Exclusive: The Getaway will be ‘unable to achieve profit’
Sony mismanagement or thank you to gamers?
We have learned that SCE’s upcoming PlayStation 2 title The Getaway will be unable to make a profit, due to the huge amount of cash the company has spent during production.
The Getaway is without doubt the most intriguing of all planned PlayStation 2 titles in production at this time. From the very beginning when the game first entered the public domain, controversy seemed an integral part of the title’s make up.
The initial flare came when Sony released shots taken from the game in 2000. So good were these screens, it became evident that they were doctored photos. As we exclusively revealed last year, this was simply a marketing cock-up and a breakdown in communications between the development team the marketing department.
And Sony’s reaction to this blunder? Well, it was simply amazing. It just said, “wait and see, the game will look as good as we have said.” Incredible. So Sony battened down the hatches and got to work. Although we do not know the exact figure spent on The Getaway at this time, members of the development team have freely stated, off the record, that it is “an unrecoverable sum.”
As Sony announces huge profits, largely powered by the success of the PlayStation 2, it can afford to make something special, a game that will set new standards and serve to make the PlayStation 2 the must-have machine. Even if The Getaway cannot fund its development costs through retail sales, the knock-on effect of the PlayStation 2 hosting one of the greatest games ever created, though not directly related to, or tangibly connected to The Getaway, will be well worthwhile.
This news should be welcomed by the gaming community and digested without cynicism. The value of the games industry on a global basis is huge, yet more and more companies are living hand-to-mouth, releasing games at as fast a rate as possible, to keep cashflow healthy. Given Sony’s consolidated position, it can afford to lavish expense on a killer app.
Hopefully this will set a precedent across the games world.
At this point in time, The Getaway is still some way off, though we might just see something at E3.
The Getaway is without doubt the most intriguing of all planned PlayStation 2 titles in production at this time. From the very beginning when the game first entered the public domain, controversy seemed an integral part of the title’s make up.
The initial flare came when Sony released shots taken from the game in 2000. So good were these screens, it became evident that they were doctored photos. As we exclusively revealed last year, this was simply a marketing cock-up and a breakdown in communications between the development team the marketing department.
And Sony’s reaction to this blunder? Well, it was simply amazing. It just said, “wait and see, the game will look as good as we have said.” Incredible. So Sony battened down the hatches and got to work. Although we do not know the exact figure spent on The Getaway at this time, members of the development team have freely stated, off the record, that it is “an unrecoverable sum.”
As Sony announces huge profits, largely powered by the success of the PlayStation 2, it can afford to make something special, a game that will set new standards and serve to make the PlayStation 2 the must-have machine. Even if The Getaway cannot fund its development costs through retail sales, the knock-on effect of the PlayStation 2 hosting one of the greatest games ever created, though not directly related to, or tangibly connected to The Getaway, will be well worthwhile.
This news should be welcomed by the gaming community and digested without cynicism. The value of the games industry on a global basis is huge, yet more and more companies are living hand-to-mouth, releasing games at as fast a rate as possible, to keep cashflow healthy. Given Sony’s consolidated position, it can afford to lavish expense on a killer app.
Hopefully this will set a precedent across the games world.
At this point in time, The Getaway is still some way off, though we might just see something at E3.
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