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Re: Morning Consolidation

Jul 5, 2012, 14:24

Parallax Abstraction

As broken at the $60 AAA pricing model is (and it definitely is), I am getting really sick of everything being compared to bloody mobile as if anyone who doesn't sell games for $0.99 has already failed. As others have said, mobile is currently a gold rush and anyone who thinks this isn't a bubble is kidding themselves. Mobile isn't going anywhere but remember the Wii? Remember how it came out, was on fire for several years and burned out almost over night? That's going to happen to mobile.

The lazy press only ever reports on the Angry Birds and Draw Somethings but the fact is the vast majority of the 5% or so of mobile titles that aren't absolute garbage lose money and lots of it. I think it was Mark Rein who recently said that the average mobile title grosses $700 over its lifetime and the CEO of Ready At Dawn Studios recently said mobile's already like the rest of the industry where a handful of big players are dominating the space. It's entirely hit driven and soon, mobile games are going to need marketing budgets in order to get noticed and and as Apple keeps pushing higher specs with new devices, making games that aren't pixel art suddenly get more expensive.

What happens then? Costs spiral and games start costing $10 instead of $0.99. Then $20. Smaller indie players can't compete, the publishers take over and we're right back where we are now.

Mobile has revolutionised gaming and for the better in many ways but I'm getting real tired of hearing lazy press outlets talking about how all we'll be doing is playing games on tablets in 5 years and how $0.99 is the future and we're somehow going to be playing AAA blockbusters for that soon. It's just ridiculous to think that way. The industry needs major change but all that's happening right now is everyone's moving from one broken model to another model that they're trying their damndest to break again.




Parallax Abstraction Geek Bravado \| Retro Flashback \| All Together Now

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