Metro Awakening did not meet the publisher's financial expectations
Metro Awakening was one of the best VR games of 2024, but according to its publisher, it failed to meet financial expectations.
The Swedish media holding company Embracer Group, which owns the VR developer Vertigo Games, writes in its latest financial report, which covers the months of October to December 2024:
"Among the new releases in the quarter, Let's Sing 2025, Metro Awakening (VR), Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered and Goat Simulator Remastered were the main revenue drivers. Metro Awakening had a positive reception from critics, winning the Steam VR Game of the Year award, but underperformed management financial expectations."
It is not known how many copies of Metro Awakening were sold and what management's expectations were. The statement is therefore difficult to assess. Embracer Group acquired Vertigo Games in 2020.
The statement is reminiscent of one made a year ago by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, who said the company was "a bit disappointed" with what Assassin's Creed Nexus VR was able to achieve in the VR space. Guillemot said at the time that Ubisoft would not be increasing its investment in VR.
In both cases, management's expectations for VR sales were probably unrealistically high. But with only a few high-profile VR games like Assassin's Creed and Metro Awakening, both will probably sell well in the long run and perhaps make the profits publishers are hoping for down the road.
Metro Awakening was released on November 7, 2024 for Meta Quest, PC VR headsets, and Playstation VR 2. It currently has 1,100 ratings on the Horizon Store with an average of 4.5 out of 5 possible stars, nearly 1,900 "mostly positive" reviews on Steam, and 1,700 reviews on the Playstation Store with an average of 4.5 out of 5 possible stars. The VR game has also been well received by the press, with an average score of 74 points on Metacritic.
Our writer Sönke Siemens described the strengths and weaknesses of the VR game in his Metro Awakening review. He praised the storytelling, the claustrophobic, creepy atmosphere with its play of light and shadow, and the interaction with weapons and gadgets. Minus points were given for the lack of variety in the level design and the backtracking.
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