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[Recall]

Sometimes don't you need to invest in a new ip to then make it a yearly blockbuster?

 

[subversus]

I believe the contract is if it doesn't sell 5+ million copies in the first six months Activision can cancel all further games.

Nice. Somewhere people shit bricks and work their asses off.

 

[Totobeni]

They're going to have to create new IPs eventually. Series don't stay popular forever.

well Skylander was a new IP (they just used Spyro name in the first) and it turned huge for them,so yeah I can see them doing more new IPs.

Activision can also revive some of their old IPs River Raid,Pitfall can be big if they done right with good developers.even Crash Bandicoot can be popular again if it was a quality title.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

So a few AAAAAAAA titles and indies, with nothing in between? Yeah, nextgen can´t come soon enough.

Next gen will not change this fact.

They're going to have to create new IPs eventually. Series don't stay popular forever.

Skylanders and Destiny.

Say what you want about Activision but this is how you do AAA development from a business perspective. Get 3 or 4 big bankable IP and introduce a new test one every few years.

 

[HoodWinked]

too bad homefront wasnt successful or a good game. the annualized shooter cash dump truck shoulda gone to a much more deserving publisher. at least THQ would reinvest that into other more risky IPs.

 

[mnannola]

We live by the blockbuster, and we die by the blockbuster.

 

[FonkyByNature]

Well, Call of Duty and Warcraft yearly releases it is.

 

[Traumahound]

The more I hear about next-gen, the less interested I get.

 

[Perkel]

Crysis: "The bigger they are, the harder i hit"

 

[megabytecr]

Major AAA will cost more money now, I hope that translates into awesome games, although less games is a con.

A and AA games are long gone, the market is shrinking. I hope the crowd funding and indie scene get into budgets in which they can satiate this product segment.

I want to enjoy great games, does not matter how much investment went into them.

 

[BuzzJive]

So at the start of last gen, it was CoD, along with the fading franchises of Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero. At the start of this gen it's CoD, Skylanders and Destiny (and they have Blizzard in there as well of course). That seems like a much better position to be in.

 

[inm8num2]

Blegh.

 

[Tuck]

I don't see how a model like this is sustainable. How can a company survive with no continuous innovation and just relying on a few core properties?

 

[Oersted]

Next gen will not change this fact.

Dear sir, your sarcasm meter is broken

No.

What do you mean?

Major AAA will cost more money now, I hope that translates into awesome games, although less games is a con.

A and AA games are long gone, the market is shrinking. I hope the crowd funding and indie scene get into budgets in which they can satiate this product segment.

I want to enjoy great games, does not matter how much investment went into them.

Prepare yourself for lots of 2D indies and a few AAAAAAAAAA shooters.

 

[Shard]

Then you will fall Activision, you will fall behind and somebody else takes your crown. New generations are the time when either new or second tier franchises can breakthru and shatter the old order.

 

[PFD]

So if Destiny doesn't take off they'll drop it outright?

It will probably take off, and then they will exploit it so hard and for so long it won't be funny.

 

[flaxknuckles]

Hopefully they'll take Beenox off of the Spider-man games and give them back to Neversoft so they can actually be good again.

 

[Shard]

Hopefully they'll take Beenox off of the Spider-man games and give them back to Neversoft so they can actually be good again.

Neversoft is caught up in the Call of Duty machine.

 

[BuzzJive]

Then you will fall Activision, you will fall behind and somebody else takes your crown. New generations are the time when either new or second tier franchises can breakthru and shatter the old order.

This isn't an EA style cut back on everything. This is them just expecting big returns on big investments. Skylanders is still fresh for now, and Destiny is certainly a bet on the future.


Ubisoft is oddly enough the shining light right now, with Watch Dogs as well as ZombiU showing their willingness to try new stuff.

 

[QaaQer]

I don't see how a model like this is sustainable. How can a company survive with no continuous innovation and just relying on a few core properties?

cultivate an audience that likes buying the same type of game every year? or in the case of WoW, the exact same game? Nice work if you can get it, as they say.

