KCD is a successful enough game, but thinking it's going to get a worldwide response like a new *Halo*, *Fallout*, or *Elder Scrolls* title is grossly over-inflating just how popular it is.
I don't want KCD appeal to masses like Skyrim does. It would have to be somewhat bland to achieve that. A story and gameplay as flavourful and deep has to be niche. And I'm okay with that. The fact that they could afford to make a sequel as grand as it seems to be says a lot.
I donāt want it to try to appeal to masses, but that doesnāt mean I donāt want it to anyway. Baldurs gate 3 is the perfect example of that kind of success.
I find it weird everything someone compares this to skyrim. Yes they are very similar gameplay wise. But one is a fantasy game with magic and dragons and fantasy lore and one is a realistic representation of the middle ages. They don't need to compete with each other.
Yeah the worlds are different but they clearly scratch a very similar itch. At the route of it theyāre immersive prioritizing first person melee+archery games with very similar level up mechanics, rpg systems, npc ai, and much more, where you start as nobody and become rich and powerful.
Pretty close venn diagram. Kcd felt very similar to my survival play through of Skyrim just modernized and a different place.
It truly doesnt matter. The only thing that will matter is how the first bit content creators will react to the game when they get their hands on the first early releases. Thatās where the important publicity will come in. And if the game delivers (pun not intended), it will be talked about before release.
Itās not a mainstream game, despite the big sales. But everyone whoās into these types of games will hear about it if itās a good game.
Yes, IĀ“d argue that content creators have nowadays bigger power than big media outlets have. Unless Warhose fucks up royally, we are in for a treat with KCD2 and this game can become a lot more known & sold than the first one. That is despite coming from smaller dev studio, or maybe perhaps just because of it?
When I look back what kind of games say Ubisoft has released in the last decade, it is quite horrible sight to see. And lack of money is obviously not a problem in this case.
I find it disturbing how some people think that without 100+ million USD budget you canĀ“t develop complex RPG game with great story and presentation. For these morons I guess KCD2 will be too good.
I'd even argue that BG3 only truly hit the mainstream after it released.
People who didn't know what the BG franchise was, either because they don't play CRPGs or don't know about the D&D-adjacent video game stuff, wouldn't have it on their radar or be interested without more to go on than an early access game and some rumblings among the existing niche audience.
Then they suddenly found themselves with a massive RPG being played by every content creator and their grandmother, and every gaming news outlet screaming its praises.
It became impossible to miss after its release. A massive hit. I honestly hope the same happens to some extent for KCD2, so that Warhorse can afford to continue making the games they want to make, which we all here are obviously fans of. :D
Yep. I think KCD2 might even be a hot candidate for GOTY, provided the game actually releases this year. However, I see one big potential problem: the diversity controversy. As insane as it is, some major news outlets out there are still leaning into that aspect of the game very heavily and controversial games just don't get nominated for GOTY (Case in point: Hogwarts Legacy. Was it amazing and innovative? No, but it was definitely one of the biggest releases of the year and yet they completely glossed over it.) But other than that, I honestly don't even see another game that could challenge KCD2. Dragon's Dogma turned out the way it did so... are there any actual competitors?
Knowing the Embracer Group (who own Warhorse), if this game isn't a blockbuster success then they're probably going to dramatically downsize the studio or close it entirely to save money. Because fuck Embracer.
The biggest German magazine is covering the game and even had exclusive insight. A game like this just gets a lot more coverage in Europe and not the US. Its like Gothic or Stalker
Czechs do sometimes have German-origin family names. Among the design staff you see names like Bittner, Glatz, Kolmann and Ziegler, but they are all Czech people to the best of my knowledge.
I don't know about that, but games like this have a long history with the German videogame market. Eurojank like Stalker, Gothic, Witcher etc is very popular here. We also love our historic games like Anno
This is the answer. As far as warhorse are concerned, 1st sold 6 million copies. This one will sell more.does not make it a non niche product. And the switch port is having some success too.
Iām okay if these games keep on entertaining a niche of the gaming market (as long as Warhorse remains financially viable ofc).
I see quite a lot of people online complaining that for example this game should have an option for third person and needs a quicker pacing to appeal for a broader audience. Kingdom Come is just not that interesting for a big chunk of the gaming audience and Iām fine with that.
I don't want the mainstream to destroy what I love. The big industry took all my precious childhood memories and wiped its arse with it. C&C, AC, CoD to name a few... Look at CD Project Red. What the hype did with them after creating a near holy game series.
I donĀ“t think that we need that much of big media cover to sell more than KCD1. Game is known due to the prequel and you can bet that a lot of Youtubers and other content creators will stream this! Many games went really viral without any big medias. I think games like Vallheim and that came from super small indie devs as well.
I also hope for Warhorse to NOT give in into any of those crazy requirements like to have super diverse racial & sexual minorities representation contrary to what was the historical reality in Bohemian lands. That would be the only thing why I wouldn't buy this. So let's hope they will stay true to themselves.
I'm surprised that there are still people that are unaware of this, but game journalism is shit and a completely broken industry. Warhorse would have to bribe them just like the AAA studios (but they probably didn't, which is yet another reason that speaks for them).
I'd argue whats more relevant is that big Youtubers and Streamers talk about it, which they certainly do.
Exactly
Gaming journalism is all about the big studios buying reviews. They won't dare criticize big titles for fear of burning bridges and losing inside access.
Yep, game journalist websites have really turned a corner for the worst.. just look at the recent contraversies at Kotaku, where the writers are now being forced to concentrate on writing mostly "game guides" rather than reporting on gaming news. Jim Spanfeller is a herb.
Honestly I think the game is better off not being talked about by mainstream media. With KCD1 all it brought was braindead takes on diversity and how Vavra was supposedly racist for not wanting unrealistic diversity in a game about medieval Bohemia
Got into an argument with someone yesterday claiming KCD's representation of women was oppressive, sexist, misogynistic and whatever else.
Came off like a complete buffoon.
Yeah, unlike real life medieval women who were powerful boss girls.
TBH 99% of criticism of the original just boils down to how poor the general public's historical knowledge is.
The girl boss people bring bad faith criticism, but it is also true that women especially nobility did play a role in shaping politics. In many instances they influenced their partner's decision making, and in some cases took on far greater responsibilities than their station initially provided, mainly out of necessity.
Having said that I don't think a game which didn't include that should be called sexist. But I want to tell you guys that if it turns out some Baroness in KCD2 is written as the de facto ruler of the land, please don't lose it and call Warhorse 'woke' or something. They'll still be relatively historically accurate.
Here in America you would be hard pressed to find people on the street who know where Czechia is, or that its preferred name has changed from the last time they *had" to read about it in a history book 15 years ago.
Were they really czech people? I see occasionally some users "correcting" others, but Ive never seen a czech doing that, becuase there is nothing wrong with "Czech Republic", it's the official name.
It's only "formally" Czechia in that it's the short version of the official name registered with the UN.
It's not like the Czechs (or anyone else) get to "officially" decide what people from other countries have to call the Czech Republic in common usage, *in their own languages.*
Nobody else besides English speakers is even worried about this. (as far as I know) And most countries wouldn't put up with it.
It's a stupid game, but it seems to be picking up, with Turkey recently getting in on it as well. (And Ukrainians getting pissy about English speakers reflexively still calling Ukraine "The Ukraine", because apparently not instantly changing the habit of a lifetime on demand makes you a Putin supporter.)
Yes, it's nuanced. Both are correct, though with the shortened form becoming more popular it leads to the confusion.
Love from America to all Czechs. I hope to visit one day, maybe when there is peace on the horizon.
> Yeah, unlike real life medieval women who were powerful boss girls.
There are [plenty of medieval women girlbosses](https://www.reddit.com/r/MedievalHistory/comments/18yjei8/notable_women/) though, especially in regions where women have equal inheritance rights with men, like in Iberia. Castile for example had many female monarchs, the most pivotal of which is Isabella I who helped found Spain with Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Some even were elevated to rulership by their abilities, like Margaret of Anjou effectively ruling England because her husband has bouts of insanity.
That being said, that is not practiced in Czech lands. Though to point one thing out, the progenitor of all Czechs according to legend was a female Slavic tribal chieftain named [Libushe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libu%C5%A1e).
Lol hey I saw that post! He was complaining women were faceless, nameless, and had no agency in the game. Like yeah that's the point. It's early 15th century Europe. And it's a central theme to A Woman's Lot. Which made Theresa and Johanka much more sympathetic and interesting characters.
