Death of a Game: LawBreakers

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

It's sad to say, that Lawbreakers really does look like its dying. Boss Key had been diverting resources for the past 5 months to another "passion project", to capitalize on the growing Battle Royale market. Sorry Lawbreakers fans. massivelyop.com/2018/04/09/having-given-up-on-lawbreakers-boss-key-is-launching-battle-royale-game-radical-heights-tomorrow/

[@zakarykoenigs798]

I loved the game, I got 40+ hours on it in only a couple of weeks, sad to see it go.

[@sixravenx]

Oh look, another battle Royale game... Looks like BossKey is 6-12 months behind the times yet again

[@zakarykoenigs798]

SixRaven X I don’t think they will do it, hopefully if they have learned anything, it is that they shouldn’t do that. They could change the industry, but it shouldn’t be a non, original idea.

[@KlutchKwonDo]

I think it's funny that they called it a "passion project." It's very clear that they're just trying to cash in on the market. We aren't that stupid, Bosskey

[@KouD3Graw]

That damn game is dead in the water at launch. They rushed it out to make money. Buggy as hell, eats ram, and missing a lot. Early Access? Game feels like Alpha. Map thrown together alpha. Boss Key is really missing the big picture and is too stubborn to notice what they're doing wrong. Entering into the Battle Royale craze that is dominated by Fortnite & PubG isn't smart. Fortnite is constantly updating it's content changing the gameplay formula along with bug fixing. WRONG arena for Boss Key to enter without spending a few years on the game. Boss Key is going to die and it'll be their own fault. Not the consumer.

[@ccshade7294]

"blizzard can do no wrong" oboy, that aged poorly

[@cobo7769]

Your comment aged like fine wine

[@TheLastEgg08]

@@FiremansGaming I wish I could get refunded those years I lost on overwatch.

[@Diphenhydra]

Euphoria Soul what does that even mean? You played the game for years and didn’t like it, but still played it anyway? Or you just played it so much you don’t like it anymore, which would mean you DID have fun playing it for a while. Which wouldn’t be a waste. That’s the two things your comment implies, and if either is correct, it doesn’t make any sense. If it’s not, I’d love to know what you meant.

[@TheLastEgg08]

@@Diphenhydra It was just a joke, I've been playing it for a year and a half, I enjoy the game and 222 made it grand. Even though devs still do stupid things sometimes, like 132 or not nerfing mei for like 5 months until now etc...

[@Diphenhydra]

@@TheLastEgg08 oh okay. I guess I just didn't get the joke. I appreciate that you did explain it.

[@sparkbag_]

want an update to this case? yeah replace all the times he said that "lawbreakers is" with "lawbreakers was"

[@genericonameo8090]

Sparkbag shots fired.... At a corpse

[@dnighthawk204241]

Death of a Game drinking game: Take a shot every time a game targeted at a competitive audience launches without a ranked mode, and then goes on to fail.

[@hyanehighoctane]

Take a shot everytime a game is pitched for competitive play and then dies off in less than 2 years

[@UrbanBravo]

Shut up nerd

[@dontkickmychick6076]

@@hyanehighoctane take a shot every time a game

[@bokunogentoo4420]

@@dontkickmychick6076 Take a shot.

[@Nick-ue7iw]

@@bumbo11111 A

[@kennydarmawan13]

From Lawbreakers' failure, we now have 10 lessons to learn: 1. What is your goal? And if you have one, is it able to be gained with the resources you have and the effort you put into? 2. Are you boasting too much and focusing more on the hype? 3. If your product is being compared with another, are you forcing people to accept your product as superior or trying to make people stop comparing? 4. When you mean not doing what other products are doing, does that mean just doing the opposite or putting more effort in things that people don't want? 5. Are you making your product accessible? 6. Are you being a bit too rude against the possible complainers before they could even complain? If so, are you being hypocritical with your statements you made in the past? 7. Are you mocking how other products are the same thing when you're keep being accused of imitation without trying to prove your originality? 8. Are you mocking your competition's demographic when you can't even keep your demographic straight? 9. Is the marketing a bit too positive and without talking to the more negative side? 10. Are you focusing too much on quality to the point the lack of quantity ends up screwing you?

[@kennydarmawan13]

Hey, thanks for the heart.

[@elin111]

Long story short, get a PR coach so you don't say dumb crap to the press.

[@granmastersword]

@@elin111 and don't be afraid of studying the new trends to see how you can innovate and succeed

[@garykelley9027]

This should be a required checklist for game companies out there. A lot of the games on this series could've used this list to curb a lot of issues.

[@sandrababush3483]

Damn I wish I could make a game good

[@Fenen24]

i still love the clip of him talking about how adult and mature his game is compared to the bright cartoon-y games... while wearing a memey rick and morty tee-shirt. we dont always need grim dark and viscera, even if its not in the market

[@PointsofData]

Sometimes a guy just wants to pew pew while slinging one liners with friendlies and not dwell on the deeper philosophical consequences

[@drumnbasssakuga9352]

It's not the fact that his game had a "dark" (more like action movie sci-fi) aesthetic, it's how he jerks himself off about it

[@Roule_n_Scratche]

your talk about character design in the end was so important on a comparison on overwatch vs lawbreakers, i could say the character design was crucial to make gameplay as simple as possible

[@Nottodaywey]

Kinda surprised that you didn't even mention that he excluded Xbox players potentialy pissing off his many loyal fans and cutting down the player base (I'm a PC gamer but I'm not a dick)

[@LaLloronaVT]

Oh yeah I forgot about that, I wanted to try the game out but when I found out there wasn’t an Xbox version I said “fuck this” and moved on, I hate console exclusivity

[@thepassingstatic6268]

@@LaLloronaVT that's what stuck out the most to me. Taking this video into account, you didnt think to broaden your base as much as possible? You didnt think to MAYBE appeal to the base that made you a household name if you were going to go console exclusivw? Like, really Cliff? REALLY!?

