Developer People Can Fly Claims That Multiplayer Shooter, Outriders, STILL Hasn't Made Its Royalties

Since its release in April 2021, multiplayer shooter Outriders hasn't made any royalties under Japanese publisher Square Enix. Due to the latest financial report from developer People Can Fly, we also learned that the game seems to be underperforming in revenue, likely not exceeding its development, marketing, and distribution budget.

The financial report comes just after Square Enix's recent sale of iconic titles like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain to Embracer Group, totaling $300 million. Yet it's a bit conflicting because Square Enix has told investors that they were "pleasantly surprised" about the "digital sales ratio" for Outriders and "the number of active users [having] also beaten [their] expectations." Where's the truth in all this?

As People Can Fly reveals in their financial report, they have "received no royalties from the publisher for the period to December 31st, 2021." Following that, "reporting date net proceeds from the sale of Outriders were insufficient to recover the costs and expenses incurred by the publisher to develop, distribute and promote the title." Here, People Can Fly makes a strong stance that they've potentially made no money for Outriders' commercial release. Later in the report, they reference that their company has "waived its moral rights for the benefit of the publisher," which doesn't bode well if Square Enix did make its earnings and never cut the pie.

What do you think about this debacle? Let's hear it below in the comments!