Even with the fourth quarterly release of some majorly hyped and well received games such as Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, gaming sales figures have slumped.
Sales are down significantly from this time in 2007 with fewer titles hitting the streets compared to previous years.
Like all other sectors of the economy, gamers and developers have been feeling the pinch this Christmas, with many gamers choosing to forgo the big purchases and keep cash in their wallets.
Even the big developers have been hit hard. EA games has announced that is having to cut over 1,500 jobs in order to remain operative in the industry.
So where does this leave the gaming industry? Rumours circulating about the strength of the gaming consumer even in the face of economic adversity appear to be ill-founded. If the economic situation is hitting developers as much as they claim, then there may be ramifications for what games hit our shelves in 2010.
Recent innovative titles such as EA's Mirrors Edge may be mothballed in favor of more dependable blockbusters or lucrative franchises. Or, like we saw in the response to the recession of the early 1990s we could see a resurgence of independent developers and fan made modifications - an era that bought us games such as Diablo and modifications like the phenomenally successful counter-strike.
What do you think? Is the recession hitting the NZ consumer? And if it is - what effect will this have on the titles we can play?
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COMMENTS (5)
However, I don't doubt that the recession also plays a part. It only takes one bad mistake before you become cautious. So, in this case, it only takes one bad game (or piece of shovelware) to make you more cautious about spending $140 on a game. I know that I've bought a few stinkers that have caused me to start looking towards purchasing games when they go sub-$60.
Either way, I suppose a drop in sales is still very interesting since games are generally a good form of escapism and are still cheaper than booze.
Oh wow that made me laugh so hard.
Way to casually forget about Uncharted 2, Borderlands, DJ Hero, Tales from Liberty City, NSMBW, Brutal Legend, FIFA 10, Tekken 6, and Ratchet and Clank to name a few. I mean every single one of those games have higher sales figures than Operation Flashpoint and most would be higher regarded than Operation Flashpoint. And you pick Operation Flashpoint to name drop in the title sentence? WTF???
This along with the ridiculous price for games nowadays, why is it that every game is like $99 PC and $129+ consoles? Stupid really that a console owner has to play the extra? which is for what? porting it to console from pc? $30 every title? no way. They can go scrub my nutz if they think ill EVER pay >$100. Borderlands is the only near retail price game ill buy at the moment at the $83-89 price tag because i think its reasonable for a new game! even if it does have its bugs.
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