On the note of questions. Myself and
@24Nathan asked a mass of stuff. Here's what we sent to Embracer. Excuse the essay!
I want to ask a few questions related to Shenmue III specifically, as it pertains to your upcoming financial presentation this week, in addition to the preliminary report that the gaming media seemed to pin the end of Deep Silver and the world as we know it on poor Shenmue III. Now, as big of a fan as I am, I can fully understand and accept that Shenmue III may or may not have been a financial success by multiple definitions...I have an open mind. However, a few things bugged me about this report - specifically the amateurish way that a trophy estimation site was used as the sole source of Shenmue III's sales, which the report then basically says is solely responsible for millions of dollars of lost revenue for Deep Silver.
Without further delay, here are my questions:
1. Does the figure given in the preliminary report include the deal from Epic? How did that impact these figures? What was received from Epic and was the original investment covered? Given the Kickstarter funded the initial and largest investment, have costs overall been recouped and has a profit surfaced even if the game has underperformed?
2. Given that the game was a Kickstarter project, we can estimate at least 67k copies (digital and physical, per the numbers recorded on the Kickstarter page) were sent to players via this method. First, is this accounted for in the projections and second, were projections too ambitious given the amount of Kickstarter copies given out? Also, given sales figures for the SEGA rereleases are estimated at 250k - 400k units after 18 months, would it be unfair to compare performance of Shenmue III to these games due to the Kickstarter copies distributed?
3. In terms of marketing, was it found that the strategy was ineffective in pushing the game to new audiences and if so, why? How was Deep Silver looking to market the game to new and old players alike? Should there have been more community engagement from Deep Silver? An example is the videos led by IGN with Yu Suzuki. These videos were effective in telling new players about the game and background, yet these were not translated in good time for the English speaking audience, which is the game’s largest target market.
4. Would it be fair to assume that the PR for the game was ineffective across the entire development? The gaming media were consistently using old assets in their articles, previews, and even reviews. The trailers shown, while appealing to fans, did not show the game in the best light until the final few trailers. This creates an image in the gamers’ mind around the game that is negative and very difficult to change. Should Deep Silver have done more around managing this?
5. We know that the figures Gamstat are often inaccurate, as it is a trophy tracking site. What is the long term projection/expectation for sales of Shenmue III from Deep Silver? Is more accurate data available? The fact that a publicly viewable site like this is what a company as large as the Embracer Group/Koch Media is using to prepare an investor report is incredibly misleading and very unprofessional. With the critical reception around Shenmue being mostly positive despite misinformation floating around since 2015 about funding, timeline, the Epic, etc., why did the company feel the need to launch a figurative torpedo into the game’s narrative in the public eye?
6. Is it fair to label Shenmue III as the reason for Deep Silver’s financials being revised whereas the same methodology the Terminator: Resistance game had only 33k players over the same period, with what looks to be significantly more investment.?
7. The deal with Epic games contributed to a massive PR backlash. Given that other Deep Silver titles have served well on the platform, it is understandable this route was taken. However, a niche franchise like Shenmue can ill afford such negative PR. Is it felt this had a negative impact on the overall performance of the game and in review, would this decision be reconsidered if a similar situation arose again?
What begs the question is how much did Deep Silver really care about the franchise as a whole? Let's review 2017 - release.
1. The 2017 trailer, over one million views on PlayStation’s official YouTube alone. Now, I get the argument for and against but let’s be honest: negative news flows much faster and sticks. Why release a trailer which is basically alpha stage? Environments were fine, but the models curated a mass of criticism. Even fans had to look twice. Was it pressure of the Kickstarter? Or was it Deep Silver pushing? If what we're led to believe is true, Cedric Biscay had a massive disagreement with Deep Silver over this, hence Shibuya Productions not having their name on the trailer.
2. Let’s take the Epic thing out of the PR discussion for a moment. What PR has there been? Media were consistently using old materials, even into release. Why wasn't this addressed publicly? Deep Silver should have come down on this. Next is the community relationship...there wasn't one. We’ve seen community managers on Twitter talking about being involved with the game, where even the most hardcore members of Ys Net’s own affiliated community websites don’t even recognize their name. We’ve seen members not being able to get in touch with Deep Silver/Koch Media regarding the game, merchandise, etc., because of poor communication. It seems crazy not to market the game with the help of the fanbase who know it best., and initially made it possible with arguably the biggest source of funds.
What about the whole embargo issue, another problem the game didn't need?
3. Epic: Now, from a money making sense, it is understandable. But from a PR front, this could well have been one of the single worst things to happen. While most hardcore fans don’t care about using another storefront, the strength of discontent was major among more casual fans and even some hardcore ones. Major titles like Metro could recoup from this, but with a niche title like Shenmue, I fear the reputation has taken such a hit that it will linger for years, which ruined trust with some fans and created more negative press that Deep Silver didn't deal with.
Thank you so much for your work with Shenmue III. I hope to see continued support throughout the release of the remaining DLC and the Steam release of Shenmue III.
