Pharaoh is FLOPPING HARD (and that's good)

It's not looking good.
All of my coverage of Pharaoh from announcement up until now. Well vindicated I think:
• The Mummification of T...
• Total War: Pharaoh bei...
• Total War Pharaoh - Tr...
• Creative Assembly's Br...
• Pharaoh's "Dynamic" We...
• Total Snore: Pharaoh™
• Pharaoh's AI Looks Busted
#NotMyTotalWar #totalwar #totalwarpharaoh #creativeassembly
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[@Volound]

it was late at night when i recorded this so i was pretty tired, can hear it in my voice and my enunciation at times. heres my coverage of pharaoh from announcement up until now. quite well vindicated i think: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKbGY3VnbrehsJo kzbin.info/www/bejne/pme8eXeQlqqUnpY kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2fFpXSiadpketU kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIeqpmuVm5uhsMU kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHmpanp6edmajLc kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4HYZaSEjZZllaM kzbin.info/www/bejne/naHHnXdvhr-AnKs the dynamic weather one is particularly important i think, also see "total snore pharaoh".

[@SpiritofHonor63]

To me three kingdoms was the unforgivable betrayal. I played Warhammer because it looked fun and I played vermintide a lot. But it was around Warhammer 3 that I made a promise, I would not buy another dlc or game until Warhammer 3 was completed. I needed to see that they would finish what they started and not just scam me because I was ALL FOR Three Kingdoms, it was fun as hell and then just when I'm excited for what comes next, bam, drops dead. "We're sorry~ We had fun along the way! Blah, blah, blah." Until they finish Warhammer 3 and remove the disgrace that was modders showing them up by introducing the rest of the map and potentially, eventually, their factions I'm not buying their games, I quit. The blood nonsense I could handle, the three installments I could get behind but if you cant finish Warhammer 3, I'm done, permanently, forever. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice and f*ck you. To put it lightly. I watched a few of your videos and I earnestly felt the idea of the fanbase wanting Medieval 3, everything in it but modernized and better. I want Shogun 3 because to me that was the best game of the franchise and if I don't see Nippon at the very least in Warhammer 3 then I don't care what they put out. My opinion obviously doesn't matter, but what does matter is that Pharoah can BURN. Finish your games before you put out new ones. I didn't even care about the price hike, which of controversial. I just want a finished damn game.

[@MrAnony07]

Yep there's a reason why I use a DLC unlocker for TW Warhammer game's on steam I'll buy the base game but that's it.

[@SplendidFactor]

Imagine making a Bronze Age game without Mesopotamia and Assyria.

[@frozenlimemix]

Hey now, that will be DLC! (As long as you spend enough money on the product)

[@Thehustlelad]

It’s like making a napoleon total war game without Austria or Russia lol

[@davidrivera6599]

Yeah its called Pharaoh total war 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@anon_moose]

It's an egypt game. It's called Pharaoh.

[@BudMasta]

Bronze age with no sea peoples lol

[@tomm9963]

Gamers, Creative Assembly and Sega have declared that anyone who wants good games an enemy of Total War

[@blanetamez532]

No more just Creative Assembly Sega only cares about money and has a good reputation of cracking the whip when their studios fuck up but not smothering them like EA or Sony.

[@BiRaitBec]

@@blanetamez532 Creative Assembly made uninspiring aestetich titles both with Hyenas and Pharao, it's the head designer's fault, sega doesn't know how those type of games come out until late in development with fan reaction aswell. Im happy they canceled Hyenas instead of releasing a boring title like microsoft did with redfall. If only they didn't even release this one, it would have meant thousands words already... instead they indulge in releasing uninspiring products which only show CA developers who made the past games great are no more there, let alone the studio's names, it's the dev names that made the past good that are not in charge anymore.

[@murtumaton]

@@blanetamez532 I blame CAs problems solely on CA. There is another game published by Sega that had very rocky start but was eventually fixed so well that it has become a darling of gamers: Hello Games' No Man Sky. It alone proves to me that if you have passionate developers, good game concept, and enough time then they will fix whatever is wrong with that game.

[@Hammers_Peace]

@@murtumaton it should be good on launch, lmfao

[@Bayomeer]

The people's tribune's review bombs were not exercised. Our beloved franchise is in the hands of madmen!

[@MattZaharias]

Good Lord, the dung beetle rolling the ball of shit at the beginning of the trailer was just way too appropriate.

[@IceniTotalWar]

Prophetic 🤔

[@cristianespinal9917]

I want to believe that whoever made the trailer knew exactly what this game was and dropped everyone a cheeky hint.

[@tutunghawlhang15]

I was genuisely excited for this new game untill I saw the trailer, everything falls apart.

[@QueenMooSuko]

At some point we all have to accept that the CA we once knew is long gone, from top to bottom, its just not the same company, and the industry standards are so low, and anti-consumer, that I just don't see this turning around. I foresee a bastardization of the series to end up going the route of Command and Conquer. They're gonna end up doing to this series, what EA did to C&C. See you at the next controversy when Total War phone games start getting churned out every year.

[@skywalker6119]

I want a Total War game that spans the entire world, but all factions are locked behind gacha.

[@QueenMooSuko]

@DillsyYourDaddy67 We're overdue for 4 or 5 more iterations of that before we reach the EA level of a series' corpse getting brutalized.

[@Warmaker01]

I accepted that the Creative Assembly I knew and adored was long gone as far back as the debacle of Rome II.

[@Warmaker01]

@@N238E 23 years since Shogun Total War went on sale. Rome 1 in 2005. Shogun 2, the last time I felt CA had all their ducks in a row, was released in 2011. It's been more than enough time for the dudes that made those classics to move on or retire.

