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Forums - Sales - Can exclusivity help a game's sales?

Solid_Snake4RD on 15 March 2010
RageBot said:
For new IPs - yes, without solid expectations of how a game will sell, and in this financial state of the industry, plenty of games like LBP wouldn't have been made if they were made multiplatform, since they wouldn't have the backing of a major company, both for development and advertising.

For old IPs - no.

it doesn't matter old or new IP.

 

It matters what position that Genration is in.We know that if GTA would have been a PS3 exlcusive then there would be alot more sales for the PS3 version.

same with MGS,if multiplat people wouldn't have given it so much praise



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Kenryoku_Maxis on 15 March 2010
Kasz216 said:
Legend11 said:
Solid_Snake4RD said:
Legend11 said:
Do you think Modern Warfare 2 would have sold more than 14-15 million copies at this point if it was a PS3 or 360 exclusive? I don't...

I think the number of console owners that won't buy a game simply because it's on another console is small (Modern Warfare 2 pretty much says that). So it all boils down to raw numbers, the more gamers attracted to a game and have a console that can play it the more that will likely buy it.

MW2 sales have nothing to do with being multiplat.MW2 was kind of a cool thing to get this season kind of thing,the hype was what propeled the sales

 

So you're saying that exclusives don't get hyped or are never the cool thing to get in the season they're released?  That doesn't make any sense to me as exclusives do get hyped and there are exclusives like Gears of War for example that were the cool thing to get at the time it their release.

Which is actually why people think exclusivity helps.

It's because to get exclusivity they usually pay to have ads all over the airwaves.

So you're saying a game taking the funds they otherwise would have put into creating a second version of the game and instead putting it into marketing is a bad idea?  Sorry...in certain circumstances, that actually can be a smart thing.  Especially in the current marketplace, where the HD consoles are fighting for bigger chunk of a smaller market.  Not every game is a GTAIV or Modern Warfare and are guaranteed over 10 million in sales.  Some of them need to push tons of marketing just to guarantee their sales.  And if they can guarantee 3 million sales on one platform with a solid ad campaign vs 'possibly' getting a split amount of sales on two different platforms that will either be less or more than that 3 million target, they'll choose exclusivity in a heartbeat.

Most people think some developers are scaling back on 'multiplats' because they prefer one console or another.  More often than not its because they just can use their development costs and marketing way more efficiently for one system.  Its been this way ever since the SNES/Genesis 'wars'.  And on into the N64/PSX days.  And etc. etc. down into today.  Why spend double the money and time when you can focus it all on one console and potentially double it from advertising?  Because, what drives the American market?  Advertising and hype.

The same thing happened past the mid point of the last gen.  'Multiplatform' games started to become less and less.



Six upcoming games you should look into:

 

  

Kasz216 on 15 March 2010
Kenryoku_Maxis said:
Kasz216 said:
Legend11 said:
Solid_Snake4RD said:
Legend11 said:
Do you think Modern Warfare 2 would have sold more than 14-15 million copies at this point if it was a PS3 or 360 exclusive? I don't...

I think the number of console owners that won't buy a game simply because it's on another console is small (Modern Warfare 2 pretty much says that). So it all boils down to raw numbers, the more gamers attracted to a game and have a console that can play it the more that will likely buy it.

MW2 sales have nothing to do with being multiplat.MW2 was kind of a cool thing to get this season kind of thing,the hype was what propeled the sales

 

So you're saying that exclusives don't get hyped or are never the cool thing to get in the season they're released?  That doesn't make any sense to me as exclusives do get hyped and there are exclusives like Gears of War for example that were the cool thing to get at the time it their release.

Which is actually why people think exclusivity helps.

It's because to get exclusivity they usually pay to have ads all over the airwaves.

So you're saying a game taking the funds they otherwise would have put into creating a second version of the game and instead putting it into marketing is a bad idea?  Sorry...in certain circumstances, that actually can be a smart thing.  Especially in the current marketplace, where the HD consoles are fighting for bigger chunk of a smaller market.  Not every game is a GTAIV or Modern Warfare and are guaranteed over 10 million in sales.  Some of them need to push tons of marketing just to guarantee their sales.  And if they can guarantee 3 million sales on one platform with a solid ad campaign vs 'possibly' getting a split amount of sales on two different platforms that will either be less or more than that 3 million target, they'll choose exclusivity in a heartbeat.

