game-development

infinite game rentals

This is gonna piss some publishers/developers off

http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?story=200406160500_PRN__LAW006A&symbols=INDUSTRY:903

I guess the current thinking is that game rentals are kinda like game demos. Games can be won in a single rental period, but you have to be pretty dedicated to do it, so most people won't. However, unlimited rentals are a different story.

Gamefly already does this with a netflix style model, but blockbuster is big time. If this catches on, I think this is going to cause a measurable loss in revenue for developers. Scott Miller said in his blog that Max Payne has some sort of special deal with rental places and I bet more developers will soon follow.

My personal opinion is that this is a good thing. A new game should not cost $50. They should cost $30.

Right now a AAA title cost about 5 to 10 million to create. A summer movie cost about 100 million these days. If the movie does wellish, it'll make 500 million in worldwide box-office. I have no clue how much DVD sales make, but I would guess it to be less than box office.

So a movie that does well earns 10 dollars for every dollar invested.

A game cost $50 and a game that does well can sell a 1 to 5 million units. If it sells a million units and cost 5 million to make.

So a game that does well earns 10 dollars for every dollar invested.

So why does a game cost 2.5 times more than a DVD?