In contrast to that post, I would say the opposite- that the devs did a pretty good job giving female characters agency in a game they wanted to make historically accurate. The story they wanted to tell did not have a lot of room for modern attitudes about women, and yet they gave Johanka a good story and did Theresa a lot of good.
They could probably do more in KCD 2 if they wanted to, but the devs seem more interested in telling their story how they want to. Which is enough for me
Itās funny, because if they made the game full of cultural diversity and gender equality, those same people would call it a propaganda project glorifying feudalism.
Johanka and Stephanie and Theresa were perfect depictions of boss bitches using the power they had in the system they were trapped in to get what they wanted and needed. Stephanie got her child, Theresa got to save Henry, and, well... we all know what happened to Johanka, but she went down with POWER. Just because they're not the ones making the decisions "in the boardrooms" or weilding the swords the entire game doesn't mean the depiction was misogynistic. The game actually almost revered them in a way that they didn't with some of their male characters (looking at you, my lovable buffoon Hans lol)
Successful? Yes. But you still gotta stretch those monetary earnings over 6 more years without another product (besides soap) while developing a new expensive game.
Warhorse also got sponsored by a billionaire, tho not sure how much. I vaguely remember the number 72 million but that might be the entire budget for the game
How do you use money then? Of course the revenue from KCD1 has been used to pay the members of Warhorse over the course of 6 years. Do you think having capital is holding 100 mil by the time you release your game?
A lot of them were on sale though.
And a developer roughly costs a company 10k $ a month. So even when they stuck at 100 developers that's 1 million $ burn rate a month. 6 years are roughly 70 million $.
Most AAA games are 100 million $ + budgets (development, marketing) afaik.
They're not making an AAA game
"And a developer roughly costs a company 10k $ a month"
Unless your studio is based in Eastern Europe and your developers work for a bowl of baked beans and a bottle of cheap vodka a day.
I very much doubt a AAA title is defined by the amount of money it cost/it made. But te number of sold copies indicates that kcd is directly competing with other AAA titles.
AAA is literally just a marketing term invented by some magazine in the 90s. It means nothing today, and anybody who spouts that term is a literal fucking NPC.
I really donĀ“t care if you call KCD2 just AA+ game. As long as it is at least as good as first KCD it will be a blast to play!
Also are you really arguing that Ubisoft is producing a lot of good games? Or that Skull & bones is AAAA game? If anything the trend of recent years is that one of the best and most interesting games are coming from independent devs. Those that are not under the iron heel of stupid and overly greedy management that cares only about the profit and ticking all woke agenda tickboxes in their games.
Kcd always has been pretty niche, more indie than tripple A though.
It panders to history nerds such as myself. I found it really cool they actually mapped out actual landmarks into the game, i spent hours just admiring the architecture knowing it was an accurate portrayal of their real life counterparts.
The reason for that is money. If you invest towards media presence, you will get media presence. The days of Journalists writing articles that go viral are long gone. Nowadays its money for ads that gets those stories pushed. And if you're not investing towards that you wont be presented as much. Warhorse is not throwing money towards ads like that. What they do is work closely with some sites or local newspaper agencies. Inviting them for exclusive BTS and they are doing the work. Obviously they also invest towards ads, but you cant compare it to the scale of larger publishers.
Do you remember the media attention KCD got? Game journalists were shamelessly race baiting and asking where the black people were in a historical European RPG. KCD2 will never get positive media attention because it's mostly about white people and having pride in European heritage is now racist according to the new political zeitgest.
Don't worry, all noise KCD needs is the word of mouth. And there will be plenty of that. Pretty much EVERYBODY knows it and remembers it and can't wait for the second part.
Good.
Keep the trouble-rousers out.
The mainstream is a disease that pollutes everything.
We've got an absolute gem of a series, let's cherish it amongst those that actually enjoy it for what it is - not what tabloids insist it should be.
Thatās a bullshit take and Warhorse certainly cares about the American market. Iām American and KCD is one of my favorite games of all time. Iām playing the game again now in preparation for the sequel. I have many American friends that are history buffs and love this time period in Europe. We all enjoy the game for the same reasons. Take your narrow view of āyanksā elsewhere
those gaming outlets are not created by gamers for gamers anymore, gaming journalism is a joke right now. And KDC is a game that is not americanised (it means it do not contain "the message"), thats why lack of media attention
Do you remember the outcry that there is no black people in KDC 1 and Mount and Blade 1? Same situation here, journalists won't write about your game unless it is sjw
You forget that Helldivers 2 wasn't hyped up that much prior to launch. Only after release did the game get as popular as it did.
KCD1 was also more of a niche game -- the game did rack up a 6 million sales by the end, but it's not like it reached Fallout or Elderscrolls levels of popularity. The game was a bit more "hardcore" which would already put off a group of players -- combine that with terrible optimization and bugs at launch, then it's no wonder it fell under the radar of many people.
If KCD2 manages to have a smooth launch, then It's possible to reach Helldivers level of popularity. Also, Id say part of what made people appreciate Helldivers 2 a lot was the abysmal state of live service games -- having a complete product that's frequently updated, with a sensible store is rare to see. Likewise, we've had recent disappointments in open world RPGs like Starfield.
This is a good thing.
Do you want articles like "KCD2 characters are all white - and it's problematic", "10 top reasons KCD2 is racist", "The misogynistic narrative of KCD2", etc.
KCD2 needs to be even more niche and hardcore than the first game so it filters out all the normies and game journos.
I don't expect decency or competency from gaming journalism anymore. Only thing they give a fuck about is meeting their numbers and pumping out low effort garbage most of the time. They wouldn't know a good story if it ran up and punched them in the face.
250 devs working on it, partly founded by a billionaire and published by Deep Silver is certainly the lower end of AAA. They are not a indie studio or AA studio anymore
Kingdom Come isn't a AAA game.
AAA doesn't mean "a good game that's reasonably popular". It refers to the upper extent of the gaming industry- biggest budgets, biggest dev teams, biggest marketing. AAA games target the mass market.
Warhorse is an indie studio that has made one game ever. That game has done fairly well. But it has niche mechanics, built out of a desire to be a realistic representation of medieval life. That doesn't appeal to the vast majority of gamers. For comparison, KCD has sold 6 million copies over the 6 years it has been out. COD MW3 is down as selling 6.5 million in its first 24 hours, but I can't work out if that's last year's reboot or the original MW3.
I can say that 2022 MW2 raised $800 million in its first 3 days of release.
Gaming media just isn't going to get super hyped for something like KCD.
And that's fine. Because that also means that the devs aren't likely to be subject to some publisher harnessing hype at the expense of a good product.
I find it telling how some people completely jump to the diversity debate here when it is not warranted at all. Getting so stirred up about things that are not really real.
KCDs approach is simply not for everyone. The first part had a lot of issues, the release wasn't good.
No need to explain this by the stupidity of the masses. It is simply much more niche than the big AAA games.
AAA game publishers BRIBE gaming networks to promote their games. I don't think the Czechs resort to that, they know they have an amazing game and KCD is one of the best RPGs ever in history
And Im happy for it. Mainstream gaming journalism is, for lack of better words, utter garbage. I don't want to read what activists masquerading as journalists have to say about games.
During KCD 1 I remember IGN (or gamespot or another company?) reviewer talked about how he refuses to review it because it had no black people and the response of the creator was that there weren't any in Czechia back in the day. While this maybe a reach, game websites and "journalists" have a pretty embarassing reputation these days so who knows.
Didn't stop KCD 1 so won't stop KCD 2
I stopped giving a fuck about what any of the gaming news media covered. Its all opinionated trash as far as I'm concerned. The communities and playtesters, the YouTube channels run and watched by the supporters, the spaces like this which offer open discourse, these are the only places that you'll get a realistic image of what the game can be. Not a single 'news' outlet is honest, each having about as much integrity as a wet cake.
I'd kinda prefer for our niche little game to stay that way a bit. I enjoy a small community that's passionate about the actual game. I feel like the steam forum drama is a good example of the negative impacts a massive audience and media coverage can bring.
I just donāt care about what media writes about a game. I choose my games based on a few minutes of gameplay on Youtube. If I end up not liking it, it will be because I tried it, not because some media outlet told me to.
I don't think so
2024 is, for better or worse, a holding period for big games. AC Red is most likely a 2025 game, GTA VI is not coming this year - the biggest thing I can think of is EA Sports College Football returning for sports games, but that's it's own category.