[@Carlisho]

@@AzureRoxe I remember that, basically Xbox players are the ones that made his career as succesful as it was yet he went out of his way to mock them for it

[@magicmanmagicman5955]

As a game artist I really like the part about character design. Thats what got me in Overwatch - bright and actually fun characters. Many of modern game designs are too bland and boring.

[@elin111]

One thing that really bothers me about first person games is that you're basically playing as a pair of floating arms holding a gun. Not very appealing if you ask me.

[@emperorfaiz]

@@elin111 That's a literal non-issue, mate.

[@peterpanther8627]

Ever heard of Team fortress 2, their character design is not only color coded but contrast coded with the environment, what it means is that you could distinguish between red and blue teams in Tram Fortress 2 EVEN IN BLACK AND WHITE. Also they have distinct silhouettes and such. I remember watching video about TF2s great character design. Edit: link to said video kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHuYmKKDd6lppcU

[@ose4448]

@@peterpanther8627 Tf2 has the best character design in the class based shooter genre. They all also have non generic and overly stereotypical personalities. God bless that game

[@vinnregi4882]

@@peterpanther8627 we're talking about modern games here. TF2 was released like, 2 decades ago

[@Jaskan0]

This video has more dislikes than lawbreakers playerbase.

[@Hanfgurkenhasser]

Spaget Spookdya. Oof that's a nasty one.

[@skryreprototype1826]

Hell, this comment has more likes than the lawbreakers playerbase.

[@skryreprototype1826]

Stop laughing guys! You're not being productive! [angry Cliffy B noises]

[@The300Player]

DrIvanRadosivic DUDE, YOU ARE THE SAME GUY THAT WAS DEFENDING LAWBREAKERS IN ANOTHER VIDEO, NOW IM 200% SURE YOU ARE CLIFFY B

[@iCantEvenButtonsGaming]

OOF

[@Skipti_LLC]

I've been working on a theory but I don't have the talent or time to make a video on this myself. Essentially, Respawn Entertainment and Boss Key Productions are two drastically different stories about what happens when a studio comprised of former devs from an extremely popular mid 2000's series of shooters (Gears of War, Call of Duty) who then branched off and make their own studio. Both companies made highly praised but mostly unsuccessful shooters in Bulletstorm and Titanfall when they partnered with a new publisher. The difference being that Respawn had a close enough relationship with EA to receive another blank check to make Titanfall 2, which has been praised as the best shooter of the 2010's. Meanwhile, the future Boss Key devs decided to leave their big studio because they were unwilling to be partners with them. Boss Key's Titanfall 2 was Lawbreakers, another highly praised and technically adept shooter, but even though Titanfall 2 and Lawbreakers BOTH saw less than stellar sales, because Boss Key was an independent studio, they NEEDED Lawbreakers to be successful, and it just wasn't. Respawn, on the other hand, saw the writing on the wall, and knew that in order to be successful, the allowed themselves to be bought by EA, a company that had historically been very good to them. Now comes the big finish that separates Respawn from Boss Key- The Battle Royale. Boss Key abandoned Lawbreakers immediately in order to try and make a battle royal game to make money. There was no passion behind it at all, and that showed. Compare to Apex Legends, Respawn's Battle Royale made possible ONLY because Respawn had partnered with EA. This game was free to play, which was the model that Boss Key despised. The game was launched in an excellent technical state, which could not be said for Radical Heights. And by comparison, a point that a friend of mine made was that if Respawn were really making a Titanfall Battle Royale to capitalize on the popularity of their shooter, wouldn't they have left in the wallrunning and titans, even if it totally ruined the game? Also, Apex is a Hero Shooter at heart, in the same style as Lawbreakers, and yet it has been in a much more successful game. I beg of you to look further into this and decide if I'm on to something here.

[@100gecsrbetterthangod5]

Next time, tap enter a few times. Nobody wants to read a poorly formatted wall of text.

[@thebeatleswin1]

Lol make a video yourself man

[@FOREST10PL]

What are you on about? Bulletstorm was made by polish developer People Can Fly.

[@Skipti_LLC]

@@FOREST10PL cliff blesinski was the lead designer on Bulletstorm, and many people who worked on that game would join him in defecting from Epic Games and forming Bosskey.

[@kurgo_]

In what parallel universe titan fall 2 was the best shooter of the 2010s?

[@salemblackstock8850]

Correction - Battlerite didn't switch to f2p because of player numbers. It was a buy-in for closed beta a year before it released, but they planned to make it a free to play game from the beginning.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Whoops. Not my best example. I would instead mention Rainbow Six Siege then, as well as Fortnite. Both switched business strategies extremely successfully.

[@god7771]

Fortnite did, but on the other hand we have Battleborn and Evolve and it didn't help them (maybe they just did it badly). All games that successfully went to f2p already had a healthy player base like TF2 did and 20 people is not healthy player base. Also Nexon declared the game a total failure, so I doubd that it will have nessesary funding to go f2p.

[@god7771]

Evolve had 20000 players after f2p for some time and then few thousands average but it just wasn't enough. Battleborn can't make a comeback because gearbox officially stopped supporting it and as I heard it took a very long time to find a match on consoles even few months ago.

[@Lanadra]

Battleborn did do it badly, everything. Their decision to go F2P was way too late, by the time they finally did it, Paladins had already filled the F2P Overwatch competitor slot. Causing Battleborn to then get a second beat down from Paladins, rather then F2P being their road to success.

[@god7771]

Yeah, but the thing is that Paladins, Quake Champions (will be F2P after EA) and Unreal Tournament are still exist, so LawBreakers will not be the only F2P arena shooter on market. Maybe some mirracle will happen and LawBreakers will get funding from somewhere and will get needed attention from gamers, but I doubd it.