[@powerhavengaming2854]

It's very sad...fuck. Im still going to buy it because a year from now it should be playable

[@directrulefromgamerchair3947]

Worst thing is, this game failing will be why we probably won't be getting a proper Bronze Age TW game. The suits will look at these figures and be like "We aren't making bronze age anything"

[@Warmaker01]

They can announce a Medieval 3 TW and I'd be doubtful CA can do it right compared to what the Old CA was able to do.

[@directrulefromgamerchair3947]

Yeah I'd rather a remaster of med 2 like they did for rome 1

[@vinniciuselion4544]

Rome 3 could have a bronze age DLC.

[@Daniel_Jones]

or even worse if they feel historical total war doesnt sell

[@giorgiannicartamancini3917]

We're not getting a proper TW regardless of the setting, if CA closes its doors we won't be losing anything

[@WarAndHistory.]

Shout out to @volound for calling out all of this BS with CA years ago while the rest of us NPCs just consumed and kept our heads down. Bravo to you sir 🙏

[@IceniTotalWar]

You look vaguely familiar 🤔😁😁

[@Volound]

LOL appreciate it, but you got your very own badge of honour from being removed from the kawntent kreaytur program too. these are realisations everyone has to come to eventually, always from different situations. we both got there. cheers.

[@WarAndHistory.]

@@Volound 👌

[@Albukhshi]

Said it elsewhere while watching a battle in this newest entry: You can literally just download the Bronze Age: total war mod for the original RTW, and you'd have a better game. EDIT: I'd agree that CA Sofia was given an impossible task. They come across as guys trying to save a sinking ship with a bucket.

[@floppiwaffle4200]

Only thing CA will see from this is “historical titles are unprofitable back to fantasy!”

[@IceniTotalWar]

Heads firmly buried in the sand .

[@Gdsryrox]

Hmm but what other games will they make a fantasy setting on? They have already milked WH dry, any Lord of the Rings game would have to compete with the mods and probably cost a fortune to make due to license.

[@BunkerFox]

Pathfinder TW? @@Gdsryrox

[@makeromaniagreatagain9697]

​@@GdsryroxMaybe a WH4 with naval battles and proper sieges.

[@Gdsryrox]

@@makeromaniagreatagain9697 Ha ha ha ha ha... Oh Wait. You're Serious? Let Me Laugh Even Harder! But for real CA won't ever fix/add-in navel at this rate and the single-sided dumbed down sieges were on purpose

[@taylorturant8567]

This commercial catastrophe is the best thing that's happened to TW in many, many years.

[@IceniTotalWar]

Especially if it gets rid of senior management.

[@Sindri4346]

I didn't even realise that Pharaoh was launching today.

[@IceniTotalWar]

It would be easy to miss 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thoronirgros188]

Pharaoh had 3k in-game players this morning and stands at 3.4k at like 7:30pm EST. That's so bad for a launch.

[@IceniTotalWar]

It's abysmal !!!! Been playing since Shogun 1 and never seen a launch this bad. ToB might have been worse ? but new TW Titles are usually amongst the most played on launch according to Steam.

[@owainevans89]

​@@IceniTotalWarI've been playing since shogun 1 too. I just can't bring myself to buy it. I still prefer medieval 1 to the newer titles. (Empire onwards)

[@Princey92]

​@IceniTotalWar tob had more then 10k at launch

[@IceniTotalWar]

Yeah i looked it up a while ago on SteamDB, ToB actually had 22k on launch day, pretty amazing that the least played and supported Total War easily beat TW Pharaoh.@@Princey92

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

@@owainevans89shogun 2 is an absolute Gem, and the last good total war.

[@nileee]

Thank God people aren't falling for the Total War slop this time

[@IceniTotalWar]

+1 , 1st game i've never owned on launch day, stopped pre-ordering a while back, now i'm not even sure i would pick this up in a sale.

[@Sapphic001]

Same

[@wesleywyndam-pryce4081]

@@IceniTotalWar Only game I didn't get was thrones of Britannia I picked it up for like 8 bucks later lol when this drops I might get it but its going way down before 😂😂 simply because of the setting I like egypt but na for me at launch

[@trebor797]

Total war has such a big community with alot talented modders. We could just create our own game by crowdfunding and including modders into the development. We dont need CA and lets be real, whatever CA gonna do in future, it will not be what the community wants. We need people working on it that are passionate cause then you get games like Manor Lords

[@privateyou-tuber6649]

good point : however. Total war sits on enough knowledge and mechanics that they could actually create the best total war game (if they wanted to). Not good if you want to compete with them. Look how they ripped off some of the combat mechanics of manner lords in Pharaoh - a game that has not even been released yet! Also I think they would definitely use litigation maliciously to crush new entrants. Sad state of the gaming industry.

[@lucfxgambitgaming7494]

1:24 ​@@privateyou-tuber6649I'm glad they took mechanics from them, too bad they didn't steal the entire formula and be done with reading shit lords everywhere

[@captaindestruction9332]

I mean you say the community doesn’t want it yet the games are still made with just as big budgets as the last games. Obviously a good chunk of the community enjoys or at the very least buys the games to hate them 😂. Its like Call of Duty, most of the hardcore people say they hate it or that the community hate the direction its going yet its getting bigger than ever each year and breaking records.