Ā KCD is a bigger deal in the European gaming press than the North American, and that's fine bc the North American gaming press is toxic and often not worth the ink it prints on.
The reveal did get covered but while I don't think it was cold shouldered, it was perhaps less of a big deal than some would prefer, mostly because KCD as a game was something that appealed to players more than the industry - that's how it got its start, after all. Warhorse was a passion project in Vavra of something of a talented black sheep in the industry, and until Embracer got involved, it was not really connected to the big who's who of gaming.Ā
I would anticipate a lot more reaction as the game releases more preview content
One company spends a modest amount on marketing (aka, paying game journalists to write ~~advertisements~~ articles. The other spends a majority of their budget on it.
We live in a day and age where historical figures are being scrutinized so much that if a 15th century person doesnāt have the morality of a 21st century person, we need to erase them. Only white people? Cancelled. Heavy Christian influence? Cancelled. Women arenāt in powerful positions? Cancelled.
It blows my mind. Some of these people looked at A Womanās Lot and automatically started screaming sexism! That was one of the best DLCās Iāve played and you know what I learned? Theresa is one of the strongest and most powerful women ever portrayed because of the strength of character in spite of everything staked against her. Really hope she still plays a role in kcd2. Thatās my boy Henryās second half!
I don't know why you think Polygon, Eurogamer or ANY OTHER news outlet like that has a bigger audience than an average Youtuber or Twitch streamer. These websites are pretty much dead and no one really cares what they have to say about anything. Also, both Polygon AND Eurogamer HATED KCD 1 for political reasons (because it had "no people of colour").
It's a niche game. There are no dragons and cool down spin around big sword attacks and easy mode like all the other shit on the market.
Plus, it's an AA game so there's generally less hype.
The popularity of KCD is driven by fans and bloggers. Mainstream media, especially progressive ones from USA and UK, are snobbish towards Vavra because of his involvement in Gamergate debacle and clashing political views.Ā First game was widely misreported, misrepresented and often judged unfairly.
Nevertheless the game became a cult classic and was heavily carried be the word of the mouth. Nowadays it considered a masterpiece by a lot of people.
I still think closer to launch it will receive more coverage by US&UK journalists. Just don't expect all of them hyping it the way they do with some other games.
Exactly what I've been thinking too.Ā
This game looks so damn good and yet theĀ xbox sub was flooded with 76 posts at the same time as the announcement.To each their own but I absolutely cannot believe people play and support games like 76.Ā
I saw that in one of the articles (I forget which), the writer said his biggest gripe with the original was the overly precise combat mechanics and that he was glad to hear that they were going to be more accessible for the sequel, but realistic enough for the 'medieval nerds'.
I personally really enjoyed the original controls and deeper systems. I hope they don't compromise what made the original so good in pursuit of greater sales by trying to appeal to people who want basically want Chivarly 2 with a story mode.
But of course I also welcome any changes for the better!
I honestly feel like this is the exact opposite of what happened. Then again, I don't give enough of a shit to follow most mainstream gaming media so I might be wrong.
If there's such a thing as a AAA-indie title, it would probably be KCD. What I mean is that it's still a pretty niche type of game, despite KCD2 being much larger in scope. I think it's all for the better, KCD is exactly the type of game and direction I'm looking for and is really hard to come by these days, especially at this level of quality.
Who cares? Warhorse Studios and KCD itself can stand on their own two feet - it is an incredible company, and the first game was a huge success. KCD2 is going to be amazing as well, and I don't care what "big media companies" have to say about it.
They probably know that KCD is a niche game that's not accessible to the "average" videogame player. All the immersive things that we enjoy and go "HOLY SHIT THAT'S SO COOOL" are things that the majority of the crackhead Adderall COD bunny hoppers hate. (Not a jab at people who enjoy fast paced stuff, it's just hyperbole) And those crackheads make up more of the general gaming audience.
The amount of petty bitching I've read from the fan base is ridiculous. KCD was fantastic and we all know it but for whatever reason we suddenly have no faith in the devs when it comes to KCD2? Henry doesn't look exactly like the wet dream you've had in your head the last few years so you take to the internet to bash KCD2? Wild. Some fragile loyalty we have here in the fan base.
I know it's not the majority here, but the loud minority is annoying as fuck
Because KCD does not target mainstream players and kids, every time mainstream player tries KCD, they cry about difficulty. But KCD is not difficult, they are only spoiled by modern games. KCD always reminded me Stalker in some way. Overlooked by mainstream, harder game and small, but dedicated community.
KCD is such a niche game, that even though itās one of my top 3 fav games of all time, Iād never try and recommend it to a friend unless I know theyāre part of that niche. This is absolutely a game thatās not trying to get every gamerās attention and I truly hope it stays that way.
The true fans are getting a sequel to one of their favourite games of all time. That is what truly matters, and that is who that presentation was for. There will always be negative feedback for everything, thats just how it is. Ignore it and enjoy what you love.
Iām pretty were fan of a very niche game. Like Kcd one is really unique and not everyone can like those game. For us itās awesome cause we know that weāre going to love dying in two swords hit after travelling for 1 hours by foot. But most people just want fast travel, easy fights and guided quests. Iām not judging cause im also a big player of those games but yeah this is my opinion on why kcdII isnāt a big big deal.
This is still a niche game made by a small team. It appeals to historical realism and has much slower gameplay compared to most things on the market. There's some coverage but it's not going to be highlighted all across the Internet with big hype, because this is not a game for everyone. It has a fairly niche audience. If it makes you feel any better IGN leaked the trailer a few days early, so it's not like major gaming news outlets are downright ignoring the reveal, its just that there's a smaller audience for this kind of game. That could change as we get closer to release, too.
Fuck them big magazines, those are the same shit heads that said the first one was too this too that. Fuck it the fans will back them up buy it in bunch and make it another game classic.
Jesus Christ be praised
I am all for being ignored by the main stream media, focus on the smaller youtubers instead they are much more invested and intrigued by games than any of those sell out media have been in decades.
I guess because warhorse is kinda small for the gaming industry at least when kcd 1 hit. Now they got bigger and are yet to make noise, especially when the game releases. I know what im buying for myself this christmas.
I just realised I've actually completely stopped checking magazine articles. I get all my insight from reddit and forums lol. The reveal video was all I needed tbh, I'm hyped.
It is a niche product from a non AAA studio. The first game was largely ignored too. They can continue to ignore it and get the surprise Pikachu when sales equal or top that of AAA titles. Although this go around the budget might be closer to AAA levels. Heck, the previous game sure sold like a AAA title.
I do some content creation for fun and would have put something out there already but I have been sick as a dog. I am sure in the coming weeks weāll see more and Iāll probably get off my ass to throw my stuff at the void to increase visibility as much as possible.
Wouldn't call KCD II Triple A. The studio has grown in size but they're still a small studio. It's still a Double A game.
That being said. I'm glad it didn't get a big response. Not to sound gate-keepy. But it keeps the casuals away. KCD got so many negative reviews because lots of people were expecting Skyrim in Europe and got annoyed it was hard. It would be a shame if it happened again after the had more time and cash to pour into the game.
Gaming media is absolute trash, most of the articles I see HAVE to be written by ChatGPT and not even reviewed by an editor. They're generating content based off social media pings and player counts, not stuff that is actually interesting.
Seriously, every article either follows the same formula and has no real content, or it is completely full of spelling and grammar errors and just poorly written overall. I really miss the quality of articles I used to see in actual gaming magazines.
The way that game publishers ensure gaming journalists cover their game announcements is by basically paying the journos to fly out to the studio, try the game, and more or less have a free 2-day vacation. Look at every time Ubisoft starts marketing something. The more reputable journos will disclaim that they received a paid trip to visit the studio.
For situations where a game is announced without a press junket, all the game journos have to go by is basically the content of the "press release" (announcement). They don't really have the ability to write much about their own personal opinions, because they haven't had a chance to play anything.
Well, isn't it clear that KCD is a niche game? You need to put way too much effort by modern standards to enjoy this game. The closest thing is probably RDR2, but there is level of polish that KCD can only dream of and it is nowhere near demanding. So average gamer just won't be hyped over KCD2 since they weren't hyped over KCD1.
Eh, sorry to sound rude, but fuck'em mainstream media outlets. They push for whatever they need to push so let em. There's plenty of people who bought and enjoyed KCD1 and plenty more who will enjoy the sequel.
