Actiblizzard: Filling the EA Void
polycounter lvl 18
- http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/11/05/why-activision-let-go-of-ghostbusters-and-50-cent-games/The games Activision Blizzard didn’t pick up, he said, “don’t have the potential to be exploited every year on every platform with clear sequel potential and have the potential to become $100 million dollar franchises. … I think, generally, our strategy has been to focus… on the products that have those attributes and characteristics, the products that we know [that] if we release them today, we’ll be working on them 10 years from now.”
I guess now that EA won't be focusing on cranking out crappy, yearly sequels we can depend upon Actiblizzard to fill that void.
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I never thought I’d say this but my respect level for EA has gone up tremendously given the year of new IP they cranked out. EA is definitely on the right track with their original IP and the EA partner’s initiative.
Hopefully Activision will get on board once they realize that gamers are sick of guitar hero 100, call of duty 8, etc, etc, etc.
It is amazing to me that games like Madden and Tony Hawk continue to sell millions of copies EVERY YEAR, and then games like Titan Quest go through huge production cycles and are lucky to sell a million copies after 5 years of work.
Love it or hate it, recycling tony hawk and guitar hero every year pays the bills, and gives them a chance to try for the "next halo" with one or two unique IPs every year or so.
Yup read it before today also, Im tired of recycled games!... Hope it doesnt affect the quality of Blizzards products to much...
Yeh nice point Pseudo
Sad as it is, if consumers would actually buy some of those innovative, and newer IPs then I'm sure that's all we'd see more of them.
But even some of the most critically games based on new IPs / fresh ideas (Okami / Braid / Ico) sell like crap, and makes it harder to convince a publisher that we'd love to see MORE of them.
High risk high reward business. And a proven IP greatly reduces the risk.
yup yup.
As much as I hated to read it, I can't blame them one bit.
Unfortunately, as Actiblizzard will find out, that isn't the case. Gamers aren't that stupid. They are stupid, but especially when money is tight, they will be far more informed than your common consumer. As EA found out, putting out shitty sequels and ports, 'exploiting' franchises, doesn't work. It is funny that with EA's revenues and review scores higher than ever, Activision would decide it is smart business sense to do exactly what EA which would stagnate its growth and potential. It doesn't mean every sequel needs to be gold, but quality needs to be as important a metric as short-term sales. Good quality games will yield a much better business, as EA is finding out and Activision WILL find out as long as this idiot is in charge.
I think the best example of a franchise that is 'exploited' well is Call of Duty. First and second games were marvellous- they built up a great development team and made a proven IP. But instead of saying, 'you guys need to put out a sequel every year and it needs to fill xyz demographic,' they seem to have said 'you guys have 2 years to make a game- do what you think will make an awesome game, create awesome tech, you guys are the pros.' Then they give the tech and game to another team (Treyarch) and say, 'you guys have two years to make an awesome game. Here is the franchise you are working in.' They get a great game every 2 years and a good game in the off years. People buy it because it is Call of Duty, and if it is a Treyarch release, they remember how awesome the last release was- and if it was an IW release, they know how awesome it will be. It is two great developers working in the same franchise on effectively different games. That, to me, is a fine business model. Trying to release a sequel with the same team every year, or coming out with farmed out sequels, or spinoffs, expansions, or ports to fill some demographic void, will eventually drive Activision into the ground.
The sad thing is, for them there really is one born every second. Kids under the age of 8 usually aren't the most well-informed consumers, and after they've been burned twice by shitty games, Disney won't care about their custom anymore anyway, as there's a new army of kids that will nag their parents for the latest Disney game.
It aggravates me, as titles like Wall-E deserve an AAA title, and if anyone has the power to make that happen, it's Disney.