[@trebor797]

@@privateyou-tuber6649 To be honest there are already similiar games, like Ultimate Admiral. And yeah CA might can create a good Total War, but their leadership wont allow it as they are not passionate for the game, but just the money. Even if CA is going to release a good new game now after this flops, and some fans start forgiving them, they just start the same thing again after a while. Thats how it goes for most big games. They will always try to milk as much money as possible from the people. Thats why inide games are becoming more popular. It just does not smell like greed in every aspect possible

[@trebor797]

@@captaindestruction9332 Yeah but this is cause CA more or less has a monopoly. There is just no other game that gives u similiar battle experiences like the old games did. And its not that the goal is to kick CA from the market, but creating a really good game. People can still buy CAs games if they really want, but they could also play a game made with passion and then they can decide if its still worth for them playing Total War. Like people who like shooters usually play multiple different titles so there is no reason both couldnt coexist

[@akiramasashi9317]

The funniest part of this whole thing so far are the obvious shill accounts on Steam that (currently at least) have put between 0.1 and 0.4 hours into the game and they hail this as the second coming of Christ.

[@Rudipu]

To be fair the obvious troll accounts have put between 0.1 and 0.4 hours into the game and hail it as the worst game ever made. Both are shitty

[@akiramasashi9317]

@@Rudipu True enough, but at least the troll accounts get refunds so they don't put money into CA's wallet while they're shitting on the game.

[@BigGabe-hr3vk]

TBH I played half an hour, didn't even get to play a battle and just go so turned off by the overwhelming RPG style of it I had to close it out in disgust.. I posted a review saying it wasn't what I was hoping for but I didn't say it was total shit, if RPG Total War is what you want then go for it.@@Rudipu

[@IceniTotalWar]

That and the fact these same accounts blame the community for how badly CA messed up. Toxic CA and their apologists !

[@nameisbad]

unlike the guy who played half an hour and bitched out because thinking is hard, I've spent almost 10 hours in the game now and I have to say contrary to all the shit it's getting, It seems really good, I'm having a blast. I wish the combat AI was a little better but at least it's not warhammer 3 bad. Outside that, the more I play the more layers there is that I encounter. I feel sad because this might end up one of my favourite total wars and it's getting shat on because, let's be real as adults who've been around long enough, we all know it's being shat on because of resentment towards CA and total war warhammer 3 being a shitshow. The dynamic weather, the mud build up, the degradation of armour, the dynamic grass (which is cool af to me at least, seeing trails where medium or heavy infantry and chariots have driven through is a nice touch), the whole degradation of the world mechanic that I don't see in reviewers builds so I'm guessing it's unique to my lord of their faction is cool, reminds me of atilla. Then there is the court mechanic, intrigue and all that, seeing whose plotting against who, being able to steal their plot, help their plot or hurt it, the outpost mechanic is sick, the influence mechanic, etc etc etc A lot of people are hailing this game as basic and having nothing new and it's just so sad because it's so clear that's untrue, objectively, that it makes me wonder how far and how long this hate for the sake of it will go and how much damage it'll do. Because you aren't just hurting pharaoh by being bad faith about criticism, sabotaging a release and all that. There is absolutely a possibility of the devs going fuck this and losing a ton of staff on top of the lay offs and then being in a position where they actually can't make a total war game again, and sofia is all we've got at that point and if we lose them now because their game didn't perform well who is going to make the next game, how long will it take, they have to find new people, replace the lost ones, recoup the loss from hyena that sega is dumping them with the responsibility of doing, make a brand new engine based on what we the community want and i'd argue the games need, less money will be able to go into marketing, many people are just walking away from the IP in general and are only sticking around to kick it while it's down to release some pent up anger. It's not a good future outlook honestly, I've seen developers throw in the towel for less. Remember back in the day, no one thought THQ was going to file for bankrupcy, that shocked everyone. It's not the first or last time it's happened. Careful about wishing the world to burn because you'll be left with the ruins and might not like it.

[@newname7055]

Some of the positive reviews are just terrible too - I saw the really early ones that consisted of a thumbs up and yet they were saying they refunded the game and was waiting to get it on a sale... Paradox has the same thing with their DLCs, people giving thumbs up before even booting the game up with some dumb statement like "i haven't played it yet!" - and yet the positive merchants try to claim a game having mixed/negative reviews is merely due to review bombing, ignoring these positive reviews that aren't justified in the slightest.

[@areanvs1800]

PDX is also going down the CA route with a lot of the stuff that they've done. The sheer number of abstractions, loss of player agency, and dumbing down of mechanics in Victoria 3 is a huge red flag.

[@Marshmobilise]

I hate that more than anything. A review will shit all over a product then still recommend it. Like what. Like how?

[@voltairethegoldflame9280]

Honestly steam needs to make these false reviews reportable

[@gilgamesh4710]

damn if only they had 100 million laying around that could be invested into a new engine for totalwar with tons of new features/ performance/ physics improvements

[@justderp5713]

We will toss all of the tea shipments to the UK in the harbor if CA keeps this up. It's a shanda for the genre.

[@RoKBottomStudios]

Fanboys are out in full force in the steam reviews. They really are circling the wagons with this game.

[@taylorturant8567]

Custer's last stand though

[@IceniTotalWar]

I've seen them. They're the one's accusing the fanbase for this disaster that was caused by CA .

[@stefankatsarov5806]

@@IceniTotalWar Clasic tactic of blaming the fans.

[@danielferreira3573]

Modern CA delenta est

[@Randomstuffs261]

0 people playing Hyenas About 12 people playing Pharaoh 2023, the year of the big oof for CA.

[@IceniTotalWar]

This video currently has more views than the peak player base for Saga Pharaoh on launch day !!! Saga Pharaoh truly crashed and burned !

