Mike Hayes, President of SEGA Europe was interviewed by gamesindustry.biz this week. He highlighted a trend which I think has been going on for some time now, and is rapidly increasing.
He said, "What we're actually doing is getting rid of the bottom tier of titles that we were putting in to get an extra bit of market share, of money. We're getting rid of those, and we're going to focus on the biggest titles.."
And it's not just SEGA - publishers across the world are canning smaller games and retreating to the relative safety of a few blockbuster titles; look at EA, Microsoft or even my old haunt, Eidos, who made most of their casual game team redundant a week after closing Rockpool. In a recession, big companies often retreat to what they consider safe ground.
And this leads me to belive that games are fragmenting into two sides - the huge AAA games, and the smaller experimental titles on iPhone, DS, PSN and online. What started as a drip is now turning into a river.
For every huge FPS, there used to be five average clones in different styles. For every AAA racer with every vehicle under sun, there were scores of smaller racers specialising in different cars or events. But not any more....
But whilst this means less choice for consumers and less publisher contracts for external developers, I think there is very real silver lining from this trend. As publishers are pulling out of smaller titles, this is leaving a large vaccum for smaller companies focusing on games that cost £1 million or less. As long as you can find a growing niche, an innovative new concept or leap quickly onto new technology, there is real opportunity out there. And digital distribution means that you don't need a big publisher to make money.
What is more, I think that this side of the gap could become the most important in a few years. Look at the stats for iPhone app sales or casual gaming. Look at the exciting opportunities that lie ahead with web-browser engines like Unity or Google's Android platform. In a few years time, I think that publishers that shrank back behind their AAA comfort pillows are going to be kicking themselves.
Which side of the chasm do you think the big new IPs in 5-10 years time will have come from? I know where I'd put my money...
Patrick