[@carsonchiu6069]

I think its important to point out that cliff is pretty rich now because of wise investments he made on oculus So that's a possible reason why he quit epic games, he just didn't need to work anymore

[@JesseTheGameDev]

For someone who loves making games, it's usually not about the money. Even when you give a passionate game-maker 50mil they will keep making/designing games. Possible once he got the money though his passion faded.

[@styxzero1675]

@@JesseTheGameDev Passion faded due to how the video game industry have been ruined probably. There is no soul left, only companies milking young players out of every penny they own.

[@elin111]

Cliff desperately needs a PR coach stopping him from saying stupid things that pisses off his own audience.

[@tysavarin9864]

Just like Randy Pitchford and Tim Sweeney

[@w415800]

I don't really get his hype, or his early roles in gaming, I have respect for the top guy who drives the whole train either financially or creatively, or the code monkeys who actually makes the engines, Cliffy seems to be just a flashy middle-management.

[@crylune]

@@w415800 >respect for the top guy cardinal sin

[@vangoghsseveredear]

"I want to make an old school, arena shooter" "There's no death match" Oh, okay. I'd never even heard of this game, even back then. Wild

[@coryfice1881]

How does one have a death if they had no life?

[@coryfice1881]

Holy crap someone is suffering from extreme buyers remorse.

[@Equinox2149]

DrIvanRadosivic Unfortunately games with a playerbase that pitifully small aren't going to make a recovery because of poor marketing decisions.

[@coryfice1881]

Keep dreaming Ivan.

[@calebnowland9272]

Ivan I see you literally on every other video I watch. I agree with you, but sadly, I think Battleborn isn't gonna come back. RIP Battleborn, Rip Lftstrafe.

[@DrVanNostrand01]

LOL DrIvan seems like a developers dream . . . Blindly support your games people and eat up all those microtransactions XD . . .

[@felixarcher4890]

When you're watching from the future and he mentions Battlerite as a successful example of going free to play... yikes.

[@3Guys1Video]

Lol

[@kriscynical]

It's like watching videos now that were posted before Cyberpunk, praising CDPR about how they'd NEVER do exactly what they did and how Cyberpunk is going to be one of the best games ever made. Curdled milk.

[@3Guys1Video]

@@kriscynical that has NOTHING to do with the video or the comment. Stop bringing the game up!

[@kriscynical]

@@3Guys1Video Uh oh, somebody's pressed over a KZbin comment. 😟

[@3Guys1Video]

@@kriscynical >.> I just see people do that everywhere despite it having no connection to any of the videos they’ve been posted in

[@KianaWolf]

"That was when they came up with the patented chainsaw gun." Warhammer 40,000 would like a word, mate. pro.bols.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Codex_Orks_2nd_FCover.jpg

[@rsiraistlin2473]

This

[@octaviogonzalez8794]

KianaWolf Its not just some chainsaw gun that a 10 year old could have come up with (seriously what the fuck is that lol) its a chainsaw bayonet. They had to actually think about how the weapon would work and released full schematics. There have been plasma cutter type weapons in videogames before but besides dead space, who gives a shit about irrelevant media (ex. Warhammer Of Warcraft)?

[@ChampionMarauder]

@Octavio Gonzalez You seem a little triggered, might I suggest you breath into a brown paper bag? People have made "working" prototypes of the various chainsaw weapons from 40k. I put "working" in quotation marks because ultimately a chainsaw is useless against an armored opponent so even though you can technically make working chain weapons they aren't fit for purpose. So, your full schematics are worth fuck all since a chainsaw bayonet would do fuck all against an armored opponent.

[@octaviogonzalez8794]

ChampionMarauder I'm triggered yet you felt the need to attack me personally. What point are you trying to make? Who the fuck mentioned armored opponents or the viability of the chainsaw bayonet in the Warhammer nerdverse? All I'm saying is that it should be attributed to the most thought out idea, not some obscure (and quite frankly awful) art poster.

[@ChampionMarauder]

@Octavio Gonzalez I think you need to learn what a personal attack is. I haven't personally attacked you, yet. You said that Gears of War's chain weapon was different because they "thought about how it could work" and made "schematics". I am not saying that your chain bayonet (not really a bayonet) wouldn't work in my nerdverse... I am saying it wouldn't work in the nerdverse it is designed for against its own armor. The teeth get stuck in things really easily and even against bare flesh its use is limited as viscera clogs up the mechanisms. The "art poster" KianaWolf posted was actually the cover of a book from the early 90s and the art - while crude - is a product of its time. Wolf posted it in all likelihood to establish seniority... If you look at modern terminator models you will find functional looking guns with actual chain bayonets that stick out from the barrel. Of course posting a sculpt that came out a few years ago would prove nothing. Warhammer has certainly ripped off its fair share of predecessors... see the entire Tyrannid Army which ripped off Alien and HR Giger. Chain weapons to my knowledge actually originated with Warhammer though as well as green orks.

[@Rainbowhawk1993]

You’re much better than Cleanprincegaming with your research and talking points.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Thank you.

[@luisgonzalez5482]

What's wrong with him?

[@Slipfox_xyz]

@@luisgonzalez5482 he speaks a lot of fluff and is a joke to the KZbin essay community

[@jac_238]

“tHiS gAmE dIDn’T jUsT DiE, iT WaS mUrDeREd”

[@LuisMendez-hh7vr]

@@jac_238 God I hate his stupid clickbait titles

[@Larry]

Most excellent video Sir, I really enjoyed it. Also love all the animation/transitiony bits, really impressive!!!!

[@ralphso5567]

Larry Bundy Jr what's with you and that balding guy?

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

Thanks Larry.

[@vanzy01]

I found a wild Larry Bundy JR

[@Sheepy007]

God dammit Larry, why is it always you who pops up????

