With EA estimated to lose over 800 million dollars from lowering the price on their last-generation game, will Ghost turn out to be a similar loss for Blizzard?
Yesterday, the Financial Times reported that Electronics Arts is set to lose about $810 million due to a 10-dollar price drop on the game The Godfather (based on the movie). The loss is due in part to missing the 2005 holiday season because of a delay in production (StarCraft: Ghost was originally set to be released in 2002), but also due to the realization that gamers won't be so willing to shell out $50 USD for a last-gen game, no matter how well crafted it is (the price has been lowered to $40). With Ghost's release possibly coming after that of the PlayStation 3, there will be even more gamers unwilling to pay a premium for a less-than-cutting-edge game.
As I stated in a previous article, it makes business sense for Blizzard to release Ghost for next-gen platforms, and they have already hired the staff needed to port Ghost to the next generation of consoles.Both the Nintendo Revolution and the PlayStation 3 remain largely untested in terms of actual gameplay. While the Xbox 360 has already been released, it lacks any real blockbuster titles that will make it a must-have. Blizzard may not be announcing next-gen support officially yet since it may be unsure which ones will hold water, and which ones will be the underdog. One thing that can be sure however, is that an Xbox 360 port will put Ghost much closer to a PC release, since Windows Vista's gaming architecture close mirrors that of the 360.
Will Blizzard take a chance and release a last-gen only game, or it will it milk all the cows and provide next-gen support as well? With any luck we will know for sure in the coming months.
Links
GGL - News about EA's loss
