Did Heroes VI Fail Financially? Do we really know? | Forums

[shop5F43AB863]

In my mind, the biggest driver of whether we'll ever see major improvements, like an expansion with another faction or even town screens, is whether there's any money left in this thing for Ubi. But that depends, in large part, on whether the game has sold okay or flopped so far. Do we know the answer to that?

My sense if that the game is a financial failure and that no sane company would poor more resources into something like an expansion, but I really don't know, and the Heroes franchise seems to always have expansions. I'm not sure if I can think of any of the games after Heroes I that did not have at least one expansion.

Are there any good threads analyzing the actual facts about how many copies of H6 sold and whether or not the game has been profitable?

[RottaranOwain]

Well I don't have any hard facts, Ubisoft hired a whole new development team when Black Hole fell through.

Can't imagine they'd do that if the game wasn't profitable.

[shop5F43AB863]

Well I don't have any hard facts, Ubisoft hired a whole new development team when Black Hole fell through.

Can't imagine they'd do that if the game wasn't profitable.

That's a persuasive point.

[Lasharus]

That's a persuasive point.

Agreed. On the other side of the fence, it could also be considered that UbiSoft is putting some extra money into the project as a form of reputation repair - I think nobody has many illusions about UbiSoft's general reputation with their playerbase by this point. However, given that the Might & Magic franchise has always been a bit more of a niche franchise than most of their other franchises, I'll grant that that would seem odd.

I'm going to say 'profitable, and with possible future profits with expansions/DLC on the horizon' being the primary reason as well.

[TDZGamer]

It would be a hard blow for Ubi if Heroes failed. It has been a cornerstone of their brand for over a decade.

[Alkulima]

At least I'm still a potential customer. I've been waiting the whole time for the game to be patched to a proper game (I didn't buy it at launch due to experiences with Heroes V at launch state). I'd imagine that there might be some others who don't want to pay for unfinished product.

Forcing the use of Conflux for full single-player experience might still be a deal breaker to me though; I don't want to vote with my wallet that I'm ok with this kind of copy protection for a single-player game (especially when it dooesn't prevent piracy at all, more like encourages it).

[broui]

In reading various communications from Ubi Reps and doing my best to read between the lines, Heroes VI did well enough but fell short of expectations thus far.

That would not and appears not to have dissuaded the company from continuing to support and likely expand the game. It still has growth potential. Once repaired and balanced and once expanded, this game has the potential to be among the series best and I suspect they sense it.

The frustration created with the divorce from Black Hole has delayed said repairs, balances, and expansions but I think the game will be fine in the end.

[Mettyx]

I think it sold pretty well, and its superb graphics, animations, environments and music made people want for more.

Of course, there needs to be tweaking done and big bugs like this one fixed first before talking about expansions. Bug like that is simply not acceptable.

Otherwise I can't wait for expansions..

[Lasharus]

From what I've seen in the replies thus far, I'm inclined to say that the game, while not... optimal, has been financially successful enough to warrant further work. This is heartening.

Also, Mettyx, could you please stop calling that a big bug that MUST be fixed? The thread you refer to describes an irritating, but minor and non-gameplay influencing bug. If you want to fix BIG bugs, go after things like abilities that still don't work, Arachne essentially breaking the game for anyone using it, and similar. THEN go after the graphics glitches and similar.

Or, as you suggested in that thread, hotfix them instead. Given the track record thus far though, I won't hold my breath for them starting hotfixing anything other than the launch app.