Most people think some developers are scaling back on 'multiplats' because they prefer one console or another.  More often than not its because they just can use their development costs and marketing way more efficiently for one system.  Its been this way ever since the SNES/Genesis 'wars'.  And on into the N64/PSX days.  And etc. etc. down into today.  Why spend double the money and time when you can focus it all on one console and potentially double it from advertising?  Because, what drives the American market?  Advertising and hype.

The same thing happened past the mid point of the last gen.  'Multiplatform' games started to become less and less.

It's not the money they'd put into a second version.

It's the money they money Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo pays for their advertising.



Kasz216 on 15 March 2010
Solid_Snake4RD said:
Kasz216 said:
ShadowSoldier said:
Yes.

I doubt Heavy Rain would have sold as much as it did if it weren't an exclusive. Same with MGS and Mass Effect.

Mass Effect sold 2.16 million.

MGS sold 4.59.

Assassains Creed... a game that was VERY hit or miss with all around less popularity then both in just about every metric sold over 7 million.

RE 5 sold 5.5 Million.

 

 

Heavy Rain MAYBE only because it really was never supposed to be a "Big budget" game... but big budget games are going to sell better multiplatform wise.  The fact that they're big budget themselves is what will get people excited regardless.

 

Exclusivity can really only help middleground games... like say Modnation racers that isn't going to get much advertising and will rely on internet hype and word of mouth.

u really think people wud have the same opinion they have about MGS4 now as  when it wud have been multiplat.no chance.

 

and comparing established franchises like RE and MGS with Mass effect and Assasins creed isn't fair.

 

Assasins creed got big discount,the first one got hyped as a PS3 exclusive then major advertising for both the version.there is no way the second game would have sold so well without discounts

Why wouldn't they?  MGS 1-3 hold very similiar opinions.



luvtospooge on 15 March 2010

Sometimes. For big name franchises, it surely does.



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Solid_Snake4RD on 16 March 2010
Kenryoku_Maxis said:
Kasz216 said:
Legend11 said:
Solid_Snake4RD said:
Legend11 said:
Do you think Modern Warfare 2 would have sold more than 14-15 million copies at this point if it was a PS3 or 360 exclusive? I don't...

I think the number of console owners that won't buy a game simply because it's on another console is small (Modern Warfare 2 pretty much says that). So it all boils down to raw numbers, the more gamers attracted to a game and have a console that can play it the more that will likely buy it.

MW2 sales have nothing to do with being multiplat.MW2 was kind of a cool thing to get this season kind of thing,the hype was what propeled the sales

 

So you're saying that exclusives don't get hyped or are never the cool thing to get in the season they're released?  That doesn't make any sense to me as exclusives do get hyped and there are exclusives like Gears of War for example that were the cool thing to get at the time it their release.

Which is actually why people think exclusivity helps.

It's because to get exclusivity they usually pay to have ads all over the airwaves.

So you're saying a game taking the funds they otherwise would have put into creating a second version of the game and instead putting it into marketing is a bad idea?  Sorry...in certain circumstances, that actually can be a smart thing.  Especially in the current marketplace, where the HD consoles are fighting for bigger chunk of a smaller market.  Not every game is a GTAIV or Modern Warfare and are guaranteed over 10 million in sales.  Some of them need to push tons of marketing just to guarantee their sales.  And if they can guarantee 3 million sales on one platform with a solid ad campaign vs 'possibly' getting a split amount of sales on two different platforms that will either be less or more than that 3 million target, they'll choose exclusivity in a heartbeat.

Most people think some developers are scaling back on 'multiplats' because they prefer one console or another.  More often than not its because they just can use their development costs and marketing way more efficiently for one system.  Its been this way ever since the SNES/Genesis 'wars'.  And on into the N64/PSX days.  And etc. etc. down into today.  Why spend double the money and time when you can focus it all on one console and potentially double it from advertising?  Because, what drives the American market?  Advertising and hype.

