
Crash Team Rumble released on PS5 and PS4 over a week ago, but you'd be forgiven for completely overlooking its launch, which was — at least from our perspective — incredibly muted. The multiplayer title was met with okay reviews, but it's also had to endure quite a bit of criticism from Crash fans who just wanted another platforming adventure, or a remake of PS1's Crash Bash.
Instead, Crash Team Rumble opts for a live service model, and while there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, we all know that keeping a live service title afloat requires a lot of effort — and a consistently healthy playerbase.
Unfortunately for the Bandicoot's latest outing, there's already an indication that the game is struggling to attract attention. As pointed out by Video Gamer, the title had a total of just 30 viewers on streaming platform Twitch earlier this week. At the time of writing this article, that total has dropped to below 20.
Now obviously, sites like Twitch aren't totally indicative of a game's success, but they can suggest certain trends — especially when it comes to titles with a multiplayer focus. Coupled with the general lack of interest we've seen online, and it's not hard to assume that Crash Team Rumble has an uphill battle on its hands.
And this was a key concern that we raised in our Crash Team Rumble PS5 review, which was otherwise fairly positive. "The online multiplayer space is so competitive that it's tough to judge whether Crash Team Rumble will be able to carve out its own niche and warrant support beyond what Toys for Bob has already committed to," we concluded.
It's also worth noting that Crash Team Rumble is not a free-to-play title, although it does have a lower price tag than your usual retail releases.
Again, it's so hard to create a multiplayer hit these days — and it feels like we're seeing such projects fall off a cliff with alarming frequency. But what do you think of Crash Team Rumble? Does it have a chance? Collect some wumpa fruit in the comments section below.
[source videogamer.com]
Comments 44
30 viewers on Twitch at launch really is absolutely abysmal
It will literally....CRASH
Sorry
Chasing $$$ by going live-service is an epic fail. Especially when a series such as Crash was single-player to begin with.
The number of twitch viewers mentioned in this article can actually be explained: I accidentally opened 30 tabs in my browser
I didn't know it existed
In other news, the floor is made out of floor
It was a stupid idea anyway if they wanted something multiplayer why not just do a remake or sequel to Crash Bash?
No. It has no chance to rise from it's grave. Multiplayer universe is overfluffed ...and they know it ...and still blindly wasting power in despair hope for another "milking cow".
@Suda52 no no, please no another multiplayer in PS Plus...
Twitch also has 50000 people watching someone in a hottub and giving all their parents money away. What a world we live in.
Another live service, another failure…
Please take note about this Sony.
@Ssimsim gotta love the internet
@IOI they need to fail first to understand.
The good news: the ex ubisoft game looks like trash LOL
The bad news: Marathon is probably going to be the most successful live service sony has ever own.
But there is still a lot of room to fail, the last of us multiplayer, the other game that was only a screen tittle, the horizon fortnite game, etc. (even hellriders but I actually like that franchise so i wouldn't like for it to die)
Yeah I can't say this wasn't expected. I fell in love with Crash after being able to sink my teeth into CTRNF and Crash 4, but I wasn't excited at all for this one. It looks like a bit of fun, but I highly doubt unless they can add a whole lot of content like game modes, maps, and characters to the game that the game will be able to last for long, both in wants to play it and the games' total lifespan
You don’t say. This was always going to fail. $30+ for a live service product that should have been f2p with only 1 thing to do is insane. This thing had flop all over it from day 1. I’d be amazed if this isn’t on PS+ and Game Pass by the end of the year.
I think this would of benefited from being released on PlayStation Plus from day one.
Just like the rest of these live service games, full of Gaas and hot air.
“Already Concern”?
There was concern for the future of this game before release. Hell, it was predicted to be a failure before it was even announced, thanks to leaked information.
How this project was greenlit, I really don’t know. Maybe there’s some world, or some time period, where this game could’ve been successful, but in today’s climate? Not a chance. MOBAs are dominated by two games, and live service games that aren’t Fortnite or CoD are struggling for relevance. Add in an IP that isn’t as universal as Mario or Sonic, and you have a recipe for disaster.
I think this is the issue with live service games. Even with the ones that I really enjoyed (Destiny and Division), my dedication to them is 6 months max and by the time new and exciting content arrives, I’ve moved on mentally and don’t want to get back into the game.
The game died in it's first week, that's actually pretty impressive! Twitch streamers and players in general aren't just going to start playing it for no reason so It will be f2p within the month and be shut down by the end of the year.
As a die hard Crash fan, I have no intention of picking this up. I actually like the concept the actual end product gives me the ick.
Some of my Crash loving friends will only play this game if it was free-to-play. And this is coming from people that are some of the biggest Crash fans I know.
Obviously.
I find it baffling that stuff like this gets greenlit
20-30 people watching on Twitch for a newly released multiplayer game is actually not just bad, but abysmal.