[@nameisbad]

3,396 people playing Pharaoh right now, I honestly think it'd be higher if not for the absolute and utter hate brigade it's facing. I feel like we'll have a ton of people being like "I got pharaoh on sale and this game is actually fun, it didn't deserve the hate" or "pharaoh is fun, I gave it shit but now that i've tried it i'm having a blast". The price argument is the only valid one but it's also cap since you can get the game at cdkeys for 35£ and man, the haters know that and still bitch about the price, it's wild.

[@Randomstuffs261]

@@nameisbad I'd be higher, but not by much. It's an extremely expensive game that just doesn't hold many people's interest for a multitude of reasons. I think many of us just started to realize that the games were getting worse and worse so our expectations for Pharaoh ranged from "It's probably just reskinned troy" to "it's too mediocre to justify the price"... which isn't really hate, it's just pretty realistic

[@nameisbad]

@@Randomstuffs261 I find something really funny about people saying the game doesn't hold peoples attention when they haven't even played it. It's really really sad that we've gotten to the point that people have gotten so good at making self fulfilling prophecies and shit. This game didn't stand a chance because before anyone really gave it a go, bootleg reviewers with a bad mood painted it in it's worse light. Most people I've heard criticize the game don't have their opinion of it, they have someone elses and that's why the mistakes some people are making with what they say has been shared around. I still stand by what I think, anyone who plays 10 hours of pharaoh will come out it thinking it's good at best or mediocre at worse. And with how much you can get off the game by buying it at cdkeys, the arguments really start falling flat outside one that is fundamentally a TOTAL WAR issue and therefore the alternative is quit all TW's.

[@Randomstuffs261]

@@nameisbad I said it doesn't grab attention for people to play it in the first place. The appetite for an ancient Egyptian Total War, right after another bronze age total war game was extremely small. Why would these people pay so much money for a game that doesn't attract them in the first place and has a bunch of issues that people who have actually bought it have actually highlighted? Do you think people highlighting the messy UI, the unrewarding gameplay mechanics and boring battles should just be ignored and you should just pay full price anyway? You're projecting too much onto the people you're disagreeing with and not taking into account what they're actually saying.

[@Skyrimdude1PSN]

I believe 99% that this really was supposed to be a part of Troy Total war, but that game flopped so hard they realized no one will buy more dlc of the game that didnt already sell well.

[@bartimeeus]

So it is a relative success for them. Cheaper development via Sofia, and as much players as for the Troy Launch (troy never reach simultaneous 5k players on steam

[@Volound]

@bartimeeus troy never had a steam launch. it was given away for free on epic. only idiots bought this on steam and contributed to that number. pharaoh is FLOPPING HARD.

[@bartimeeus]

@@Volound good point, i forgot about epic for this one. I checked the numbers for TOB in 2018 and there was over 20k players at launch. It means for 50% price hike (40 to 60€) they divided the hype by 4 (based on simult players, not sales but a rough number which clearly agree with your demonstration : it is a flop) I wonder if they will learn from that experience and how it affects their economic balance (and the promised DLCs on this opus)

[@Gdsryrox]

CA wasn’t able to realize that WH was successful because it was WH not due to the fantasy setting. They made Troy thinking all the WH nerds would buy it too cus single entity hero killing entire armies and stuff while being able to say to the historical fans ‘looks it makes sense cus it’s the Iliad’ not knowing Historical fans are more interested in the mechanics and units acting normally not so much just a historical setting and that he WH nerds wouldn’t give to shit cus it’s not their fav hobby.

[@miltonpirsos11]

The best part about this is a total war Pharaoh ad, the first I’ve seen, was first played when starting your video.

[@krullet3560]

I understand that the tech debt that Sofia is dealing with is massive, but didn't they work on this for 3 years? Surely we could expect more than a reskin. Main CA is the big boogieman now but I think Sofia should have performed better than this. 3 years is a long time. CA being absolutely horrible just makes Sofia look good by comparison I support giving them the reigns though, to prove what they can do when they get a real chance to do something they want to. I would personally want them to create a new 2D/sprite engine that does everything medieval 1 did but able to handle massive sizes like 40k vs 40k. Surely modern hardware is up to the task if the engine isn't shit.

[@IceniTotalWar]

Currently this video has more views than Total War Pharaoh had players on launch day ( 5.5k vs 5.3k ) my God i knew TW Pharaoh wasn't going to do well but for a TW Title on launch day it's crashing so hard !!! I've never seen a TW do so bad ( not sure of he numbers for Saga ToB ) new TW games are usually amongst the most played on Steam on launch. CA apologists are already out blaming the community for CA's failures.

[@Cool_Night_King]

Total war had the potential to be a gentlemen's game , it's sad to see the end of this franchise , my hope is that another game developer take the reins and make similar games for history buffs and strategy gamers , cuz CA is dead.

[@IceniTotalWar]

There's definitely a market there , so many current and past TW players would happily switch to whoever produced these new games.

[@po-cf1ut]

What's your take on Paradox? I've only played CK3 but think it's pretty great@@IceniTotalWar

[@Darthvegeta8000]

@@po-cf1utParadox = awesome games but atrocious monetisation. Worth the money if you really dig your teeth in it or wait for discounts. However they tend to excel at Grand Strategy not the hybrid gameplay of a Total War game.

