Reason for multiplatform:Only 4% of games make a profit.

[gebx]

Chemical said:

Nah the percentage makes sense once you consider just how many games are released and just how low the attach ratios are for each console. 360 has an attach ratio of 6 or something like that right? And it is considered to be the hardcore console with the fanbase that buys a lot of games. And once you consider that most of these sales will go to GTA IV, Halo, FFXIII and other blockbuster games then you will see just how little sales other games get. Why else do we have so many studios that release one game and are never heard from again.

I am going to use the 360 for my example:
It currently has 500 games if wikipedia is to be believed.
Lets say 360 has attach ratio of 7
Current userbase of 23 million. So about 161 million sales in terms of software
If I take the top 50 games then you get about 112 million sales. The rest is split between 450 other games, netting an average of 100k per game.

Even the crappy games still have to deal with publishing, licensing and developing costs and i doubt many games can survive on 100k or less. And this is 360 the hardcore console. Imagine if I look into the other consoles. PS2 had a much worse attach ratio and far more games, so the percentage makes sense to me.

360 breakdown of sales (according to VGChartz)

Sold more then 500,000 - 100 games (20%)
Sold more then 400,000 - 119 games (24%)
Sold more then 300,000 - 156 games (31%)

Of course each game is different, and no one really knows the developers break even point.