Cliff Bleszinksi isn’t afraid to stir the pot, and he’s done it again.
“You cannot have game and marketing budgets this high while also having used and rental games existing,” he said on Twitter. “The numbers do not work people.” The point here is that as a game gets sold, traded-in, and sold again, publishers only get that money once. This means that, as their budgets and work force grow, the publishers only receive revenue from the initial sale.
“I’d bet Sony has some similar stuff up their sleeves,” he continued, referencing Sony calling out Microsoft’s policies for the Xbox One. “They’re just playing the internet outrage for free PR. You’re all being played!”
He wasn’t finished just yet.
“Newsflash. This is why you’re seeing free to play and microtransactions everywhere. The disc based day one $60 model is crumbling.” Microtransactions, as well as the free to play model, have risen due to the incredibly accessible price tag of free and the chance for a continued revenue stream. People aren’t paying money to play League of Legends, but they’re sure spending a lot of cash as they play. With such a profitable business model, it’s not surprising to see more publishers pursue it.
It’ll be interesting to see if Sony has anything more to say about DRM, or if they really are going to stand pat with what they said at E3.
Source: Polygon.com