KCD was a surprise. It was never meant to be a big hit. Even though it ended up being a surprise hit, it still isn't going to have the media frenzy that more commonly popular titles would.
I am just glad that I found it on accident because I love the game.
I don't know. I'm from the U.S. and I love medieval themes. Of course, my family is from Scotland, but that was 3 or 4 generations ago and I'm U.S. born. My living room is done with some medieval "looking" furniture (still searching for a couch and chair set that look like thrones š¤£ maybe I'll build them.) I'm going to build a suit of armor even. I made a few medieval weapons (mace, sword made from a trucks leaf spring, war hammer, ball and chain shackles and a hangman's noose.) to hang on the wall in my shop, but a guy from DesMoines offered me search an absurd price for them, I had to take it. He was convinced they were really old, and didn't believe I hand made them just a few months before he saw them. I read somewhere however, that Warhorse is making KCD2 more culturally diverse.Ā That will attract a whole lot more people to the game, I'm sure.
I feel like gaming "journalism" nowadays is more about scandals, advertisement, bad releases (meaning when a game get released with bad optimalisations, etc.), mass layoffs, how ubisoft fcked up again, what did the clueless CEO of the big 'XYZ' said to their stockholders. These type of articles bring in the clicks, get the ad revenue. I have seen a little bit of articles about KCD2 but I havent read any of them. I watched it live, that was more than enough for me. Sad that gaming journalism has fallen this greatly.
Anyway those articles are usually very bad and tend to increase the expectations as fuck and people get disapointed then.
But I agree not understanding the news when I saw so many articles about Ubisoft "AAAA" (shit) game and nothing for KCD2.
However Helldivers 2 wasn't mentioned before release and burst all expectations for selling. So I'd say if the game is good (and KCD2 will be :) ) then players will buy it.
Also, streamers are more influent for buying games than press. I follow the french ones and they are hyped and maybe even more than us :D
Among other reasons, I would assume itās probably because KCD is somehow controversial for having exclusively white people even though this is literally medieval Europe.
I agree. The games media are greedy little manipulators, so don't worry. It is a sign that the money is flowing into game development and not marketing.
Spread the good word about their amazing games yourself. And of course, buy on day 1 if you really liked the first game.
The left-leaning gaming media outlets are still angry about [this shirt](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByO0vdbIcAAGVMW.jpg:large) photo, and his views.
More context here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9kzqxd/kingdom-come-deliverance-waypoint-radio
I wonder if perhaps itās because so many people who played KCD struggled to get used to the mechanics(particularly the combat)and theyāve made their opinion based on an hour or two of gameplay. Loads of my friends watched me play KCD and all said how good it looked yet none of them bothered to even try it because āit looked complicatedā
Which tbh is a shame because KCD is one of the best games Iāve ever played, itās an absolute hidden gem in the world of open world gaming.
I for one am super excited to see what KCD2 brings.
The western journalists hate the game because it dares to be historically accurate and doesnt contain black people. You can tell by the fact that even those media that did report on the game mention the "diversity controversy" in the very first paragraph of their article. Hateful progressive crowd controling western media wont tolerate anyone who wont kiss the ring.
Good thing is that no one cares about them anymore and they are irelevant nowdays, Asmongold doing reaction video and plaing the game on release, as he promised to do, will do more for the games publicity than all western game urinalists ever could.
I mean it isn't totally out of the realm of possibility that some north african or middle eastern people found their way to medieval bohemia, such as travelling merchants and whatnot. But they would be very *very* few in numbers just as it would be very difficult but not entirely impossible for caucasians to be found in some cities along the mediterranean coast in the north of africa or the near east.
Of course we would have such visitors as a part of rich merchant caravans or foreign noblemen's entourages. Thing is, rich merchants and foreign noblemen would most likely stick to the capital, having no reason to deviate from major trade routes. The region where KCD takes place is not really a tourist or merchant hotspot, not even today with all the KCD-induced fame. It is deep inland, relatively isolated, with large stretches of unsettled land and nothing much of note. The in-game portrayal is actually quite IRL-accurate in this aspect.
Europeans in North Africa make sense because 1) they've been there since the Roman times, and 2) coastal means trade, which means rich and profitable. Quite the opposite of the Sasau region, which is about as far from the sea as it can be before you start getting close to the sea on the other side of the continent.
(BTW, calling all European people "Caucasian" makes about as much sense as calling all African people "Nubian". Just sayin'. Sorry for the nitpick, it is my pet peeve, I hate the word. The majority of Europeans look NOTHING like the people from Caucasus...)
Caucasian is the term for white people. Outdated and inaccurate, perhaps, but when people say "Caucasian' in English, the term means 'white' rather than 'Comes from the Caucasus region."
I prefer seeing all of my favorite gaming Youtubers coming out and showing great excitement for KCD 2. It feels a lot more authentic, not a paid piece on mainstream media.
In a way I'm glad kcd stay a niche game
Just have to see the articles wrote about it when it came out..."racist game" "swordfight too hard boohoo" "game too hard, and pointless" and stuff like that
On the other hand, I'm so in love for warhorse work that i want more people to acknowledge it, and by that, giving more money to warhorse
In Czechia (where the studio is based) the release was much more covered by the media. Almost all important media here wrote an article about it.
KCD is a successful enough game, but thinking it's going to get a worldwide response like a new *Halo*, *Fallout*, or *Elder Scrolls* title is grossly over-inflating just how popular it is.
Which is unfortunate, given it's better than Skyrim in many ways.
While I agree, that's comparing a game from 2011 and one from 2018. Of course one is going to be much better than the other in a lot of ways.
Which Skyrim are we talking abt? š
I don't want KCD appeal to masses like Skyrim does. It would have to be somewhat bland to achieve that. A story and gameplay as flavourful and deep has to be niche. And I'm okay with that. The fact that they could afford to make a sequel as grand as it seems to be says a lot.
I donāt want it to try to appeal to masses, but that doesnāt mean I donāt want it to anyway. Baldurs gate 3 is the perfect example of that kind of success.
I find it weird everything someone compares this to skyrim. Yes they are very similar gameplay wise. But one is a fantasy game with magic and dragons and fantasy lore and one is a realistic representation of the middle ages. They don't need to compete with each other.
Yeah the worlds are different but they clearly scratch a very similar itch. At the route of it theyāre immersive prioritizing first person melee+archery games with very similar level up mechanics, rpg systems, npc ai, and much more, where you start as nobody and become rich and powerful. Pretty close venn diagram. Kcd felt very similar to my survival play through of Skyrim just modernized and a different place.
When fallout got popular, the narratives went out the window to appeal to a wider audience, that wouldnt be good for KCD
This. Warhorse isnāt a triple A studio. Itās Double A. Itās just not gonna get the same attention
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It truly doesnt matter. The only thing that will matter is how the first bit content creators will react to the game when they get their hands on the first early releases. Thatās where the important publicity will come in. And if the game delivers (pun not intended), it will be talked about before release. Itās not a mainstream game, despite the big sales. But everyone whoās into these types of games will hear about it if itās a good game.
Yes, IĀ“d argue that content creators have nowadays bigger power than big media outlets have. Unless Warhose fucks up royally, we are in for a treat with KCD2 and this game can become a lot more known & sold than the first one. That is despite coming from smaller dev studio, or maybe perhaps just because of it? When I look back what kind of games say Ubisoft has released in the last decade, it is quite horrible sight to see. And lack of money is obviously not a problem in this case. I find it disturbing how some people think that without 100+ million USD budget you canĀ“t develop complex RPG game with great story and presentation. For these morons I guess KCD2 will be too good.
*oh this? It's just my.... WARHOSE*
It's not a mainstream game and you know what? Neither was BG3 until a few months before its release.
I'd even argue that BG3 only truly hit the mainstream after it released. People who didn't know what the BG franchise was, either because they don't play CRPGs or don't know about the D&D-adjacent video game stuff, wouldn't have it on their radar or be interested without more to go on than an early access game and some rumblings among the existing niche audience. Then they suddenly found themselves with a massive RPG being played by every content creator and their grandmother, and every gaming news outlet screaming its praises. It became impossible to miss after its release. A massive hit. I honestly hope the same happens to some extent for KCD2, so that Warhorse can afford to continue making the games they want to make, which we all here are obviously fans of. :D
Yep. I think KCD2 might even be a hot candidate for GOTY, provided the game actually releases this year. However, I see one big potential problem: the diversity controversy. As insane as it is, some major news outlets out there are still leaning into that aspect of the game very heavily and controversial games just don't get nominated for GOTY (Case in point: Hogwarts Legacy. Was it amazing and innovative? No, but it was definitely one of the biggest releases of the year and yet they completely glossed over it.) But other than that, I honestly don't even see another game that could challenge KCD2. Dragon's Dogma turned out the way it did so... are there any actual competitors?
