Back in August, it was reported that developer People Can Fly was unsure about the profitability ofOutridersdue to the lack of royalties, which wouldn’t pay out until publisherSquare Enix broke even on its investment inOutriders. The news was painted in a somber light. During a recent interview with Game Rant, CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski discussedOutriders, among other things, and helped to clarify this situation.
During our interview, Wojciechowski mentioned that, according to Square Enix,Outriders“is on its way to become a major franchise in their offerings.” In other words, it’s not all doom and gloom as many may have speculated. This can be seen by everything that has happened recently withOutriders, with the New Horizon updateadding many fan-requested features to the game and the Worldslayer announcement showing a continued investment inOutridersby PCF and Square Enix.
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Wojciechowski revealed that he thinks “a bit of confusion” best describes the royalties situation back in August, as the company had only released the statement due to certain disclosure obligations on the market. It’s not like People Can Fly was expressing any discontent with the royalties, just that PCF has certain obligations and is avery transparent companyon top of that. August’s “communication gap” regardingOutriders’ royalties was resolved just after the statement, with Square Enix confirming thatOutridershasn’t broken even. However, this is to be expected.
As Wojciechowski himself puts it, “taking some time to break even is very common in the industry due to the cost involved in big productions likeOutriders.” Wojciechowski also expressed confidence thatOutriderswill get there, again as evidenced by People Can Fly and Square Enix’s continued push onOutridersas a franchise, not a one and done.
More specifically, royalties are and should always be understood as a bonus source of income, not the main payout. People Can Fly has been receiving payments forOutridersfrom Square Enix based on its contract and milestone cadences; therefore, the situation back in August was never as big of a “situation” as it may have seemed. Plus, the relationship betweenPeople Can Fly and Square Enix“is as strong as ever.”
Beyond justNew Horizon and Worldslayer, People Can Fly has reached a new investment agreement with Square Enix regarding subscription warrants, and he describes both companies as proceeding in a “business as usual” mode. To both People Can Fly and Square Enix, it’s clear thatOutridersis a franchise, which is a very strong term in the gaming industry. What comes of this franchise remains to be seen, but there’s plenty to come. “[T]he work on the Outriders experience continues,” said Wojciechowski.
Outridersis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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