Pilum said:
I think it would have been a waste of time and resources on the other.
Warband: released in 2011
Warband RE: released in 2015
Bannerlord: released in 2017/2018
it would give us 2+ years to enjoy the RE (remastered edition).
Now lets look at the pessimistic scenario for time/resources:
Warband: 6+ million copies sold
Active players in 2015: 10%, or 600k
Players in 2015 with a modern computer (medium/high end bought after 2012): 50% or 300k
Willing to pay for a upgraded engine: 50% or 150k
Price of RE: $15 bucks (for current owners of Warband), $30bucks for new players (for this pessimistic scenario, we assume zero new players)
Profit for a sell (after paying Steam, taxes, etc, but before studio expenses): $7 by copie, or ~$ 1million
Average cost of a engine engineer/2D and 3D artist/sound engineer per year: ~$100k
That would mean a budget for a team of 10 people (ish) to work on the update, breaking even. We are not talking about a remake, but a remaster. So no gameplay changes, we are talking about updating graphics engine, redo some of the textures and models for higher poly count / definition, rework sounds, ... no game designers to create new stuff, no testing of quests, game balance, no creating a new AI, etc.
Now increase the scenario by a bit, say 500k new sells and 500k old players. That would mean a profit of $ ~10millions dollars to invest in Bannerlord.
Or why do you guys think the game studios are releasing remastered games? Skyrim SE is on the list of top sold games for PC and consoles. Other remastered games are selling well too.
And lets not forget all the free PR, Youtube hype, press coverage, new players interested in the IP for the sequel, etc, that would just help Bannerlord sell.
Hindsight is a great thingy, right? In 2014 people didn't want to talk about remastered games. The impression was that it was just a rip-off, why do it? No money, players would hate the studio, ...
then came 2015 and 2016 and every big studio is trying to release a RE or thinking about a remake now hehe
Looking forward for FF7 remake
Pilum said:
Taleworlds or a mod team could always try to make Warband Ultra HD
Its likely we will get a remake of Warband, yes. But the remake (not talking about a remaster now) needs to have features from the mods that improve the overall gameplay from old Native, taking ideas from Floris, Diplomacy, ... and of course, Bannerlord itself (like the siege attack with multiple points of entry, instead of 1 silly ladder hehe). Would be fun to see the expanded lore be applied to Warband, and to revisit our old friends again.
Future looks good!