A live service game that is sold, not available as a free download, struggling to maintain even passing interest. These companies are genuinely delusional.
All this talk about how MS is going to put PS down, Sony has a chance of knocking PS down a peg if their live service games tank. I was so looking forward to Last of us online, when the report came out and said Bungie looked at it and said nope. That was a big sign to me. Sony don’t know what they are doing in the live service space and are relying on Bungie to grade them all before going out the door. That seems iffy at best but i am hopeful.
@Mythologue Most of companies live in delusion if they put famous stamp on crappy product it will sell. And that illusion they make new milking cow from any franchiese is like chasing fool's gold. That "multiplayer train" has gone and those false numbers on Google Play store fullfilled with copy/paste MMOs cannot be taken seriously at any cost.
Live service games seem to be a massive risk. Ok the 5% that are successful make ridiculous coin but the majority it seems just fail and disappear hard
@Czar_Khastik
If it was chrome your CPU usage just hit 99% and you’re all out of RAM.
Live Service multiplayer games should ALWAYS be FTP.
If you charge money to purchase, you’ve screwed your game up before it even releases.
@OrtadragoonX It was Chrome and I was really left with 1% RAM. That laggy mess I ended up with reminded me to go back playing LOTR: Gollum
I don't typically stream games but a few years ago when I was drunk, I streamed a Korean horror game on PS4 called White Day - even I had around 30 viewers then. I'm not sure how multiple (presumably) people streaming a game in a famous franchise only got that many.
@roe or "Gaaslit" ill see myself out...
Anything that's live service i want no part of it I hope they all fail miserably so Sony can concentrate on what they do best single player games
So to recap:
To quote another video game mascot character, "What could possibly go wrong?"
Can have it both way liveservice no content and still €30 it's just to much.
It's always a joy to see a failing live-service! Keep them coming greedy *****! You will take your lesson eventually anyway.
@Sequel I loved the Killzone 3 multi-player so much but I really hated the last one where there they threw out all the special more heavy gameplay for the next COD copy and paste mess...
No money for Bobby Toxick here.
Make it Free To Play and refund the people who paid full price for it lol
Tried the beta. Could only bare to play a few matches before I was bored. Not the crash we love. Wouldn't surprise me to see this done for by the end of the year.
After how quickly they shut down the Crash mobile game, I'm surprised they think they can try something like this again.
If Crash 4 was a PS3 era game, Rumble would have just been the built in multiplayer mode. In the current era, it comes to us 3 years late for half the price of a full game (with the expectation of paying more later). It's even built almost entirely off of Crash 4 assets, what took them so long to release this anyway with how long they were teasing it?
And no, don't do another Crash Bash either.
Your nostalgia be damned, it's only slightly better than Boom Bang.
Toys For Bob has spent years on this, and presumably not on Spyro 4, unless Beenox is on that joint this time.
"Activision sh|ts on floor... is now considering scooping it into the bin"
To me it looked like Crash Rayman Arena. It isn't something I think would sell. I was open enough at least to it. Free to play or paid I don't know. I think multiplayer areas are covered. I also don't know if a Crash Bash/party game would work as much either compared to more platformers.
However many of fans buy them or not. I didn't buy Crash 4 because I can't play it's too hard (N Sane Trilogy all 3 games I somewhat got through 2 but only a few bosses/levels, barely understood 3's requirements to get to later levels)/not into corridor 3D platformers.
I don't like 'big' world ones that much just enough spaces in them of the 32/64bit consoles limits for hubs/sandboxes with multiple rooms/enough stretch to run around and collect I'm not into a 3D platformer open world. Like I didn't mind Clive N Wrench or Banjo but eventually too many areas with collectibles, they can be 'empty' and well eventually the environments just aren't compelling as if they had some things in the levels.
That or well there isn't many gimmicks in the levels it gets boring. Spyro 1 is fun for platforming, 2 & 3 being more quests to do for NPCs is fine and you do get skateboarding and vehicles and climbing and head bashing but eventually you do go uh huh why?
I get things to use them for (not just besides oh a dragon that isn't acting human you have a Bandicoot with a Bazooka on two legs....) and more then just attack, collect, explore but I mean I find it more fun then using them for NPCs, or long stretches, or skill trees and other garbage systems I never enjoy or care about to have however much meaning then the more stripped back the more I'm less fussed on the 'depth' then the 'depth' were given when I prefer other systems.
Sure Gravity Rush/Sunset Overdrive were good but I also don't want too many like them either even with other mechanics I played them for their challenges, sometime their story, mostly their mechanics in those challenges. Not oh this quest blah blah blah I'd be playing other open worlds which I don't because I don't like any of them and their extent of done mechanics, eh dialogue, too much filler, and don't appeal to me at all. So no open world action adventure, RPG or shooter appeals to me.
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