Percentage of games that turn a profit=

[Shanobi]

 

God guys, google is your friend. There were probably 100+ studios last generation that folded, or had to sell themselves to other publishers.

 

Don't any of you remember all the stories about Ubisoft, Activision, and EA buying up entire chunks of the industry?

 

They did so to purchase cheap I.P.'s, and essentially let go of all of the staffs of said companies.

 

Do we forget so quickly that Capcom, 2 quarters ago, only posted a profit thanks to the sales they had on Resident Evil 4, Wii, and I forget which DS games?

 

I'm not sure what the exact number is this generation, but last generation publishers were lucky to make 5 dollars per game sold at retail. The distribution chains eat up their chunks of that 50-60 bucks, and the publishers were left holding 5. (Approximately.)

Look up costs of certain games, do the math, and see how most games never turn a profit. Final Fantasy 7 famously lost tons of cash. (Sony loved how many systems that game moved though, and have protected Square ever since.)

You can find stories on how investors doubt that GTA4 would be able to cover all of the losses for Take2 that their other games have incurred.

I have to say that I'm am saddened that so many people have no idea how bad things are in this business. The big blockbuster games make a profit, sure, but often don't cover losses on all the other games the same publishers put out.