Keep splitting hairs. If a game meets its sales expectations, it's considered a success. If it doesn't, it's considered a failure. If it fails to cover even development costs, it's considered a total failure, and the company has to rethink their strategy or they risk going down.
It was an absolute failure. It only managed to cover development costs years after it was released. Most developers wouldn't be able to survive such a blow.
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I don't think it's hairsplitting or anything.
However, as you say, it did cover development costs. It just took a long time. So in your own words, it wouldn't be a total failure.
An absolute failure is a game that flat out doesn't sell IMO, but now we're just discussing opinions.
In other words I'm running out of reasons to bash the game.
Don't think less of people's opinions of the game content when you disagree with their interpretations of non-content related manners.