For Honor has managed to conjure up more than its fair share of pre-release skepticism, from its always online, to its removal of split-screen, to its peer-to-peer multiplayer and even down to its DLC and Season Pass details. Every new feature announced about Ubisoft's upcoming medieval fighter is met with hesitation.
For instance, the game's announcement of its cross-platform metagame (see the video above), has only served to remind everyone of For Honor's peer-to-peer multiplayer. Gamers, though, can be very forgiving people so long as the core game underneath is actually fun. Having played an early version of For Honor back at PAX West, I can say I had a wonderful time with the game, before I knew everything about it.
If any of these issues translate into disappointing sales, it might be a good idea for For Honor to take a page out of Titanfall 2's book. Respawn's fantastic shooter suffered financially, which prompted a free multiplayer trial a mere one month into the release of Titanfall 2.
While it's unclear whether or not this drastically impacted Titanfall 2's bottom line, the theory is solid. People may be skeptical of a game, particularly one with lots of baggage, and they don't want to spend $60 to, in essence, figure out if they like it, the same way they would with a game that doesn't have any undesirable qualities.
We saw this hesitation with Dishonored 2, the PC performance of which scared off large swathes of PC gamers who were originally interested in the game. While Bethesda obviously couldn't do any sort of free trial, For Honor can, and it might be just what the doctor ordered.
For Honor will be having a closed beta soon, but it's closed and it's … well … a beta. Even if enough skeptics get their hands on the game during the beta, it's doubtful that it will be an accurate portrait of the game they're going to get. In order to win over people who don't like the DLC, the P2P, the always online and the lack of splitscreen, For Honor may have to show everyone what they're really about.
This goes doubly for what's turning out to be a fantastic year for gaming in general. By the time March rolls around, For Honor may be left in the dust if it doesn't latch on to a core audience.
