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[blu]

I think it began with the launch of Moon Chronicles for the 3DS in May 2014, and was cemented with the release of Xeodrifter for the 3DS in December 2014.

Only that Xeodrifter - a competent metroid clone - did not launch in December 2014 anywhere but in one territory - NA. It took RK half a year to localize it to EU (after Jools had been hesitant to even localizing it outside of NA at first, IIRC). I had been anticipating the game for as long as it's been announced, hoping it would reach EU one day and it did, but even I almost missed the EU release - it turned out so stealthy. I cannot comment about Moon Chronicles - skipped it on the DSi as well (not my type of fps).

At the end of the day, I enjoy RK's games a great deal most of the time, but strategic mistakes are strategic mistakes, and indies don't somehow get immunity to those.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I think they did great with Mutant Mudds on 3DS! I loved the game too. Maybe it would have been an idea to follow up with something similar, instead of releasing a not exactly critically praised rework of a DS FPS.

Xeodrifter looks pretty good on the other hand, but when you release it on steam simultaneously, it makes my urge to wait for steam sale or bundle too high to bother about the 3DS version, sorry.

 

[@MUWANdo]

The deal with Xeodrifter was that the game they were working on wasn't going to be done by the end of the year but they were running out of money and couldn't afford to release nothing, so Xeodrifter was something they bashed out in a hurry to bring in some income before Xmas.

I know indies including RK have been lax about PAL releases but in this instance I think they literally couldn't spare the cash for a simultaneous release. The new IARC setup should hopefully change things.

 

[beril]

I thought PC was the hot indie market again. I understand getting frustrated with Nintendo's ecosystem but jumping into the shark tank that is mobile seems like it would only lead to more frustration.

Not really, the PC market is getting as crowded as mobile, or rather Steam is, the pc always was. And I think most of Renegade Kids games are already on Steam and haven't been very successful there.

 

[Doczu]

Well if Moon Chronicles is like Moon on the DS (mediocre at best), then no wonder it didn't sell like hot cakes.

Spoiler

I'm salty the game didn't come out it EU...

 

[Oregano]

Well if Moon Chronicles is like Moon on the DS (mediocre at best), then no wonder it didn't sell like hot cakes.

Spoiler

I'm salty the game didn't come out it EU...

It's an episodic up-res of the DS game.

 

[Kyou]

Bad game with bad word of mouth sells bad.

More at 11.

 

[Infernal Monkey]

Meanwhile the European release of Moon Chronicles is now a mere twelve months overdue.

 

[Doczu]

It's an episodic up-res of the DS game.

Wasn't te supposed to be a second season with new content? To be honest i was quite pumped for a 3DS fps game, but not so hot on a remake of that game (and episodic to add). But i would support the dev to help them make the second part.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

They're not "moving to mobile", for one; Renegade Kid has released on mobile before, and the game discussed in this blog post is a separate venture from RK anyhow.

"The market isn't healthy enough" implies a general downturn that's affecting everyone, which isn't implied in the blog and would be very hard to prove. "We had a fluke hit that we weren't ever able to recreate" seems more apt.

Quoting for new page.

 

[Oregano]

Wasn't te supposed to be a second season with new content? To be honest i was quite pumped for a 3DS fps game, but not so hot on a remake of that game (and episodic to add). But i would support the dev to help them make the second part.

Considering they moved onto Dementium I don't think it's happening.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Wasn't te supposed to be a second season with new content? To be honest i was quite pumped for a 3DS fps game, but not so hot on a remake of that game (and episodic to add). But i would support the dev to help them make the second part.

That was the plan, in the event that the original "season" sold well. It didn't.

 

[whiterabbit]

I liked Mutant Mudds a lot at the time. I bought Xeodrifter on sale and couldn't figure out where to go, so fuck that game.

I think Renegade Kid could benefit from having a bigger development team.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I think Renegade Kid could benefit from having a bigger development team.

They can't afford to pay the one they've got.

I do agree that most of their games feel undercooked and overpriced but none of them are terrible or anything.

