Consolation Prize

The economy is in trouble; Governments have responded by pouring billions of pounds / dollars into the banking sector and into key industries in order to avoid further economic disaster. It saddens me to learn how the economic downturn is affecting development studios across the globe – The doors to Factor 5 and Free Radical Design are now closed, and even big hitters like Electronic Arts have been forced to make mass redundancies to help weather the storm. And on a personal note, I sincerely hope all those affected will soon once again be back in the industry.

The current economic crisis is very unfortunate, but there is, at least from a consumer’s perspective, a silver lining in this dark tumultuous cloud - In a rush to gain at least a modicum of profit I’ve seen retailers slash the prices of lots of high profile games soon after release. Far Cry 2, Prince of Persia, Fable 2, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, and Little Big Planet; all released in the chaotic build up to Christmas can all now be picked up - at least here in the UK - for on average 50% less than if you had bought them upon release. That’s a huge saving to anyone, especially in these troubled times when every penny counts. It makes me wonder how many of us have held off from purchasing a game just because we had a hunch the prices would be reduced, or alternatively did we just hold off because there were too many games to pick from?

I’ve bagged some great “bargains” over the last few weeks; games I would have happily bought on release, at full price, if it wasn’t for the ridiculous release schedule we annually have to endure during the festive period. I’m assuming that many gamers out there, like me, have to prioritise what to buy, and are fed up of being force fed games in such a short period of time like some sort of video game “Foie gras”. Surely this sales model wasn’t always going to be sustainable was it? Weren’t there bound to be some losers eventually as supply outstripped demand? Or were we all just caught with our pants down?

Hopefully there’s a lesson that can be learned from all this. Maybe recent events will compel publishers to review future release schedules - after all wouldn’t it be better to release some games during the so called “drought” periods when gamers are clamouring for another fix rather than putting all your eggs into one basket at the end of the year? There does seems to be some positive movement in this direction with games like Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4, and Killzone 2 scheduled to appear in the first quarter of 2009; and this year we saw Grand Theft Auto IV released in April instead of late October which would have been the norm. Maybe it’s just that the aforementioned games weren’t ready for release during the 4th quarter, or maybe, optimistically, some genuine foresight was at play and the wind of change is blowing.

Sunrise over the Maroochy River and Pacific Ocean image courtesy of Craig Jewell stock.xchng