Developer: "Nobody Buys Any FPS Not Named Call Of Duty"
Think all developers need to do is make a shooter and rake in the cash? Think again.
Co-founder and former MD of TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Software (since absorbed to become part of Crytek UK) Steve Ellis told Edge that "pretty much every FPS loses money."
Ellis also handled the multiplayer aspect of the immensely popular N64 classic GoldenEye, so he's quite familiar with the genre. Now, though, he wants to move beyond FPSs because no publisher is willing to take a risk and break free of the standard military/Call of Duty mold. Said Ellis:
"I spent the whole of 2008 going round talking to publishers trying to sign up Timesplitters 4. There just isn't the interest there in doing anything that tries to step away from the rules of the genre - no one wants to do something that's quirky and different, because it's too much of a risk. And a large part of that is the cost of doing it.
Nobody really buys any FPSes unless they're called Call Of Duty. I guess Battlefield did okay, but aside from that pretty much every FPS loses money. I mean, [look at] Crysis 2: great game, but there's no way it came anywhere close to recouping its dev costs."
That's an interesting comment concerning Crysis 2, which was critically revered and sold pretty well, and Crysis 3 has been confirmed for 2013. So maybe it's not entirely true that every single shooter not entitled "Call of Duty" loses out. That being said, Ellis' statements are still bound to turn heads throughout the industry.
Tags: fps, first person shooters, gaming, game industry
5/2/2012 8:31:54 PM Ben Dutka
Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Follow PSX Extreme on Twitter
Comments (55 posts)
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 10:47:50 PM
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:42:07 AM
Twistedfloyd
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 9:03:40 PM
Reply
Homefront sold decently, but the market is taken up by COD, and until that dies a bit, it'll be hard for any other FPS to take the crown. But that does not mean there isn't money to be made by other FPS developers.
Lest we forget Halo as well....
kokoro
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 10:10:59 PM
Reply
Of course I completely admit, as a rampant raging COD basher, that I may take my criticisms too far. But speaking out is really the only thing you can do. It's either that or remain silent so as to not burden the conscience of the mainstream gaming public.
So to all the COD lovers out there who are sick of our complaining: Please let us scream. We are witnessing the destruction of many aspects of gaming which we hold very dear.
Jed
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 11:24:45 PM
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:55:32 AM
I agree 100% with you BTW. The shooter craze that started with games like the original Halo is hurting the industry. CoD is like the logical end point, a game so successful because of it's success (gotta love the herd mentality). Now other shooters cannot compete because the herd will not move and publishers are afraid to take the risk of investing in a game that attempts to overcome that inertia.
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 10:36:56 PM
Reply
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:26:14 AM
Let's hope the Japanese also realize this someday!
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/3/2012 1:33:03 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 2:58:10 AM
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 5:41:23 AM
I don't see this gimping at all. Quite the contrary, what I see is better games than I've ever seen before. Not only are the shooters better, but all genres: Platformers, RPGs, puzzles, action adventures, sports games, not to mention all the exciting new cross-genre games.
Never has more amazing quality games been released as a higher rate than now. 2011 was like the best year in decades!
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/3/2012 5:42:49 AM
Dustinwp
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 8:54:10 AM
The fact this guy couldn't get funding for a cult classic series is just more proof. I'll believe someone who works in the industry over some nameless COD internet defenders.
Developers want to make original games, unfortunately it's the publishers who want every game to sell like COD. Publishers expecting COD sales with every game release is the negative impact COD has on the industry.
Last edited by Dustinwp on 5/3/2012 9:06:01 AM
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:25:25 PM
And the business will ALWAYS try to reach the sales of the top seller. Had there been no COD and Final Fantasy happened to be the worlds most sold franchise it would be the exact same, "everyone" would then reach for those sales numbers. Again, it has nothing to do with COD directly, it's just how the business works. Everyone wants a top seller. The name of the game on the #1 spot is completely irrelevant.
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/3/2012 1:28:25 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 2:03:47 PM
I agree that we have the best quality games ever but I don't attribute that to the competition of call of duty.
