There are stock holders of Bandai Namco that are Arcade owners, who obviously tries very hard to prevent and delay the console release. And you need to emphasize more on how big EXVS is for jp arcade, most of bigger arcade will allocate an entire floor just for this game, and it's hard to find an arcade without this game. It probably is only after the gacha machines revenue wise. So losing chunk of this game revenue is pretty much unacceptable for them, especially as arcade business is weakening even in japan. Moreover, the fan base of this game will never be growing like FPS game, it is by no means small, but in Japan, where this game has been played for more than 2 decades, you won't find more growth, and oversea player means nothing to arcade owners, since they will never become part of their revenue.
Also, the game is originally made by CAPCOM, BANAM bought the developer team from them, but I believe they have some level of independence, like ATLUS to SEGA, they are called VSTG, so it's not like there are a single person in BANAM can order them to develop console version for the greater good of the IP, let alone how niche the genre of this game is.
@@hunterzhong9308 I had a hunch VSTG is similar to Atlus, seeing how Atlus was also backwards with their platform choices until recently. Now, they go multiplatform to PC as well. Wish VSTG can shake that Arcade monopoly shackle & go multiplatform on PC someday. Arcade money might be paying their dailies now, but it's shrinking compared to Japanese Yen inflation & worsening trade value.
10:32 Gundam Evolution failed because it was trying to fill in a dominated Niche (Hero Shooters) with nothing beyond the shallow application of the Gundam IP to differentiate it from the juggernaut that is Overwatch 2. It also released 2 weeks before Overwatch 2, so it was doomed to lose roughly 2/3 of its playerbase once OW2 dropped. Not helping was the aggressive monetization strategies that made playing for free unbearable unless you played constantly from Day 1. The issue with EXVS is very similar to that of other beloved Gundam Games like Gundam Breaker 3 and Gundam Senki 0081: We know the game is good, We want to pay money for the game, but the option does not present itself. Instead, we get the worse versions of these games (New Gundam Breaker, Gundam Crossfire) in the west, they predictably fail, and Bandai throws its hands up and shouts "The West doesn't like Gundam!" This is an awful habit that persists even to this day, with the botched PC port of GBO2 left to languish instead of fixing the awful netcode and the cheating epidemic, and G-EVO being pushed instead of a First Person Mecha Sim that would better exemplify how good Gundam can be to westerners. I don't doubt that BandaiNamco can make good Gundam Games. I just doubt that they'll ever release the good ones in the west and continue to wrongheadedly push the games nobody asked for and nobody wanted, questioning why these inferior games fail without a shred of irony. They could easily make a Console/PC friendly game similar to that of Gundam Kizuna II (whilst being different enough as to not poach Arcade players, if that is their worry). They could easily port EXVS2 while Overboost is active. People want these games and would happily pay the full $60 for each of these games, especially if there was the promise of DLC like in EXVS and Full Boost. But instead we get a soulless Hero Shooter that only had a shelf-life of 2 weeks and a terrible VS title whose competitive scene died out when most rounds ended in a Draw, something that typically never happens in competitive EXVS.
Thank you for your insightful blog post! I read the whole thing and it really made a difference in how I view the series and gave me a little bit of hope that we may eventually see a focus on home versions.
I so hope we’ll eventually see more EXVS home release someday. Especially on PC. They’re already doing something right with SDGBA being released in more platforms outside of Playstation as well as making GunEvo & GBO2 (in beta testing form, but still) available on PC, so why stop there? How’s about we go all the way?
Considering how much Bandai struggled to get the GBO2 PC betas to actually run, I wouldn't be surprised if they're focusing on getting that game launched and functional before moving on to other big multiplayer projects. Hopefully the network development carries on toward ensuring a future EXVS home version releases smoothly.
Hoping Armor Core 6 is doing good this year and pick up people's interest towards mecha games, so Bandai Nam will start pay attention at the oversea gaming area.
I had always been aware of Gundam and some of the shows before but playing Gundam Versus back in 2018 and convincing a friend of mine to try it out is ultimately what got us into the gundam franchise as whole. It was always so much fun talking about which gundam series we started watching as we played the corresponding mobile suits in the game and just having a blast. I wish more people could share this experience which is why I am all for more console releases and Bandai finally letting us play the newer VS games.