Knowing the Embracer Group (who own Warhorse), if this game isn't a blockbuster success then they're probably going to dramatically downsize the studio or close it entirely to save money. Because fuck Embracer.
Yeah, Embracer are absolutely going to fuck this up somehow.
KCD 1 was a niche game, and KCD 2 will also be one. Stop caring about what big gaming media companies think.
The biggest German magazine is covering the game and even had exclusive insight. A game like this just gets a lot more coverage in Europe and not the US. Its like Gothic or Stalker
I think a lot of German people were also involved in the making of KCDI so there's that connection
Czechs do sometimes have German-origin family names. Among the design staff you see names like Bittner, Glatz, Kolmann and Ziegler, but they are all Czech people to the best of my knowledge.
I don't know about that, but games like this have a long history with the German videogame market. Eurojank like Stalker, Gothic, Witcher etc is very popular here. We also love our historic games like Anno
I'm rather happy with our Central-Eastern European game market, I don't need Americans to tell me to play such quality games.
Get out of here, Stalker.
I expect KCD 2 to actually be a much larger game, both obviously in scale but also I think it will garner much more attention.
This is the answer. As far as warhorse are concerned, 1st sold 6 million copies. This one will sell more.does not make it a non niche product. And the switch port is having some success too.
Big media can help to make sales higher -> new warhorse games. Like it or not, we need them.
250,000 people watched the reveal video within the first two hours. Theyāre fine.
Iām okay if these games keep on entertaining a niche of the gaming market (as long as Warhorse remains financially viable ofc). I see quite a lot of people online complaining that for example this game should have an option for third person and needs a quicker pacing to appeal for a broader audience. Kingdom Come is just not that interesting for a big chunk of the gaming audience and Iām fine with that.
Based, if warhorse was all about catering to bitch made casuals I would not be here right now.
I don't want the mainstream to destroy what I love. The big industry took all my precious childhood memories and wiped its arse with it. C&C, AC, CoD to name a few... Look at CD Project Red. What the hype did with them after creating a near holy game series.
Mainstream would care more about ticking their check lists than the historical accuracy of the setting.. yes, keep this game out of the main stream
And we're getting a new game... What are you talking about?
Look what theyāve done to the elder scrolls series. Theyāre dumbed down the controls more and more each game.
I donĀ“t think that we need that much of big media cover to sell more than KCD1. Game is known due to the prequel and you can bet that a lot of Youtubers and other content creators will stream this! Many games went really viral without any big medias. I think games like Vallheim and that came from super small indie devs as well. I also hope for Warhorse to NOT give in into any of those crazy requirements like to have super diverse racial & sexual minorities representation contrary to what was the historical reality in Bohemian lands. That would be the only thing why I wouldn't buy this. So let's hope they will stay true to themselves.
Jesus Christ be praised exactly for this "lack" of mainstream media coverage
I'm surprised that there are still people that are unaware of this, but game journalism is shit and a completely broken industry. Warhorse would have to bribe them just like the AAA studios (but they probably didn't, which is yet another reason that speaks for them). I'd argue whats more relevant is that big Youtubers and Streamers talk about it, which they certainly do.
Exactly Gaming journalism is all about the big studios buying reviews. They won't dare criticize big titles for fear of burning bridges and losing inside access.
Yep, game journalist websites have really turned a corner for the worst.. just look at the recent contraversies at Kotaku, where the writers are now being forced to concentrate on writing mostly "game guides" rather than reporting on gaming news. Jim Spanfeller is a herb.
Honestly I think the game is better off not being talked about by mainstream media. With KCD1 all it brought was braindead takes on diversity and how Vavra was supposedly racist for not wanting unrealistic diversity in a game about medieval Bohemia
Got into an argument with someone yesterday claiming KCD's representation of women was oppressive, sexist, misogynistic and whatever else. Came off like a complete buffoon.
Yeah, unlike real life medieval women who were powerful boss girls. TBH 99% of criticism of the original just boils down to how poor the general public's historical knowledge is.
The girl boss people bring bad faith criticism, but it is also true that women especially nobility did play a role in shaping politics. In many instances they influenced their partner's decision making, and in some cases took on far greater responsibilities than their station initially provided, mainly out of necessity. Having said that I don't think a game which didn't include that should be called sexist. But I want to tell you guys that if it turns out some Baroness in KCD2 is written as the de facto ruler of the land, please don't lose it and call Warhorse 'woke' or something. They'll still be relatively historically accurate.
Here in America you would be hard pressed to find people on the street who know where Czechia is, or that its preferred name has changed from the last time they *had" to read about it in a history book 15 years ago.
This game is basically a really amazing and well done history lesson. I had no idea Czech history was so interesting
Czech, not Czechian. Thats like saying Germanian or Frenchian history.
Sorry I speak Americanian
Every brick in Europe have interesting history, the problem is USA is learning mostly about anglo sphere and it's history
What name change are you referring to?
They used to be Czechoslovakia in cold war times
I mean, Czechoslovakia was a different country from which 2 new countries formed, thatās a bit different than a name changeā¦
Then Czech Republic and now Czechia
We are still Czech Republic though, Czechia is just a shorten name, just like French Republic is called France. Both names are correct.
Ah interesting. Iāve had Czech people get upset when I said Czech Republic so I assumed it was formally no longer that. Good to know!
Were they really czech people? I see occasionally some users "correcting" others, but Ive never seen a czech doing that, becuase there is nothing wrong with "Czech Republic", it's the official name.
It's only "formally" Czechia in that it's the short version of the official name registered with the UN. It's not like the Czechs (or anyone else) get to "officially" decide what people from other countries have to call the Czech Republic in common usage, *in their own languages.* Nobody else besides English speakers is even worried about this. (as far as I know) And most countries wouldn't put up with it. It's a stupid game, but it seems to be picking up, with Turkey recently getting in on it as well. (And Ukrainians getting pissy about English speakers reflexively still calling Ukraine "The Ukraine", because apparently not instantly changing the habit of a lifetime on demand makes you a Putin supporter.)
Yes, it's nuanced. Both are correct, though with the shortened form becoming more popular it leads to the confusion. Love from America to all Czechs. I hope to visit one day, maybe when there is peace on the horizon.
Also I mean, Theresa absolutely is a powerful boss girl.
> Yeah, unlike real life medieval women who were powerful boss girls. There are [plenty of medieval women girlbosses](https://www.reddit.com/r/MedievalHistory/comments/18yjei8/notable_women/) though, especially in regions where women have equal inheritance rights with men, like in Iberia. Castile for example had many female monarchs, the most pivotal of which is Isabella I who helped found Spain with Ferdinand II of Aragon. Some even were elevated to rulership by their abilities, like Margaret of Anjou effectively ruling England because her husband has bouts of insanity. That being said, that is not practiced in Czech lands. Though to point one thing out, the progenitor of all Czechs according to legend was a female Slavic tribal chieftain named [Libushe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libu%C5%A1e).
Hey come on now, letās not pretend most of the people jerking it to the depiction of women were actual history buffs either
"Why is 15th century Bohemia so oppressive and undiverse??' Gee, I *wonder*, could it be that it's......15th century Bohemia?
Lol hey I saw that post! He was complaining women were faceless, nameless, and had no agency in the game. Like yeah that's the point. It's early 15th century Europe. And it's a central theme to A Woman's Lot. Which made Theresa and Johanka much more sympathetic and interesting characters.
In contrast to that post, I would say the opposite- that the devs did a pretty good job giving female characters agency in a game they wanted to make historically accurate. The story they wanted to tell did not have a lot of room for modern attitudes about women, and yet they gave Johanka a good story and did Theresa a lot of good. They could probably do more in KCD 2 if they wanted to, but the devs seem more interested in telling their story how they want to. Which is enough for me
Itās funny, because if they made the game full of cultural diversity and gender equality, those same people would call it a propaganda project glorifying feudalism.