 

[Ekai]

This was the guy behind the Dementium games, right? Those were cute. A bit on the nose/cheesy/janky but they had a charm to them. Meowing leeches were especially charming. I can see why it wouldn't have sold well though.

I hope the guy finds success somewhere.

 

[@MUWANdo]

This was the guy behind the Dementium games, right? Those were cute. A bit on the nose/cheesy/janky but they had a charm to them. Meowing leeches were especially charming. I can see why it wouldn't have sold well though.

I hope the guy finds success somewhere.

Dementium (the first one, at least) sold fairly well but it was a traditional publisher-financed game and Renegade Kid didn't own the IP until very recently.

A remastered version of the first Dementium game came out on the 3DS eShop in North America a week or two ago. It's a much better game and a much better port than Moon and worth the $15 asking price.

 

[Oregano]

This was the guy behind the Dementium games, right? Those were cute. A bit on the nose/cheesy/janky but they had a charm to them. Meowing leeches were especially charming. I can see why it wouldn't have sold well though.

I hope the guy finds success somewhere.

I think they also kind of ran into a brick wall because they made their name with visually impressive DS games but weren't able to compete on the 3DS.

 

[Delusibeta]

The fundamental problem is that developers go into developing for consoles/mobile/Steam thinking that is a golden paradise of guaranteed profits, and they then discover that's not the case. There's no such thing as a guaranteed profit.

 

[mclem]

Add that the eShop interface on 3DS is still absolute bollocks and it's not hard to see how a newer niche game like Moon Chronicles would fail(As a 70% on Metacritic in May 2014) vs Mutant Mudds(An 80% in January 2012.)

It's interesting to notice that I recieved a Notification yesterday announcing the release of Terraria and Steamworld Heist on the eShop, two reasonably high-profile titles for the service. I wonder if that's a future long-term plan for getting the word out for bigger releases?

It does make me think that we'll probably see games advertised directly on the OS for NX, as currently happens on Xbox (I'm struggling to think of an equivalent to PS3's general news feed on PS4; I'd expect there to be one, but I can't say I've noticed it if so)

 

[KingBroly]

Dementium (the first one, at least) sold fairly well but it was a traditional publisher-financed game and Renegade Kid didn't own the IP until very recently.

A remastered version of the first Dementium game came out on the 3DS eShop in North America a week or two ago. It's a much better game and a much better port than Moon and worth the $15 asking price.

Huh. I didn't even know it came out. I rarely know when Renegade Kid games come out, tbh.

 

[mclem]

Huh. I didn't even know it came out. I rarely know when Renegade Kid games come out, tbh.

Arguably, that's probably part of the problem.

 

[Mpl90]

It's interesting to notice that I recieved a Notification yesterday announcing the release of Terraria and Steamworld Heist on the eShop, two reasonably high-profile titles for the service. I wonder if that's a future long-term plan for getting the word out for bigger releases?

It does make me think that we'll probably see games advertised directly on the OS for NX, as currently happens on Xbox (I'm struggling to think of an equivalent to PS3's general news feed on PS4; I'd expect there to be one, but I can't say I've noticed it if so)

Nintendo promotes games also by changing the eShop design / music theme for their release. The latest example? Fast on the European Wii U eShop.

 

[mclem]

Nintendo promotes games also by changing the eShop design / music theme for their release. The latest example? Fast on the European Wii U eShop.

I was talking 3DS, but yes, that's also true. The issue there, though, is getting people into the eShop in the first place to see those - which is why I'm curious if that notification is a sign of the future.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Only that Xeodrifter - a competent metroid clone - did not launch in December 2014 anywhere but in one territory - NA. It took RK half a year to localize it to EU (after Jools had been hesitant to even localizing it outside of NA at first, IIRC). I had been anticipating the game for as long as it's been announced, hoping it would reach EU one day and it did, but even I almost missed the EU release - it turned out so stealthy. I cannot comment about Moon Chronicles - skipped it on the DSi as well (not my type of fps).

