Upon first glance,Ready or Notmay not seem too different from the likes ofCall of DutyandBattlefield. The player assumes the perspective of a highly-trained, armed government official, controls this character from the first-person POV, and uses guns, grenades, and other military gear in a grounded, gritty setting. These are the elements audiences have come to expect from the FPS genre at this point, butReady or Notuses them in fundamentally different ways, making it a pocket of fresh air in an overcrowded market.
And it looks like this freshness and originality has paid off, asReady or Notis enjoying considerable successacross all platforms. It’s been on PC since late-2023, where it attracted much of its target demographic, but it was recently ported to consoles as well. Astonishingly, the game sold over one-million copies on consoles in less than four days, significantly outpacing its PC sales. Granted, the game has been out for well over a year on PC, and thus was afforded a good deal of word-of-mouth marketing during that period, butReady or Not’s console sales are more significant than that. In fact, they are emblematic of a broader FPS conundrum.
Ready or Not Is a Big Success, Proving that FPS Fans Are Tired of the Status Quo
The FPS Market Has Grown Stale Over the Years, Especially On Console
It’s interesting thatReady or Not’s console success loosely coincides with thereveal ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 7, which has been flooded with criticism, characterized by general fatigue with the annualCoDformula.Call of Dutyis by far the biggest first-person-shooter franchise out there, and even its competitors, likeBattlefieldandHalo, have been attempting to emulate it. The result of thisCall of Dutydominance is that the FPS market has become oversaturated, no longer defined by ingenuity and rampant creativity, like it was during the days ofGoldenEyeandHalo: Combat Evolved.
And whileCall of Dutyis massively profitable year after year, it’s undeniable that a lot of players are looking for something new, but still within that same military-sim sphere. This is whereReady or Notcomes in, as its SWAT-simulation premise and grounded, thoughtful mechanics set it in direct opposition to the aforementioned titles.Ready or Notis less about shootingor split-second reaction times and more about careful planning, preparation, and forethought, which will lead players to success. It’s not a high-action, “turn-your-brain-off” sort of gaming experience, which is how many players would probably describe the likes ofCoD.
Ready or Notis currently being review-bombedon Steam as a result of its apparent censorship on consoles, as well as alleged performance issues in the wake of the most recent patch.
Ready or Not Indicates a Shift in Console Gaming Demands
Ready or Notisn’t the first unconventional shooter to find success on consoles, but the exceptionally quick pace of its sales suggest that modern audiences may be especially starved for unique shooters. At the end of the day, franchises likeCall of DutyandBattlefieldaren’t going anywhere, but they may be losing their vise grip on the FPS market. As the lines between PC gaming, indie gaming, and mainstream console gaming continue to dissolve, more gamers are learning that the medium doesn’t have to be limited to the same military shooters year-in, year-out; the FPS genre has room to grow, and in exciting ways, too. With games likeReady or Notbecoming success stories, other developers may be encouraged to further diversify the market.
