I just came up with this question. Say for example Square Enix feels that FFXIII will not sell well on the PS3. Now if that happens and SE ends up making the game multiplatform. Does that take money out of SE pocket or does it help?

What I'm trying to say is that if a developer makes a multiplatform game. Does it require more development and money to make it on all systems?

 I've heard from multiple developers that it's a 10-15% increase in total costs to go multiplatform but returns can be much, much higher.

So then why don't developers make games multiplatform. It would make the games more profitable and they would get more money back in return from all three consoles.

Multi games end up like $hit.

For the ps3, dunno about the 360.

Yes, and returns could be huge, id say if they put ff 13 on 360, 100k sold on 360 would then equal the ammount spent to port, and then whatever sales is $$$

also it will increase the fanbase if you go mult....

@Lost
360 gamers hate FF. Look at what happened to FF XI.

Because developing a game for multiple platforms means that developers have to take into account the weaknesses of each platform, rather than catering to the strengths of just one platform. Many developers, like Hideo Kojima, want to make the best game that they can, so they focus all their resources on piece of hardware.

Exclusive games are generally better than multiplat games for this very reason. Look at the best games from last gen: God of War, Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Wind Waker, Shadow of the Colossus, Ninja Gaiden, etc. All were exclusive. Sure, you had the occasional multiplat hit, but most of the truly exceptional games were exclusive. The same goes for this gen. Halo 3, Gears of War, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, MGS4, Crysis, etc. All the truly great games are exclusive.

Quite often, developers are willing to sacrifice added profits to make a higher quality game. That is what a true artist does. Things aren't always about money. Artistic expression is far more important to many people.

Honestly, if everybody only cared about money, then bands like Wintersun and other unkown metal bands would be making music like Linkin Park simply because it sells better.  However, they choose not to, instead making the music that THEY like, rather than the music the masses like. They choose to express themselves in the way that they see fit, rather than in a way dictated by the cashflow of the casual market.

True makingmusic, but dont you think this is more because they spend more money and time on these games? People like EA do care if their games are great, but they just want money. MS Sony and Nintendo all want to create AAA games because so they can say "hey we have this game that is rated fantastic and everyone loves, now buy our system"

Edit: this is also seen with alot of wii games, they are exclusive, but they are still absolute crap.