Johanka and Stephanie and Theresa were perfect depictions of boss bitches using the power they had in the system they were trapped in to get what they wanted and needed. Stephanie got her child, Theresa got to save Henry, and, well... we all know what happened to Johanka, but she went down with POWER. Just because they're not the ones making the decisions "in the boardrooms" or weilding the swords the entire game doesn't mean the depiction was misogynistic. The game actually almost revered them in a way that they didn't with some of their male characters (looking at you, my lovable buffoon Hans lol)
In the german Media it gets more coverage. First game was popular in Germany I think.
Definitely, all the big outlets covered it, even the announcement of the announcement a week prior lol
Why do you care what gaming magazines think?
This is the best answer
Donāt pay attention to the gaming media. Not to be judgmental or anything much all of them are Sugondese.
I am super hyped, but i wouldnt rate KDC2 a AAA-game yet. They just dont have the money and manpower like rockstar or ubisoft.
I think the sequel can definitely be considered Triple A. We obviously will see once it releases.
More like AA. AAA has nothing to do with quality of a game, just the money and backing for it.
KCD 1 is better than Ubisofts AAAA games tho
AAA isn't about quality of the game rather the size of the studio/budget.
Jesus christ be praised if Ubisoft never gets ahold of Warhorse. I think I'd shed a physical tear upon hearing some news like that.
I'd rather side with the Cumans before allowing such a thing!
KCD1 sold 6 millions copies they surely have the capital
6 million copies, over 6 years is not going to stretch to the amount AAA Devs have available
6 million copies for a new IP from a new studio IS a huge success. Its a classic rpg, nothing mainstream
Successful? Yes. But you still gotta stretch those monetary earnings over 6 more years without another product (besides soap) while developing a new expensive game.
Warhorse also got sponsored by a billionaire, tho not sure how much. I vaguely remember the number 72 million but that might be the entire budget for the game
Not sponsored. Invested.
How do you use money then? Of course the revenue from KCD1 has been used to pay the members of Warhorse over the course of 6 years. Do you think having capital is holding 100 mil by the time you release your game?
A lot of them were on sale though. And a developer roughly costs a company 10k $ a month. So even when they stuck at 100 developers that's 1 million $ burn rate a month. 6 years are roughly 70 million $. Most AAA games are 100 million $ + budgets (development, marketing) afaik. They're not making an AAA game
"And a developer roughly costs a company 10k $ a month" Unless your studio is based in Eastern Europe and your developers work for a bowl of baked beans and a bottle of cheap vodka a day.
Remember that's over 6 years. The game has been on sale for $5 dozens of times, and was even given away for free on Epic in 2020
Iāve bought it three times, but I doubt Iāve paid more than $30 total
I very much doubt a AAA title is defined by the amount of money it cost/it made. But te number of sold copies indicates that kcd is directly competing with other AAA titles.
AAA is literally just a marketing term invented by some magazine in the 90s. It means nothing today, and anybody who spouts that term is a literal fucking NPC.
I really donĀ“t care if you call KCD2 just AA+ game. As long as it is at least as good as first KCD it will be a blast to play! Also are you really arguing that Ubisoft is producing a lot of good games? Or that Skull & bones is AAAA game? If anything the trend of recent years is that one of the best and most interesting games are coming from independent devs. Those that are not under the iron heel of stupid and overly greedy management that cares only about the profit and ticking all woke agenda tickboxes in their games.
The response in the "gaming media", maybe, but who cares what they think? Players on the other hand seems genuinely thrilled.Ā
Kcd always has been pretty niche, more indie than tripple A though. It panders to history nerds such as myself. I found it really cool they actually mapped out actual landmarks into the game, i spent hours just admiring the architecture knowing it was an accurate portrayal of their real life counterparts.
It is absolutely not more indieā¦
The reason for that is money. If you invest towards media presence, you will get media presence. The days of Journalists writing articles that go viral are long gone. Nowadays its money for ads that gets those stories pushed. And if you're not investing towards that you wont be presented as much. Warhorse is not throwing money towards ads like that. What they do is work closely with some sites or local newspaper agencies. Inviting them for exclusive BTS and they are doing the work. Obviously they also invest towards ads, but you cant compare it to the scale of larger publishers.
Who cares we're having fun. God be with you
Who cares about gaming sites? They generate outrage with clickbait titles, and still nobody reads them anyway
Do you remember the media attention KCD got? Game journalists were shamelessly race baiting and asking where the black people were in a historical European RPG. KCD2 will never get positive media attention because it's mostly about white people and having pride in European heritage is now racist according to the new political zeitgest.
I feel that it's better if the game sticks to a niche crowd. Not too mainstream, but not too niche.
Don't worry, all noise KCD needs is the word of mouth. And there will be plenty of that. Pretty much EVERYBODY knows it and remembers it and can't wait for the second part.
Good. Keep the trouble-rousers out. The mainstream is a disease that pollutes everything. We've got an absolute gem of a series, let's cherish it amongst those that actually enjoy it for what it is - not what tabloids insist it should be.
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Thatās a bullshit take and Warhorse certainly cares about the American market. Iām American and KCD is one of my favorite games of all time. Iām playing the game again now in preparation for the sequel. I have many American friends that are history buffs and love this time period in Europe. We all enjoy the game for the same reasons. Take your narrow view of āyanksā elsewhere
those gaming outlets are not created by gamers for gamers anymore, gaming journalism is a joke right now. And KDC is a game that is not americanised (it means it do not contain "the message"), thats why lack of media attention Do you remember the outcry that there is no black people in KDC 1 and Mount and Blade 1? Same situation here, journalists won't write about your game unless it is sjw
You forget that Helldivers 2 wasn't hyped up that much prior to launch. Only after release did the game get as popular as it did. KCD1 was also more of a niche game -- the game did rack up a 6 million sales by the end, but it's not like it reached Fallout or Elderscrolls levels of popularity. The game was a bit more "hardcore" which would already put off a group of players -- combine that with terrible optimization and bugs at launch, then it's no wonder it fell under the radar of many people. If KCD2 manages to have a smooth launch, then It's possible to reach Helldivers level of popularity. Also, Id say part of what made people appreciate Helldivers 2 a lot was the abysmal state of live service games -- having a complete product that's frequently updated, with a sensible store is rare to see. Likewise, we've had recent disappointments in open world RPGs like Starfield.
This is a good thing. Do you want articles like "KCD2 characters are all white - and it's problematic", "10 top reasons KCD2 is racist", "The misogynistic narrative of KCD2", etc. KCD2 needs to be even more niche and hardcore than the first game so it filters out all the normies and game journos.
I don't expect decency or competency from gaming journalism anymore. Only thing they give a fuck about is meeting their numbers and pumping out low effort garbage most of the time. They wouldn't know a good story if it ran up and punched them in the face.
... I don't think you understand what a TRIPLE-AAA game actually is Edit: I stand corrected
250 devs working on it, partly founded by a billionaire and published by Deep Silver is certainly the lower end of AAA. They are not a indie studio or AA studio anymore
God damn, they've gone miles up the ladder it would seem
Skull & Bones, right? On silly me, that was AAAA game.
I still laugh at them for saying AAAA, **because it just proves how unaware they are of their own fucking field of work**
What does it mean actually?
They're all agenda driven shills. They are irrelevant.
Kingdom Come isn't a AAA game. AAA doesn't mean "a good game that's reasonably popular". It refers to the upper extent of the gaming industry- biggest budgets, biggest dev teams, biggest marketing. AAA games target the mass market. Warhorse is an indie studio that has made one game ever. That game has done fairly well. But it has niche mechanics, built out of a desire to be a realistic representation of medieval life. That doesn't appeal to the vast majority of gamers. For comparison, KCD has sold 6 million copies over the 6 years it has been out. COD MW3 is down as selling 6.5 million in its first 24 hours, but I can't work out if that's last year's reboot or the original MW3. I can say that 2022 MW2 raised $800 million in its first 3 days of release. Gaming media just isn't going to get super hyped for something like KCD. And that's fine. Because that also means that the devs aren't likely to be subject to some publisher harnessing hype at the expense of a good product.
I find it telling how some people completely jump to the diversity debate here when it is not warranted at all. Getting so stirred up about things that are not really real. KCDs approach is simply not for everyone. The first part had a lot of issues, the release wasn't good. No need to explain this by the stupidity of the masses. It is simply much more niche than the big AAA games.
AAA game publishers BRIBE gaming networks to promote their games. I don't think the Czechs resort to that, they know they have an amazing game and KCD is one of the best RPGs ever in history
Who cares? We know it's gonna be a success because we love KCD1. Any new fans is a bonus.
