Pachter: 'We Now See Just How Wrong We Were'

[NJ5]

Edouble24 said:

noname2200 said:

Edouble24 said:

Some of them are losing money based on releasing bad games. I know companies are losing money this year, but that's normal in any industry. Every industry has it's downtime and the lack of strong releases is hurting 2009. The revenue of the game industry is just fine, poor management may be hurting some companies as they adapt to change. It's nothing to be doom and gloomy about. Some companies report decreases in profit while others report increases. That's just how competitive markets are. 2010 will easily move things back into place due to big games actually releasing. Companies like EA and Activision will be just fine in the long run.

You don't understand what they're getting at: in terms of profit the game industry hasn't been having a bad quarter. It hasn't had a bad year. It's had a terrible generation. Almost universally, profits are down, studio closures are up, and even the big studios are starting to merge.

For some reason I don't think that's what NPD and Pachter are referring to, which is what I'm responding to. Considering they cite 2007 and 2008 as the greatest years of the industry in terms of revenue, by their definition 2009 is a great year and nothing to worry about. It just didn't top 2008. I think the argument changed into something else completely but I stand by the industry being healthy and things will end up just fine. Just because some publishers may have bet on the wrong console and made some mistakes doesn't mean the industry is in trouble, it's means they're in trouble (and EA isn't in trouble, some others are). But where some companies have fallen others have grown. That is a natural cycle of things, especially when those fallen companies are making mistakes.

Actually you started by talking about "making money", not revenue (and even said EA is making money, which they haven't for a few years).

Most of all I don't know where your statement that EA isn't in trouble is coming from. A company that has downsized by over 25% in the last few years, and still losing hundreds of millions of dollars in a quarter, strikes me as a very troubled company.