System Faults Didn't Stop THQ From Bringing Metro: Last Light To Wii U

[theRepublic]

Aielyn said:

Mazty said:
It's because the Wii U offers pretty much the same experience as the other 2 consoles, but has just over 1 million users, as compared to 70 million+. It's not economically viable to develop for the Wii U.

If all you think about is sales of a single game, you're probably right.

But the thing is, games on a system have a synergistic effect. You can create a market on a platform with one game, and then leverage that market with the next game, and grow it using that game for the release of the third one.

Furthermore, the vast majority of people who buy a console early are going to be interested in getting games early for it, and buy games more often than others. While it's true that the other systems currently have 70 times the total install base, it's actually a lot closer in terms of people likely to buy any particular game, because people who own a 360 or PS3 are likely to already own multiple games of the same genre as Metro: Last Light, whereas there are few games to compete with on the Wii U.

In the end, THQ's decision makes as much sense as any of their other recent decisions - the same decisions that has led to them being in the hole they're currently in. And if they think the same way that you just did, then it's not a surprise to me that their company is failing.

Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!  We have a winner!

Incidentally, this is exactly what most third parties failed to do on the Wii last gen.