| Immortal said: I'm also a bit confused about why this would be bad for third parties. In general, third parties have done better financially when there is a single dominating console so that they can focus on it alone. We're all aware of how so many gaming companies have been struggling this generation, in spite of the three main home consoles being far closer to each other in sales than usual. |
I'd like to see some evidence for the bolded. People say this a lot but then their sole justification seems to be an occasional developer that shuts down.
Even if it is true, mere correlation does not imply causation. While third parties may be doing worse financially this generation, that's not the result of developers losing money on ports. It is the result of development costs increasing due to more powerful, complicated, and time-consuming hardware coupled with increased demand for more technically stunning games as stronger hardware allows for it.. This is not connected to developers porting games
In fact, I'd argue that porting games to multiple platforms has been beneficial to 3rd parties. The PS3 and the X360, for example, form a super installbase due to their sharp similarities. This results in a much higher potential for sales than in past generations. Let's compare the success of 3rd parties with super installbase of the PS3 and X360 of this generation versus the sole installbase of the most dominating home console ever - the PS2.
| # of | PS2 only | PS3 & X360 |
| 5m sellers |
Grand Theft Auto: 3, VC, & SA 16 titles / 10 IPs |
Call of Duty: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 27 titles / 14 IPs |
| 10m sellers |
Grand Theft Auto: 3, VC, & SA 3 titles / 2 IPs |
Call of Duty: 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 9 titles / 5 IPs |
| 20m sellers |
Grand Theft Auto: SA 1 title / 1 IP |
Call of Duty: 4, 6, 7 & 8 4 titles / 1 IP |
A few notes about this chart
- Digital Sales are not included. If they were, they would help the PS360 list even more
- The PS360 is still very active. Current games are still selling and big games have yet o be released. In a few years, the PS360 list will be even more impressive.
- This only includes the PS3 & 360. This excludes other consoles which contributed to the super install base (wii, psp, etc)
- GTAIV will likely reach 20 million.
- Red Dead Redemption & Assassin's Creed will likely reach 10 million.
- Several Games will likely reach 5 million.
- The PS2 has a lead in 1 million sellers by about 28 titles.
As you can see, porting to multiple consoles actually benefits 3rd parties as it increases the sales potential of the games. When you refer to how "so many gaming companies have been struggling" (which I don't think is much worse than last generation), that is the result of higher development cost because of expensive hardware & futher emphasis on technical prowess, not losing money on ports. Any money used for ports is countered multiple times over by the increased sales from that port.
