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Ever since collections of cells harmoniously sludged together to form sentient organisms, we’ve trudged from the oceans in search of answers. And upon evolving into the knowledge-craving super-sleuths that we are today (politicians excluded), man has asked a series of seminal questions relating to the universe. What is the meaning of life? Why is this divine being telepathically barking orders into my head (if you belong to this camp, forget I mentioned evolution), and, most profound of all, where is my next video game coming from?
There’s a mind-boggling catalog of games out there, waiting to be played. I, for one, have ridiculously bloated Steam and GOG accounts stuffed to the rafters with games. I just can’t help it. I become a frenzied, salivating loon, greedily snapping up digital deals and turning into a shambling vagrant during the holiday season while I pay back the money I’ve spent. So, when presented with the opportunity, which games should I pay for, and which games should I play?
The most ‘value’
This question provides an interesting starting point when considering our primary options: the blockbuster game versus the indie game. As of late, I tend to purchase more indie games than I do blockbuster for a number of valid reasons, the first being financial. When people investigate a product’s intrinsic value, they often do so with an economic mindset.
When I look at Battlefield 4, say, and compare it to Sir, You Are Being Hunted, I see that both titles have various positive aspects as well as negative. Then I move on to one of the top deciding factors: price. From this date of writing, Battlefield 4 Deluxe is retailing at a not-so-healthy $69.99 from Origin. Sir, You Are Being Hunted is currently running for $20 on preorder. So I could also preorder Among The Sleep ($20) and Spy Party ($15) and still have a $14.99 surplus for when Ether One, Path of Exile, or Prison Architect is released. The follow-up question must then be, is Battlefield 4 (or any single blockbuster title for that matter), in terms of entertainment value, greater than three to four indie games combined? This is empirically difficult to evaluate and comes down to subjective opinion and preference, but it does get you thinking.
Bottom line bawling
Why must customers renegotiate their mortgage payments to buy today’s modern games? At a time when Electronic Arts is bellyaching over earning a paltry revenue of $1.2 billion (instead of $1.37 billion) for this quarter, part of the problem could lie with extreme publishing costs and profits. This matter raises a moral contention. Should I support developers under the reign of greedy, soulless publishers? If the motivating factor for a publisher lies solely in making exorbitant fiscal returns, then the statement could be posited that fulfilling this objective might come at the expense of quality, content, and customer service. I fully appreciate that the developers have significant creative input with their projects, but you would have to be naive to think that the inevitable toeing of the corporate line doesn’t affect the final outcome of a game’s development cycle. How many corners is a developer willing to cut when its keepers string a noose around its neck and ask it to dance to their tune?
Indeed, we’ve already witnessed the “persuasive” workings of many publishers, pontificating over the financial margins and the bottom-line. Dead Space 3 and the latest Tomb Raider reboot serve as prime examples of publishers warranting unreasonable returns from products. Back in June 2012, President of EA Labels, Frank Gibeau, inadvertently offered an unadulterated picture of the toxic involvement of his own industry, arguing that the Dead Space franchise’s many changes, including a focus on action-orientated gameplay and inclusion of cooperative mode, were for the sake of “broader appeal”. His honesty knew no bounds, as his splurge continued; “5 million copies” of the new Dead Space were needed to be shifted, otherwise it becomes, “quite difficult financially”. I feel it important to note, at this point, that DS3′s predecessors sold much less than this figure, neither of which were limited by Origin exclusivity (who’s doing the math here?).
A year down the line and EA CFO, Blake Jorgensen, recently stated that Dead Space 3 and Crysis 3 sales figures didn’t meet expectations. Lo and behold, EVP of EA Games Label, Patrick Soderlund, recently announced that further DS iterations are not currently in the works, citing the development team to be, “… working on something else that you and other gamers will be happy with.” Under the circumstances the afore-mentioned sales had indeed exceeded company predictions, and sold the Earth’s weight in DS3 copies, I would have wagered my own manhood on the immediate inception of another Dead Space game.