[@jasonjuarez1823]

Larry Bundy Jr only game I stop playing after like 2 weeks fml it was fun 2

[@MemeShopInc]

Also something of note about Cliff. He is a producer of one of the most famous musicals on broadway right now: Hadestown the musical. As a musical theater major who happens to be a massive video game nerd, this is a wonderfully strange crossover. (Hadestown won best musical and a myriad of other awards at the Tony Awards in 2019).

[@maximillianlylat1589]

No wonder i got an ad for it before this video

[@thegombie]

I hate how Cliffy B always says "mature", yet all i see is a late teens game rather than a "kiddie" game. Adding more gore and tons of swearing doesn't make it more mature...

[@thegombie]

Bioshock? What? CS:GO, PBUG, Rainbow Six siege are 3 popular mature shooters. Lawbreaker is focused on late teens (15-19) as you said (prob up to 21 including Americans), which is probably why it didn't do well, that's a very small demographic compared to almost all other games.

[@michaelknox3715]

Grimah Amen to that. Maturity in a game comes from the subject matter. Dark themes and storylines etc. Which I don't see in this game

[@7force]

Not to mention, Cliff Bazinga dressed like a teenager at 17:18 Wearing a beanie indoors? For what, to hide his balding head? And a fucking Rick and Morty shirt? How much more "edgy Hot Topic kid" can you get?

[@softpiglet]

I agree with you here. I remember getting some of the trailers as ads on KZbin, and all I saw was an insecure, hypermasculine "edgy" boys' game. Not a game for men, or a game for mature adults, but a game whose presentation and personality felt juvenile and prone to toxicity.

[@soulcaliberlinkt1k832]

Grimah but it does make it awesome

[@CarUnlockingDevice]

"published by Nexon-" yeah that doesnt help their case at all

[@gunpuncher3817]

I never thought I'd see an actual video on the fall of Lawbreakers that was actually thorough and insightful. You've gotten a lot better since your APB video. You sir have earned yourself a sub!

[@Jacob-df5hr]

17:10 this quote bothers me. He's selling his game as distinguished from Overwatch because it's "gritty" and "adult." Clearly, people like playing those games, but why? It's the features and devices that contribute to the tone that people actually like, not the standalone label. He's putting the cart before the horse. I don't get excited about a game because it's "adult," I get excited about a game because it has features, narration, direction, characterization that when looked at broadly fall under that categorization. What those are here is not clear, so calling it an "adult" game as a key selling point feels like a grab.

[@livchamps9573]

I loved your old content but jeez louise this seems like a huge step up! The writing is tighter, your delivery is smoother and damn that intro is slick. Proud of you

[@Basuko_Smoker]

Was about to write the same, he even changed his logo :D

[@LateDude96]

Sad to see that the game had a really fair pricing and no predatory business models but it still died :(

[@elin111]

The game had loot boxes.

[@TwighlightLugia]

Honestly, I really do think it's a matter of art direction. Sure, Overwatch is cartoony and "not as gritty" as something like Lawbreakers, but that's exactly the point. The reason why people play games like Overwatch and TF2 and even, dare I say, Fortnite, still to this day has largely to do with the _personality_ the characters and overall art style have. Meanwhile, Lawbreakers just... looks like any other generic sci-fi shooter. The times have changed, people are moving away from games whose calling card is based on how Edgy and Realistic they are. Which isn't to say that you can't have a memorable game with a realistic style, but even real people tend to stand out among one another, even if they're literally wearing the same outfit. I feel like Lawbreakers really could have benefited from some dedicated character designs. They probably wouldn't have even had to implement very distinct gameplay styles, if the character design wasn't as generic and run-of-the-mill as a store brand can of chicken noodle soup.

[@TheN1ghtwalker]

At the same time Overwatch succeeds spectacularly despite being ridiculously overpriced and having loot boxes to boot. What sad times we live in.

[@edparry215]

Agree, didn't play the game myself but wanted to check it out. Very sad to see it die :(

[@vrika4280]

Overwatch did a fantastic marketing job, I was already immersed on the world and characters way before playing the game.

[@HazyJ28]

Man I love this series. I've watched almost every episode. Thank you so much for the content!

[@PandaTheGFX]

Good

[@PandaTheGFX]

You're godamn right

[@SylarW0lf]

I just wish they would add bot matches... Well, after making it f2p of course. Unreal and Quake were the leaders of having fun and competitive bots, I'm sure at least some of that love could be given to LawBreakers. I love LawBreakers. I'm not good at it. I will wait 20 minutes (literally) to find a game on PS4 only to be stomped into the ground because the only people still playing are the ones that never put it down. Bots would let new or rusty players practice, and also give people a reason to play the game even if the playerbase dies. Even if it's just a gift for the people that believed in the game and wanted to see it succeed so it won't be gone forever. Great video!

[@TheTrueMerrio]

A billion dollar franchise down the drain. Thank you, Cliffy. (Also, daaamn, son; you got yourself a snazzy new style)

[@chrismeador6070]

@DrIvanRadosivic u still playing lmao

[@Shinkajo]

What went down the drain?

[@TimeIsMine93]

Your intro had me hooked. Smooth jazz and a detective narrating his actions xD.

[@nerdSlayerstudioss]

It's been awhile guys, I appreciate your patience. We are actively and consistently working to better the quality and content of our flagship series Death of a Game. In this particular episode I dove more into details about Cliff's origin story because I believed it was important to give backstory as to who Cliff was, and why Lawbreakers failure is quite significant. Skip to 10:27 to see the origin of Lawbreakers portion of the video. Also stay tuned to hear about the next episode, which should be coming in less than 2 weeks.

[@wendellstephens6311]

I appreciated the inclusion of Cliff's backstory since I knew nothing about him.

[@jacksonw453]

Call good man this videos was worth the wait

[@BernardGarcon]

I could make the next episode. Death of a Game: Me talking to women.

