Johann said:Very few games keep their initial price and even less could succeed at higher prices. Many consumers wait for a price cut or buy the game used. I can imagine some Nintendo titles, a few Acitivision-Blizzard games, and Dragon Quest in Japan could. Otherwise, people would be less likely to take a risk on an unsure game with a premium price or place greater value on a used copy of that game.
It doesn't necessarily mean every game - just the premium blockbusters that are going to sell anyway. We are already seeing it a bit every now and then, but I think Halo Reach or BFBC2 at $68 is not going to hit the sales numbers, just increase revenue to offset risks on other games. EA couldn't do it last year as they had no "big" seller to fall back on (see Activision numbers) except maybe Fifa. This year with ME2, BC2 etc, they had the opportunity.
Johann said:EA has been creating a more more diverse portfolio since 2006. They gone into the red to make a variety of games at the highest quality possible.
Activision is the publisher who jettisoned unsure games and concentrated on the surefire hits and potential breakthrough hits.
EA haven't focussed on the metacritic 80 mark since FY 2008-9 though. The staple diets of the EA Sports portfolio were improved to the point where Fifa is now the leading football sku, Madden numbers rose and Live sustained its user base in the face of 2k's self destruct.
Activision were VERY fortunate that the numbers turned out the way they have. Their two staples - COD is a given, and WoW bought in a merger, continue to have excellent success. But they rely very heavily on these in each year. They had many more commercial "failures" (read - not as successful) - Prototype, GH, DJH, Ride, Wolfenstein. It's just they had a solid background to fall on.
Johann said:Many publishers have attempted heavy DLC campaign. A few have been very successful milking their most fanatic consumers dry. However, there doesn't seem to be a correlation between DLC and. We've seen a lot of games with substantial DLC and pre-order bonuses and still end up with a strong used games market. For most people, getting through the single-player and a few hours in the multiplayer game of the month is enough. A special trinket or an extra dungeon won't change their minds if the core game doesn't entirely win them over.
True, but the risk taking is always alleviated with a continued strong DLC of map pack/episodic content etc regardless of whether its bought in a large scale. If you can raise the average new sale price to $63-65 in the first 10 week period with DLC content, you have effectively given yourself a "buffer" of $5/copy for each subsequent high-risk release.
Traded games is really hurting the industry regardless of whether you agree with the practice or not. Anything they can do to minimise it is OK in my book, as long as the games keep coming.