Did EA put this game out to die a quiet death? Today I was kinda surprised when no one I talked to knew about the game, knew it was coming out or even knew what it was. On the other gaming forums I go to no one is talking about the game. There just seems to be zero hype for the game. Anyone else getting this feeling?

Yes, EA wants their games to fail.

Well .... it came out of the blue I give you that , around 3 months ago or at least utill then knew about the game .... and I come here every day so is not surpriese that most people dont know about it. I think it is going to be a sleeper untill we hit the dry montha and people wants something to play , and Syndicate will be there. At least that is what I plan on doing.

@PeasantAbuse: There have certainly been cases of games being dumped without ceremony at poor times of the year for sales. A situation where the publisher feels like the game won't have a chance at success anyway.

EA certainly doesn't feel that the PC version of Syndicate is deserving of enough attention to put it on the front page of the Origin client. However, I have seen ads for the game on the various game sites I've visit.

I think this game got a lot more air time than Binary Domain. I didn't even know about it until I tried downloading the SSX demo.

They definitely didn't advertise it all that much. I suppose they thought it wasn't worth the marketing money.

Can you really blame them? It's a new game in a series that has cult following and has a completely different gameplay. Welcome to giant bomb.

not now the gerstmann has spoken. He is like some kind of space-pharaoh around here you know?

@cheesetriangles said:

@PeasantAbuse: There have certainly been cases of games being dumped without ceremony at poor times of the year for sales. A situation where the publisher feels like the game won't have a chance at success anyway.

Yeah, true. I might be mistaken, but I think I've seen a commercial for it on TV though which is probably the best way to advertise a game.

Considering their biggest game of the year lauches in 2 weeks they ate focusing more on that.

I assumed the game would be sort of bad. I mean, that generally is the case with these sorts of quiet releases. It's like Deus Ex all over again. In fact, this is shockingly similar to Deus Ex.

DIdn't know anything about the game til i saw Jeff's 5 star review on the front page. 
 
I imagine the lack of publicity is largely due to ME. Also maybe because on quick glance it looks insanely similar to crysis 2?
 
The QL sold me on it though. I like the overlay and the interface and the hacking stuff seems like a fun gameplay element.

After playing the majority of the campaign, I can say that I agree with Jeff's review. The dubstep boss was great.

It hasn't been trumped up too much, but it will probably sell decently well. Not ME3 numbers, but enough for a sequel probably.

@PeasantAbuse said:

Yes, EA wants their games to fail.

With their treatment of Alice: Madness Returns and Shadows of the Damned last year I would not be surprised.

I feel bad saying it but: I hope so. Taking one of the best tactical isometric strategy games ever made and turning it into a linear first person shooter with a named protagonist is really, really, really heartbreaking. I hope somebody makes a REAL sequel to the old syndicates.

I can't imagine the hard work that must have gone into making this game, but calling this game 'Syndicate' just feels wrong in every way. Like it's a testament to the close-minded nature of the industry.

Starbreeze has absolutely terrible luck when it comes to selling games, so I have doubts that Syndicate will see any real success. 'Tis a shame, as they make pretty awesome games. ImmortalSaiyan does bring up an interesting point though. Shadows of the Damned, particularly, deserved better treatment. It would seem that if it's not an actual EA property they do next to nothing to market and promote it.

Seems like the sort of game I'll get around to eventually if/when I don't have anything else to play. I haven't heard anything about it which makes me want to rush out and get it.

@Kourtney99 said:

I just wonder, what is EA??????????? Please anyone explain it to me.....................!!!!!!!!!!

Wait....what the hell are you even saying? What is EA? What is one of the juggernaut publishers of the industry? They help make some pretty big games, duder.

Really seems like EA is fucking up a bit with Syndicate, Reckoning, and SSX. They are too focused on ME3.

@HatKing: Deus Ex was a quality title though.

If they really wanted it to die they would have made it an isometric shooter.

Well, don't get a lot of game ads here, but there hasn't been any - definately looks like EA is ramping up their marketing for Mass Effect 3.

As for general knowledge - other than my other game-rabid friends (with whom I've been pretty much counting down the hours to tthe European Thursday release with), half the people I've spoken to don't know what Syndicate is. The other half just exclaim a shocked "It's out THIS thursday?!".

From a very small sample size (the group of people I socialize with) - yes, they've marketed it poorly.

(And Europe getting different release dates is still BS.)

@Jimbo said:

Seems like the sort of game I'll get around to eventually if/when I don't have anything else to play. I haven't heard anything about it which makes me want to rush out and get it.

It is an incredibly beautiful console game with a very awesome setting. The HUD stuff is pretty cool, and the gameplay is almost shockingly satisfying. This is coming from someone who has only played around with the co-op as of right now though, which again, is shockingly in-depth. Short and narrow is more work went in to this game than I ever imagined would and it's for the better, probably the best thing to come out of Starbreeze.

You're insane, that was one of the shittiest huds I have ever seen in a video game, it's awful.

@xxizzypop said:

. The HUD stuff is pretty cool

If we talk about Internet advertisment I thnk EA have done quite a lot. They have put up trailers two times a month since fall and there have peen press events for the game and therefore previews. If your'e talking TV ads and stuff like that I don't know. And since I'm from Sweden I wont see that anyway. I do know that a bunch of game website adventise the game with BIG site covering ads so would say that EA have put some marketing into this game so to call this "sent out to die a silent death" is hyperbole. Look at Alice and Shadows of the Damned...those games were truly sent to die and had almost no marketing push. Syndicate have had a lot more media exposure.

@Hitchenson: I really like it. It's a bit much on the screen, but I think it looks pretty cool and the reason for why it exists the way it does in game appeals to me. I might be the minority.

Origin is the only thing keeping me from getting this game. It's disapointing to see a publisher ignore the biggest digital distribution platform (steam), a service that has strengthened the pc gaming community. While at the same time do business with gamestop a retail outlet that siphons more money away from publishers than pirates do.

@xxizzypop said:

@Hitchenson: I really like it. It's a bit much on the screen, but I think it looks pretty cool and the reason for why it exists the way it does in game appeals to me. I might be the minority.

I barely notice it unless I need to use it, and then its easy to use and looks great.

Origin hate is still in?