It also, it seems, was a commercial failure.
Despite some initial praise from Square Enix about its solid launch and claims it was an important new IP, that does not seem to have panned out in the long term. I remember hearing a while ago that Outriders still had not turned a profit, and as of this spring apparently, that is still the case. As noticed by TweakTown, on their investor page, People Can Fly has still received zero royalties from Square Enix which were meant to be paid when Outriders turned a profit, when things like development and marketing costs were considered:
“The Group received no royalties from the publisher for the period to March 31st 2023, 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.”
Outriders was also a game that launched as a third party offering on Game Pass, but I’m not sure that was the deciding factor on whether or not the game made money. I doubt it was, and whatever cash Square Enix got from Microsoft is factored in here. It may have even been more than it would have sold otherwise, for all we know.
While initially it seemed that after a positive launch, Outriders 2 would be a sure thing eventually, that seems like it’s almost certainly not going to happen now. This also continues a long tradition of Square Enix struggling with its western developers and partners and failing to produce hits with them. They recently sold off both Crystal Dynamics and Eidos to the now-struggling Embracer group after games like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Marvel’s Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy did not do as well as they hoped. Now, I guess we can add Outriders to that list.
People Can Fly is now working with Microsoft to make a new, unannounced Xbox game, which is quite obviously not Outriders 2. The name is “Project Maverick” and nobody seems to know exactly what it is, but some wonder if it could be some sort of Hexen reboot, as evidenced by Phil Spencer’s recent showcase shirt. Who knows, though.
This is sad. I really did love Outriders and thought it didn’t get enough credit for everything it did well. I would have loved to see it exist alongside a game like The Division as a not-Destiny-but-still-good looter shooter, but it appears it was a one-and-done.
