19127 réponses à ce sujet

[GeorgP]

I guess we'll test your theory when Pillars Of Eternity reviews and sales figures start to surface.

 

Then it should also become clearer whether or not Bioware's "new target market" was the right move for the franchise.

 

[edit]

And here we go!

 

http://www.pcgamer.c...ternity-review/

Ok, that's a game review, but there are no sales figures. You must look at the whole EA picture not the tiny frame called Bioware.

This is important, with that you can answer shareholders.

As i said before, it's nothing personal, it's just business.

 

Selected Financial and Operating Highlights and Metrics:
*On a non-GAAP basis

• Calendar year-to-date, EA continues to be the #1 publisher on PlayStation®4 and Xbox One consoles in the Western World led by FIFA 14, Titanfall™, Battlefield 4™, Need For Speed™ Rivals and Madden NFL 25.
• In the fiscal fourth quarter, EA titles represented 40% of Western World combined title sales for the PlayStation®4 and Xbox One.
• Mobile revenue set a new EA record, contributing nearly $460 million* for the fiscal year.
• EA's mobile business reached more than 130 million monthly active users in the fiscal year, and in Q4, EA mobile games were downloaded 143 million times.
• EA's Ultimate Team services generated more than $380 million* in fiscal year 2014, with Madden Ultimate Team growing 90% year-over-year.
• Operating cash flow for the fiscal year was $712 million, more than doubling last year's operating cash flow of $324 million.
• Calendar year-to-date, FIFA 14, Titanfall and Battlefield 4 were three of the top five best-selling titles across all platforms in the Western World.
  
  
  Source: http://investor.ea.c...eleaseID=845771

[ZeshinX]

I guess we'll test your theory when Pillars Of Eternity reviews and sales figures start to surface.

 

Then it should also become clearer whether or not Bioware's "new target market" was the right move for the franchise.

 

[edit]

And here we go!

 

http://www.pcgamer.c...ternity-review/

 

Business is a big concern, naturally.  Thing is, PC games still do make a profit.  A decent one.  Generally just not a nice enough one to command a priority over, or on-par, with consoles.  Or, not a nice enough profit to meet executives/suits (call them what you will) expectations (or obligations to those who invest in their company).

 

You can call it greed or maximizing ROI or what have you.  I have no doubt a lot of time, resources and energy are spent on determining what makes sense (for them), based on their financial objectives and goals.  It's a world we don't particularly care about, or understand (I'm sure there's plenty of people who do understand how that world works, but they seem pretty rare in these parts).

 

Unfortunately, the way the video games industry works now is quite different from the way it used to.  Once upon a time, you used to start with a game idea/concept, looked at how to make it profitable, then build and release it.  Now, you start with a target profit, and build a game to support that target, with whatever idea/concept is generally accepted as the most likely to achieve that target (hence the risk-averse environment, lack of variety in genres, and wave after wave of FPS clones).

 

Of course that's a general state of affairs.  It doesn't ALWAYS work like that now (or exactly like that), but most often, especially with the larger AAA studios, that's how it's done.  I've often heard this from my bud whose managed to survive in this industry for 15+ years now.

[GeorgP]

I guess we'll test your theory when Pillars Of Eternity reviews and sales figures start to surface.

 

 

 

Regarding the sales figures, DA:I sold 1,39 million copies globally and that's only the retail versions. Let's assume they sold the same amount digitaly, that's quite a number to top. That being said, vgchartz are highly inaccurate, because not every retailer sends them his sales figures and therefore those sales figures should be taken with caution.

Source: http://www.vgchartz....isition/Global/

[line_genrou]

My body is so ready for POE

god I can't wait

[katokires]

So many orgasms I think I'm going to die

[Ashen Nedra]

It's nothing personal, it's just business.

When you want to start a new franchise, new game, new car model and so on, there is always a market analysis done and those analyses are clearly in favor of the console market, because it's an easier to reach market due to his target audience. The target audience for consoles is the 18 to 34 year old male gamer. If you are not fitting into that target audience for different reasons, like me, i'm 50, you are not of anykind of interest to any market analyzer. Simple as that.
If i would make the decisions at EA, Bioware would have gone only consoles right after EA bought them.

As i said it's nothing personal, it's just business.

Which would have been a huge business mistake in my honest opinion. PR backlash and destruction of brand value. Plus Pc players have a higher income and are prescriptive people in households. A fail on PC is very bad news. EA is applying sports game business model  (captive audience, once you get the rights you pretty much sell) to RPGames.

[Dubya75]

I honestly don't see myself playing PoE, but from the beautifully crafted UI elements and uncompromisingly RPG game style which once again highlights so painfully how in contrast DAI stands with it's plastic, non-RPG, soul-less feel.....it just makes me want to cry...

[Ashen Nedra]

So many orgasms I think I'm going to die

Here I coooooooome!!

[Dubya75]

Which would have been a huge business mistake in my honest opinion. PR backlash and destruction of brand value. Plus Pc players have a higher income and are prescriptive people in households. A fail on PC is very bad news. EA is applying sports game business model  (captive audience, once you get the rights you pretty much sell) to RPGames.

 

Exactly the point I was trying to make by referencing Pillars. Obsidian is not confused about who they made that game for. 

Bioware on the other hand seem to be having a huge identity crisis, aiming at the WRONG audience.

It would make sense to strive for longevity with a rich franchise such as Dragon Age, but instead EA is selling Gordon Ramsey cuisine at McDonalds.

[TobyJake]

Or turning MS Word into Notepad! 8 fonts and 2 styles. Normal and Bold. Other styles are in a DLC!

