-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
EA drops games that "aren't growing", "aren't large enough", or not on viable systems
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Is there any room in the market for games that are profitable at 1M-2M sales? Or is the mid tier irrevocably dead.
What I am trying to get to, can something like Dark Souls be replicated from a business point of view?
i want it more than I want my soul which itself doesn't exist anyway
ooh.. you'll get it.. As a TPS or some kind of FPS to make it more mainstream and bankable.
metalslimer
Member
What and now it's all right? HD games are still expensive so did Nintendo screw up by entering the HD gen. No matter when it happened the jump in costs was going to be big as Nintendo has been figuring out lately. It's crazy to say that the market wasn't ready for HD because it never was going to be if someone hadn't done it. Arguing for stagnation is not the way to go. Where Sony particularly screwed up was creating a machine that lost billions at 600 dollars and hurt developers putting games on it.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
When one does something over and over expecting a specific reaction that does not occur, we call it madness.
What works for people works for video game industry companies.
What works for people works for video game industry companies.
Schnozberry
Member
I think we're talking about two different things. I'm saying budgets are too large because of administrative bloat and poor management. Smaller teams have produced amazing technical achievements and relatively high production values with much smaller budgets than what has come to be associated with AAA games. I know the demand for movie style production is there. But as demand for AAA games has fallen from it's height a few years ago, nobody has scaled back their budgets even slightly, and it has caused serious problems for a lot of studios.
It still is, just increasingly less so on consoles. You'll notice that many of the generation's biggest breakout hit franchises (Off the top of my head: Farmville, Call of Duty, Wii Sports, Nintendogs, Wii Fit, Angry Birds, World of Warcraft, Minecraft) were not on HD consoles at all.
So I think it can happen, but it's increasingly likely to happen on PC or iOS or Android or other portable devices. If you specifically want this sort of break out hit on consoles, well, I don't know what to tell you. I can say it's not impossible, and there will be at least some successes early in next generation. It isn't like this is a sudden thing where all innovation just stops; it's been a consistent downward arc that hasn't reached 0 yet and almost certainly never will.
But weren't more game companies started this gen than ever before? I don't have any hard stats, but aren't more people playing games now then ever before?
Worst piece of advice EVER. Why would you bring down one of the best FPS franchise ever?
:lol
Because it's not selling well and it isn't the best fps ever. Not even close.
Its the best selling benchmark software though.
Trickster
Member
Medal of Honor hasnt been near the top of the FPS genre for years and years?
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
From what I can tell they're putting their eggs into 2 baskets: mobile gaming and hardcore AAA titles.
Mobile market is going to hit the peak very soon I feel. There's just so many titles on there, majority not that great in quality, and games are only viable for a small amount of time.
It's the same for the hardcore AAA market. Launch is big time for when you have to sell the game. If it doesn't sell well at launch you're probably not going to have many pick it up later.
The problem with both these markets is that they are becoming over saturated. Mobile titles I'm almost certain are at their peak and a crash is imminent. AAA titles have bankrupted so many companies because the ventures get too out of hand. When indie games can rival what we see out of big companies and do it on such a small budget comparatively.
A company like Disney has completely closed up their gaming division in-house because it just isn't profitable in how they were doing it. I don't see how these companies like EA expect to put all their eggs into a handful of titles and expect to do well. If 3 new AAA IPs tank in this market, your 4th better sell gangbusters.
More companies need to make titles that well sell really well at launch, but then over time will still sell at that high price point. The problem is that no one but Nintendo seems to be able to do that (can someone think of another title that continued to sell after launch?)
Mobile market is going to hit the peak very soon I feel. There's just so many titles on there, majority not that great in quality, and games are only viable for a small amount of time.
It's the same for the hardcore AAA market. Launch is big time for when you have to sell the game. If it doesn't sell well at launch you're probably not going to have many pick it up later.
The problem with both these markets is that they are becoming over saturated. Mobile titles I'm almost certain are at their peak and a crash is imminent. AAA titles have bankrupted so many companies because the ventures get too out of hand. When indie games can rival what we see out of big companies and do it on such a small budget comparatively.