[@HandleMcHandleface]

Awesome new intro man

[@macgeek2004]

+RageDMX47 May I suggest an alternate title along those same lines? Death of a Game: Elliot Rodger’s Revenge. XD

[@Toadcop98]

The three big issues were price, marketing and complexity. The price was just slightly too high $20 usd would have been a far safer number than $30 usd. The marketing would have caught the interest of a wider audience if it had stepped away from saying it was "hardcore" and "for those that are skilled af" and instead claimed to be "good ole fashioned fun" and "90s arena shooter craziness". People would be less intimidated by being asked how hardcore they are and instead promised a classic brand of fun. Complexity in its game modes and mechanics was the final nail in the coffin. It's flagship gamemode should have simply been "Low Grav Deathmatch" where the goal is to just kill as many people as possible with wacky physics. Doesn't that sound like some simple time killing fun? Maybe give it a better name like "KillShitMode" and have a little slogan like "Forget K/D ratios and bullshit stats, just blast some mother fuckers". I can't even remember the name of the main gamemode in Lawbreakers but I would if it were something like that. It's just my opinion but if they got those three things right they'd have probably sold a lot more copies on launch. It's much easier to spend 20 bucks on a game that promises old fashioned fun deathmatches than to spend 30 bucks on a game that has forgettable game modes and claims a high skill requirement to enjoy.

[@dzello]

30$ would've still been too much. This was a great free to play model game, not a pay to play. If they went free to play, they would've had a massive audience.

[@vabvaab]

17:21 ah, yes, when I think "lawbreakers," I definitely think "quentin tarantino." can't wait for the "I like fight club but don't understand it at all" mmorpg. the dark souls of breaking bad, if you will.

[@ripwildy2022]

"the dark souls of breaking bad" this had me wheezing! xD

[@Hirouka1]

Loving the new look nerd slayer

[@amerikaOnFire]

I've been a part of Lawbreakers for a very long time and I honestly believe it's a great game that never achieved great success. And I think a lot of your assessment and points were fair and valid overall. It is funny how a bunch of small things can stack up and hurt a game that played well and was designed well as a game. But everything from the marketing to the aesthetic choices to the pricing model and even Cliff himself most definitely factored in to where Lawbreakers is today. I do hope that BKP pulls the game out of the fire and does go F2P and maybe even changes the aesthetic to focus on interesting character design and re-launches. Other games have proven that this can be done. Smite, Paladins, Warframe and many others have done it and it went quite well. Great video despite my reluctance to admit that Lawbreakers failed. I love the game and a lot of the good people who worked on it really should have gotten a win with it.

[@spinyslasher6586]

Too bad BKP is gone now.

[@emikochan13]

Great retrospective and research :D Was so great hearing that nostalgic unreal music. Had no idea he also made Jazz Jackrabbit, that was one of my favourite games as a child :D

[@AGH69]

Yeah, Jazz was great. Cliff might've been better off making a sequel to that instead of Lawbreakers.

[@ChibiViolin]

This is the best breakdown on the lawbreakers fiasco I've seen. Well done mate.

[@tehkill3r]

Your new style is so much better than the old one. really fits with the "investigativeness"

[@d0k0night]

Reasons for its failure are simple: 1) It, just like Battleborn was perceived as a cheaper Overwatch clone, with less interesting characters(for god sake OW's characters were on Tumblr's um...risque content even before the game came out of beta, that's how much people were invested into the characters alone) and meant for a hardcore audience. Right there you are tossing away over 80% of your playerbase who are the casuals and the people who love games for their characters. 2) OW, Destiny and all the big brands. He is competing against the big guys with bigger marketing budgets and just bigger games. He goes on to say oh people have a problem paying $60 for a game and that's not wrong - people already spent that $60 on Overwatch. So why would they spend another $30 on a less interesting clone? 3) Niche company, targeting a niche audience = niche level of sales. You got what you wanted Cliff. Shoulda just made another Unreal Tournament or something, with Deathmatch and ranked modes out the gate.

[@porkerpete7722]

Niche is the best thing you can do.

[@rjtennis1963]

@RaineTCG I like overwatch but I agree the porn of all the female characters is cancer

[@thekhayriera4811]

Rick Williams it what regard tho? Not trying to defend it honestly cause I don’t care but every franchise has porn of it. Unless you’re talking about the fanbase in which i fucking agree 😂😂

[@bgheseger6937]

The OW characters can be summed up in one or two words

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

@@thekhayriera4811 Overwatch is super DUMMY popular; stuff like that becomes harder to avoid as a result.

[@petitnicollas]

The game deserved more tbh Doesn't really look that bad, it could live if it they did make fewer mistakes.

[@TheTrueReiniat]

I dont think Lawbreakers made many mistakes, it really was just a case of worst possible release window. I can see how the game would have survived if it was F2P tho, Dirty Bomb did the same and it has a solid playerbase, but the idea that CliffyB needs to "listen to people" is stupid, fan feedback was the very reason why LBs was not F2P as it was originally going to be. Other than that it doesnt work to compare it with Overwatch becuase OW didnt have a competitive mode on release (actually its very rare to have a competitive mode on release), its not a competitive game, had less content than Lawbreakers on release day, costs more and Lawbreakers had free weekends too and was regularly discounted. The real difference is OW came first and that dammed every other game that came after.

[@SDZ675]

The game had horrible marketing too. Most people didn't even knew the game was out.

[@Sensates85]

bad marketing and a lot of unnecessary and biased comparison to OW. I can't believe people didn't give this a chance because of 1. how it looks compared to OW, 2. being sensitive to what CB said. Gameplay does not seem to be at priority these days... This is a fun game that deserves more recognition and desperately needed players. Hopefully some changes soon..

[@noahmalonson7347]

Take your blatant racism elsewhere, thanks. That was uncalled for.

