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11 million next gen consoles in homes before next year

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mr.burnsThere’s a lot of doom and gloom in the industry at the moment with sales figures plummeting and fantastic titles like Hitman, Tomb Raider and Gears of War just not hitting the numbers required to make gaming a viable industry.

And yet when we look over to our mobile friends they are making simplistic titles like Angry Birds and Clash of the Titans and they are rolling in the money. So is the future of gaming going to be bite sized freemium titles with micro transactions at every turn?

Possibly… but EEDAR analysts are warning developers not to count on that pot of gold otherwise they may find themselves chasing the latest fad and missing out on the lucrative opportunities that are just around the corner.

The PlayStation 4 and Next Xbox are widely expected to be released later this year and according to the analysts they are expecting 11 million of these units to be sold to customers before the end of the year, with that number rising to 50 million in the next 3 years.

What’s more important for developers however is that’s 11 million people who are willing to put down real money for a game, granted you may get more players on your free game but you will struggle to reap the same rewards with only a niche few titles actually making real profits.

To put it in perspective, 11 million is enough for every man, women and child in Gauteng to have a console… nearly.

Last Updated: April 18, 2013

29 Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Erwin

    April 18, 2013 at 10:36

    Strange Hitman is not selling well. Currently enjoying it MASSIVELY!

    Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      April 18, 2013 at 10:58

      Didn’t it, just like Tomb Raider, actually sell really well but was only considered a bad profit turner because of dev and marketing costs?

      Reply

      • Sir Oldfart

        April 18, 2013 at 11:07

        I think EA set the trend when they spent $60 million on marketing for BF3 to bring the COD boys over the fence.
        Tomb Raider sold over a million discs in the first 24hours and is now on 3.5 million. They expected 5-6. CRAZY fat cats on the top floor.

        But dam do we benefit, because the polish and high production budget – the marketing costs SHOWS TEN FOLD. 🙂

        Reply

        • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

          April 18, 2013 at 11:09

          Hehe. I sense so much sarcasm in your final sentence. 🙂

          Reply

          • Sir Oldfart

            April 18, 2013 at 11:15

            NOPE 😉 I rate Tomb Raider in my Top 5 games of all time. Partly because I never got to play and suck on Nathan Drakes Balls like all the PS3 fanboys.

            Not often I have to force myself to turn a game off and force myself to go to sleep. The emotion, pacing, fluidity, story (Thanks to Terry Pratchett’s daughter) acting, unique sound (bafta award winning) AAA Mo cap (naked chick from Californication wink wink)
            Im on my fourth play in a row. I have not started Bioshock 3 yet its that good.

            Im also waiting to see if Bioshock 3 can turn a profit. If it cant… then this gen is dead.

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            April 18, 2013 at 11:18

            Agreed

          • Sir Oldfart

            April 18, 2013 at 12:08

            Another thing. Attention to detail. Every weapon upgrade stayed on the character. Dirt was washed off her shoulders when she got wet. Footprints, wind, hair…

            Who needs next gen? When games like Tomb raider do it right.

            Little things like Concept art, character models, videos are all unlocked by collecting shit. REWARD. Sure the new Skins DLC pisses me off and should have been unlocks in the game but The Dev Diaries did the trick.

            They did everything right for the gamer, even went and made some Multi-player thing.

            SO ALL OF YOU GO OUT AND BUY IT NOW!!!!

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            April 18, 2013 at 12:28

            And it sold well because of it. But it isn’t a success because they spent so much on marketing and things that weren’t needed that even amazing sales make it a failure. It’s sad 🙁

          • Sir Oldfart

            April 18, 2013 at 12:31

            What if they just did viral marketing using the internet like everybody else. Why did it cost so much. Every Tom Dick and Harry knows who the first lady of gaming is anyway.

            Just show the first 20minutes being played on youtube. I just dont understand, did they rent out the flipping Super Bowl or something?

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            April 18, 2013 at 12:33

            Posters, adds etc etc. Bit of Corruption and money pocketing. The usual 😛

          • Sir Oldfart

            April 18, 2013 at 12:38

            Sigh… back in the day it was the center fold of the Nintendo Power that did the trick.

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            April 18, 2013 at 12:42

            You were “reading” the wrong center folds 😛

          • Sir Oldfart

            April 18, 2013 at 12:50

            Until I saw the first image of Cindy Crawford in her American Bathing bikini 1991….SHAWING!!!

