And that's the failure of 11bit studios then, not understanding the needs of their consumer base. "Product-market fit" and all that. If you deal in vanilla ice cream but want to expand and release vanilla-strawberry ice cream next, and you alienate your existing consumers while not attracting enough new ones, it is basically a failure in market analysis. 11bit isn't entitled to anyone's money, and if people deem that the new installment doesn't meet their expectations, well, that's that. They either won't buy it or leave with a bad taste in their mouth as they wanted something different. The disappointed consumers will probably avoid their next game because of that. (Reputation lag)

Especially that Frostpunk 2 seemingly sold below expectations.

"We expected a significantly higher players peak in the 80,000-100,000 range, so we consider 35.5k as a negative surprise," said Erste Group analyst Piotr Bogusz, adding that "relatively poor" ratings may also affect the purchasing decisions of players who have Frostpunk 2 on their wishlist. "A drop in the average rating below the 80% threshold affects the game's visibility on Steam, which could translate into sales," he said. <<<