[@blahblahgdp]

It honestly was really fun, but F2p would have saved it. All these people talking about OW but OW to me just felt like a re-skinned TF2

[@akiva17]

This was an unbelievable amount of research, editing, and execution all put into one video. I was completley blown away at the info that I didn’t know about Lawbreakers and I applaud nerdSlayer for putting this much work into it. Just subscribed, can’t wait to watch more.

[@MurielissonPepe]

I would love to laugh at all those people posting "bye Overwatch, Hi Lawbreakers" threads on the OW forums.

[@Musically_Declined]

Lol anyone who thought the game would beat Overwatch is a moron, knew from the marketing the game way gonna flop

[@Shinkajo]

@@Musically_Declined Thank you Captain Hindsight!

[@kr1me2000]

now both games are dead LOL

[@oneicene]

Matt Fighting just because overwatch isn’t as popular as fortnite it doesn’t mean it’s dead

[@bubblegumxo]

@hayden tenno I mean, this video pretty much showed that it wasn't popular AT ALL to begin with, and nothing they tried boosted numbers by much. Unfortunately it needed some kind of bigger overhaul to actually be successful, and I'm not exactly sure what that is. I actually do think the bland generic characters played a bigger role than some might think on why this never took off. 🤷‍♂️

[@leonidus499]

just saw this episode and I appreciate the dedication to finding as much details as possible. such an in depth breakdown. Very enjoyable to sit back and watch. 10/10. Earned a sub.

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

You've really stepped up your production game in this episode! Excellent work, I'm looking forward to the future of this series.

[@AngryBoozer]

Fails to directly compete with the biggest name in Hero Shooters, decides to compete with Fortnite... There's a difference between single player and multiplayer games in that, unlike single player games, there's just no room for too many titles. I will play an rpg for 200 hours, beat it and move to the next. If I want to play a hero shooter, I will play Overwatch, maybe a bit of TF2. I will not switch to a different hero shooter after that, I'll just be done with it to maybe return some time later. In multiplayer the game is not the game, people are the game and the game itself is just a platform for people, so you'll just pick the best one for you and stick with it

[@holikwakkemoli]

Sedatus It was more compete with pubg at the time. Fortnite was just barely into season 1, maybe season 2 and didn’t have the massive following yet.

[@onigames7309]

Love the new intro and style. It’s a shame Lawbreakers is dying. It could have been a great game.

[@NOGRIZZGUY]

Christian Arroyo I have it, I STILL love it but there are literally 5 people playing at a time according to steam charts

[@sovieToilet]

Map design is kinda meh, visual style is horrendous with edgy but forgettable characters. Zero gravity and shooting backwards is cool and unique, but it’s literally all this game have to offer over it’s competition.

[@NOGRIZZGUY]

Exactly the kind of answer someone who hasnt played it would give

[@sovieToilet]

What kind of answer, lol. Maps in the beta weren't any good, and most reviewers who actually play quake and unreal said maps are shit. And about forgettable and uninspired design of heroes and their abilities, what, am I wrong here too? Fuckers all looke like generic shit and you know it. None of the casual audience will play this mess, and hardcore fans of arena shooters now have Quake Champions, which is way closer to older formula they crave.

[@kyotheman69]

even seeing clips of it and pre beta builds I wasn't impressed i knew this game was going to die, It just doesn't look unique enough plus Overwatch was killing it

[@vorpalinferno9711]

"Lawbreakers scored a 76" Is that some kind of message from the Spirit of Gaming?

[@Thex1xTrueGamer]

I'm ten seconds into the video and I just had to say that your intro is the best

[@Loop42]

Your intro is honestly my favorite on KZbin. it’s simple, satisfying and sooooo visually pleasing. Props!

[@irkalla100]

Absolutely excellent video. Loved your old format already, and you somehow improved it even further.

[@artej11]

Death of a game: Brink? That one is looooong gone

[@DroxElite]

You have no idea how depressed this makes me.. This was literally my favourite game to come out in 2017... Was even willing to be part of that 20 concurrent player count for awhile. I feel like they could pull it out a little bit if they went F2P, advertised, and did it at a time with no other large releases were around to overshadow it. Game's fun as hell.

[@Choppytehbear1337]

Let's be honest, the Gears of War "Lancer" was heavily inspired by Warhammer 40k.

[@morganevans7096]

Hell my brother has ork boys from 2002 with chainsaw bayonets. Plus they were always mentioned in old HH stuff as a sort of "look how we've lost technology, our forefathers had chainsaws and we have knives. Will our children even have guns to put them on?" Thing

[@maun6139]

Wow huge upgrade man wow Im glad your channel and the game dungeon exist as you two both cover the history and tragedies of dying or dead games people should know

[@MithrilRoshi]

Overwatch followed what TF2 did with their design. If these chars were only cast in shadow you would STILL be able to tell who they were.

[@bazookaboss332]

Where did I hear that before (good point tho)?

[@MrRuano825]

@@bazookaboss332 Yahtzee made the same argument before when comparing any class-based shooters to TF2. Most obvious one I can recall was the Brink one.

[@malka1762]

For those curious: in the art world this is called the silhouette, and it's basically a character design fundamental. It's harder to pull off on more realistic styles since cartoon-ish styles give you a lot more freedom, but it's still super important either way.

[@Roule_n_Scratche]

@@malka1762 thats what i love about overwatch, they made sure you can easily play the game with easy to see characters, and also sound effects you can tell apart, it really does make a difference

[@nikitapayne3957]

Hey man I love your new look. It’s really dope watching the channel visually change and adapt, but at the same time quality stays top notch.

[@mattrob24]

Well researched, thoughtful and (as far as I can tell) unbiased video. Nicely done.

[@jandd661]

It's says something when I never even heard of the game until I see your postmortem. Another great analysis by you.

