The 3rd Party Balance Sheet of Terror

[amirnetz]

BKK2 said:
I just don't see it happening, installed base isn't low enough to ignore either platform on a Global basis, the vast majority of games will be multi-platform for the remainder of this generation. The only exception will be region specific releases which you have excluded.

Anyway, Disgaea 3 will be released in Europe early 2009, thus qualifying under your "must be released in Americas and Others" rule.

We don't often see things happening before they happen. Who could have foreseen the Wii phenomenon? Who thought three months ago that the 360 will crush the PS3 this holiday season? The FF XIII was a shocking announcemet, right?

BKK2, here is a scenario for you: If the 360 will continue to outsell the PS3 at the current pace for several more months, many small developers with limited budgets may start doing do the following math:

PS3 = small and dwindling market share + difficult development & bad tools + no-so-great attach rate + prolonged release process.

For them, it might just be worth to skip the PS3, develop with the great tools Microsoft provides as native 360 title with no compromises, finish early, release early and enjoy the great attach rate of the 360.

Right now it isn't happenning often. "Kill all humans" was such a case though. However, with the current economic climate where capital is drying out we might see more small-time-titles be forced into finishing the release on a smaller budget and that may mean cutting support for their non-leading platform. They may even get concessions from the platform owner for granting them the exclusivity (shared promotions or lower royalties).

Can you now see something like this happening? At least in theory?

P.S. thanks for the title info. The list is updated.