Bioware Co-Founder: Next-Gen 'Unlikely' to Save Console Market
PS4 and next Xbox not that big of a deal, apparently.
Think the hype of the next console generation is going to help revitalise the games industry? Don't count on it, says Bioware co-founder Dr Greg Zeschuk. The former exec, who left the studio last year to explore other industries, has some choice words to say about the console market. And they aren't pretty.
"There is this sort of classic innovator's dilemma where we see a new market emerging, but it's not really that great - with the mobile business, certain people make a lot of money but on the whole it's not generating as much revenue as the console business," Zeschuk told GamesIndustry.
"Everyone's kind of holding out hope for the new consoles, but I honestly don't think they're going to be that big a deal. I worry a lot that unless Microsoft or Sony pull something magically out of a hat, it's pretty much the same old, same old repackaged and I don't think they're going to change the dynamic of the retail market. I don't see how they can - the market is what it is."
Zeschuk championed the guile of big publishers like Activision for sticking to a small number of big-hitting titles like Call of Duty and Skylanders, but added that he wasn't sure how long such strategies will last, given the fickle tastes of the mass market consumer.
More at the full interview here.
"There is this sort of classic innovator's dilemma where we see a new market emerging, but it's not really that great - with the mobile business, certain people make a lot of money but on the whole it's not generating as much revenue as the console business," Zeschuk told GamesIndustry.
"Everyone's kind of holding out hope for the new consoles, but I honestly don't think they're going to be that big a deal. I worry a lot that unless Microsoft or Sony pull something magically out of a hat, it's pretty much the same old, same old repackaged and I don't think they're going to change the dynamic of the retail market. I don't see how they can - the market is what it is."
Zeschuk championed the guile of big publishers like Activision for sticking to a small number of big-hitting titles like Call of Duty and Skylanders, but added that he wasn't sure how long such strategies will last, given the fickle tastes of the mass market consumer.
More at the full interview here.
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Comments
DrkStr 10 Apr 2013 12:00
1/2
You change the market by expanding it or redirecting it.
Nintendo and Apple expanded it, Sony and Microsoft need to redirect those new gamers towards TV-centric playing.
On the other hand, they could go back to the core market and live like it's 2004 again, which wasn't such a bad thing at the time.
Nintendo and Apple expanded it, Sony and Microsoft need to redirect those new gamers towards TV-centric playing.
On the other hand, they could go back to the core market and live like it's 2004 again, which wasn't such a bad thing at the time.
ergo 10 Apr 2013 17:39
2/2
This "hype" of which you speak is ONLY IN the hardcore gamer crowd which comprises a pittance of the overall market, so even if he is wrong, attempting any sort of defense of it by referencing the alleged "hype" that only a few percentage points of the total pie cares about is absurd.