At the end of the day, I enjoy RK's games a great deal most of the time, but strategic mistakes are strategic mistakes, and indies don't somehow get immunity to those.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I certainly went from anticipating RK's games to not paying attention to any of their new announcements purely because of the issues with PAL localisation.

When your games appear in NA then languish in localisation hell for the best part of half a year or more, with no real word about when - if ever - they will appear in Europe, it's hard to stay engaged, so when they finally do release they've often fallen completely off the radar - and with indie titles in particular that's lethal, as not all of them have access to a decent internal marketing budget or the attention of the platform-holder.

For example:

Mutant Mudds - 6 months between NA launch and EU launch
Xeodrifter - 7 months between NA launch and EU launch
Moon Chronicles - is it even out yet in Europe? It launched in May 2014 in the US and by January 2015 it still hadn't appeared in Europe, so it's at least 8 months+

These are regional delays approaching the worst excesses of the platform-holders or major third parties, but with none of the marketing oomph to make up for it, and it makes it difficult for European gamers to have much confidence or interest in RK's games.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Wish devs would just develop more interesting game before complaining about the market place. It often feels like they think just because they are developing anything for Nintendo systems, they should be guaranteed high enough sales. Thats not how it works.

(time)exclusive and acclaimed titles like Steamworld Heist or FAST underperfoming would be a bad sign...but the last relevant RK title is like 3 years old when there was like no content on the eShop.

Actually as a EU Nintendo hardware owner i havent paid much attention to most of their projects considering how slow they are with getting stuff on our eShop.

 

[JoeM86]

Wait, which apps have ended support since November?

I think the issue with mobile is that a lot of the views on mobile being this big open market are wrong. I've noticed with my friends that they tend to play only one or two mobile games. It's not like Wii, DS, 3DS, PC, PS4, Xbox One, etc, where the attach rate is high. The big wide audience seem to play one or two games(Clash of Clans and Candy Crush) but play them to an almost insane degree.

November 30th: Pokédex for iOS discontinued (though this one is understandable). Went live in 2012.
November 30th: Pokémon Bilingual XY Scope discontinued. Went active April 2015. Died in just 7 months.
Just announced today:
February 29th: Pokémon Style discontinued. Went active February 2015.

Then we have Game Freak's game Solitiba and a crapload of other games ending support because it's just not feasible anymore. Solitiba was quite popular in Japan, constantly having events and everything, but it just wasn't making money so couldn't continue, just like these two.

 

[FreedomFighter]

Ehhhh... Moon Chronicles is not a great barometer to use here. I picked up the first chapter and skipped the latter three. It wasn't that much fun and the DS origins showed through quite a bit. That said, I'm still gonna pick up Dementium Remastered.

Not sure about Xeo-drifter. Picked it up at launch and haven't played it yet. Perhaps these are just two titles that haven't resonated with the fanbase. Not sure whether this says much about the eShop performance itself at all.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

I liked Mutant Mudds a lot at the time. I bought Xeodrifter on sale and couldn't figure out where to go, so fuck that game.

I think Renegade Kid could benefit from having a bigger development team.

Mudds is one of my favorite indie games period.

Their other games are either shitty looking or too simplistic.

Xeodrifter isn't awful but it's the same minimalistic artstyle and not enough variety.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I think they also kind of ran into a brick wall because they made their name with visually impressive DS games but weren't able to compete on the 3DS.

Well, they went from making traditional games with publisher money to self-financed indie games, that's probably the biggest reason why they've never released a game for 3DS that does what Dementium did for DS.

I'm shocked they haven't made a 3D Mudds game, honestly--the original DS prototype was a 3D platformer, and there's definitely a gap in the market for a good indie 3D platformer on 3DS.

 

[Doczu]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I certainly went from anticipating RK's games to not paying attention to any of their new announcements purely because of the issues with PAL localisation.


Moon Chronicles - is it even out yet in Europe? It launched in May 2014 in the US and by January 2015 it still hadn't appeared in Europe, so it's at least 8 months+

The same for me, but with a bigger game - SMT IV. That delay was atrocious...