[@anon2427]

@@po-cf1utI have nearly 3,000 hours on EU4. It’s an incredible experience and offers more control than any other grand strategy game, probably ever. It’s a more relaxing experience than TW after you’ve learned a lot of game mechanics, which admittedly will likely take you months. Huge, huge learning curve. Second best modding community behind Skyrim, better than TWR2 and TWA by leagues. Their DLC practices are horrendous and I didn’t pay for most of them. Only ones I thought had a good content to price value. In my opinion I’d say EU4 is overall the best grand strategy base of either paradox, Civilization, or total war games and is an excellent platform to mod with. It has a huge barrier to entry/learning curve though. I haven’t played CK3 so I can’t compare

[@TheBonzobonzo]

Imagine if they spent 100 mill on creating an amazing new engine and medieval 3 over 6 years!! An engine that could handle all that veritiy so that all future games can run well!

[@stefankatsarov5806]

Imagin if they made a good game. I cant.

[@wesleywyndam-pryce4081]

that's what should have happened 2 to 3 games max per engine I would say Im not against games on the same engine but they milked the crap out of this engine thats so out of date

[@withinwithout2641]

How could you do this to such a humble family business, Volound? All they wanted was to bring you new content.

[@Rifqiethehero]

Why didn't he think about those poor investors 😭😭😭

[@ShadowOfTheSPQR]

Think of the bonuses lost :/

[@sorrdiegamed695]

so glad to see the fans standing up this will make the next meeting at CA a stressfull meeting for sure

[@patavinity1262]

What I don't understand is why no one is stepping in to fill the vacuum left by Total War crashing and burning. There's a demand for games that offer what people liked about this series, why don't other developers respond to that demand?

[@ivvan497]

Not many TW-like games and development teams around. If you think about it, TW is one of the few RTS games with semi-realistic pitched battles, I can't think if anyone else that's not some jank indie game dev with small 200 man battles. And in general RTS games are unfortunately dying as a genre.

[@patavinity1262]

@@ivvan497 I agree there aren't, but I'm wondering why. People would buy a good, historically accurate strategy simulator with tactical-level battles. I happen to be a fan of submarine simulators. For a long time, the industry leader in this genre was Silent Hunter. Ubisoft, which owns the brand, decided not to make them any more. The result was that smaller developers started making their own (actually good) games. This is a much more niche customer base than historical Total War as well.

[@ivvan497]

@@patavinity1262 The problem is they have to start from scratch.

[@cathulionetharn5139]

@@ivvan497 knights of honour 2, but the strategy part is also real time instead of turn based and is way more developed than the battles

[@ivvan497]

@@cathulionetharn5139 just checked it. Nothing like TW. Battles look absolutely atrocious, like age of empires level of bad

[@1nightonekn1ght87]

I'm still just playing Medieval 2. Playing with SSHIP mod now. Still fun for its age. New games just not it for me

[@robevans8629]

Started my medieval 2 camp a week ago, playing Egypt the first time, very fun.

[@IceniTotalWar]

Still so many great Med 2 mods being made .

[@trickyfoxx6941]

Third age for me lol I take that anyway over war hammer or any of this other crap last game for me was Atilla

[@sedoskovelha123]

We will never have good products until CA dies. I dont understand why consumers are so naive, I understood that from day 1, when Rome 2 was released. They just need to die and someone more interested has to fill in that gap. This is not just about CA btw, most current day big gaming companies just have to go. The gaming scene will not improve until they dont, and they only dont because they so far mantained an oligopoly of the industry. Also, there is not 1 single example of a gaming company betraying their audience and going astray, and then making a triumphant return. That never happens. That hasnt happen now for more than a decade. Stop being loyal to companies that arent loyal to you. Stop being ridiculous.

[@Tom_Quixote]

Here's why consumers are so naive: Many of the CA customers are children. Easily won over by some charismatic shills and some "awesome" screenshots of crazy big monsters or whatever. And each year, some of those children grow up, but others are born. They can keep milking this gullible group forever. If I were 10 years old, I'd probably be playing Warhammer and not realising they are bad games.

[@funkwolf]

There is nothing wrong with reintroducing features, the problem is when those features add very little to an already very shallow game.

[@redeoghan]

Would love to see them scrap warscape entirely and start work on an engine that can actually produce kinetic melee combat. Using an engine built for musket warfare to represent bronze age combat is just sad.

[@felipeignacioavilapizarro3698]

well empire at launch was pathetic, I mean really pathetic, and it is unplayable without mods. the warscape engine should've been canned after Rome 2, but as they polished the turd so excellent in shogun 2 here we are, no unit collision a decade later...

[@juggernaut9994]

I'm surprised Pharaoh even got 5000+ players at launch.

[@catalyst772]

If this game launched for 20$ It might've been.... decent

[@Tom_Quixote]

Even at zero dollars you're still paying with the most valuable thing you own: Your time.

[@stevencass8849]

Even Melkor came back to KZbin to tell people not to buy the game!

[@Volound]

just went and found his post. respect to melkor. hes a good lad.

[@stevencass8849]

@@Volound You know what’s also sad? TWCenter hasn’t even announced the release. I know TWC has been dead for years, but I still thought they would at least mention the game on its front page.

[@peebsyt2870]

Volound, a GLORIOUS victory will sooon be yours. You did it bro. You opened the communities eyes, even the shills are switching sides. Creative assembly has been hammer and anviled and now they've either gotta rout or they've actually gotta get their head back in the fucking game and start caring again. I think we all think deep down that this is the nail in the coffin. but i hope, and i would bet money on it that you hope deep down too, that this causes CA to get their head out of their ass and really start trying again to recapture their core audience

[@Volound]

lmao appreciate the comment bro. thanks for being one of the sensible ones all along.

[@The_Mystical_Platypus]

The risk is that CA might learn the wrong lesson from this disaster and conclude that historical titles aren't profitable rather than realising that they can't keep releasing half-baked games thin on content with 100+ DLCs.

