"Survival horror market too small for Resident Evil, says Capcom producer Masachika Kawata."
Resident Evil, one of the founders of the survival horror genre, cannot be a survival horror game anymore because the market isn't big enough. Let's look at that again. Maybe we misread it.
"The market for that style -- "survival horror" -- just isn't viable enough to warrant the biggest investments."
Afraid not. Looks like my theory about the industry's skewed mentality was all too right. Here too they are falsely finding "lost" sales. On finding out that the market for Resident Evil games is smaller than for games with constant mindless action, Capcom immediately decided to mash their existing IP into a slot it doesn't fit by throwing a ton of money at it. If you ever needed more proof that the industry is only interested in making money, not games, then the following is it:
"Looking at the marketing data [for survival horror games] ... the market is small, compared to the number of units Call of Duty and all those action games sell," he said. "A 'survival horror' Resident Evil doesn't seem like it'd be able to sell those kind of numbers."
This just in, apples are not, in fact, oranges!
If John Deer noticed one day that its tractors weren't as popular as sports cars, should they start making tractors with more powerful engines and slap spoilers on them? They would immediately create a product that isn't good for either farming or racing. A product that tries to do both and succeeds at neither.
A Resident Evil game doesn't have to pull in the same numbers as an online multiplayer FPS because they're entirely different things. Expecting that it will is pure madness. The only numbers that an RE title needs to bring in are those from the survival horror genre. If it isn't "viable enough to warrant the biggest investments" then don't give it the biggest investments. Give it a reasonable budget for the amount of profit you expect it to bring in. If you want to try your hand at something else too, fine. But that doesn't mean you have to twist what you already have just to make a buck. Create a new, dare I say, original IP in which to attempt to appeal to that market. Otherwise you'll just drag your existing IP's name through the mud and ensure you create a product that no one is happy with.
If John Deer noticed one day that its tractors weren't as popular as sports cars, should they start making tractors with more powerful engines and slap spoilers on them? They would immediately create a product that isn't good for either farming or racing. A product that tries to do both and succeeds at neither.
A Resident Evil game doesn't have to pull in the same numbers as an online multiplayer FPS because they're entirely different things. Expecting that it will is pure madness. The only numbers that an RE title needs to bring in are those from the survival horror genre. If it isn't "viable enough to warrant the biggest investments" then don't give it the biggest investments. Give it a reasonable budget for the amount of profit you expect it to bring in. If you want to try your hand at something else too, fine. But that doesn't mean you have to twist what you already have just to make a buck. Create a new, dare I say, original IP in which to attempt to appeal to that market. Otherwise you'll just drag your existing IP's name through the mud and ensure you create a product that no one is happy with.
Exhibit A
Exhibit A rules! :D
ReplyDeleteI note you chose to omit your name from your comment. Good call.
DeleteAs someone looking for a place in the games industry, it is saddening that publishers wouldn't have taken a risk on a game like Minecraft but would happily churn out a call of duty clone :/
ReplyDeleteToo true. I recall recently reading a quote from a publisher representative that initially passed on Demon's Souls. To paraphrase, "I sat down and played this game for two hours, dying again and again and not getting anywhere. "This game is garbage" I said." So From Software went with a smaller publisher, Atlus. Huge hit. The first publisher missed out badly because they wouldn't take a chance.
DeleteAtlus is a company I really respect. They're fairly large themselves, but don't ever seem afraid to give new ideas and new IPs a shot. Always keep an eye out for their titles! Companies like that deserve our support.