Post by Meltd0wn on Sept 11, 2008 14:39:42 GMT
Alex St John, CEO of WildTangent, has said that Sony and Microsoft will continue to close internal studios as both companies strive to become profitable.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, St John commented that Microsoft was "ramping down" it's investment in the Xbox 360 and was entering a "recovery phase". He said that console makers were keen to become profitable and would no longer take on the risk of developing their own titles.
"You will clearly see Sony and Microsoft ramping down their investment in those platforms... What's interesting to note is that Microsoft [Game] Studios: the number of titles they're producing is in decline. So they're investing a lot less in the Xbox, and Sony is doing the same, because they're in a cost recovery phase," he said.
The comments came as Microsoft revealed plans to close Ensemble Studios, as soon as the developer has finished work on Halo Wars. In a leaked email, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, said: "It became clear to us that closing the studio and redeploying those resources to other more scalable ventures is the right thing for our business at this time."
St John explained: "They've spent billions trying to be profitable, and the consoles have enough developers making games for them that they do not have to take the risk on investing in games for their own platform in order to drive the market for them."
(Source: Gamesindustry.biz)
----------------
Meltd0wn's Comments
I have always known that 3rd party support was a requirement for a consoles success. Look how Atari and Sega destroyed themselves by burning their bridges with 3rd party companies. But I used to also believe that companies should also have their own games to support their consoles, but Sony proved with the first Playstation that, that wasnt neccessary anymore.
Nintendo obviously has a handle of making money with internal games as well as making money with their consoles so of course they arent going to follow this trend, But I can see the up side to Microsoft and Sony of just concentrating on consoles. MAYBE they will also learn that consoles dont have to do everything in the world to be useful also, and then just maybe they will learn they can make a gaming console for a reasonable price and actually make money in the process. LOL
Well at least they are taking their first step in the right direction.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, St John commented that Microsoft was "ramping down" it's investment in the Xbox 360 and was entering a "recovery phase". He said that console makers were keen to become profitable and would no longer take on the risk of developing their own titles.
"You will clearly see Sony and Microsoft ramping down their investment in those platforms... What's interesting to note is that Microsoft [Game] Studios: the number of titles they're producing is in decline. So they're investing a lot less in the Xbox, and Sony is doing the same, because they're in a cost recovery phase," he said.
The comments came as Microsoft revealed plans to close Ensemble Studios, as soon as the developer has finished work on Halo Wars. In a leaked email, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, said: "It became clear to us that closing the studio and redeploying those resources to other more scalable ventures is the right thing for our business at this time."
St John explained: "They've spent billions trying to be profitable, and the consoles have enough developers making games for them that they do not have to take the risk on investing in games for their own platform in order to drive the market for them."
(Source: Gamesindustry.biz)
----------------
Meltd0wn's Comments
I have always known that 3rd party support was a requirement for a consoles success. Look how Atari and Sega destroyed themselves by burning their bridges with 3rd party companies. But I used to also believe that companies should also have their own games to support their consoles, but Sony proved with the first Playstation that, that wasnt neccessary anymore.
Nintendo obviously has a handle of making money with internal games as well as making money with their consoles so of course they arent going to follow this trend, But I can see the up side to Microsoft and Sony of just concentrating on consoles. MAYBE they will also learn that consoles dont have to do everything in the world to be useful also, and then just maybe they will learn they can make a gaming console for a reasonable price and actually make money in the process. LOL
Well at least they are taking their first step in the right direction.