[@stefankatsarov5806]

Better if Ca die. In that case we will have someone knew come in and give us a breath of fresh air and some pation.

[@dholl17]

Been a HUGE fan of TW since the original Medieval. Haven't bought anything since my foolish Rome 2 preorder. Just been replaying the good ones. RIP TW

[@Holbarooka]

I think the sad truth is we will never get a new Total War with the same feeling as Medieval 2/Shogun 2. It's been a long time since those games, the same developers/game designers might not even be at the company anymore and the longer time goes on, more of what made CA great back then will go. (+ the general greed of companies these days)

[@vangoghsseveredear]

If Medieval 2 was launched today, the Mongols wouldve been a DLC, the late era gunpowder wouldve been a DLC, the Americas wouldve been a DLC, and the Turks and Egyptians wouldve been a culture pack.

[@feelsbradman6793]

Glad to see that giant turd in the trailer turned out to be an accurate representation of the final product.

[@The_Mystical_Platypus]

Pharaoh and Troy shouldn't have been seperate games. I'd actually be excited if CA opted to make a Bronze Age Total War on a single big map but instead we got this sparse mess.

[@jamiemcerlain5897]

I am in utter despair at the future of total war, I’m not even sure if it has a future, the formula that put CA on the map has been totally squandered by bad business decisions and a lack of passion for true innovation and effort. I wouldn’t trust them to even attempt an Empire 2/ Shogun 3/ Medieval 3 without it somehow being stripped bare of any interesting gameplay and being a total downgrade to its predecessor.

[@beautifulchlorophyll2285]

Total War Three Kingdoms was AMAZING - it was so different to the other titles I literally couldn't make sense of it at first, the character system, the romance mode, the ancillary system, alliance mechanics, food trading in diplomacy, territory trading, granting independence and creating new factions, the prestige progression system for every faction - not to say these mechanics were perfect, they were sometimes buggy and incredibly frustrating, but the game overall was INCREDIBLE. I'd love to see all of the above in the Pharaoh map, improved graphics, mechanics and gameplay, I'd pay £60 for that... but I didn't even get Troy cause it looked crap and... disappointing that all I'm seeing for this game is 'it's just Troy'.

[@Volound]

just play paradox games. nothing you said there was about battles, which is the whole point of these games.

[@beautifulchlorophyll2285]

@@Volound I guess yeah, bit dissapointing they removed naval battles too but overall the AI in battles seems better the Duelling system was an amazing addition you had the in battle effects if the guanxi (relationship) mechanics the morale effects were reworked numerous times the unit types were very diverse based on factions the terrain played a big part whether it was jungle etc. The ambush battles were amazing there's alot to like in 3k sadly every game after that hasn't been as good though

[@Volound]

there were a lot of things that thought and effort went into. also ive had it confirmed by ex-CA that they literally copied the paradox stuff e.g. diplomacy, lol. one of the things 3K gets complimented on is just shit they ripped off their rival. @@beautifulchlorophyll2285

[@lv83bloodknight]

If only there is a Paradox 3K game...

[@beautifulchlorophyll2285]

@@Volound I've never heard of paradox games is this another kind of RTS type game?

[@ryanadams2610]

I feel bad for some of the people at Sophia playing troy (even thou it wasn't great) clearly have a passion for the subject matter. I get the feeling they want to make a good bronze age setting game and go wild with it. However i think its clear the devs at Sophia are probably getting shorthanded.

[@TheBonzobonzo]

I feel bad for Sophia team! I feel also they want to make a good game!

[@shetlandapache949]

What evidence is there of that? I feel like they just want to make an rpg and are stuck making tactics games. Every product they have put out is not worth the price. We're they around when ca was creating good total wars? What is this weird faith in a studio that has never made a good product?

[@timokaaarp7779]

CA can't even be bothered with a half-arsed effort these days - they need to spend time playing their own back catalogue, with mods, and then make us a new proper Total War - they will get no more money from me until they earn it.

[@ddjay1363]

Fans have been asking for Empires 2 and Medieval 3 for years.... They get... Pharoh.

[@ollyclass]

The Greeks aren't going to be added in Pharaoh. Pharaoh is the Egypt dlc to the Greeks from Troy.

[@redcoatgaming4141]

Bronze Age Egypt an Intresting point of human history and CA balls it up

[@IceniTotalWar]

Hardest Total War Steam achievement: beating ToB day 1 player base 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@dioniscaraus6124]

Pharaoh of Egypt, Arch Estromancer and Glaive. They didn't even bother with making those sound legit. And Chatgpt tier writing

[@Gdsryrox]

It’s pretty clear this was meant to be a Troy DLC but Tory didn’t go so well and as such took back what they had to try making it a historical game cus CA didn’t realize all the WH fans that joined don’t give two shits about the other total wars which is why Troy failed

[@wulfgardtt6483]

Just got banned from Pharaoh discussion on steam because i questioned how the reviews have suddenly changed to mixed from negative so quickly.

[@jasoncreamer5747]

Has it not been confirmed that not only is it a resting of Troy but was originally slated to be a DLC for Troy but decided to release it as a stand alone.

[@pud4272]

Consumers are honestly part of the problem. They keep buying this crap along with the hype and buying games that are obviously reskins and supporting versions that divert away from what made the series great before 2010.

[@Tom_Quixote]

People keep buying these games for the same reason they click on youtube thumbnails with extreme facial expressions and laser eyes.