Comic Shaman
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 2:19:03 PM
To me, COD is to the video game world as Twilight is to the fiction world... except even more so. Sure, Twilight has hordes of fans, tons of imitators, and has set a high bar for what a profitable fiction series is about. All to be expected.
BUT, if you had other major successful authors out there like Stephen King or John Grisham looking at Twilight and saying "I need to write more like Stephanie Meyer because her books made more money than mine," that would be a problem.
And that's kind of what we're seeing in the world of video games. COD has cast such a large shadow that it's skewing the mindset developers who have no business imitating the series.
Dustinwp
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 2:19:55 PM
What you say is not fact nor do you have the credibility of someone who works in the industry. I constantly hear COD brought up by developers and publishers in interviews. And that's fact! The fact is COD is on their brains, which may or may not play a roll in the direction Devs/Pubs take their products. I would think since it's on the their minds it would have an influence on their product.
By the way, their has never been a game that's had the amount of success as COD. That's the difference between Final Fantasy's 6-7 million copies sold, compared to COD 20+ million copies sold.
I just wanted to give my thoughts on the matter and will end my comments here. I don't claim to know it all like SOME people on this site.
Last edited by Dustinwp on 5/3/2012 2:22:57 PM
jimmyhandsome
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 2:23:02 PM
unapersson
Friday, May 04, 2012 @ 1:12:24 AM
shadowscorpio
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 11:00:51 PM
Reply
I don't remember. Was CoD this big of a deal last console gen? And if not, what in the hell happened this gen?
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 11:10:56 PM
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:51:16 AM
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:27:09 PM
Excelsior1
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 11:17:03 PM
Reply
BF3 sold over 10 million copies the last time I checked. Halo has sold even more. I guess they don't count.
Underdog15
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:19:36 AM
UbiEaActisuck
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 11:30:52 PM
Reply
Rogueagent01
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 6:24:28 AM
Well thought ideas are becoming very easy to fund nowadays and his comments just seem to be a way of shifting the blame.
And when I say BS publishers I mean the grueling time frames and speed at which these pubs want these devs to make a bugless/glitchless/top selling game. Not that they are all "evil" or anything like that.
Ludicrous_Liam
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 10:35:22 AM
Rogueagent01
Friday, May 04, 2012 @ 1:04:24 AM
What I am getting at is fans already do that anyway. And if the devs ignore them and yet make a good game they will still be able to ask for funding down the road. And if they make a bad game and didn't cater to the fans well then kickstarter won't be able to save them. To me it is still a great option for those in the industry that know they have a winning game on their hands. In the long run your fans funding will be determined by the products you released using their money so it should take care of itself, at least in my opinion.
Ludicrous_Liam
Friday, May 04, 2012 @ 4:31:26 AM
I get what you're saying, but I imagine the developers would rather have a reliable source i.e. a well-known publisher to support their game.
Rogueagent01
Friday, May 04, 2012 @ 7:58:09 PM
I see what you're saying and at this time it probably is the best thing to stick with the publishers. I know kickstarter is still relatively new and I don't expect these devs to jump ship for a couple more years. Once the kickstarter idea not site is full fledged though, they can do what they want as there will be security with the kickstarter idea, but right now it is still a little iffy.
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:29:51 AM
Reply
I've said often said that the riskiest thing you can do as a developer these days is to make a shooter, cause the competition is just too darn stiff. It's quite logical, really.
There is a much better chance of success if you make a product that is something else than a shooter, or at the very least a new twist to the old fps formula.
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/3/2012 1:31:36 AM
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:49:20 AM
Last edited by Highlander on 5/3/2012 9:49:45 AM
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:35:13 PM
Cause that means that devs have to think DIFFERENT than just plain action multiplayer gameplay. Ergo: Hello creativity, I welcome thee. So, instead of multiple clones with each their own little crowd of players, essentially flooding the market with copycat gameplay and fighting each other, we now got the situation where we got TWO kings of mp gaming (I'd also like to add Battlefield here), so we get a lot of other shooters who are DIFFERENT instead, cause that's the way to get a market share, not as a direct competitor but as something that COD is *not*!