And you can't name the file. It all goes in one folder. 

ROFL.

Try and sell that as a Program of the Year.

Pfft.

[Sartoz]

On PoE

Read 2 written and 1 video review..

 

@EA/Bioware mgt.. you can rest easy. This game isn't for your console weenies market. It takes more than two hours to learn this game. Notice anything strange about the UI or inventory screens? Your head console designer might learn a thing or two about PC interfaces.

 

Personally, I'm getting this game. Games that stimulate the mind is anathema to EA, anyway. My mind needs oxygen, from games like PoE and not constant CO2 from button smashing games.

[Yanamaster]

Hi everyone.

I'm having a problem that i have not experienced before patch 6 came along. Namely, after a few minutes of gameplay the game hitches, freezes and after that the screen becomes white with sound still working although looped and non responding. As far as i remember this was an issue with Nvidia cards at the time the game came out.

Problem is that i have a radeon 7970 3GB.

Has anyone come across this or have most people stopped caring by now?

[Sartoz]

Hi everyone.

I'm having a problem that i have not experienced before patch 6 came along. Namely, after a few minutes of gameplay the game hitches, freezes and after that the screen becomes white with sound still working although looped and non responding. As far as i remember this was an issue with Nvidia cards at the time the game came out.

Problem is that i have a radeon 7970 3GB.

Has anyone come across this or have most people stopped caring by now?

Sorry. I'm still on patch 5. Aside from longer load times (from patch 4), the p5 game is stable.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention that patch 6 uses more memory. Try setting all your graphics setting to LOW and work your way up.

[Bizantura]

Sorry to read simple courtesy has gone the way off the Dodo.

 

Thanks to all the beta partakers and your put in hard work.

[sesheta255]

@Yanamaster

 

I have an NVidia card but had the same problem with patch 6.  I changed the game to windowed mode and in graphics options turned 'post-process quality to low.  This seems to have fixed the problem.

[Windev]

Regarding the sales figures, DA:I sold 1,39 million copies globally and that's only the retail versions. Let's assume they sold the same amount digitaly, that's quite a number to top. That being said, vgchartz are highly inaccurate, because not every retailer sends them his sales figures and therefore those sales figures should be taken with caution.

Source: http://www.vgchartz....isition/Global/

also look at skrim pc sales http://www.vgchartz....db/?name=skyrim

[vetlet]

PoE... Just in love. My rugby team muttered something about training tonight. I laughed at them.

[Novos]

Regarding the sales figures, DA:I sold 1,39 million copies globally and that's only the retail versions. Let's assume they sold the same amount digitaly, that's quite a number to top. That being said, vgchartz are highly inaccurate, because not every retailer sends them his sales figures and therefore those sales figures should be taken with caution.

Source: http://www.vgchartz....isition/Global/

Actually; the majority of those digital sales should be coming from pc which is often overlooked when discussing about sales figures.

In fact; the ratio of digital sales seems to be exactly opposite between console and pc platforms. While the console market has an estimated ratio just below %20 for year 2014 and expected to reach %50 by 2016-2017, there are reports going as high as %92 for the pc... This also seems to be rational and in line with the habbits relative to said platforms. Giving up on second hand market and accepting always online do seem still very important to console gamers as we have seen during the Xbox One launch backlash and its effect on sales. Those two are somewhat the core requirements of digital purchases...

Anyways; even if you assume Vgchartz numbers are correct and do a conservative total sales calculations based on above habbits explained; pc sales would probably end up somewhere around %25 on par with Xbox One. Considering the costs related to phsyical vs. digital and the platform holder cuts as Origin is owned by EA; Pc version should be the most profitable release above all platforms.

In fact; if you also consider how little effort is spent on pc version for both developement and post release stage; the revenue from pc sales should be called; i don' t know... Like "Free Money" ?

I have already expressed my opinion on the matter a couple of pages ago. I am not buying this "Consoles are where the money is" thing anymore. Maybe i am gonna be repeating myself but; It is not "We focus on consoles because pc sales are low" , it is "Pc sales are low because we focus on consoles". The sales differences we see in general are only a side effect which is self fullfilling once you force the industry into a certain state. It is all about luring the consumer into an isolated, controlled enviroment with little or no choice whatsoever.

[Bethgael]

Well, some good news for everyone.

 

Mr Pierse just posted a very lovely note, and: the programme is continuing. We'll be starting testing on Patch 7 soon.

[Sylveria_Relden]

So, I guess Bioware is hard at work making Patch 7? 

 

I doubt it. And if they are, it will most likely focus on the DLC and consoles again, ignoring the fixes PC users have been requesting since before Patch ONE. Namely, keyboard/mouse fixes that make it more playable on a PC and not having to use a game controller to play.

[Eglyntine]

 

"...in my day, "cool" was the exact opposite of "shite".

 

I am stealing this quote for my new signature.... awesome and requires usage way too often these days.

[Errationatus]

I am stealing this quote for my new signature.... awesome and requires usage way too often these days.

 

Enjoy!

[Errationatus]

Well, some good news for everyone.

 

Mr Pierse just posted a very lovely note, and: the programme is continuing. We'll be starting testing on Patch 7 soon.

 

'A very lovely note'...? 

 

I do hope it wasn't a lot of empty flattery to entice folks to work for free again.

 

Not that I'm casting aspersions on anyone's integrity here.  Just seems kinda ...convenient ...given some of the angst of the last few days.

 

Ah, well.  I suppose an eventual thanks is better than static-y silence.

 

Maybe I am just too cynical in my dotage...