[@colethompson8962]

I loved the insanely fast and mobile characters that moved in unique ways. I played the alpha and beta and loved every minute of it. So sad that it's dead now :(

[@Bum_Numba_One]

Even though you changed your logo, and can't do that bit with the Lawbreakers logo and your old one side by side, I really enjoyed this video. Now if you do Paragon then you would cover all of my 2017 disappointments.

[@LianaSunburster]

DrIvanRadosivic You cannot blame the community for a game that just didn't click.

[@lightningonlycommentsonce5824]

GhostNappa He is of the mindset "If you don't like what I like, Some things wrong with you." And can not fathom anyone else having a different opinion then his. He is God. Cthulhu himself Basque upon he's very presents. He's thoughts are the *Right* way universally. It is law. Otherwise you are defective. An individual being with their own thoughts, Feelings and will doesn't exist. Unless it aligns with he's, Of course.

[@Bum_Numba_One]

DrIvanRadosivic, It is never that simple. There are a lot of factors that determine a game's success, like good timing, good marketing, not lying No Man's Sky style, etc. That's why I find the show so interesting, it brings to light things that make you wonder if they would have made a difference.

[@zepperman2679]

There's a big difference between not being a slave to market trends to actively avoiding doing what the market says is good like including a deathmatch.

[@Skullybot]

Your Content Is Awesome. Seriously dude. I can't wait to see this channel hit 6 digit subs. You're killing it.

[@adamjoestar2001]

Now that I rewatched this I know that with a “class based shooter that focuses on shooting mechanics” CliffyB wanted to create something like Valorant.

[@Dat_Jonx]

Or Apex. If game had TDM, Ranked and more distinctive heroes, it really could succeed.

[@Jboychoy]

Amazing intro! Love your videos!

[@SillyBearrr]

This was by far the saddest thing I've seen. I was there when the ads for LawBreakers were out, I pre-ordered the game & waited anxiously at home for it to release, even taking the day off from school. It was by far my favorite game, it was a fun and refreshing take on a FPS/Third Person Shooter when games like Overwatch were getting boring. I played it frequently, after about 2 or 3 weeks I took around a month break for personal reasons, and when I logged back on, you couldn't find a match. I was waiting in queue for longer than 20 minutes before giving up.

[@Aedeus]

Fantastic video, love that you went in depth on CB. It gave a huge amount of context.

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

lawbreakers had a cool concept but i feel like the art direction definitely made it less memorable, even at the start. its so similar to so many other fps multiplayers, and tbh one of the reasons games like overwatch and tf2 stood out is because they didn't try to go all gritty, they took their own cartoony style and it 100% worked

[@Suika_Ibuki_The_Drunk_Oni]

Shooters are a VERY, VERY competitive market. Looking Generic is a death sentence.

[@DrPepper776]

UPDATE: Law breakers will be shutting down September 14, 2018. Statement from the team: "In light of the unfortunate news regarding Boss Key Productions shutting down, we regret to announce that we will be sunsetting our support of LawBreakers on September 14, 2018 as we are not able to operate the game. Our servers will remain open until then and the game will be made free-to-play on Steam for all players effective immediately. Please note that any and all new in-game purchases will also be disabled and we will not be able to accept any refund requests. We truly appreciate your understanding in this difficult time and we want to thank you all your support and being a part of the passionate LawBreakers community. Thank you for staying with us throughout this journey. -The LawBreakers Team"

[@Drprophetius]

Game full of mechanics but no tutorial, only confusing linked videos. Character based shooter with characters without any character. Team based shooter without any clear way of playing as a team. Role based shooter with very confusing roles. Objective based gameplay with very confusing objectives and map design. Not free2play, when it looks like free2play with it's lootboxes, they are no Blizzard.

[@Drprophetius]

Cliff Bleszinski go back to sleep

[@n00dle_ow]

Very well put.

[@rmcunningham3874]

Psst! Your attitude is why this game is failing.

[@rmcunningham3874]

"Game full of mechanics but no tutorial, only confusing linked videos." No tutorial. A weird training room that didn't work. Your only option was to queue in and get destroyed by the few remaining obsessive fans.

[@GenderNeutch]

oh no.. bad memories finding this now. Loved LB so much, had a lot of fun with it. : (

[@guilhermesfk]

DUUUDE INSTA-LIKE just for that INTRO. What a doozie

[@cheesymasenko1568]

This is like a more detailed Crowbcat and I LOVE IT

[@thegombie]

Lawbreakers not dead yet? 15 players 24hr peak on steam?

[@AGH69]

If it wasn't dead, the title of the video would be 'Lawbreakers is dying', but it isn't..

[@stevenchan3822]

The 15 ppl probably are the devs

[@7force]

This DrIvanRadosivic dude comes off as a real fucking idiot, and exactly the kind of cancer that drove people away from the very #deadAF game, Lawbreakers; the sort of condescending "our game is high and mighty, you just don't know about it" bullshit, and the piss-poor attempts to guilt-trip people into buying it. Even the developers got salty on the Steam forums, basically calling out anyone who didn't support the game as "the death of the genre" or someshit. tl;dr: Get fucked, Radosivic. ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

[@thegombie]

This game will never be popular because cliffy doesn't know business. It's targeted at a very specific age range and bro-culture which alot of people don't like. And also it's not appealing to women either, unlike overwatch.

[@piscye1806]

DrIvanRadosivic it's the devs fault the game trash. It's not coming back, beating a dead body won't bring it back to life. UNLESS YOU USE MAGIC

[@JonasPolsky]

I worked alongside some hardcore Quake II fanatics, and their mantra was that the game has such a high skill cap, that "New players have no chance" and "You'll never touch a weapon." Imagine trying to sell a kid a game that they'll never get a kill in. That might be great to stroke your own ego as an expert arena shooter player, but it's a business model designed for failure.

[@ElemXCR]

GROW NERDSLAYER!... GROW! these contents are pretty gud.