            THEN LARAs Polygons in the 1995 PSM DID THE TRICK

            NERDGASIM 🙂

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            April 18, 2013 at 13:03

            Hahaha

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            April 18, 2013 at 13:26

            I think she’s cold….

          • Carl Angus

            April 18, 2013 at 16:15

            Naw….

          • Skyblue

            April 18, 2013 at 12:10

            I LOL’ed so hard at “Partly because I never got to play and suck on Nathan Drakes Balls like all the PS3 fanboys”, thanks for that!

          • Jonah Cash

            April 18, 2013 at 17:05

            I’m also in love with Tomb Raider!! And it is definitely in my top 5 as well!! But I enjoyed Hit Man as well, also I enjoyed Dishonored….

    • Sir Oldfart

      April 18, 2013 at 11:01

      Hitman, Tomb Raider, Sleeping Dogs, Dead Space 3, Max Payne 3… All failed to make a profit. SAD indeed.

      But FROM SOFTWARE are laughing all the way to the bank.

      http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7121-Dark-Souls-and-Dark-Sales

      Reply

    • matthurstrsa

      April 18, 2013 at 13:23

      Must still pick that up. And Tomb Raider. And Bioshock. Damnit.

      Reply

  2. Sir Oldfart

    April 18, 2013 at 10:57

    11Million next gen consoles. That will mean that 50% of the owners have the power to keep AAA game devs out of the red. lol they cant even get 3% of us to buy their products today with 140miilion consoles.

    I know I know, I keep bringing that stat up. SO DO THE DEVS. Expect low budget games next gen while they contend with 10% higher production costs for the first 2 years.

    I see many titles that were meant for this gen being pushed to the next gen to save time and money.

    Reply

    • Carl Angus

      April 18, 2013 at 16:20

      I think all console game developers will always struggle just before the release of a new console generation.

      Sales will never be good during that lead-up time, I’m sure some gamers are thinking it’ll be a waste to buy a new game when the newer awesomer stuff is just round the corner.

      Reply

  3. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    April 18, 2013 at 10:57

    I don’t know hey. That’s a high figure for next-gen. How do they figure there will be so many early adopters when the previous gen will still most likely be supported for a while?

    Oh well. I’m no expert.

    I do wish the industry would learn from these small games. It’s not because they are freemium games or casual that they are doing so well. It’s because their development costs are so low.

    If Tomb Raider had, had a smaller development cost it would have now been considered a success with the amount it has sold. But no, the industry looks at what appears on the surface. It appears that people want freemium. Not true. It’s just the development vs sales income ratio that makes the freemium, casual games so lucrative.

    Oversaturate the market with freemium and the whole thing becomes unprofitable again because users will be split between too much choice.

    Meh.. But what do I know. I don’t spend all my days in a suit.

    Reply

  4. caponeil

    April 18, 2013 at 10:57

    Real games can be compared to movies and cinema and freemium/mobile games like sitcom/Tv. They are a dime a dozen and you might even enjoy them. The real thrill is going to the cinema for that next Avengers/Iron Man/ film. That is where it is at. Good titles will make money. There might only be one title a year that makes money and a gazillion that doesn’t. That one in million chance is what will keep gaming going!

    Reply

  5. Mark Shippen

    April 18, 2013 at 11:17

    It cost a mere fraction to develop a game on a phone that reaches Hundreds of millions, even if its a “Fad” its still really cheap to get into, and hence will take effort away from a dedicated console. Why make a complicated Game when the masses LOVE title like Angry Birds, or a “One” button game like Jetpack Joyride? The next gen is doomed to fail before it even begins.

    Reply

  6. Skyblue

    April 18, 2013 at 12:17

    I don’t know how much these new consoles will reinvigorate the market as the tech leap is marginal compared to previous generations and there won’t be much innovation in terms of new games. I think the market will continue to stagnate until new IP’s come to the fore as I couldn’t be bothered to play another God of War, Gears of War, Assassin’s Creed, etc.

    Reply

  7. hayted

    April 18, 2013 at 13:10

    If anyone like me is worried about the price of the new consoles – I have been skipping games I would usually buy and starting to save towards a console (one or the other). That is why software developers are missing my cash at the moment 🙁

    Reply

  8. DrKiller

    April 18, 2013 at 14:04

    They should’ve waited for the announcement of the new Xbox before making a statement like that..

    Reply

  9. DrKiller

    April 18, 2013 at 14:04

    They should’ve waited for the announcement of the new Xbox before making a statement like that..

    Reply

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