[@mcsmash4905]

or maybe just maybe they buy games because they are interested in them or just like whatever material was built upon? i guess it allows you to sleep easier at night when you tell yourself that **everyone** who buys x game you dont like is a sheep or a ˝consoomer˝

[@Marshmobilise]

Some of the mechanics seem interesting and thoughtful. Ie the employment mechanic, trade system etc but then it’s like Skyrim innit. Wide as an ocean. Deep as a puddle.

[@johnbono2384]

Except Skyrim is enjoyable for the first 30 hours

[@boscochou9710]

My booting up my FOTS for the 100th time to mow down samurais with Gatling guns and kneel fire: "Ah yes, beautiful."

[@gamerkev30]

hopefully this will make CA actually try to go back to their roots and start again from scratch, At this point we need a Shogun remake or Empire /Napoleon 2 to get hype, but it needs to be good

[@juanjuIio]

Earliest I've ever been. Haven't watched the vid yet but from what I saw it is selling enough to make a profit, even if it is not nearly as high as other TW releases. CA has no real incentive to make their games better because they can still make money with half-assed troy clones, even if not as much. The total number of sales has gone down but the prices have gone up. The CA fanboys are perfectly willing to shill out a hundred big ones for a terrible game, so CA doesn't care if the number of sales have gone down.

[@fellington2398]

Volound was right.

[@nomercy8989]

Pharaoh is a pretty good name. It's a mundified corpse of something that used to be great but has been dead for a long time.

[@100gendos]

I recommend installing the Age of Bronze mod for Total War: Rome II to anyone who is disappointed in Pharaoh. There you will find the Bronze Age as it should have been.

[@ellasims551]

What a good news, CA wanted to sell their reskin of rome II forever

[@hotbingo5864]

Just got an ad for total war Pharaoh while watching this, lol

[@Loalrikowki]

Even a skilled builder can't make a good house on a rotten foundation.

[@bloodmagiclord8253]

They broke the pathfinding in Empire Total War. 14 years and 11 game releases later - still broken. This level of laziness/incompetence would not be tolerated in any other industry.

[@stefankatsarov5806]

I was thinking about it and honestly Empire totall war showed that CA aways had this in them of puting a bad game and then not caring, or even fixing it later. Empire was such an incoplete game its wild for the standarts they had showed till then. Napoleon was a mild improvement and was very shallow as a game and was really not touched afther its releas. How they made Shogun2 to be so good is beyond me, since the 2 games before and all the games afther it where bad games or ones that had digresed alot compared to it or the older ones. And afcorse afther Shogun 2 they did a 2nd Empire in the face of Rome2 and in the same way this was a new style of play, someting that tried to mask the bad parts and the blatant 2nd atempt to see how much can they milk the fans but then afther the backlash they released their 2nd Napoleon in the face of Attilla whit the idea that again it will wash their hands clean, it afcorse was also not optimised and wasnt liked so they got scared and this time "fixed" Rome 2, but it was too litle too late. Afther that point they stoped caring completly and went to warhammer.

[@thompai1069]

I ironically had a Pharaoh ad on this video 😅

[@dannyshadbolt229]

You know as a kid, playing Rome 1 and medieval 2 all I ever wanted was: Lord Of The Rings Total War. Romance Of The Three kingdoms Total War. Warhammer Total war. We got all 3, but I didn't think the one that's a mod would be best supported.

[@mootedtols4865]

There's a thread on steam titled "I hope Medieval 3 and empire 2 burns to the ground" Funniest shit I've read (this year)

[@LuigianoMariano]

If CA swallows its pride and makes a sincere and apologetic effort to reform the company hierarchy and revive the brand, Volound is the only person who can be trusted to direct the development.

[@Beispielname1233]

CA is not the same company from a decade ago i doubt they would be able to replicate the achievements of rome 1 or Shogun. They cant even do naval combat anymore. Only hope is for anouther company

[@Volound]

thats what a lot of ex-CA think. "it isnt even the same company any more. so many people have left. burn it all and let someone else try their hand". ex and current CA agree with this sentiment, believe it or not.

[@TiGGowich]

I was shocked when I saw the trailer... like wtf was that... the ridiculous scene with the Pharaoh talking to himself and choking on an olive? I felt intellectually offended when I saw that... it looked like a joke that could never be real. What have they done...

[@Marshmobilise]

If we are assuming 5500 players on launch to be generous and assume each person paid £70 for the base game. CA only made £385,000 on launch day so far. That’s pretty dire given the games budget will probably have been a couple million. Add this to the hyenas debacle and that’s two massive financial losses for CA in a very short space of time.

[@stefankatsarov5806]

And thats not counting the refunds, the amout of which afcorse they will never share.

[@MrAnony07]

And to note this game budget is easily 10mill-20mill most likly on the lower side but yea there's little to no chance of them even breaking even on the game.

[@danielelkin995]

First total war of my life I never bought. I been playing these since Rome 1 was being used by the history channel lol

[@indorilnerevar8716]

"This should be a quick one" 26 minutes later.

[@Volound]

nope thats not what i said. i said "hopefully", and said that because i was tired. the longer the better, usually. just ask your mother.

[@honchothesage4707]

Bro added "and that's good" petty 😂

[@LauftFafa]

what the collective hive mind say doesnt reflect a thing to me , i enjoyed it as much as 3 kingdoms . even the claims its laggy does make sense its literally smooth as water in my old pc

[@JD-bk4zi]

Honnestly old total war is not coming back, that would require effort lmao At this point let's just eat our popcorns and laugh at the crash of CA

[@youvebeengreeked]

"Reintroducing weather" I've only been playing Rome I and Medieval II the past couple years - what happened to *WEATHER?*

[@luelee6168]

The title Creative Assembly is effectively false advertising. The low risk and low cost to CA in the making of TW: Pharaoh and the predatorial price proves this fact.