And no, Moon Chronicles is not out in EU. And that raises many flags regarding the Q1 2016 release of Dementium...

 

[sörine]

Xeodrifter looks pretty good on the other hand, but when you release it on steam simultaneously, it makes my urge to wait for steam sale or bundle too high to bother about the 3DS version, sorry.

Xeodrifter didn't do particularly well on Steam either though (~20k). I wouldn't be surprised if it actually sold more on 3DS.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Xeodrifter didn't do particularly well on Steam either though (~20k). I wouldn't be surprised if it actually sold more on 3DS.

Was free on PS+ as well...so yeah why would i buy a very late 3DS version then ?

 

[@MUWANdo]

And no, Moon Chronicles is not out in EU. And that raises many flags regarding the Q1 2016 release of Dementium...

Nintendo recently adopted a new ratings system called IARC that makes it much faster and cheaper that get your games rated in Europe, Australia, Germany, etc which should mean much quicker PAL releases going forward.

These gaps don't just happen because devs are "lazy" or indifferent to customers outside of NA; oftentimes they simply don't have the money or the time to spare to deal with all the bullshit required for a PAL release and if your games are selling below a certain threshold then you're barely even going to make enough money to break even. It's annoying but if they can't afford it then they can't afford it, y'know?

 

[Cosmonaut X]

The same for me, but with a bigger game - SMT IV. That delay was atrocious...

And no, Moon Chronicles is not out in EU. And that raises many flags regarding the Q1 2016 release of Dementium...

Yeah, SMT IV is my gold standard of "appalling localisation delays" - and I ended up getting that (after being very interested then losing track of it during the delay) only because it got a well-promoted sale on the eShop.

And Moon Chronicles STILL isn't out? Jesus - that's, what, a near-20 month delay? It certainly raises red flags for Dementium and any other RK titles. I've seen the cost/hassle of ratings boards raised as an issue, but when one-man-band devs (ZaciSa's dev, beril etc.) can manage timeous releases of their own titles I don't understand why RK are having such an issue.

Nintendo recently adopted a new ratings system called IARC that makes it much faster and cheaper that get your games rated in Europe, Australia, Germany, etc which should mean much quicker PAL releases going forward.

These gaps don't just happen because devs are "lazy" or indifferent to customers outside of NA; oftentimes they simply don't have the money or the time to spare to deal with all the bullshit required for a PAL release and if your games are selling below a certain threshold then you're barely even going to make enough money to break even. It's annoying but if they can't afford it then they can't afford it, y'know?

See above. There are enough counter-examples to RK's lengthy loc delays now - and from smaller outfits - to make me question the cost/hassle reasoning. Perhaps it is the case that RK operate closer to the bone, but - from my POV at least - it's hurting their chances at success.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

I was talking 3DS, but yes, that's also true. The issue there, though, is getting people into the eShop in the first place to see those - which is why I'm curious if that notification is a sign of the future.

You're talking about a console with a greater than 80% connection rate. Getting people in to the eShop isn't the problem.

I think using Moon and Xeodrifter isn't really that telling. Moon, which I really liked, is mediocre. An episodic FPS with DLC that didn't launch until almost a year later isn't going to help sell any copies. Xeodrifter, which I also enjoyed, was shown off and released before fixing any of the release issues with Moon, squandering good will with the fanbase.

Xeodrifter also sold poorly everywhere.

Hopefully Dementium does well, as it's a much better remake than Moon and Mutant Mudds Super Challenge shouldn't have any problems selling on the 3DS at least. The ports of that didn't do particularly great,

 

[@MUWANdo]

The big issue with Xeodrifter from a preliminary, haven't-even-touched-the-game perspective was the devs spent the entire pre-release talking about how the game was going to be a "bite-size" thing you could beat in an hour or two but then they decided to charge $10 for it, which was never going to work.

Someone brought up Gunman Clive before and that game's a great example of how you can find success just by pricing your game appropriately.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

The big issue with Xeodrifter from a preliminary, haven't-even-touched-the-game perspective was the devs spent the entire pre-release talking about how the game was going to be a "bite-size" thing you could beat in an hour or two but then they decided to charge $10 for it, which was never going to work.

