Risky Business: Is Innovation Worth It For Publishers?
In an article on Gamasutra, Leigh Alexander asks a few prominant video game analysts whether innovation is worth it, or if the companies may have done better to pick a safer slate of games in the wake of big losses at EA and THQ, as well as other companies who took chances with new IP this year.
Is the path to profitability truly "more of the same?" Alongside the economic downturn, it's become more and more common for publishers to report big losses -- even when revenues are up.
EA in particular gave a big chunk of its holiday over to a trio of new games - Dead Space, Left 4 Dead, and Mirror's Edge - and while all sold solidly (according to figures from the company), none emerged as Gears of War or Call of Duty level blockbusters. The analysts also point to things like overspending in the cell phone and online markets, and overestimating the power of their owned IP as being big money pits for companies.
I don't think that many people will argue that safe and comfortable is always going to sell better to the mainstream than new and chance-y. If I've got one qualm about the article, it's giving the word "innovation" the blanket meaning of "new;" to me they mean very different things. The problem is rarely with the innovation itself, but rather the execution. Dead Space was a polished and solid experience, but to many people it didn't do enough to distinguish itself from a glut of action/adventure titles. Mirror's Edge provided a more innovative experience, but also was one of the most critically polarizing titles of the year. I think to lay the blame for losses at the feet of what's new is an oversimplification, and that when companies have genuinely innovative experiences to offer, they need to find equally exciting ways to present them to audiences.
Analysis: Do Big Investments In Innovation Hurt Big Publishers [Gamasutra]
Dawdle
Posted to Video Games on 8 February 2009
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: business, ea, innovation, losses, thq
I don't want to say no, because we all love innovative games. But you can't avoid the facts that a lot of innovative games don't sell, though to be fair some of these just aren't that good :/
I feel that some 'innovative' games try and rely on the fact that they ARE innovative to generate sales, and then the game ends up lacking in other places like story [Mirror's Edge] or whatever.