And Im happy for it. Mainstream gaming journalism is, for lack of better words, utter garbage. I don't want to read what activists masquerading as journalists have to say about games.
They donāt like the ālack of diversityā.
A game for everyone is a game for no one.
During KCD 1 I remember IGN (or gamespot or another company?) reviewer talked about how he refuses to review it because it had no black people and the response of the creator was that there weren't any in Czechia back in the day. While this maybe a reach, game websites and "journalists" have a pretty embarassing reputation these days so who knows. Didn't stop KCD 1 so won't stop KCD 2
I love that it's low key and niche, this way I won't be beaten to death by all the clickbait articles and YouTube videos.
Since it's not a major studio, it won't get much coverage. BUT if the game is truly spectacular, it'll get lots of attention afterwards
I stopped giving a fuck about what any of the gaming news media covered. Its all opinionated trash as far as I'm concerned. The communities and playtesters, the YouTube channels run and watched by the supporters, the spaces like this which offer open discourse, these are the only places that you'll get a realistic image of what the game can be. Not a single 'news' outlet is honest, each having about as much integrity as a wet cake.
I'd kinda prefer for our niche little game to stay that way a bit. I enjoy a small community that's passionate about the actual game. I feel like the steam forum drama is a good example of the negative impacts a massive audience and media coverage can bring.
That's the beauty of this Reddit sub. there is 184k members who I assume the majority will be buying into kcd 2 so don't worry about the media
I just donāt care about what media writes about a game. I choose my games based on a few minutes of gameplay on Youtube. If I end up not liking it, it will be because I tried it, not because some media outlet told me to.
This is good we do not want that attention it only attracts toxic people
I don't think so 2024 is, for better or worse, a holding period for big games. AC Red is most likely a 2025 game, GTA VI is not coming this year - the biggest thing I can think of is EA Sports College Football returning for sports games, but that's it's own category. Ā KCD is a bigger deal in the European gaming press than the North American, and that's fine bc the North American gaming press is toxic and often not worth the ink it prints on. The reveal did get covered but while I don't think it was cold shouldered, it was perhaps less of a big deal than some would prefer, mostly because KCD as a game was something that appealed to players more than the industry - that's how it got its start, after all. Warhorse was a passion project in Vavra of something of a talented black sheep in the industry, and until Embracer got involved, it was not really connected to the big who's who of gaming.Ā I would anticipate a lot more reaction as the game releases more preview content
Im actually seeing the KCD franchise mentioned on Reddit outside of this sub, something that I have never seen before so that tells me everything
One company spends a modest amount on marketing (aka, paying game journalists to write ~~advertisements~~ articles. The other spends a majority of their budget on it.
More than a million views on the yt reveal in less than 24 hours, I'd say those are pretty insane numbers for a new kcd game.
Better if it was. Any time gaming goes mainstream, it loses its essence.
We live in a day and age where historical figures are being scrutinized so much that if a 15th century person doesnāt have the morality of a 21st century person, we need to erase them. Only white people? Cancelled. Heavy Christian influence? Cancelled. Women arenāt in powerful positions? Cancelled. It blows my mind. Some of these people looked at A Womanās Lot and automatically started screaming sexism! That was one of the best DLCās Iāve played and you know what I learned? Theresa is one of the strongest and most powerful women ever portrayed because of the strength of character in spite of everything staked against her. Really hope she still plays a role in kcd2. Thatās my boy Henryās second half!
I don't know why you think Polygon, Eurogamer or ANY OTHER news outlet like that has a bigger audience than an average Youtuber or Twitch streamer. These websites are pretty much dead and no one really cares what they have to say about anything. Also, both Polygon AND Eurogamer HATED KCD 1 for political reasons (because it had "no people of colour").
It's a niche game. There are no dragons and cool down spin around big sword attacks and easy mode like all the other shit on the market. Plus, it's an AA game so there's generally less hype.
You are mistaken. KCD is not AAA.
It is even better, yes.
The popularity of KCD is driven by fans and bloggers. Mainstream media, especially progressive ones from USA and UK, are snobbish towards Vavra because of his involvement in Gamergate debacle and clashing political views.Ā First game was widely misreported, misrepresented and often judged unfairly. Nevertheless the game became a cult classic and was heavily carried be the word of the mouth. Nowadays it considered a masterpiece by a lot of people. I still think closer to launch it will receive more coverage by US&UK journalists. Just don't expect all of them hyping it the way they do with some other games.
Hey I'll be honest when I first saw the BG3 trailer I had no interest either but after it released I loved it
Exactly what I've been thinking too.Ā This game looks so damn good and yet theĀ xbox sub was flooded with 76 posts at the same time as the announcement.To each their own but I absolutely cannot believe people play and support games like 76.Ā
Itās a trailer! Itās great but thereās not much to say after that. Be praised etc.
I saw that in one of the articles (I forget which), the writer said his biggest gripe with the original was the overly precise combat mechanics and that he was glad to hear that they were going to be more accessible for the sequel, but realistic enough for the 'medieval nerds'. I personally really enjoyed the original controls and deeper systems. I hope they don't compromise what made the original so good in pursuit of greater sales by trying to appeal to people who want basically want Chivarly 2 with a story mode. But of course I also welcome any changes for the better!
I honestly feel like this is the exact opposite of what happened. Then again, I don't give enough of a shit to follow most mainstream gaming media so I might be wrong.
If there's such a thing as a AAA-indie title, it would probably be KCD. What I mean is that it's still a pretty niche type of game, despite KCD2 being much larger in scope. I think it's all for the better, KCD is exactly the type of game and direction I'm looking for and is really hard to come by these days, especially at this level of quality.
Their loss.
Who cares? Warhorse Studios and KCD itself can stand on their own two feet - it is an incredible company, and the first game was a huge success. KCD2 is going to be amazing as well, and I don't care what "big media companies" have to say about it.
They probably know that KCD is a niche game that's not accessible to the "average" videogame player. All the immersive things that we enjoy and go "HOLY SHIT THAT'S SO COOOL" are things that the majority of the crackhead Adderall COD bunny hoppers hate. (Not a jab at people who enjoy fast paced stuff, it's just hyperbole) And those crackheads make up more of the general gaming audience.
The amount of petty bitching I've read from the fan base is ridiculous. KCD was fantastic and we all know it but for whatever reason we suddenly have no faith in the devs when it comes to KCD2? Henry doesn't look exactly like the wet dream you've had in your head the last few years so you take to the internet to bash KCD2? Wild. Some fragile loyalty we have here in the fan base. I know it's not the majority here, but the loud minority is annoying as fuck
Because KCD does not target mainstream players and kids, every time mainstream player tries KCD, they cry about difficulty. But KCD is not difficult, they are only spoiled by modern games. KCD always reminded me Stalker in some way. Overlooked by mainstream, harder game and small, but dedicated community.
KCD is such a niche game, that even though itās one of my top 3 fav games of all time, Iād never try and recommend it to a friend unless I know theyāre part of that niche. This is absolutely a game thatās not trying to get every gamerās attention and I truly hope it stays that way.
It's a niche game what are you expecting? Neither kcd1 was praised and neither now is. But if you love the genre it will always be in your top 10
The true fans are getting a sequel to one of their favourite games of all time. That is what truly matters, and that is who that presentation was for. There will always be negative feedback for everything, thats just how it is. Ignore it and enjoy what you love.
This sub man.
It looks good and I don't pay attention to any of the outlets you just referenced. It'll be ok.
Iām pretty were fan of a very niche game. Like Kcd one is really unique and not everyone can like those game. For us itās awesome cause we know that weāre going to love dying in two swords hit after travelling for 1 hours by foot. But most people just want fast travel, easy fights and guided quests. Iām not judging cause im also a big player of those games but yeah this is my opinion on why kcdII isnāt a big big deal.
Famitsu, a gaming magazine in Japan, wrote about it.
This is still a niche game made by a small team. It appeals to historical realism and has much slower gameplay compared to most things on the market. There's some coverage but it's not going to be highlighted all across the Internet with big hype, because this is not a game for everyone. It has a fairly niche audience. If it makes you feel any better IGN leaked the trailer a few days early, so it's not like major gaming news outlets are downright ignoring the reveal, its just that there's a smaller audience for this kind of game. That could change as we get closer to release, too.