[@afterpasthours7504]

Even though I generally don’t like Cliff, it’s saddening to see that their commitment to making a consumer-friendly product ultimately failed due to the game having its own faults and not how it was sold.

[@GamerChepo]

you should do a video on The Culling

[@JC-om7nr]

Player Unknown’s Battle Gay

[@Rock-N-Stones]

"Blizzard can do no wrong" This quote aged like fine milk.

[@kazuesan33]

Death of a Game: Dawn of War 3?

[@Hanfgurkenhasser]

Seconded. What a terrible outcome this once honorable franchise has suffered.

[@cordia96]

wait, it came out?

[@MrRykage]

"How did a title published by Nexon an-" you could have stopped the video right there

[@Alu404]

Love the death of a game series so much. I do get a little salty when you speak about a game that I currently play, but it's all in good fun! I really respect the time and effort put forth into the videos. Thanks so much!

[@EnriqueTDL]

Felt similarly when we were making Valorant when this came out. Good video! And yes, combining shooting and characters in the right measure is *very hard* :) You definitely have to choose one to be the top focus.

[@eviltom8783]

You did a great job on Valorant! But regarding Lawbreakers: I really like the idea of movement as skill expression instead of shooting and Lawbreakers was definitely a step in that direction. The sad truth is (and I have seen that in Spellbreak aswell) that a game like this doesn't pull enough casual players long term. Resulting in a low number playerbase and eventually "death".

[@LihimSidhe]

Just came across this video... damn this was well done. Very objective and *gasp*... citing of sources! It would have been easier to gone down the clickbaitish route but this was a hard and clear look at what's going on with LawBreakers. I hope Cliff and co succeed either way. Subscribed.

[@elisarosales-solis5999]

I'm really glad I found this channel

[@0ctothorp]

Man Bulletstorm, talk about a game assassinated by Games For Windows Live, I can still remember even after I had the game running I had to wait a full two hours to play because of Games For Windows Live.

[@UnL1k3]

I can see your KZbin channel explode in popularity. Amazing video, very well structured. Every point is clear as day. Those transitions are lovely. Well done man, well done :) EDIT: Isn't that the GameSpy logo? Those memories man :)

[@aersla1731]

This is sad really, the game was pretty amazing. I would have loved for it to go f2p even if I had bought the game, I just wanted to be able to play the game more. The game felt more like the quake champions, as classes didn't have a huge impact on game play but they were nice. I don't understand why they would have compared themselves to OW, where the game play for law breakers was completely different. Oh well RIP boss key. Such a shame.

[@jyidorne8042]

Lawbreakers is a mishmash of too many things, including Cliff's often way too obnoxious behaviour. There's just too much confusing crap in and around the game. I'm one of those from the older generation, who played Unreal Tournament and Quake as a kid, and I still love those games to death. And I'm not alone. There's a sizeable audience just waiting for a new and polished arena shooter. And while many of us can respect and even like class based shooters, like Overwatch, that is not what we wanted from our new competitive arena shooter. And neither do we care about gimmicks like gravity jumping. When you even look at Lawbreakers gameplay, it gets tiring. Jumping around, roping around, colorless and bland graphics, too fucking many HUD -elements that make no sense, skill buttons, different classes that are hard to distinguish, yet have a serious effect on gameplay - and still the game is extremely fast paced. I don't need all that shit. All I needed was well crafted gameplay and crosshairs to put on my enemies. If the game is fast paced, it doesn't require all that other shit. If they wanted to do that gravity gimmick, the game didn't need classes and skills - or vice versa. Also, when Unreal Tournament came out, there were mutators, there was a level editor, and the server tools were simple and effective. There was a lot of optional stuff that you could play around with, but you weren't forced into it. To be honest, Cliff could've cashed in just by creating a new instagib arena shooter. If it was just UT's shock rifle and Lawbreaker's gravity gimmick, I would've played that.

[@gamesmaster919]

NO DEATHMATCH???? OMG HOW ON EARTH DID HE DROP THE BALL THAT BAD

[@baconn1ce]

such a shame this game is gone, I remember how tight the gun play felt, it was brutal starting, but doing combos with gunslinger by shooting several shots with a pistol to then hit them with a fat hand cannon shot was satisfying af

[@VictorKaiser]

I see myself agreeing with alot of what Cliff says during the first half of this vid. He was blunt, but I can't say he was completely wrong in his statements. However being blunt only goes so far, and trying to be innovative or a "game changer" every time you step in front of a camera isn't exactly the best way to handle things. There's a balancing act that needs to take place, and Cliff was sadly unbalanced with his statements for far too long. I do hope he can get back up from this quickly, lick his wounds, and continue being that "Wow he said that? I...kinda agree" voice we all knew and loved before these shenanigans.

[@PapaSwaggo]

The commentary and research done is top-notch and I have no complaints on the quality of the editing. HOWEVER, fedoras, trilbys, and anything of the sort will never not make me think of neckbeards lmao. Excellent video.

[@CubiStudios]

It's sort of interesting now to look at LawBreakers and see some of the influences ID took from it for Doom Eternal to be honest with the fast paced gameplay, little bit more verticality, and quick twitch reactions.

[@FaolanHart]

I've never really been into competitive multiplayer only games. I like to get into a story, build a character, explore & so on. I care very little about being the best & beating others. But even if his games never appealed to me I cannot help but respect this guy. Frankly the games industry needs more like him.

[@Jacket_off]

This game was so fun! I really miss it..I think it just came out at a bad time and people refused to give it a try because they wanted to see Cliff fail due to his attitude in interviews

[@berke2336]

Why am I only finding this channel now? Take my sub.

[@soundlessbird9181]

Unreal's bots are written by creator of Reaper bot in Quake 1. After them,id software hired Gladiator bot's creator to do quake 3's bot.

[@HamboneyGamezYT]

I never knew cliff b made jazz jackrabbits ... I loved that game bro!!