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Forums - Sales Discussion - Is a game profitable when its multiplatform?

Lost tears of Kain said:
makingmusic476 said:
W29 said:
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.

Because developing a game for multiple platforms means taht 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, etc. Allthe truly great games are exclusive.

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

Honestly, if everybody only cared about money, then bands like Wintersun and other unkown metal bands would be making music like Linkin Park because it sells better. However, they choose not to. Instead they choose to make the music 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"

It's EA. Obviously they're just in it for the money. However, guys like Hideo Kojima and Itagaki are in this business to make games, great ones at that, games that truly express their inner visions as people, and they'd prefer to keep said games exclusive so that they can be the best that they can be. Big hits like NG and MGS are sure to sell a hell of a lot, making back the amount of money spent on development despite being only on a single platform. Gears of War made Epic loads of cash despite being released exclusively to a platform with only a 9 mil. install base at the time.

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games that are exclusive get bonuses from the licenser. Usually it's in the form of lower licensing costs for the platform, or, if it's an important game, the licensing costs could be waived completely. Whether to make a game multiplatform is more than just a case of development costs for porting, there is much more involved.

It would have to sell well on the new system or poorly on the original system for it to be worth it.



Help! I'm stuck in a forum signature!

Okay, I understand now. Thanks for the info 8)



Soriku said:
Porting a game isn't too hard. Wouldn't cost them much.

 It would be less expensive then building a game from the ground up, but it depends on many factors if it's viable to port it to another console.   Right now, we do not know the actual amount of space that FFXIII would need on a disk and they will have to compress and possibly remove some content to make it fit onto a DVD.   Also, they would need to engineer the game and engine to work on systems that may not have a hard drive.   By the time they would invest and how much work it would be, the cost could be quite large and they may end up further behind the 8 ball doing it that way. 

 Also, they could alienate some of their diehard fanbase in Japan by porting it to the Xbox and lose them sales in the future as well on other sequels and other games. 



 


Get your Portable ID!

 

My pokemon brings all the nerds to the yard. And they're like, "You wanna trade cards?" Damn right, I wanna trade cards. I'll trade this, but not my charizard.

it would most likely raise the fanbase, not lower it



                 With regard to Call of Duty 4 having an ultra short single player campaign, I guess it may well have been due to the size limitations of DVD on the XBox 360, one of various limitations multi-platform game designers will have to take into consideration-Mike B   

Proud supporter of all 3 console companys

Proud owner of 360wii and DS/psp              

Game trailers-Halo 3 only dissapointed the people who wanted to be dissapointed.

Bet with Harvey Birdman that Lost Odyssey will sell more then Blue dragon did.
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It all depends on sales, time, effort and how much money was put into the game.

In order for FFXIII to be a success in S-E's eyes they are going to want at least 6-7mil in sales....

MGS4 will tell the story though, because if it flops or under sells then so will FFXIII.



jhlennon1 said:
It all depends on sales, time, effort and how much money was put into the game.

In order for FFXIII to be a success in S-E's eyes they are going to want at least 6-7mil in sales....

MGS4 will tell the story though, because if it flops or under sells then so will FFXIII.

 Why would a game, made by different people and companies, in a completely different genre instantly mean that if one flops the other will flop?

 MGS4 will sell alot of games.   Originally I didn't want to get the game as the other games didn't really interest me too much and I never got them.   But after seeing that 20 minute demo a couple months back, I really really want to get this game now.  



 


Get your Portable ID!

 

My pokemon brings all the nerds to the yard. And they're like, "You wanna trade cards?" Damn right, I wanna trade cards. I'll trade this, but not my charizard.

jjseth said:
jhlennon1 said:
It all depends on sales, time, effort and how much money was put into the game.

In order for FFXIII to be a success in S-E's eyes they are going to want at least 6-7mil in sales....

MGS4 will tell the story though, because if it flops or under sells then so will FFXIII.

Why would a game, made by different people and companies, in a completely different genre instantly mean that if one flops the other will flop?

MGS4 will sell alot of games. Originally I didn't want to get the game as the other games didn't really interest me too much and I never got them. But after seeing that 20 minute demo a couple months back, I really really want to get this game now.


Because MGS has a hardcore following, much like Final Fantasy, and if the hardcore are not willing to take the plunge then you know that the console is just not on a path to success. I don't think people quite fully realize how important MGS4 is going to be for the future of the PS3.

Also, the hype, the advertising, everything surrounding MGS4 is as positive as you can get and if it doesn't pull people in, neither will Final Fantasy but it will all be m00t because the backlash Sony would receive for a massive game like MGS4 bombing would without doubt kill the system overnight in the eyes of 3rd parties and the general public outside the Sony hardcore.

Sony needs to ensure that MGS4 does better then MGS3 or they have a very serious problem this gen. If MGS4 sells well, on par with MGS1 and MGS2 then Sony would have made their point that games sell on their system but if the game doesn't sell.... It's all over. 



100.000? If ever FFXIII gets released on Xbox360, it will outsell BD worldwide sales in Japan alone. Don't know about the Xbox360 sales though. If Xbox360 had a bigger userbase in Japan, SE wouldn't hesitate to port the game.



      

   

 

Also take in consideration that an exclusive gets more media attention. Just look at Assassin's Creed, when it was still a PS3 exclusive the game was hyped all over. When Ubi announced it went multi, alot of its hype disappeared.