Those who do risk becoming redundant, says Develop columnist
In his monthly column written exclusively for Develop, Owain Bennallack has suggested that too many developers and publishers are risking falling behind by turning a blind eye to digital distribution and the associated business models.
"The technology, or paradigm, has shown its strengths" said Bennallack, when discussing the progress of digitally distributed content. "The smart money and talent are following it, some consumers are on board, but incumbent games publishers and developers still believe it’s a sideshow – of relevance to casual audiences maybe, but a bolt-on to the conventional business."
In the column, Bennallack also looks at Cloud-based services, the Korean industry, and the financial potential of small, Euro-RPGs as future foundations for traditional games publishing.
"Everything is changing, and it’s not exactly clear how studios should respond. But anybody who isn’t tracking real-time data from multiple instances of even single-player games and exploring A/B testing, who isn’t actively looking into social networking, and who can’t list 20 ways to micro-transaction-ise their next project, may soon be facing their own Kodak moment," added Bennallack, with reference to the demise of film in the wake of digital camera technology; something Kodak itself pioneered.
Click here to read the full feature.
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...and publishers must not ignore spelling mistakes!
Sorry, I can't believe we keep hearing this. I think the guys reference to film/digital media highlights just how stupid his argument is. Maybe Develop should look for column writers with a more knowledgable appreciation of technology.
So we went from one physical photographic medium to another? What the heck has that got to do with going to a distribution method that takes away the physical medium altogether? I can take my digital photographs and make paper copies that I can store and look at whenever/wherever I like. Digital storage and digital distribution are two completely different and unrelated concepts.
If I download a game, I can use it on one console and never be able to make a physical copy of it. And I will probably only be allowed to download it on one console too... so no similarity there to digital photographs then.
When that console stops being supported, does he think that every single game will remain downloadable, for the next 20 years or more? Because I can still walk into a shop and buy SNES/MD/Saturn/DC/PS1 etc... games.
If these people took their head out of their wallet for long enough, they would realise that the people keeping them in the lifestyle they have become accustomed to, are getting sick of balls and chains round their software. And DD is nothing but a ball and chain, without the physical ball and chain.
