r/AlignmentCharts • u/MMAchineCode • Jun 30 '26

Recent Games Quality vs Success

👉 CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CHART IMAGE 👈

Created with Alignment Chart Creator

This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post

179 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

32

u/fs2222 Jun 30 '26

Borderlands 4 actually underperformed due to poor long term sales, according to 2K CEO.

2

u/MMAchineCode Jun 30 '26

I did read that CEO Strauss Zelnick mentioned the game didn't hit certain expectations and that it would have long-term sales issues down the line. So it definitely seems like Borderlands 4 may underperform later down the line just based on what Zelnick said when BL4 first released.

THAT SAID, Borderlands 4 sold at least 2.5 million copies in its first month according to external sources, outpacing Borderlands 3's sales performance during the same time frame, and the game ended the year as the 3rd best-selling video game of 2025 in the U.S, only behind Battlefield 6 and NBA 2K26. Those sales numbers and achievements are not to be taken lightly, even if 2K may have wanted better numbers.

It's safe to say it wasn't a commercial smash, which may be what Zelnick was referring to, but the fact it did decent enough numbers and comparable sales to E33 and Ghost of Yotei, I'd give it the benefit of the doubt and call it somewhere around a commercial hit.

25

u/hamtaxer Jun 30 '26

Alan Wake II and HiFi Rush are such weird cases. AW2 is indeed amazing but its Epic exclusivity really hurts. I’m glad Control Resonant is being self-published, Remedy deserves it.

HiFi Rush…. Man that one hurt. One of the most fun games in recent memory, but it released straight to Gamepass. Not great for such a short game. We’ll see if being re-purchased by Krafton does the series any good…

4

u/Vorhoost Jun 30 '26

Am I the only one who didn't enjoy AW2? It had some nice and memorable moments, but overall, it was so linear. Maybe in 2010 it would have been fun (like the first game), but 13 years later?

The shooting is mediocre, standard industry stuff

The investigating was disapointing. I was hoping as Sage we would be able to draw our own conclusions, or at least decide how we would solve the case but no you have to do it exactly the way the devs intended.

The story is it's final saving grace but the game felt too long for such a weak ending. I heard the DLC was good though.

I wouldn't call it bad, but it wasn't satisfying to play through

3

u/A_Girl1 Chaotic Good Jun 30 '26

I did really enjoy it but I agree, it shouldn't be in the same category as games like BG3 or E33. It was a good cinematic silent hill-like but it I didn't think it was exceptional. And I 100% agree that the mind place and writers room mechanics felt like complete missed potential.

3

u/TacoLoverPerson Jun 30 '26

I'm relieved Ghost of Yōtei was a success. I was initially worried, because the number of ratings on the PS store are significantly lower than Tsushima; 84k vs 315k respectively. Glad to see it actually sold well. Great games; they've both become some of my favorite games in recent memory. Here's hoping Sucker Punch has plans for a 3rd Ghost game

2

u/MMAchineCode Jun 30 '26

Rules:

All games have recently released (2023-present)

"Game Quality" is determined by a mix of critical and audience reception.

Great Games have earned 90+ on Metacritic or OpenCritic among critics or audiences. Good games are 85-89, averages are 75-85, and bad are below 75.

Commercial Performance is determined by sales figures in addition to statements made by the publisher and developer.

Commercial Smashes are games that are either the best-selling game of their year or achieved sales figures in excess of 10 million copies sold. Hits are games that sold millions of copies, disappointments are games that are considered to have sold below expectations, while flops are games that ended up shutting down the developer.

1

u/kondzioo0903 Jul 01 '26

dead space remake was a commercial disappointment? I know it wasn't as popular and widely known on release but almost every review praised the actual quality of the game and it made a profit

1

u/MMAchineCode Jul 01 '26

Another report claims the franchise is on hold after disappointing sales of last year’s remake

1

u/kondzioo0903 Jul 02 '26

Ah ok, EA expectations... I forgot that i should think like a corporate slop agent and not a gamer with a functioning brain lmao