In the business world (as well as in the world of work) it is often essential to bite your tongue in order not to harm yourself in the long term. But sometimes there is a drop of water that overflows the vase and spreads tongues. When that happens, sometimes it enables discovery.
Also read: PS5: Ghost of Tsushima would get a standalone expansion this year
In the world of independent studios and other smaller development and publishing structures, competition is extremely fierce right now. And if these companies don’t have huge marketing budgets, it is very difficult to give your game visibility and grab the attention of consumers. And obviously they are not being helped by the managers of the various consoles and their virtual stores.
Apparently pushed to the limit by a phone call with a console manufacturer, British developer / editor Iain Garner decided to empty his pocket empty on his account Twitter About their business practices. If it does not directly mention the name of this manufacturer, it indicates that they have a console “very popular and he doesn’t have a game pass. “
During his rant, Iain Garner explains that it is very difficult to publish a game in the virtual store of this mysterious “Platform X” because the process of validating a game is tedious, both technically and in terms of marketing for the smallest structures and is complicated.
In addition, this manufacturer makes it extremely difficult to offer a promotion at the launch of a game or to lower the price afterwards, since price reductions only work on “invitation”. He claims that it has been years since he had the opportunity to lower the price of any of his games on this platform and that many other very popular developers have the same problem.
Far too dear my son
Iain Garner reveals even more crisply that developers and editors have an opportunity to put their game in the foreground on this platform. That said, by reading the title of this message, you will have guessed to put your hand in your pocket. In exchange for the “modest” amount of $ 25,000, a developer / editor can see his title.presented
In an article published about these tweets, Kotaku confirms that, according to its information, these conditions are the same as those Sony imposes on PlayStation consoles. However, he adds that he says Microsoft has a similar policy in place. And in any case, the bills are rising very quickly. The American side explains that according to official records to which he had access, an entire weekend submission can cost sums of five zeros.
While such expenses can easily fit into the marketing budgets of large publishers (and allow home builders significant inflows), freelancers and smaller publishers often cannot afford them. And with several dozen independent games being released on consoles every week, it’s almost impossible for many of them to stand out.
When asked by Kotaku about the reasons for his anger, Iain Garner explains that he thinks of what he claims to be the difference between what Platform X, which is Sony, says about independent games and the way they play them that they develop, claims was provoked:
Platform X owes this largely to its independents, as it uses us as key elements of its marketing. The phone call I took recently showed that they don’t consider us, our opinions, or our livelihoods. And what’s worse is that this situation leaves their customers with lower prices and fewer options. I don’t understand the logic behind it all, but it seems bad for everyone, including them.
Sony, which was not mentioned directly by Iain Garner but by Kotaku, does not yet know what these statements are.
What do you think of this new information? Do they surprise you? Do you think the fact that they are released will change anything? What solutions do you think would be possible to fix this problem? Are manufacturers right to do things that way? Let us know what you think in the comments below.