Pillars of Eternity - Widespread Success through Niche Appeal @ PCGamesN

Phil Ivanuk (PCGamesN) about the success of Pillars of Eternity:

How Pillars of Eternity found widespread success by embracing its niche appeal

Pillars of Eternity is not a game designed explicitly to attract a wide audience. At a time when it sometimes seems like an undue imposition to unmute a Facebook video or expand a Tweet, Pillars makes you read long passages of descriptive text and written dialogue in order to digest its world and unlock its treasures.

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It’s also very difficult, frequently and spiritedly cutting you and your party down for a) failing to pause and plan an imminent fight, b) failing to find the right balance of classes in your party, or c) failing to equip your perfectly-balanced party with suitable abilities and equipment.

And why does it make such reaching demands of its players? Why, to evoke and homage a cluster of isometric RPGs released between fifteen and twenty years ago, of course. Now – hands up who thinks that sounds like a game destined for an estimated Steam audience of over half a million players?

Obviously, Pillars found that audience. Not in spite of those idiosyncrasies, but because of them. Viewed through the gamer’s eyes it seems almost a no-brainer for veterans of Obsidian and Black Isle Studios to come together and launch a Kickstarter for a new Infinity Engine-inspired RPG. But if you’re the creator about to put your livelihood on the line, as Obsidian cofounder Josh Sawyer was in September 2012, you don’t take anything for granted.

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