Outriders Still Didn't Turn a Profit in 2021, Developer People Can Fly Reports

Outriders Still Didn't Turn a Profit in 2021, Developer People Can Fly Reports

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Matt Lorrigan

Sci-fi co-op shooter Outriders failed to turn a profit in 2021, developer People Can Fly revealed in its latest operations report.

The Polish developer first announced in August last year that it had yet to receive any royalties from publisher Square Enix for Outriders, due to the game failing to turn a profit, despite estimating sales figures at 2-3 million. Now, People Can Fly's latest report says that, as of 31st December 2021, the developer is still yet to receive any royalties from Square Enix, which means that “as at the reporting date net proceeds from the sale of Outriders were insufficient to recover the costs and expenses incurred by the publisher to develop, distribute and promote the title”.

The statement goes one to that that there is no assurance that Outriders' revenue will ever go on to be sufficient for Square Enix to recover its costs back, and that if People Can Fly ever does receive a royalty statement that confirms royalties will be paid, the developer will announce it.

Outriders remains one of Square Enix's only remaining western franchises, following the Japanese publisher's recent sale of its western developers and IP to Embracer Group, including studios such as Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal, as well as franchises like Tomb Raider, Deux Ex, and Thief. Outriders launched in a bit of a messy state, and received a mixed response from critics. However, with a big paid expansion on the horizon, things could still turn around for People Can Fly's latest game.

Comments
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  • It sucks to see that happen to game companies, but maybe they will learn from it. The game was a bland shell of nothing mostly. The game play mechanic was pretty solid, but that's about all it had.
  • @EmptyFibers

    They did improve a lot with the more recent patches. I hated Expeditions after I got the plat and dropped the game. Came back to it a few weeks ago to get the three added trophies and it's so much better without the timers, the endgame actually feels doable without having to grind to be able to hit the times for good gear. Not to mention it feels much more polished and balanced. It convinced me on getting the dlc expansion.

  • I'm surprised SE didn't offload this turkey and the developer when they sold off those other companies last week.
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