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Originally Posted by Julhelm
Well they're making ever more money every year so obviously they aren't mismanaging things. We might think they are mismanaging etc but we're not the target audience for big publishers anymore.
It's like when the milsim crowd whines about how UBI ruined Ghost Recon or Rainbow 6 but the games sell more on consoles than they ever did as PC exclusives, keeping shareholders happy.
SH in itself is just another franchise and franchises exist to be milked to the last drop. I'm just surprised and disappointed UBI didn't let the franchise jump on the modern warfare bandwagon like every other franchise. Could've been interesting.
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I understand what you're saying - any publisher is going to want a broader audience for a series. Look at Skyrim and compare it to Morrowind, for example...the RPG elements have been toned down in favor of action. While I still consider Morrowind to be one of the greatest games ever, I can't fault Bethesda for doing what they did, and the sales figures for Skyrim bear out their design decisions.
But I still say that the Silent Hunter brand was damaged, probably irreparably, by SH5. In an attempt to broaden the audience for the game, some half baked RPG elements were mashed together with sim elements that were rushed and incomplete. The end result is a product that makes no one happy, and consequently sales tanked. If Ubi had allowed/told the devs to stick to the blueprint that SH3 laid out, and update and improve where necessary they may not have increased the audience appreciably, but they would have given the existing fanbase what they wanted and redeemed themselves in the eyes of the customers who made the SH franchise what it is. While that would be great for us as sub sim fans, I think it would have also delivered decent enough sales, which helps the bottom line. I'm a firm believer in the idea that doing right by customers is the best way to profitability.