16:39 Bandai has been doing this going on 25 years before streaming became commonplace and the only reason it feels like they're active now is because there's way more opportunities to put the franchise out globally then there was back then. Even after their US division closed shop Gundam Unicorn Jpn's release came with a English dub and subtitles and had subs for their PSN release, Gundam Build Fighters was among the very first Gundam anime release on their RU-vid channel and IBO had a huge marketing campaign when it was first being streamed on Crunchyroll. So Bandai has been trying especially after Covid when the franchise reached record numbers in revenue its just that they're very finicky with the Versus series because of its roots and the fact that its carrying arcades on its back that they can't afford to take risk with it.
One of my favorite aspects of the Gundam Extreme VS games is its exclusive mobile suit, the Extreme Gundam. I LOVE EXTREME GUNDAM. That, and its variants from Type Leos, Type Leos II VS, Type Sthesia, MK II AXE, along with the N-Extreme Gundams from XBoost. When I first saw the HG Extreme Gundam, I immediately bought it in a heartbeat. It's one of the most aesthetically-pleasing Gundam that I've ever seen, if not the only one. That being said, it's rather unfortunate that the HG release still used old HG molds that limits its articulation. Heck, even when they released the 10th Anniversary Extreme Gundam Eclipse Phase (which I also love and mained in Gundam Breaker Mobile), they didn't even bothered to update the mold, nor did they release the other variants, let alone putting that MS into the arcade. Looking at Bandai's capability of making the HG Neo Zeong, I believe it's possible for them to produce Carnage, Tachyon, Ignis, and Mystic Phase weapon packs for Extreme Gundam and Dystopia Phase for MK II AXE. Perhaps along with the Rephaser variants, too. The closest one that could get a possible future release would be Type Leos II VS, Type, Sthesia Excellia, and MK II AXE. There's also the mass-produced G-Stream, too. My wish is that Bandai would release the Extreme Gundam variants and weapon packs with updated HG molds for better articulation. Heck, if I have my own way, I'd cook up an Extreme Gundam anime series to goad Bandai into releasing Extreme Gundam kits lol 😂😂😂
Looking at the video and comments, I think there’s a part of history that is missing, which is the existence of Rise of Incarnates. It was a f2p 2vs2 game released by Bamco on Steam in 2015. If you look at the footage and game system, they look awfully like exvs(and dissidia ff). However, this game flopped, and ended its service in around 6 months. This failure might be one of the reasons why Bamco is so reluctant to release it on Steam, since it “failed” even when it was a f2p game. Which makes little sense since the biggest reason it flopped was probably because they didn’t straight out just release the exvs series.
just did the research on ROI, it was killed 3 months after release with servers still up until December 2015. In hindsight it was weird that it was never given the chance to shine considering it's F2P meaning you gotta play the long run here (coming from a guy who used to play F2P MMOs) and player number should not be an issue if marketed properly (even for an F2P game at the time of 2015) unless the gameplay is really really bad, which this game was okay albeit the "EXVS at home" vibes My guess is that somebody at Bamco made a hissy fit about ROI or that this game was treated the same way as Darkstalkers Resurrection i.e only as a water testing game to look for an audience of this kind of fighting game which may explain the weirdness of getting killed 3 months after release
i still think its easier for them to just give people what they want and just focus more on console, since nowadays people is more on their home and in their console plus it would benefit them a lot more too since more exposure to the series the better, ESPECIALLY A good gundam game like the Extreme vs series is probably the gundam game that will entice people since it work for both casual player and even esport competitive players
Honestly, they really could do a best of both worlds thing by creating a story mode for home versions, like some previous releases had. The Vita version was excellent, with a full story in the style of the recent SD Battle Alliance game, and it was great. It doesn’t have to be just an arcade copy, it can have distinguishing features that make it look like something different to console owners, instead of an arcade replacement. There’s a reason the Dissidia games were super popular, but then Dissidia NT was kind of a letdown. The gameplay was great, but having the game be only an online brawler limited its reach compared to the other games.
Technically speaking, we did get an extreme vs game here in the west a few years before MBON and I think even before Gundam Versus in the form of Gundam Extreme vs. Force and I can't blame you if you forgot about it since they made the brilliant decision to release it on an already dying console (the PS Vita) and from what I recall it didn't even have online play. I was almost 100% sure this series was never gonna get another chance over here after that game cause it was like they practically sent it out to die.
