Alpha Protocol sequel denied, low sales to blame

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 6th 2010 6:00PM

Sega West president Mike Hayes has stated that the espionage RPG, Alpha Protocol, won't be receiving a sequel. In an interview with CVG, the executive plainly expressed, "Let's speak very commercially; the game hasn't sold what we've expected, therefore we won't be doing a sequel." He continued that the game didn't have enough to get into that "upper echelon" of RPGs, because the amount "you need to invest to get there is so large because RPGs are naturally big projects."

The Obsidian-developed game suffered numerous delays, alleged tweaks and eventually launched this year to middling reviews (across the industry). It seems Alpha Protocol will have a future akin to that other oft-overlooked espionage classic: Leonard Part 6.

Source: CVG

Tags: Alpha-Protocol, microsoft, mike-hayes, obsidian, Obsidian-Entertainment, pc, playstation, ps3, sega, xbox

Reader Comments (42)

GOOD.

Low sales, oh and the game was terrible...

Why is it that games are terrible or awesome with nothing inbetween, and if a game is legitimately average then it's "terrible" in minds of gamers - most of whom haven't actually played it.

Internet hyperbole really irks me for some reason and many gamers in particular seem to be incapable of taking a rational viewpoint on game quality.

Average games aren't terrible, they're average...

@Sweetz

I have to agree. the game isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It isn't the greatest game I have ever played but it isn't terrible either. Its a decent rental.

It really bothers me that most of gamers haven't actually played it but will never try it because someone else said it was bad

@KingOfGods There are plenty of amazing games to play, and for $60, it's not really the summer of "try it out, it's just ok." Especially for an RPG. Shooters are a fun, simple time. Action games, racers, a lot of genres can afford to be ok. An RPG? A game played for the story, pacing, customization and progression, a game that is more lengthy and demanding? No thanks.

Reviews shouldn't be the buying guide for gamers, and I love plenty of games that are in the yellow and red on Metacritic, but a disaster game being ignored isn't anything sad. It's a just ok RPG, people aren't going to line up to try it. It makes sense.

@JONNNathannn

No where in my post did I say spend $60 to "try". The game isn't worth $60 and it will soon be discounted to $30 or $40. At that price point, I can recommend it.

The game isn't a true RPG. It's more like an action/shooter with RPG elements under the hood.

Kind of sad, since the game had potential.

Maybe another company will pick it up.

@pButter I wanted this to be rad. I really did. Lol at "upper echelon" almost an unintentional dig / splinter cell gag.

i'm really hoping alan wake doesn't go the same route. it was much better reviewed, but reviews don't make remedy any money.

@Puertoricarious I thought Alan Wake was doing decent, also all the reviews I saw where good...

@DeeZeee Edit.. nevermind lol

@DeeZeee

review-wise it did pretty well, but sales wise, i can't imagine it was up to par.....unless remedy set the bar really low for some reason.

@Puertoricarious

I was surprised to already see new copies of it for $68 (typically $120 in nzd retail) in EB games already. I fear it didn't quite hit the mark expected, down here at least.

A sequel might have tightened up what was wrong with this game, but it might not have so :|

@MrAlex That's what I was hoping would happen. I'm still waiting for this price to go down, because I love RPGs, but I've just heard such bad things about the tech difficulties. It's a shame, becuz it was delayed--they didn't touch the game during the delay.

Well maybe this means I can pick this up dirt cheap, like $10.

I picked it up for $5. Still really really bad.

Kinda feel sorry for them. They tried their hardest damnit! :P

@Thorz
Releasing a game Obsidian develops is not trying your hardest. They're kind of bad. Look at their history. They do sequels to highly successful games that the original dev has moved on from. Coincidentally they develop the last games in that series.

Also, any Sega news that's not about a Jet Set Radio sequel isn't worth typing.

@ticklefist
err, not coincidentally. Whatever.

@ticklefist I disagree, Fallout New Vegas looks good albeit a bit similar to fallout 3. *cough*

Eh, I liked KoTOR 2 better... I never managed to finish KoTOR 1 because I didn't upgrade a certain skill, and therefore my only path to winning would've been dark side... which wasn't how I was playing... so... yeah, bad final boss design, in my mind.

@ticklefist You do realize that Obsidian is Black Isle gone independent, right? You know, the creators of the Fallout series and Planescape: Torment? Some of the best RPGs ever made?

