Making a Competitive Industry Anti-Competitive, One Delay At A Time

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Commentary - Gaming

Written by neildittmar

Tuesday, 22 December 2009 15:38

Despite the profit losses, dev shop closures, and a still generally weak economy, the gaming industry isn't doing too bad for itself. Though 2009 might be categorized as a weak year for some, many blockbuster titles have made their way to store shelves and by proxy, into gamers hot little hands. The biggest title of course was Modern Warfare 2, which sold about 5 million copies across 2 systems in the infancy of its release. Another standout was New Super Mario Bros., which is expected to sell nearly as many copies on the Wii by the time the Christmas season has concluded. Even the games that weren't certified blockbusters still pulled in some fairly decent sell-through numbers and substandard offerings weren't enough to harm things, let alone sink the ship completely. For every disappointing Tony Hawk: Ride, there was a stellar Dirt 2. For every horrendous Rogue Warrior... a worthy Left For Dead 2. It was undeniably a good year for the industry at large. Gamers had no problems shelling out for multiple titles across several different platforms.

What really put a damper on things this year though was the sheer number of titles pushed back to 2010 for no other reason than to avoid competition in the marketplace. Publishing PR departments can call it whatever they like or spin it however they choose, but the reality is that they were (and still are) very afraid... scared that the slightest pin prick is going to burst their multi-billion dollar bubble and that all of the money is going to disappear post-haste. Bear in mind that we're talking about an industry that has done nothing but grown and matured since 1985 with no real signs of slowing down in the slightest. Keep putting out quality titles and folks will still line up at midnight outside Best Buy to purchase them despite a 10%+ unemployment rate.

So what's the complaint really? 2010 is right around the corner, we still had quite a number of solid offerings this year, and now everyone has time to play every game they wanted to rather than juggle. It works out great for everyone right... right? Well not so fast there sport.

Just as 4th quarter 09 wasn't looking like a good year for publishers to lay all their cards on the table, 1st quarter 2010 isn't appearing to be too rosy either. Capcom has just let the world know that in order to "avoid competing with the major titles that other companies plan to introduce", they will be pushing back 3 of their biggest offerings into the vague timeframe of "next fiscal year." Hey, at least they were honest about the reasoning this time, yet it still begs the question. Is this really what our beloved industry has turned into? A shell game of eyesies closies, you didn't really think we were going to release our games when we said we would, did you?

Now I understand the idea of delays in the game industry. Geez, I worked in a gaming retail shop for a good three years during the height of the PS1's popularity. Developers and publishers essentially "sign checks" that their backsides can't cash in regards to release dates. They promise a date, then fail to deliver due mostly to developmental issues, scheduling delays, and other gamer intangibles. It's always a disappointment when the game you've been looking forward to gets delayed, but typically its for all the right reasons... making a good game great or allowing a true stinker to fester, eventually releasing at a budget price and/or to poor reviews.

But what Capcom and others have done and are still doing now? This amounts to publishers merely avoiding competition in a competitive industry, nothing more. If this were Intel or Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Justice would be all over the situation with phrases like "price fixing", "conspiracy" and "anti-competitive practices" being thrown around like they were going out of style. Many of these games are finished and have been since presumably sometime in 2009 when they were delayed the first time around. Yet Capcom and others who engage in this practice are holding them back, as to not have to compete with other companies. Those who are engaging in this sort of thing should be fined and punished accordingly, discouraging any further practice of something that is so obviously wrong on so many levels.

Remember when I said a few paragraphs up that as long as quality titles keep being introduced, the industry shouldn't have a problem? Atari found this out the hard way in 1983 when quantity was sternly enforced over quality. Now, todays game industry is begining to do the exact opposite... becoming the anti-Atari if you will. It sounds good in theory and somewhat is in the short term. However, quality titles are all over the place and they're being artificially held back by companies that are nothing short of terrified by the naturally competitive landscape of the industry. If these titles are that good and will wow gamers that much, release them when you said you would and let customers fill your coffers with even more of their hard earned cash. Unless they're not of course and you don't want to invest the time and resources into making them better so that they can effectively compete. In that case, keep doing what you're doing... it shows that you have little confidence in those games you'll eventually release when you feel comfortable doing so. If you can't stand behind them and be proud of them, how do you expect us to?