 

[grosvenor_92]

So Activision is going to crash and burn then right ?

 

[alexandros]

Can´t get worse than this gen so whatever.

Kotick: "Challenge Accepted!"

 

[flaxknuckles]

Neversoft is caught up in the Call of Duty machine.

They deserve so much more. Beenox should be relegated to Call of Duty map packs. Or maybe just never let them make another open-world Spider-man game again with those bastardised web-slinging mechanics.

 

[Crawl]

Is activision looking to dump all their licensed games in the future?

 

[Spongebob]

Nothing new here.

 

[Neuromancer]

As long as we still get the occasional diamond in the rough like The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, I'm OK with this.

 

[AstroZombie]

I believe the contract is if it doesn't sell 5+ million copies in the first six months Activision can cancel all further games.

No pressure.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

What are they going to do once the bottom completely falls out on Call of Duty? Are those studios going to then work with bungie on Destiny (if that becomes a major hit)? Will they just shutter them up?

 

[Unknown One]

They been doing this.

 

[dragonfart28]

Next Gen:

Less games
Higher cost
Tons of Microtransactions
Always online


SIGN ME UP

 

[Data West]

Activision should sell Neversoft and all their Marvel stuff to like 2k or Capcom or something and then just let them do that.

 

[scorpscarx]

***SHOCKING NEWS***

Maximize dat profit.

Kickstarter isn't perfect but gaming needed it.

 

[Aquamarine]

What are they going to do once the bottom completely falls out on Call of Duty? Are those studios going to then work with bungie on Destiny (if that becomes a major hit)? Will they just shutter them up?

Obviously, they will fold them and reorganize their employees into profitable studios. Activision is not in the business of keeping around unprofitable ecosystems.

I don't see how a model like this is sustainable. How can a company survive with no continuous innovation and just relying on a few core properties?

It's worked for the past generation. A common trend among AAA console publishers for the 8th gen will be reorganizing around profitability and cutting loose weight.

 

[Yawnier]

RIP in peace Crash Bandicoot.

 

[Sentenza]

They're going to have to create new IPs eventually. Series don't stay popular forever.

I'm starting to wonder.

 

[Pie and Beans]

None of you assholes bought Fall of Cybertron despite how awesome the single player was, so I feel like High Moon isn't long for this world. Especially after they push that Deadpool turd out from their B-team.

 

[Mass Effect]

I feel like this coming generation will be the last before some kind of major shift. It's unsustainable.

I believe the contract is if it doesn't sell 5+ million copies in the first six months Activision can cancel all further games.

That is completely ridiculous. I imagine they're going to have a massive marketing campain for Destiny. Talk about signing a deal the the Devil. :/

 

[Aquamarine]

I feel like this coming generation will be the last before some kind of major shift. It's unsustainable.



That is completely ridiculous. I imagine they're going to have a massive marketing campain for Destiny. Talk about signing a deal the the Devil. :/

Why is it ridiculous? Activision is investing in THIRTEEN YEARS of development with an AAA developer completely focused on one project.

Do you realize how absurdly expensive that must be for Activision? If Destiny doesn't go off with a BANG!---trying to keep that project alive would translate into a massive money sink.

 

[Tiktaalik]

This is consistent with what Activision has been saying and doing for a while now. They're slimming down to really focus on what they do well. It pains me a bit to complement Activision, but it is a smart approach and it reminds me a lot of how Steve Jobs turned around Apple in 1997.

Before Jobs came back to Apple, the company manufactured dozens of different Macintosh desktops, laptops, and servers in a dizzying array of variations. The firm also produced lines of printers, digital cameras, and other ancillary items, few of which made a profit.

Ultimately, Jobs axed more than 70 percent of Apple’s hardware and software products. Most famously, he cancelled the Newton PDA, which still rankles some today.