Let's use Borderlands as an example. As far as I recall that game was originally meant to be a more realistic fps with a more regular multiplayer component. Only, that didn't make the game DIFFERENT enough, so they decided to change the style and graphics. So because of the competition, instead we ended up getting the Borderlands we know and many of us love.
And how can that be bad?
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/3/2012 1:39:47 PM
Ignitus
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 3:24:21 AM
Reply
We all know that if a game doesn't make money there will not be a sequel, yet we are getting Crysis 3, Halo 4, Bioshock Infinite, heck even Borderlands (love it) sold well enough to get a release this year, so he clearly has no idea.
Too bad Haze didn't sell well or at all but I heard it was crap.
He should take his frustation somewhere else and I hope his iOS games sell better but I don't know why we will be hearing again about him and his rants about the iOS market being saturated as a reason for his next frustation.
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 5:37:05 AM
So from this perspective it might look like a dominant COD ignites creativity, it does not hinder it.
Last edited by Beamboom on 5/3/2012 5:38:01 AM
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 2:07:12 PM
___________
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 4:47:37 AM
Reply
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:45:00 AM
I'm still trying to work out how your post actually relates to the article and comments made in it.
However, by all means bring about a gaming crash. Yes, let's have our favorite pass-time dwindle to a trickle of inferior games and no new hardware for another 5 years. Oh yes, bring it soon...because we do so need the industry to go into hibernation. After all Mr Anonymous Cowherd said it was so desperately needed...
::rolls eyes::
___________
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 11:07:07 AM
either we sit here and accept the same old sh*t day in day out for the rest of our lifes.
companies getting greedier and greedier.
or we stop, publishers loose a hell of allot of money and wake up and smell the cheese!
if that means we have to have no new games for 5 years then so be it!
as the saying goes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.
in other words id happily sacrifice 5 years of gaming to improve the next 50.
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 11:26:34 AM
___________
Friday, May 04, 2012 @ 10:34:52 AM
as the saying goes you dont realise what you have till you loose it!
only when companies almost go broke will they stop this greed crap and start appreciating what they have!
will stop seeing every game slapping on MP for the sake of sales, we will see more new IPs and original ideas.
if the industry keeps going the way its going, developers and publishers getting greedier and greedier things are only going to get worse!
yeah its extreme but i see no other way out.
how else are you going to make developers and publishers be great full for what they have and stop trying to nickel and dime everyone?
slugga_status
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 8:10:23 AM
Reply
Highlander
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 9:56:09 AM
JackDillinger89
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 10:27:55 AM
Reply
jimmyhandsome
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:18:25 PM
Reply
Ultimately, there have been a few FPS franchises that have had mild to great success this gen, that aren't CoD clones (Killzone, Crysis, Halo-obviously, and even Bioshock). If you don't like CoD, you still have plenty of FPS to look forward to this year alone that look like they'll play NOTHING like a military FPS - the Borederlands sequel, Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, Dust 514, Resistance for the Vita, and a ton of others). I think that this is more of a myth than anything.
Beamboom
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:50:55 PM
And that list of yours of what awaits us ahead: Well that is one gorgeous list of shooters. Please allow me to add Far Cry 3 to that list too. So what is there to complain about? We should all say THANK YOU COD instead! :)
jimmyhandsome
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 1:56:22 PM
Laguna
Thursday, May 03, 2012 @ 3:01:30 PM
Reply
Reviews are important because they usually indicate if a game is worth buying or not.
I didn't care about Deus EX Human Revolution. But the video reviews popped up and it looked AMAZING. I saw a gem and I grabbed it.
HAZE was crapped on by critics and buyers alike. It was just bad.
If you make good games, maybe the reviewers can give you some sales (Valkyria Chronicles, Demon Souls, Deus Ex HR)
Of course, this isn't always the case but you get my point
ImaginaryTurtle
Sunday, May 06, 2012 @ 6:01:27 PM
Reply
SS4
Sunday, May 06, 2012 @ 11:16:34 PM
Reply
Yeah, i know.... just wishful thinking but the gaming market is starting to suffer the same fate as movies with direct to DVD and blockbuster stamp on them before they are even made...

See Full Image









Zemus101
Reply
Wednesday, May 02, 2012 @ 8:49:57 PM