To start with, Cronos: The New Dawn has just crossed an incredible milestone selling 500,000 copies. The Bloober Team, the game developer, revealed this on their social media through a congratulatory post. For a game that has been slightly out of the gamers’ sight, this is really impressive. But, what is more important than the sales figure is the multitude of responses from the gaming community, which were also mixed and confused after the announcement. Let’s examine this situation.
At once, 500k should be seen as a huge number. Simply put, that implies that 500,000 players consented to part with their cash on this title of horror survival. It could be an unpleasant pill to swallow for the ones who only think about live service and massive blockbusters, but the crossing of a niche title over the 500k limit is nothing but a great success. The past few years for the Bloober Team were uphill with the psychological horror release and now it looks like they are taking one small step for mankind. One player who goes by the name of Bearded Guy confidently remarked that the game is “Sick,” and he is glad that “Bloober Team has flipped their script.” Such a mighty recommendation!
However, going through the replies brings literally… divergent views. A lot of players keep saying that the game is very underrated and therefore it despaired for selling more. One user, anon, called the game “One of the best games of the year and heavily underrated.” Another comment SkinnyDip confessed, “I expected this game to sell more but I say that when I haven’t even bought it myself.” This situation looks like a conventional gamer paradox at its best. On one side, we want the game to win, while on the other, sometimes our “to do” lists are just too long. I can empathize.
Then, the whole budget issue was raised. Some people were saying the sales were bad, while the others quickly pointed out that they were the same as the arguments for the other side. A user, EstacadoJ, had to explain it to the people, saying: “If it sold badly they wouldn’t have boasted about the numbers you genius. Not to mention the fact that it was developed in Poland where budgets are way lower.” This is a point that many gamers overlook. Not every game that does not meet the sales expectations is a failure. Development costs are heavily influenced by the location of the studio. A situation where a 28 million (as one user suggested) priced game from Poland breaking even on 500k sales is entirely possible. Think about it, folks!
The timing of the game release also raised a topic of discussion. Some users mentioned that the Cronos: The New Dawn game came out at the same time as the highly awaited Silksong. One player, Adrian, remarked quite simply, “Game didn’t recover from Silksong.” Ouch! Competing with a giant like that can be harsh and definitely overshadow the other good releases. This can be hard for any developer, hence the thought that the sales should be higher might arise. It is like trying to have a quiet dinner party next to a huge rock concert.
And naturally, the questions about the game’s quality soon followed. “How about its quality?” inquired Lou BilL. Another person, Saaim, asked, “People who’ve played it what’s it like, dead space similar?” Well, for the ones who have not yet played, Cronos: The New Dawn is a survival horror game that is compared to the best of the genre. Actually, players who finished this game share their opinion calling it “fantastic survival horror game” and among their “favorite games this year.” Thus, the word of mouth from people who have actually played it is overwhelmingly positive, and this makes the sales debate even more interesting.
Moreover, the developer’s history has a part in this too. Previously, Bloober Team has by no means received a… let’s use the word… mixed reception. The fact that there are comments like “Bloober has been grinding they deserve it” is an indication that the studio is really winning some goodwill with its release. They are showing that they can produce a quality product that is not only adored by a devoted audience but is also loved. That really matters to the reputation of a studio and its prospects for the future.
What do we do next? Cronos: The New Dawn has been able to surpass a major sales barrier thus proving that there is a market for that type of experience. The community is vibrant and most think it’s a hidden gem that needs to be unwrapped. The talks about its budget and timing are part of its story, showing that a figure does not determine success in the gaming industry. It is a complex mixture of quality, timing, market state, and players’ perception. For Bloober Team, getting PlayStation and Xbox Crocs
