Transition To Next-Generation Consoles To Result In Casualties, Believes Take-Two CEO

bettor.com: Different companies view change in a different manner, with some of them considering it as an opportunity, while others viewing it as one of the biggest threats to the survival of their business.

The video game ecosystem is no different, with the transition to a new hardware open a wide range of opportunities for some publishers, while sending others six feet under.

[Cam977]

I'd love to see Acti crash after a freak downfall in stocks.

[cleft5]

This is to be expected considering how much more money it is going to cost to develop quality games for the ps4/720. I am certainly looking forward to the new leap in technology like everyone else, but the tragedy is going to be when some of the smaller to middle size companies make a gamble to invest heavily in a game that they believe in, only to find out that there game just doesn't sell well. This is going to be particularly brutal and harsh for companies that release great games only to have them poorly received.

I am really worried about companies like Platinum Games that don't have a solid foundation to survive any major losses. Major losses that are bound to occur because they don't have the marketing dollars that a company like Activision has behind them. That's one of the reasons I am not upset over Bayonetta 2 get publishing by Nintendo, because it does ensure that the company makes money. I just hope that there are enough new methods in the future to ensure that independent companies find a way to be successful and survive the transition.

[FarEastOrient]

I see games unfortunately becoming $70 to keep up with cost and inflation. Movies are already between $10 - $15 a ticket.

[Software_Lover]

Its not going to cost that much more. These systems are more like pc's, in which the games are made on. The transition between the 360 and the next xbox should not be all that different for current devs. Now the transition between ps3 and the next playstation will mainly affect 1st party devs as they will have to change the way they have been programming for the last 6 years.

This includes Activision. Its not like they try to push anything anyway with Call of Duty. They don't even push it on the pc and we get new GPU's and cpu's all the time.

[hennessey86]

I don't no
I think the studios that were going to go under have done so already, next gen won't be drastically different from this gen. If anything he extra processing power will help the lesser companies and with engines like unreal 4, frostbite 2 etc there are plenty of ready made next gen engines to use.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

More than this?
http://kotaku.com/5876693/e...

[Swiftcricket]

I can see this maybe happening to a few small companies but there's also been a lot of talk of engines being made with cutting costs as one of the key features. Either way it's a shame to see people lose jobs so hopefully nothing too major will happen during the transition into next-gen.

[fei-hung]

Studios like Platinum Games are extremely efficient with money, time and resources. They have managed to create 5 games (Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, Metal Gear Rising, Anarchy Reigns and Vanquish) in little over 6 years. That's almost one game a year with a small development team (compared to Polyphony, Team Ninja, MM, Naughty Dog, Turn 10, Bungie etc).

This studio is pure quality and if they were given the budget of some of the bigger teams, I would love to see what they would deliver. Especially if given the opportunity to work with devs like Santa Monica Studios, Team Ninja and creative geniuses like Suda 51.

Developers I do fear for are the likes of Vigil and Insomniac. Darksiders 1&2 were awesome but unfortunately didn't sell as well as they should have.

Insomniac have taken a risk with EA and it will be interesting to see how much EAs influence helps Insomniac do well or better than when they were working with Sony.

[blahblah346]

Considering Square Enix had trouble developing this gen, I am worried for them next gen.

[DarkBlood]

Mortal Kombat it has begunnnnnnnn

[ALLWRONG]

People want big games in the living room but they cost more and more to make.

[ShaunCameron]

Well, if Sony and Microsoft make their next consoles significantly more powerful than the current consoles, damn right there will be casualties. Probably more than what this generation had. All because gamers and developers want high-end PC level technology but are not willing to pay high-end PC level prices. It's proving to be an unsustainable industry model.