People Can Fly, the developer studio behind Outriders, has stated that they have not yet received any profit-sharing for the loot shooter. This was supposed to be due now, but according to the studio, it has not materialized. One of the heads thinks: Outriders was probably more expensive than expected.
This is the situation:
- Outriders was released on April 1, 2021, on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 with some difficulties – there were numerous bugs and issues with gameplay on all platforms
- The game was supposed to launch as a “finished version”, not as a service title that would require extensive work long after release
- Nevertheless, the developers worked on polishing the game long after release, providing adjustments to gameplay, bug fixes, or even fundamentally adjusted the main systems
- Now the developer studio says: So far, they have not seen any money for development. Publisher Square Enix has not yet paid out any profit-sharing
This is what the developer says: People Can Fly published a report on the current situation on August 16 (via PeopleCanFly.com). It was originally planned to distribute the profit-sharing 45 days after the first quarter.
That would have been on August 15. According to the studio, this did not happen. Outriders is distributed by Square Enix. The publisher is responsible for sales and marketing.
Wojciechowski notes that possibly partnerships were not considered or the publisher’s costs were higher than expected. The absence of payment, therefore, means that the costs have not yet been covered. These include production, quality assurance, sales, and marketing.
What happens next? Wojciechowski believes that despite the bad news, profit-sharing will be paid out this year. He intends to continue working on supporting Outriders for the time being. However, he cannot provide any details yet.
Previously, the development team spoke about the future of Outriders and possible DLCs, which were, however, closely tied to the success of the shooter:
It’s up to you whether Outriders gets a DLC and new classes
Why exactly the payments have been delayed is not precisely known, only suspected. However, it is also not clear how well the game has actually performed in terms of sales – because the studio does not know that either.
“We do not know the sales figures”
Why is no money coming? Sebastian Wojciechowski, the president of the management board of PCF Group SA, the parent company of People Can Fly, says on the subject:
“We have no sales figures for Outriders. We estimate something between 2 and 3 million units sold and thought that this result would ensure the profitability of the project. The absence of payment likely means […], that is not the case.”
Outriders was very well received on Steam at release, but it also appeared directly on release in the Xbox Game Pass. Subscribers did not have to purchase the game, and since there are neither paid DLCs nor microtransactions, there was little incentive for Game Pass users to spend money on Outriders.
Wojciechowski notes that possibly partnerships were not considered or the publisher’s costs were higher than expected. The absence of payment, therefore, means that the costs have not yet been covered. These include production, quality assurance, sales, and marketing.
What happens next? Wojciechowski believes that despite the bad news, profit-sharing will be paid out this year. He intends to continue working on supporting Outriders for the time being. However, he cannot provide any details yet.
Previously, the development team spoke about the future of Outriders and possible DLCs, which were, however, closely tied to the success of the shooter:
It’s up to you whether Outriders gets a DLC and new classes
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