The same thing happened past the mid point of the last gen.  'Multiplatform' games started to become less and less.

these days games sell on how good they are hyped.exclusivity gives them hype and exposure and marketing builds on it



makingmusic476 on 28 December 2010

I know this thread is quite old, but I thought I'd bump it given that we now have a perfect case study for this subject: Ninja Theory

Heavenly Sword
Released:  09/12/2010
Metacritic Rating: 79
As of the first 9 weeks,
Sales PS3:  ~458k

Enslaved
Released:  10/05/2010
Metacritic Rating: 80 PS3, 82 360
As of the first 9 weeks,
Sales PS3:   ~144k
Sales 360:  ~217k
Sales Total:  ~361k

For some reason Heavenly Sword was received much better commercially than Enslaved, even though Enslaved was received better critically and is by all accounts a better game.  I would attribute this sales disparity to Heavenly Sword's marketing and hype, a direct result of the game being published by Sony and thus exclusive.

Though I suppose this example lends more credence to the idea that being first party can be quite benefitial to your project, moreso than merely being exclusive.

And I must also point out that I believe there may be some sort of tracking error involving Enslaved.  Both versions of the game had an incredibly weak week 1, with the game selling 41-2k that on each console individually. The ps3 version of the game tracked ever so slightly above the 360 version until week 5 or so, and from week 6 on the 360 version shot upwards in sales while the ps3 version remained stagnant.  The 360 version has seemingly enjoyed an incredible holiday boost, while the ps3 version has been entirely unaffected by the busier shopping season, so there's obviously something screwy going on.  Almost as if the holiday bump for both was added to the 360 version or something.

So take my analysis with a grain of salt, given the questionability of the figures I'm using.



Laurel Aitken on 28 December 2010

I think it depends.

Games that are identifies with a console can benefit from bein exclusive, for example Final fantasy, PS3 owners like RPG's and Final Fantasy, the hype would have helped the game, plus it would have had the image of pulling the PS3 power. I think this could happen with FF vs 13.

Although I think that with most games the answer is simple : no.



Squilliam on 28 December 2010

If exclusivity helped sales we would see many more exclusives from 3rd party publishers and developers.

This is logical.

The only general exception is where the console manufacturer backs a game as an exclusive with marketing and promotional support.

This too is logical.

As for the Heavenly Sword / Enslaved issue, had Microsoft published it instead of Sony the game would have probably eventually made it to the PS3 and even had it not they would have been able to build upon the first game by releasing Heavenly Sword 2. It was Sony's control over that I.P. which we will likely never see again which screwed Ninja Theory.



Tease.

makingmusic476 on 28 December 2010
Squilliam said:

1.  If exclusivity helped sales we would see many more exclusives from 3rd party publishers and developers.

This is logical.

The only general exception is where the console manufacturer backs a game as an exclusive with marketing and promotional support.

This too is logical.

2. As for the Heavenly Sword / Enslaved issue, had Microsoft published it instead of Sony the game would have probably eventually made it to the PS3 and even had it not they would have been able to build upon the first game by releasing Heavenly Sword 2. It was Sony's control over that I.P. which we will likely never see again which screwed Ninja Theory.

1.  I agree with this point in a way.  Surely, if every game was exclusive, then exclusivity would no longer make them standout compared to other games, and thus they wouldn't potentially gain anything from such status.

And leading into your next point, the fact that there are so few exclusives today is what leads to console manufacturers generally supporting what few exclusives there are.  Making your game exclusive in this climate is different than making your game exclusive to the PlayStation 2 in 2001.

2. Ninja Theory expressely mentioned that they made no money on Heavenly Sword, which is why they moved towards multiplatform development.  They could've continued working with Sony, and likely would've had another million seller on their hands had they made a sequel (one that didn't cost tens of milions to create like the first, given it wouldn't have have gone through two consoles and multiple publishers suring its long development cycle, and one that would've used their own, pre-existing engine instead of licensing UE3.0), but they didn't.

I wouldn't say Sony's ownership of Heavenly Sword screwed Ninja Theory.  They simply made a bad decision, pursuing multiplatform development under the assumption that it would lead to greater sales and profitability.

And I don't believe a Heavenly Sword published by Microsoft would've eventually gone multiplatform.  Microsoft often bargains for IP ownership when it works with smaller studios, Project Gothem Racing and Crackdown being notable  examples.  Only the larger studios manage to keep their IPs, like Biwoare and Mass Effect or Epic and Gears of War.