Willits: Industry Too "Hit-Driven," Only Getting Worse
'[Gaming is still a hit-driven industry], but it can't be," he told MCV. "The big titles will only get bigger, but it's not sustainable. I think it's getting worse. The big titles, they're hits - make no mistake. There are a few titles that do really well and all the other ones struggle. Look at what Call of Duty sells versus what Crysis sells, and Crysis is a good game. There's millions and millions of copies in difference, and there's very little between them in the fun value."
For developers and publishers, these factors are making things tougher and tougher to create and publish anything. The games industry itself is so much more expensive now, and key talent is just as costly, he said.
"It's risky to develop a new IP and take a gamble," he added. "If you take a gamble, you'd better make sure you're going to hit that home run. Nobody would care about RAGE if it wasn't from us! At GamesCom, at this judges' event, we had Modern Warfare 3 next to Diablo 3, we had RAGE, Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3 and Batman 2. It was almost the row of threes."
When asked about his thoughts on the biggest change facing gaming as it transitions from a boxed good to an ongoing provided service, he said that companies will likely focus on the big franchises and have a big plan from the beginning.
"For us, we always try to support our community with patches, Quake levels and John giving away source code and mod support," he added. "The business aspect of it has to join in at some point, and we will begin to see economic models that support those types of games. So, we'll see more games which support those types of models for sure, although I'm not sure what those might be: more microtransactions, more pay-to-play, new content etc. Developers have to take the risk at the beginning."
To read the full interview, head here.
I don't see Farmville 3....
I call BS.
Patches to fix problems are certainly acceptable, and a game that is extensible might attract a whole community of modders (e.g. Unreal), but I want to buy a boxed game; it's mine, and it is a complete, finished product. I can play it when and where I choose (assuming my PC meets specs), and there's no "required" content that can only be unlocked with another payment.
Apparently the customers beg to differ, as perceived by the number of copies sold. Where is the 'the customer is always right' adagium with this supposedly know-it-al guru?
The masses these days don't like change and are more than happy to pay money over and over for the same thing that's only slightly different and maginally amusing.
The only way it's going to change is if people stop buying the crap. As long as a company can sell 25 million copies of the next call of duty game, nobody cares how good it is, or what actual content it has in it.
Just like the housing market, the student loan market, and soon the medical industry... I think we will see a "gaming bubble". The idea of a company making billions of the same damn game re-hashed a few times is not sustainable. people are stupid yes, but everyone has their limit.
It's because Crysis is late to the fps party. If everyone's friend is playing Modern Warefare 2, and you can either buy that, or crysis, you're going to buy MW2. Doesn't matter if the game is WAY better. It's hard to convince 'your friends' to swap a game that they are having fun with.
It's just about "insta-satisfaction" nowadays. The game that gets more fun in a short amount of time wins. Crysis was hard (sort of) to get used to the suit mechanic and find it's pace, but the MW series became what it is now thanks to the storyline and fast paced game style. Both are FPS'es, but if you ask me, MW has a lot more "satisfaction driven" gimmicks, at least in MP. Single player MW > Crysis all the way: story telling is pretty good, even if Crysis has more options to choose from.
Cheers!
Why the downgrade? It was funny.
this transition only exsist in the minds of greedy publishers and greedy developers, seriously kevin.
console games will NEVER go service/download only , and even on the PC market there wil always be those that want that physical copy (sucha s myself). the day it turns to a purely service venture is the day i'll stop buying said service.
amen to this, This guys sounds like he is just making excuses for the game industry to be f---ing lazy and greedy. sure if you cando minimal work and turn games into arental that cahrges consummers for content, it would be awsome for buisness.. but only for buisness. sounds like this guy wants the game indsutry to go hollywood (ie all remakes and sequals and no balls)
the fact some one gave you a thumbs down proves that there are some people out there that are just plain ass holes (don't know who they are but they obviously exsist) . personally i thought your comment was funny as hell
The gaming industry is only a subset of industry in general, but I am sure that there are those out there in the gaming industry that unscrupulously strive to make a profit at any cost. To me, it is symptomatic of the bigger problems in today's world.
I do like fps games. I'm in the middle of New Vegas right now, which has elements of that, not to mention Metro 2033, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series... so nothing against fps titles or fans of those, as I include myself in that category. I just find it sad that it seems there is no place any more for games with more merit than simply "it's got the latest graphics and everyone's playing it, man! There's like 85 guns you can use, you gotta get a copy!"
I do miss the days when upstarts with new IP could really make a spectacular idea come to life. But these days, very few gamers would buy it. It's a whole new mentality. Instant gratification, who cares about depth or creativity any more?
I see those names and it brings back memories of the birth of the FPS on my 386. Too bad all of those IP's have withered and Died. If RAGE isn't a success then ID will probably be purchased by EA, then a new doom / quake game will come out every year.
Disclaimer: I do live in Los Angeles so while I may not be in the 'movie industry' its kind of considered socially important to be on the up and up about movies and music around here since it is the 'city's industry'. Every1 I know around here sees a shitload of movies. People even go by themselves which I'm pretty sure is weird anywhere else.
That's Japan in a nutshell. I think I'm turning Japanese. I think I'm turning Japanese. I really think so ...