I definitely caught a big interest in Mecha games like i been playing armor core 6 and just loving it, my friends introducing me to some of his favorite series of Gundam and im actually getting frustrated myself with the EXVS situation but im truly hoping nothing but the best for the series 🤘
the marketing guys in charge of naming these titles must be on ton of coke. They were like, "Gundam extreme 1, 2, 3, 4? Nah fuck that, Extreme v.s Maxiboost full-on MAX! Fuck yea let me get another hit"
like gundam is pretty niche worldwide but in japan and exclusively japan? they already got 3 lifesized mfs, bandai defo knows how to fucken market no cap, and i can say with assurance that we're definitely getting more console ports in the future, but yknow, in awhile oh yeah they also gotta do maintainance on the console-style controllers on their machines so that's extra cost
Thanks for clarifying this. I’ve been a fan of the gundam versus series since I was very young,but I never really understood the whole concept behind the marketing and the fact a lot of it is tied to Japanese arcades.
Solution is easy: if arcades would lose money if they made a home console port, then they should just port it to PC because only like 4 Japanese people actually have a gaming PC lmao
Unless jp arcades take another drop in player base, I really don't see much changing other than fewer new machines, so arcade operators don't have to buy new ones each year. What I almost expect, for no good reason, is that they're waiting to do something wholly new and release that on consoles like they did with gundam versus 2017
I think one other aspect to be aware of is just the modern arcade hardware service model. It isn’t the case any more that arcade operators just buy a cabinet from the distributor -- they have to buy the cabinet (and any subsequent upgrades) and then buy licenses to keep the cabinet online as well as pay a royalty to the distributor for every credit put in the machine. Bandai Namco absolutely takes advantage of that with EXVS and its other arcade heavy hitter, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune, where along with the above, arcade operators have to buy at least four cabinets *and* a terminal, which acts as a distributor for Banapasses and the central communication point for the group of cabinets to play with each other. A home version of EXVS, especially if it was F2P with MTX and battle passes or something, would probably print money, but it wouldn’t print nearly as much money as the arcade version because Bandai Namco basically gets to double dip on the profits
As a person that only have PC, it's kinda sad for me that i can't play this game, while console player at least can still play Maxi Boost version. If we talk about how they can get more profit if they release it on console, maybe something like the ”dreadful" DLC unit can work, of course with reasonable price
Not only Bandai. Seem like japan developer have different way of approach to world push. (you can see how Konami reposition their football game and it is a disaster)
They should release a version for North America then... just don't release a console version JP. I know people will then find a way to play it at home, but i doubt Japan would invest much time in finding loop holes to play at home, when the community still favours Arcades. I also made a video on this and it's sad when a company holds amazing IP's from other nations. Hopefully they have a change of heart. Great video bro!!
the article is well written and very understandable but his solution to a home port of EXVS2 might make a lot of people angry, that being putting Over Boost on home console with a slashed roster for DLC sale, i read it with Google Translate and he suggested slashing by 50% citing new player choice paralysis. His other solutions was GVS2 (which he said no because of the hatred for GVS) and EXVS2 Vanilla which i would say is the safest route to me. If you want to do that while mitigating the anger from console/PC players is just to put EXVS2 Vanilla, that way most people will go "oh well it'll get more soon" instead of slashing Over Boost roster by half for DLC practices. Also he said that the ones handling the current arcade EXVS was a different subsidiary of Bamco being Bamco Amusement so putting Over Boost on console is an absolute "no way jose" on the business part because it's basically throwing Bamco Amusement under the bus. My only issue with the EXVS2 Vanilla home port approach is that in time we will get XBoost and Over Boost but when there is a sudden announcement of EXVS3 in the future that is a double edge sword shit right there, even more so if by some wild black magic vodoo hex type of shit Bamco decided to put EXVS3 on both home port and arcade.
Even JP player is desprated for console/pc port of newer title. So desperate that they start mod full boost with all new unit and burst system and some group even hack exvs2 and a lot of people start playing it. Bandai show know how much damage this can be if they get their hand on XB or even worse when OB release. And all of these will never happen if they just port. Right now they have to choose between continue to ignore all these problem stick with arcade or port the game and turn into live service game like other fighting game. I can fully said that exvs is the only one game carry the arcade industry in japan right now so this is a really hard pill for them to swallow.