The problem here was Sega, which having only recently returned from the dead to publishing video games, did a shoddy job with Alpha Protocol. Hopefully, Obsidian holds the rights so they can go with another, more experienced publisher that actually knows how to run a test department.

@Thorz

Obsidian suffers from publishers that rush them out the door with a product. The same thing happened with Neverwinter Nights 2. Entire quest lines just up and stopped mid-way through because they weren't given full funding for the project. Same with KOTOR2. They know what they're doing, but for some reason, they just can't get a good publisher.

I actually forgot this game existed.

I guess when you delay your game longer than Mass Effect 2 and then release at a much lower quality than Mass Effect 2 you don't really get the publicity to make a lot of sales

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
I loved Alpha Protocol. Im in the middle of my 3rd play through.
Sure Its has its faults, but give it a chance. I was really hoping the we would see a sequel.

You'd think if Kane and Lynch could get a sequel, this could... that game had bad reviews and bad sales, too...

@Xoonaka

I remember reading here on Joystiq that the original Kane and Lynch sold over a million

Haha, I get it. Alpha Protocol is the alpha and the omega...that's clever.

Obsidian messed up KOTOR2. Yes the standards were sky high for me, but I got bland characters. Kreia < Bastilla. Malak owns all antagonists.

I have no sympathy for Obsidian. Untill they make a good origional game of course.

Parts of the game were pretty good, but if it wasn't for a questionable design decision (the Russian Mob Boss battle) and awful quality control, it would have done just fine.

WHAT-A-TWIST!!

/sarcasm

@robotoid ^this lol

AP was a nice rental. a lot of potential. had some rough edges. sad to see it not get a sequel

I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody.

Something funny about this article going up after the Kane & Lynch 2 preview..

This is why you have to do good in the first game, because they may very well never give you a second chance.

What I don't get is how badly Sega drops the ball in terms of mandating inappropriate design decisions in order to boost sales.

Here's a pop quiz, Sega: Which of these two poorly programmed games could have benefited from more T&A?

Alpha Protocol
Sonic The Hedgehog

If your response was to fuel furry fanfiction, you chose incorrectly.

They should have held out for the new upcoming spy shows coming to network and spent that time refining the game. Would have been a win/win/

I'm playing it. I'm enjoying it. I think timed dialogue choices are tense and keep the game going. I like that I can buy enough points in toughness to actually take bullets and not have to play like a real fps. This feels like the first mass effect, where powers were more than just rock paper scissors exchanges, but added meaningful variety to what you may accomplish in the game and how you do that. I hope this is the sort of decision that can be reconsidered.

I really enjoyed the game and would've loved to see a sequel. Too bad.

This is really quite a shame. The game may not have been great, but it WAS solidly average (due almost entirely to technical issues and a few design choices) and had a lot of potential.

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Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol sequel denied, low sales to blame

Reader Comments (42)

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:04PM ticklefist said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:04PM DeeZeee said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:46PM Sweetz said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 8:19PM KingOfGods said

Posted: Jul 7th 2010 12:06PM JONNNathannn said

Posted: Jul 7th 2010 9:26PM KingOfGods said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:05PM pButter said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:52PM The Wicker Man said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:06PM Puertoricarious said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:07PM DeeZeee said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:08PM DeeZeee said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:16PM Puertoricarious said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 11:06PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:07PM MrAlex said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:21PM Petebot330 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:10PM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:39PM AutobotIronhide said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:12PM Thorz said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:21PM ticklefist said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:22PM ticklefist said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:24PM Thorz said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:26PM Xoonaka said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:16PM Warrior said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:46PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:19PM Lerkero said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:24PM MatthewMk2 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:27PM Xoonaka said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 8:23PM KingOfGods said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:28PM Cakes94 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:34PM BrickArms said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:41PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:45PM robotoid said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:59PM The Wicker Man said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:55PM 2Slick said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 6:57PM refinedsugar said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:04PM Cleric said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:10PM RobS the 3rd said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:20PM onan said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:29PM mstachiw said

Posted: Jul 6th 2010 7:35PM Prestidigitator said

Posted: Jul 7th 2010 5:42AM 2late2die said

Posted: Jul 7th 2010 8:43AM Pharoah4187 said

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