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LFTE: ...In The Membrane (Sept 11)
Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It seems to me the video game industry just never wants to learn. We still have summers go by with the movie industry dropping some of its biggest films of the year, yet video games continue to putter along convinced that if you don't release games in a three-week period starting at the end of October and ending in the middle of November your game is doomed.
For the big franchises that typically sell millions upon millions of units, this holiday period is yours for the taking and deservedly so, but the rest of the publishers need to realize that there are opportunities for games to become blockbusters year round.
Look at this list of upcoming games that I personally consider to be potential blockbusters:
- Battlefield 3
- Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Gears of War 3
- Assassin's Creed Revelations
- Rayman Origins
- Resistance 3
- God of War: Origins Collection
- Rage
- Twisted Metal
- Forza 4
- Batman: Arkham City
- Halo: Anniversary
You can't tell me that if publishers released any of these during the summer the sales would have been worse in the long run. I simply do not believe it. As games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Red Dead Redemption proved in the past, if you release a big title during the drought, gamers will come. I believe they might even have a bigger upside considering the lack of serious competition during the summer months and the hunger gamers have for new experiences.
Plenty of other games, like the Ico/Shadow of Colossus collection and Dead Island, that will get little to no marketing, could also do better in the empty months when gamers are attacking backlogs rather than talking about the latest and greatest thing.
So why are publishers so stubbornly clinging to this relic of a release schedule? It's pure insanity.
Cheers,
Andy
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