ComputerMKII
Banned
...and some words on F2P, mobile gaming and AAA games
Source: http://portablegamingregion.com/new...ccess-quantic-dream-looking-project-morpheus/
Source: http://portablegamingregion.com/news/quantic-dream-pressure-develop-f2p-games-mobile-gaming/
Source: http://portablegamingregion.com/new...ccess-quantic-dream-looking-project-morpheus/
Beyond Touch branded a success, Quantic Dream looking into Project Morpheus
During his lecture at Reboot Develop 2014, Quantic Dream’s Guillaume de Fondaumiere declared that the company’s Beyond Touch companion app was a success, explaning that almost one third of all people who bought Beyond: Two Souls for PS3 used its auxiliary mobile software that’s available for iPhone and iPad, as well as Android smartphones and tablets.
Specifically, 400,000 out of 1,5 million of B:TS owners played the game using Beyond Touch at one point or another, which is an impressive number for what many were describing as barely more than a gimmick half a year ago.
Fondaumiere added that he’s a bit disappointed Beyond Touch received so little media coverage, as the said app is an innovation in the AAA industry. On a related note, Quantic Dream’s executive producer sad that he feels his team hasn’t been awarded enough for the risks it took during development of Beyond: Two Souls and Heavy Rain. For that, he blames the gamers, most of whom -for some reason- “want the same game every year”. He tied that thought into his lecture by stating that he doesn’t think “innovation is enough for being successful”.
On an even more interesting note, Fondaumiere revealed that Quantic Dream is indeed looking into Sony’s Project Morpheus, a VR system for PS4 that’s been announced at this year’s Game Developers Conference. Answering to a question from the reporter who asked what are his thoughts on “Sony’s VR gadget”, he said that he isn’t too fond of that word, as “when a device comes out and becomes a gadget, it doesn’t work”. He then explained that Sony needs to find a way to prevent Project Morpheus from becoming a gadget, and that Quantic Dream will certainly utilize its technology if they find a “non-gadgety way” to do so.
As for VR in general, one of the key people responsible for Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls said that the technology has potential, but for it to be truly successful in the gaming industry, the price of VR systems will have to be “well bellow one hundred dollars”. Of course, we’re far away from that price point, and Fondaumiere is well aware of that fact.
Quantic Dream on pressure to develop F2P games, mobile gaming, and more
Are AAA console games a thing of the past? This was the question asked by Guillaume de Fondaumiere, co-CEO and executive producer of Quantic Dream, renowned video game developer known for its work on Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls. Speaking to a room full of developers and grumpy press at Reboot Develop 2014 that’s taking place this weekend in Zagreb, Croatia, Fondaumiere said that although video games are the most important form of entertainment that generates the most revenue in the world today, a bunch of companies are currently in a lot of trouble and only a small fraction is actually making any money.
Fondaumiere reiterated the well-known fact that barely one fifth of all developed titles in the industry are actually released, and just 5% of those that get to the market turn out to be profitable. He added that while the free-to-play business model seems to be “the new Nirvana” right now, looking at the list of freemium games that are making money, it’s easy to see that things aren’t nearly as peachy as they might first seem in the F2P camp. Specifically, only around one to two percent of creations supported solely throgh in-game purchases are profitable. Also, despite the fact that many developers think designing a free-to-play title means designing a title for tens of millions of people, Fondaumiere stressed out that it actually means designing a piece of interactive entertainment for the so-called “whales”, or 0,15% of gamers which amount to 50% of F2P revenue. Knowing that 49% of people who actually decide to spend money on these kinds of games only make a single purchase is also not exactly encouraging to developers.
“I remember when I was starting out,” says Fondaumiere: “15 years ago, you could make a living by having one of the top 100 of most [financially] successful games. Today, you won’t survive if you aren’t in the top 15.” Why is that so today, when more and more people are playing video games and the industry is turning billions every year? According to Quantic Dream’s executive producer, it’s the gamers’ fault. Despite their number is rapidly growing, most of them apparently “want the same game every year”, which leads to a couple of established IPs like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, and FIFA dominating the best-selling charts and taking most of the cake with them, leaving the rest to fight for crumbs.
As for free-to-play, it made Chinese mobile game companies like Tencent Games the big players today, and Fondaumiere admits that his company’s shareholders are definitely pressuring them into developing such titles. Naturally, he wonders how’s that supposed to work with the games they’re making, and has presented the following example to demonstrate the absurdity of such demands:
“Do you want to open that door? Pay 10 cents. Want to kiss a girl? Pay 20 cents.”
Despite that, it was unequivocally stated that Quantic Dream is indeed looking at all market segments with “open eyes”, but simply because they have to, just like any other serious video game developer, and not because they’re planning on developing free-to-play mobile games in the near future. For now though, they’re sticking with consoles. Specifically, Sony consoles. Even more specifically, PS4. Yeah, it doesn’t seem like the company’s looking in the direction of Vita, as Fondaumiere even slightly poked Sony’s latest portable gaming consoles by presenting Nintendo 3DS as synonymous with handheld gaming, which was followed by a short laugh of most of the room. But yeah, QD’s executive producer said they’re going to continue to develop for consoles “because it’s a profitable business for both us and our publisher”. He ended his presentation on a bright note, concluding that with a right combination of business model and gameplay mechanics targeted at core gamers, i.e. the type of consumers which actually buy consoles, a studio can still survive developing AAA titles for home consoles.
Source: http://portablegamingregion.com/news/quantic-dream-pressure-develop-f2p-games-mobile-gaming/