A company like Disney has completely closed up their gaming division in-house because it just isn't profitable in how they were doing it. I don't see how these companies like EA expect to put all their eggs into a handful of titles and expect to do well. If 3 new AAA IPs tank in this market, your 4th better sell gangbusters.
More companies need to make titles that well sell really well at launch, but then over time will still sell at that high price point. The problem is that no one but Nintendo seems to be able to do that (can someone think of another title that continued to sell after launch?)
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I'd like to ask publishers like EA to maybe watch a few baseball games. Then afterwards, ask them how many of those games were ONLY won on Home Runs.
I'd be willing to wager that most runs come from people hitting solid singles and doubles just to get on base for a another single or double to hit them in. Maybe get three people on base, and then hit a grand slam for 4 runs.
But on its on, it would have just been 1 run.
Devs/Pubs have lost sight of the big picture and are trying to live only for the highlight reel.
I'd be willing to wager that most runs come from people hitting solid singles and doubles just to get on base for a another single or double to hit them in. Maybe get three people on base, and then hit a grand slam for 4 runs.
But on its on, it would have just been 1 run.
Devs/Pubs have lost sight of the big picture and are trying to live only for the highlight reel.
Unknown Soldier
Member
EA got burned pretty bad this gen on new IPs which just didn't pan out. Gamers cry constantly about games are just sequels and re-treads of existing genres but when new IPs debut they get ignored. I'm not sure what else EA can tell us besides the obvious: "We came up with new shit, and you didn't buy it. So we're going to stop making new shit. Deal with it."
D
Deleted member 80556
Unconfirmed Member
They had a year of new AAA IP's and that was 5 years ago, with Dead Space, Mirror's Edge and I think, Army of Two. Hell, I think that Fuse might be the only new IP they're publishing right now.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I think the only mistake a lot of companies made was expect new IPs to sell millions because they're new. Which was probably why they spent more money than they should have making them. Any new IP should start mid-range. Not small, not all-in. Build the IP, and use the revenue from the first fairly successful installment to make your now-established IP bigger and better. And if for some reason it tanks, well at least you didn't bet the farm on it (looks at LAIR).
So, less EA games?
Not less. More of the same IPs.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
I can't wait to play as my Sims in the new Battlefield. And is that torn-down city I'm bombing the one I built in Sim City? WOW! >>;
Tylahedras
Banned
See, you say that, but a lot of the most successful franchises this gen were ones that really, really, spent a lot of money. Gears of War, Dead Space, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted. The only really successful mid tier game I can think of that spawned a series is Demon's Souls, which seems more the anomaly then the norm. And it's because Demon's Souls wasn't just a new skin on an old idea it was a fundamentally new kind of game at the mechanical level.
Assassin's Creed is kind of new, sort of. Everything else on that list is just a well done shooter of some sort with a nifty plot, theme or world and a high budget.
RurouniZel
Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
My point isn't that you can't succeed by going big; it's that it's unwise to because you're more likely to fail than succeed. You list 5 successful new IPs, but what about Mirror's Edge, LAIR, Alpha Protocol, Bayonetta (only getting a sequel because Nintendo saved it), Folklore, Blur, Asura's Wrath, Haze, Homefront, L.A. Noire, Ni no Kuni, WET, Shadows of the Damned, Vanquish, etc. And I'm not even counting Wii games.
Many of these games might have benefited from not being over budgeted and might have turned into a franchise if they had started with more realistic expectations. Gears of War and Uncharted were first party efforts, they can afford to go big. Bioshock was a spiritual successor to System Shock, an established IP (the same way Crysis was a spiritual successor to Far Cry). I give you Dead Space and Assassin's Creed, they were the lucky ones in a class of several more unlucky ones.
Arc Christelle
Member
gundamkyoukai
Member
It's funny and weird you would call half of those break out franchises to tell the truth .
For eg Wii Fit and Wii sports are both 1 hit wonders and there is nothing more Nintendo can do with them .
Nintendo Dogs sequel saw a huge drop off and most likely done with .
Assassin's Creed is what i would call a break out franchises which started this gen on HD consoles and ship over 55 million so far and still going strong .
And will still be around for years to come even on next gen .
grosvenor_92
Member
So I guess we'll see very few new ip's from EA then
TryHardShounen
Banned
EA decides to drop EA.