I was one of those that got into Gundam because I imported Full Boost and then was obsessed with GVS for a good year. Soon after I have a ton of gunpla and am caught up with even current Gundam manga like Moon Gundam. Cross promotion is important and I feel they have a series that is the pinnacle of arena fighting games and they instead promote low effort garbage like Gundam Evolution
Do we have any communities in the US for MBON? I am a Chinese currently living in the US. I just bought a used PS4 (specifically for MBON) and feel so sad that I can't match a person online to play this game. If we have any group chat for this game in the US, please let me know.
I genuinely think a cross-platform, cross-play, F2P base roster version would absolutely blow this game up worldwide. Let people buy whole series rosters for like, $20. Or play the game for in-game unlock currency. Or sell the whole game’s roster for $100-120 and sell season passes for new suits. The game’s fun and entertaining enough to make that work, and making sure it can run on a midrange gaming laptop would effectively open it up to a playerbase that’s orders of magnitude larger than the JP arcade playerbase. You could even use the JP arcade to playtest updates, so they’d still get priority, which would justify that playerbase continuing to play in JP arcades.
In the blog post the writer actually had a suggestion I thought was really good where they release the current version on console/PC as well as arcades but you limit the roster so that arcade players don’t just completely leave. They suggested that the home version starts with only 80 suits and 10 get added every few months whereas the arcade version has around 230 and a new one gets added every season, so this way it takes a while for the home version to catch up to the arcade one.
as much as i agree with the sentiment of "ffs bandai when will you port EXVS to both console and PC". i can't really say i don't miss the arcade(my local had MBON cabinet) sure you can play it online, but there is something about you go out there, put in a money and play with 4 other people then become friend with them because you play together in that match.
I will like to see a fight game like this, but for, transformers or armored core. Within a way, a game like this, probably wouldn't as popular, it's because, arena style video games, appears to a niche audience.
I don't agree with the view that they are losing money if they bring it to PC/Consoles. Konami has solved this issue with releasing Arcade games on PC and charging subscriptions and ask them to buy DLC for access to new content. After all these games are live service. Many MMOs have less than these numbers and still doing great for decades. The problem lies to Japanese company culture that keeps doing the same thing because they have dinosaurs in charge of things. (if you take a peep at their banking system you will understand what i mean). Instead of investing in the arcade port to consoles pc as live service game, they went to spend so much money into the making an Esports game (with Overwatch in mind) (that right now are dying literally cuz sponsors are backing out) 10 years later than the big boom of esports. There are many ways to monetize and keep it good for profits, they just don't care to change.
I was never even aware of those game before. It look choatic haha. The only Gundam game i'm play is gundam battle operation 2. What do you guys think about this game? Personally I have a love/hate feeling. I love the fact the suits feels heavy and the amount of different suits an playstyle but I really hate the stunlock mess this game is. At this point it's if you get hit by melee, well you are dead.
dismissing MBON releasing on PC because Evolution exists is just silly. Evo is floundering precisely because it released into an oversaturated genre, meanwhile EXVS has a documented history of having an extremely popular niche in arcades. Bamco already treats MBON with a light hand financially by putting it on sale for over 50% multiple times a year, I have a hard time believing a PC release for a years-old game is that discouraging a factor considering Bamco already markets many of their over games to PC.
Not trying to dismiss it, just trying to point out they may not want to spend the money to port it over to PC and market it considering it's a 7 year old game at this point
Bro do you know the game called exteel online 12 years ago sunddely just shutdown in my pov... I'm having the same vides on this game ... Damn i miss the game 😢 it was fast paste game like this and had skill some need to hit the hitbox just to activate the animation also has pve.
bandai was making tons of pc gundam games in pc. they all are good, even better than extreme versus that we can modify the gundams, but they all are having internet connection problem. the problem with making pc game is they need to use private secure internet line to make the internet work fine, but to do that they need to charge more money to consumer and people usually dont like that this is not applying to console game though. for console game, your theory might be right
EXVS Full Boost is what made me become a Gundam Fanatic back in 2014. It angers me that objectively the best gundam game (Gundam Breaker is a close second) is being held over our heads due to greed. What else is new?