In the Macintosh realm, Jobs wiped the slate clean. He defined a simple four-square grid to represent the future of the Macintosh: two for consumer desktops and portables (which would be occupied by the iMac and the iBook, respectively), and two for pro desktops and portables (filled by the Power Macintosh and the PowerBook, respectively). Anything that didn't fit in that grid got cut.

His product cuts resulted in the layoffs of over 3000 employees during Jobs’s first year as iCEO. But those cuts, while painful at first, allowed Apple to focus on creating a handful of good products instead of dozens of mediocre ones.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2009941/steve-jobss-seven-key-decisions.html

 

[massoluk]

I believe the contract is if it doesn't sell 5+ million copies in the first six months Activision can cancel all further games.

What kind of shitty industry is this where selling 5+ million products is some kinda of unsatisfactory threshold.

 

[BD1]

The main thing to look at is first -- we've been receiving similar questions about the weakness of the Wii since the beginning of the Skylanders franchise. And Skylanders has done great both before the Wii U and has done great after the Wii U. Obviously, a growing installed base of family friendly consoles would be a benefit. And console prices and sales are one of the risks and one of the issues that we articulated for the fourth quarter. That said, we've done well despite weaknesses for both the Wii and the Wii U and seeing the Wii U take off would be great, but remains to be seen.

I think Skylanders is why Activision is keeping with Wii U during these rocky times. They know that IP has the best chance (historically) to find a mass audience on Nintendo consoles, even if the Wii U struggles to gain an install base. They need a strong Nintendo console to ensure the viability of Skylanders.

 

[Lambda Pie]

love how they think. i skipped COD this gen but next gen seems like the right time for me to dive into it.

 

[Aquamarine]

What kind of shitty industry is this where selling 5+ million products is some kinda of unsatisfactory threshold.

Context is important here. Activision has been budgeting Destiny to be the next Halo.

If Destiny doesn't become the next Halo, Activision won't get sufficient return on their investment.

 

[Aeriscloud]

I guess Activision isn't a fan of the Magic School Bus.

 

[cacildo]

No change

 

[vg260]

Nooooo!

I'm still waiting for my great Spider-Man game and I don't think Beenox can deliver.

At least not under Activision's management. But yeah, I hope they drop Marvel.

 

[Delusibeta]

Sounds like lots of potential for a market crash to me.

 

[Burt]

Activision has the money and market position to do this. When you're swimming in cash and have more than a few of the most profitable and highest-selling games in the world, it only makes sense to double down. On the other hand, this is going to murder publishers that try to keep up and fail. When EA, Ubisoft, and Square Enix justify their inflated budgets by citing a need to keep up with Call of Duty and Warcraft, then fail to sell those kinds of numbers, there's gonna be a reckoning. We've seen a bit of it already with the SE fiscal report fiasco and EA flat-out failing with games like MOH and canning games that could be profitable with a more realistic budget like Dead Space, Crysis 3, and Mirrors Edge. THQ was the first to fall while trying to keep up with the Joneses, but it won't be the last.

 

[bro1]

I don't think this is a bad thing at all. If a series doesn't do well they drop it and move on to the next thing. Everybody wonders why there was an Army of Two sequel and other crap games like that.

At the end of the day it's a business that needs to make money. Indie developers are around for the smaller games and kickstarter seems to have spurned that on even more.

 

[vg260]

Activision has the money and market position to do this. When you're swimming in cash and have more than a few of the most profitable and highest-selling games in the world, it only makes sense to double down. On the other hand, this is going to murder publishers that try to keep up and fail. When EA, Ubisoft, and Square Enix justify their inflated budgets by citing a need to keep up with Call of Duty and Warcraft, then fail to sell those kinds of numbers, there's gonna be a reckoning. We've seen a bit of it already with the SE fiscal report fiasco and EA flat-out failing with games like MOH and canning games that could be profitable with a more realistic budget like Dead Space, Crysis 3, and Mirrors Edge. THQ was the first to fall while trying to keep up with the Joneses, but it won't be the last.

Yeah, I feel like COD's success is a double-edged sword for the industry, as has probably been discussed here at length before.