A: With all developers/content producers back on the re-focused Guardians we are scheduled to finish in Q2 2016.
Q: Are you willing to continue supporting GOO if it does well later on?
A: Very possible but we're already looking to the future. If it sold exponentially well we'd of course take another look at it and support those who are supporting us, as we did with Prelude for years.
We are currently wrapping up the February 2016 Update which is packed with new content. We've done a quick teaser video which you can watch below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU6n1Px_dog
We will be showing off this new update officially very soon. Please feel free to ask any questions below or submit them to:
[email protected]