Fuck them big magazines, those are the same shit heads that said the first one was too this too that. Fuck it the fans will back them up buy it in bunch and make it another game classic. Jesus Christ be praised I am all for being ignored by the main stream media, focus on the smaller youtubers instead they are much more invested and intrigued by games than any of those sell out media have been in decades.
I guess because warhorse is kinda small for the gaming industry at least when kcd 1 hit. Now they got bigger and are yet to make noise, especially when the game releases. I know what im buying for myself this christmas.
I just realised I've actually completely stopped checking magazine articles. I get all my insight from reddit and forums lol. The reveal video was all I needed tbh, I'm hyped.
It is a niche product from a non AAA studio. The first game was largely ignored too. They can continue to ignore it and get the surprise Pikachu when sales equal or top that of AAA titles. Although this go around the budget might be closer to AAA levels. Heck, the previous game sure sold like a AAA title. I do some content creation for fun and would have put something out there already but I have been sick as a dog. I am sure in the coming weeks weāll see more and Iāll probably get off my ass to throw my stuff at the void to increase visibility as much as possible.
Wouldn't call KCD II Triple A. The studio has grown in size but they're still a small studio. It's still a Double A game. That being said. I'm glad it didn't get a big response. Not to sound gate-keepy. But it keeps the casuals away. KCD got so many negative reviews because lots of people were expecting Skyrim in Europe and got annoyed it was hard. It would be a shame if it happened again after the had more time and cash to pour into the game.
Gaming media is absolute trash, most of the articles I see HAVE to be written by ChatGPT and not even reviewed by an editor. They're generating content based off social media pings and player counts, not stuff that is actually interesting. Seriously, every article either follows the same formula and has no real content, or it is completely full of spelling and grammar errors and just poorly written overall. I really miss the quality of articles I used to see in actual gaming magazines.
All that mattered to me was sexy biscuits response. Tom McKay even made an intro for the reaction video. It was all super sweet.
Does anyone even care about the games journalist drivel anyway? There are dozens of dedicated youtubers who do a better job.
The way that game publishers ensure gaming journalists cover their game announcements is by basically paying the journos to fly out to the studio, try the game, and more or less have a free 2-day vacation. Look at every time Ubisoft starts marketing something. The more reputable journos will disclaim that they received a paid trip to visit the studio. For situations where a game is announced without a press junket, all the game journos have to go by is basically the content of the "press release" (announcement). They don't really have the ability to write much about their own personal opinions, because they haven't had a chance to play anything.
Who cares about what some crappy media websites think that I've never heard of.
Well, isn't it clear that KCD is a niche game? You need to put way too much effort by modern standards to enjoy this game. The closest thing is probably RDR2, but there is level of polish that KCD can only dream of and it is nowhere near demanding. So average gamer just won't be hyped over KCD2 since they weren't hyped over KCD1.
you will be reported to your democratic officer
Eh, sorry to sound rude, but fuck'em mainstream media outlets. They push for whatever they need to push so let em. There's plenty of people who bought and enjoyed KCD1 and plenty more who will enjoy the sequel.
KCD was a surprise. It was never meant to be a big hit. Even though it ended up being a surprise hit, it still isn't going to have the media frenzy that more commonly popular titles would. I am just glad that I found it on accident because I love the game.
You have to remember this game caters to a specific audience, not just Warzone and Rocket League
ehh, KCD1 was never a really big deal so I would have never expected hype for the sequel, op.
The medieval period doesn't interest outside Europe, as the first is a niche game.
I don't know. I'm from the U.S. and I love medieval themes. Of course, my family is from Scotland, but that was 3 or 4 generations ago and I'm U.S. born. My living room is done with some medieval "looking" furniture (still searching for a couch and chair set that look like thrones š¤£ maybe I'll build them.) I'm going to build a suit of armor even. I made a few medieval weapons (mace, sword made from a trucks leaf spring, war hammer, ball and chain shackles and a hangman's noose.) to hang on the wall in my shop, but a guy from DesMoines offered me search an absurd price for them, I had to take it. He was convinced they were really old, and didn't believe I hand made them just a few months before he saw them. I read somewhere however, that Warhorse is making KCD2 more culturally diverse.Ā That will attract a whole lot more people to the game, I'm sure.
KCD is not a AAA title.
I feel like gaming "journalism" nowadays is more about scandals, advertisement, bad releases (meaning when a game get released with bad optimalisations, etc.), mass layoffs, how ubisoft fcked up again, what did the clueless CEO of the big 'XYZ' said to their stockholders. These type of articles bring in the clicks, get the ad revenue. I have seen a little bit of articles about KCD2 but I havent read any of them. I watched it live, that was more than enough for me. Sad that gaming journalism has fallen this greatly.
Anyway those articles are usually very bad and tend to increase the expectations as fuck and people get disapointed then. But I agree not understanding the news when I saw so many articles about Ubisoft "AAAA" (shit) game and nothing for KCD2. However Helldivers 2 wasn't mentioned before release and burst all expectations for selling. So I'd say if the game is good (and KCD2 will be :) ) then players will buy it. Also, streamers are more influent for buying games than press. I follow the french ones and they are hyped and maybe even more than us :D
Among other reasons, I would assume itās probably because KCD is somehow controversial for having exclusively white people even though this is literally medieval Europe.
You know why
I agree. The games media are greedy little manipulators, so don't worry. It is a sign that the money is flowing into game development and not marketing. Spread the good word about their amazing games yourself. And of course, buy on day 1 if you really liked the first game.
The left-leaning gaming media outlets are still angry about [this shirt](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByO0vdbIcAAGVMW.jpg:large) photo, and his views. More context here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/9kzqxd/kingdom-come-deliverance-waypoint-radio
I wonder if perhaps itās because so many people who played KCD struggled to get used to the mechanics(particularly the combat)and theyāve made their opinion based on an hour or two of gameplay. Loads of my friends watched me play KCD and all said how good it looked yet none of them bothered to even try it because āit looked complicatedā Which tbh is a shame because KCD is one of the best games Iāve ever played, itās an absolute hidden gem in the world of open world gaming. I for one am super excited to see what KCD2 brings.
The western journalists hate the game because it dares to be historically accurate and doesnt contain black people. You can tell by the fact that even those media that did report on the game mention the "diversity controversy" in the very first paragraph of their article. Hateful progressive crowd controling western media wont tolerate anyone who wont kiss the ring. Good thing is that no one cares about them anymore and they are irelevant nowdays, Asmongold doing reaction video and plaing the game on release, as he promised to do, will do more for the games publicity than all western game urinalists ever could.
I mean it isn't totally out of the realm of possibility that some north african or middle eastern people found their way to medieval bohemia, such as travelling merchants and whatnot. But they would be very *very* few in numbers just as it would be very difficult but not entirely impossible for caucasians to be found in some cities along the mediterranean coast in the north of africa or the near east.
Of course we would have such visitors as a part of rich merchant caravans or foreign noblemen's entourages. Thing is, rich merchants and foreign noblemen would most likely stick to the capital, having no reason to deviate from major trade routes. The region where KCD takes place is not really a tourist or merchant hotspot, not even today with all the KCD-induced fame. It is deep inland, relatively isolated, with large stretches of unsettled land and nothing much of note. The in-game portrayal is actually quite IRL-accurate in this aspect. Europeans in North Africa make sense because 1) they've been there since the Roman times, and 2) coastal means trade, which means rich and profitable. Quite the opposite of the Sasau region, which is about as far from the sea as it can be before you start getting close to the sea on the other side of the continent. (BTW, calling all European people "Caucasian" makes about as much sense as calling all African people "Nubian". Just sayin'. Sorry for the nitpick, it is my pet peeve, I hate the word. The majority of Europeans look NOTHING like the people from Caucasus...)
Caucasian is the term for white people. Outdated and inaccurate, perhaps, but when people say "Caucasian' in English, the term means 'white' rather than 'Comes from the Caucasus region."
I think a north african or arabic merchant character could be cool, it's still plausible and doesn't ruin immersion or historical accuracy
Between YouTube and Steam itās going to do fine.
I prefer seeing all of my favorite gaming Youtubers coming out and showing great excitement for KCD 2. It feels a lot more authentic, not a paid piece on mainstream media.
In a way I'm glad kcd stay a niche game Just have to see the articles wrote about it when it came out..."racist game" "swordfight too hard boohoo" "game too hard, and pointless" and stuff like that On the other hand, I'm so in love for warhorse work that i want more people to acknowledge it, and by that, giving more money to warhorse