Someone brought up Gunman Clive before and that game's a great example of how you can find success just by pricing your game appropriately.

Yeah, I honestly remember being shocked at Xeodrifter's launch price after how they had promoted it. I ended up waiting for a sale, which is something I try not to do with games I'm really interested in.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

I think the perceived divide of mature Sony/Microsoft vs kiddy Nintendo amongst gamers didn't help the console industry much.

 

[ryseing]

I think the perceived divide of mature Sony/Microsoft vs kiddy Nintendo amongst gamers didn't help the console industry much.

Especially for outfits like Renegade Kid who try to appeal to the mature Nintendo audience.

Wish they would move primarily to Vita/PS4. I think Dementium would do well on Vita, especially since the Vita could use a good horror game.

 

[@MUWANdo]

Renegade Kid has released a few of their games on other platforms including Vita and they've all sold better on Nintendo platforms (particulary 3DS).

They also did a KS for a new Dementium-style FPS for every console and it flopped spectacularly because they don't really have much of a selling point beyond the "hardcore game for kiddy handheld" hook they had for Dementium, among other issues.

 

[whiterabbit]

Someone brought up Gunman Clive before and that game's a great example of how you can find success just by pricing your game appropriately.

Gunman Clive was like 2 dollars if I remember correctly. I like it a lot. It should have been 4 dollars maybe!

 

[7DollarHagane]

I think they would have been better served putting their games out on all platforms and PC.

Mobile won't do much for them either because it's a cutthroat market dominated by the biggest free to play junk. Unless they want to buy some license or make a virtual slot machine type game.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Especially for outfits like Renegade Kid who try to appeal to the mature Nintendo audience.

Wish they would move primarily to Vita/PS4. I think Dementium would do well on Vita, especially since the Vita could use a good horror game.

lol...take a look and Dementium and tell me you really think anyone would give a shit about the game on Vita ? You really think a game that looks like a DS title would somehow do well when Killzone ( probably the most impressive portable FPS) to date bombed on Vita ? Please.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

I think they would have been better served putting their games out on all platforms and PC.

Mobile won't do much for them either because it's a cutthroat market dominated by the biggest free to play junk. Unless they want to buy some license or make a virtual slot machine type game.

Every multiplat they've done has bombed spectacularly on non-Nintendo platforms, aside from the Mutant Mudds mobile port.

 

[balohna]

Jools likes to tweet snarky comments at reviewers that don't like his games, apparently. Renegade Kid has made some solid stuff, but they're definitely hit or miss and it feels like he's blind to the misses. Make a good game and it will probably sell okay.

 

[7DollarHagane]

Every multiplat they've done has bombed spectacularly on non-Nintendo platforms, aside from the Mutant Mudds mobile port.

Their games have always felt very much just "ok" to me. I've never really been very impressed by them.

Maybe a dementium game on steam would have taken advantage of the horror game trend a few years back.

 

[Oregano]

I think they would have been better served putting their games out on all platforms and PC.

Mobile won't do much for them either because it's a cutthroat market dominated by the biggest free to play junk. Unless they want to buy some license or make a virtual slot machine type game.

Quite a few of their games are on other consoles, Pc and/or mobile and from the looks of it none of them have done well.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Every multiplat they've done has bombed spectacularly on non-Nintendo platforms, aside from the Mutant Mudds mobile port.

How well did Mutant Mudds do on mobile though ? I remember it being free or less than a dollar most of the time, while they were charging premium price on 3DS/WiiU.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

How well did Mutant Mudds do on mobile though ? I remember it being free or less than a dollar most of the time, while they were charging premium price on 3DS/WiiU.

All I know is that it did better than the Sony versions and the Steam version. I don't know how well it did.

 

[sörine]

I think they would have been better served putting their games out on all platforms and PC.

That's pretty much what they already do, except they skip Xbox. Only the DS upports stay 3DS exclusive and it's not like they'd be better accepted elsewhere.