The only ones that have delivered good Total War products are those that continue developing MOD's for Shogun 2, Rome II and Attila; They do deserve financial compensation for making the two truly last historical CA games profitable, in addition to continuing to demonstrate that Shogun 2 and its mechanics were enough for more games (but that CA never wanted to take advantage of). In the end, it is a waste of time to spend on new products since Thrones of Britain and Warhammer (which, although it is a separate game and is more enjoyable than the rest, is still to blame for the subsequent disasters). =/

[@TsunamiWombat]

I appreciate you being kind to Sofia, they seem to be the last spark of passion in the company. Sofia seems to genuinely try and hard, but they have a shoestring budget and are working against tech debt. As well as the mandates from the company which likely demand the hero & character systems the hardcore historical fans seem to dislike

[@Darthvegeta8000]

I am a fan of historical AND warhammer. So I like both styles. It is time we got a Napoleon II, a Medieval III or a Shogun III. A full fledged game. Doubt it'll happen.

[@JP-cb9sh]

People want so called "variety" in ships and artillery, basically Europe, Medieval. They have burnt once with 3K, and now Pharaoh. Will they ever learn? Don't think so and won't hope for it.

[@seraphx26]

The reddit weasel cope is "it's not the game but the price" well it's actually both, it's dog shit and expensive.

[@tonyjim8053]

The game looks like a historical side campaign. Like it should be part of bronze total war like a full game with full world map and this is just like a smaller side campaign.

[@monkofdarktimes]

You know what's funny about it I keep getting ads from Creative Assembly

[@AlecFortescue]

People need to understand that the company which can afford a $100 million + flop is (was) swimming in money. I love how CA pretends to be some small time provincial studio from backwater in Europe.

[@LiewLmao]

Small indie studio which receives grants from the government *is also the largest uk studio*

[@jaredhaver3630]

Holy shit. I got a Pharoah ad when i selected this video.

[@Volound]

CA pays advertising agency. advertising agency pays youtube. youtube pays me. CA pays me to shit on pharaoh. :chad:

[@magako_v.3]

I got a total war pharaoh ad before the video (couldnt skip it either)

[@valder8423]

It was unclear until the very video when Volound said that you should not buy Pharao, lol

[@TiGGowich]

What I never get... take a team like the one that worked on Cities Skylines 1 and 2. They quite literally invited fans and modders into their development teams and asked "so what do you want" ... they then said what they want and now in CS2 they basically added everything that was missing in CS1 and everyone loves it. I don't understand... it's not rocket science. CA and Total War has one of the largest and most vocal communities with an abundance of ideas for good games. Yet CA refuses to listent to anyone outside of their crap studio completely and doesn't even make the games moddable.

[@interstellar_duh7431]

I really wanted to like this game as I've been hoping for a historical bronze age title for a long time. I've been following all the updates and progress since it was announced. and a lot of the mechanics in Pharaoh seem really interesting and fun but that price, man... I simply cannot bring myself to spend $60 for a game that has such a limited scope. The absolute most I would spend for this is $30.

[@zeyadelsayed4991]

I’m usually a total war pre-orderer. Consistently have been for a long time. I know this won’t be too impressive with this crowd. But I’m just saying this to chime in and say when even someone like myself isn’t interested enough to get a total war game in the slightest, it’s a problem. I preferred the older and more strategic/tactical total wars like Shogun 2. But even with the new games being more arcadey like Warhammer and three kingdoms, I was fine enough with some amount of control of troops while looking at all the animations and spectacle when it is there. I’m saying that people look for different things in games, there’s some that play things like TABS or that other simulator that has soldiers in the thousands - not because they’re tactical and actually good simulations, but to watch little minions fight. I’m saying that whether it’s for the former reason being strategy and immersive gameplay, or the latter being spectacle and so on, this game ticks no boxes for a pre-orderer like me still. I think we all know there must be a real new proper grand-scale total war planned and not a saga game. For me if this one game flops, that’ll just be the last and most decisive thing to make me turn my back on total war.

[@Tom_Quixote]

I will never understand why people pre-order games. Back in the day when you had to get your hands on a physical box, then yes, sure. But now, when you can just download it whenever you want? Now, when games are usually released half unfinished and need at least several major patches in order to start to be playable? It's up to you what to do with your money, but I think the whole preordering thing makes no sense, and actually degrade the whole market. Because game companies start to focus on generating hype and selling you the dream of what their game will be like, instead of actually focusing on making sure they release a good product.

[@TheLegendsmith]

I started watching this and thought "Yeah not surprised, I felt like Shogun 2 had problems" and they you actually just said it. I'm so glad to find someone who knows what they're talking about. Man I really wish RTS games (and their adjacent games like TW) could actually have some good damn designers for once. I swear I could design a new RTS game that actually was worth playing. Not all by myself, but I think like me + 2 others could do it. I've got some design experience even.

[@sedghammer]

The best that could come of this is CA finally realizing that battles are what made this series great. Creating a solid foundation for the simulation, logistical, and morale aspects and then innovating on each aspect is what it’s going to take to get historical players back in force. Until this happens releases like this will be the result.

[@McNab1986]

After all those years of fantasy, the fact they didn't do a medieval 3 or an Empire 2, shows they've no clue to their fanbase no more. No one was asking for a crappy little filler game like Britannia or Troy set in Egypt

[@davidrivera6599]

the real victims here are the Sophia and the total war fans