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Dead Space sold two million copies as of August 3, 2010. Mirror's Edge sold more than two million copies according to an EA court document released October 201

Dead Space sold two million copies as of August 3, 2010. Mirror's Edge sold more than two million copies according to an EA court document released October 2010. BF:BC has sold over 2.5 million copies according to VGChartz. BF:BC2 has sold nearly four million copies. Oh, and it's a sequel to BF:BC, so that franchise lives on. And these are games that the free market rejected?

munificent 14y ago
What were their production costs? How much profit did they make?
- Gormo 14y ago
  Does it matter? If their production costs are too high, they should find better ways of controlling costs; a game that sells 2.5 million copies is still a game that the market has validated.
  - munificent 14y ago
    > If their production costs are too high, they should find better ways of controlling costs; They do: they find other games that are more profitable to make. > a game that sells 2.5 million copies is still a game that the market has validated. Corporations don't exist to be "validated" in some nebulous. They have to make money. I could get the market to wildly validate any product: give it away for free, or, hell, pay people to use it. That unfortunately doesn't make for a successful business.
    - Gormo 14y ago
      The point is that if 2.5 million people are willing to buy the game, the demand side of the equation is a settled one, and it's up to the supplier to find a way to turn that demand into a viable profit. If EA can't, then it's a problem with their own operations, not a problem with the product. If someone else can produce a title that satisfies the demonstrated market demand for city-simulation games by producing one that is profitable, then they'll win and EA will lose.
Jare 14y ago
When you are dealing with AAA budgets, anything less than 3M copies is likely a loss, and you usually have to venture into 5M copies to start actually making money, generating value and creating confidence in the brand / IP. The AAA arms race has destroyed many studios, IPs and careers. 10 years ago, it used to be that one single hit could pay off your other 9 underperforming titles. With budgets going up 10x and top sales going up at best 2x, that balance can't hold and you have to be ruthless killing underperformers. I'm not a fan of Bobby Kotick (I was part of one of his layoffs!), but look at how he has led Activision as a company.

munificent 14y ago

What were their production costs? How much profit did they make?

Gormo 14y ago
Does it matter? If their production costs are too high, they should find better ways of controlling costs; a game that sells 2.5 million copies is still a game that the market has validated.
- munificent 14y ago
  > If their production costs are too high, they should find better ways of controlling costs; They do: they find other games that are more profitable to make. > a game that sells 2.5 million copies is still a game that the market has validated. Corporations don't exist to be "validated" in some nebulous. They have to make money. I could get the market to wildly validate any product: give it away for free, or, hell, pay people to use it. That unfortunately doesn't make for a successful business.
  - Gormo 14y ago
    The point is that if 2.5 million people are willing to buy the game, the demand side of the equation is a settled one, and it's up to the supplier to find a way to turn that demand into a viable profit. If EA can't, then it's a problem with their own operations, not a problem with the product. If someone else can produce a title that satisfies the demonstrated market demand for city-simulation games by producing one that is profitable, then they'll win and EA will lose.

Jare 14y ago

When you are dealing with AAA budgets, anything less than 3M copies is likely a loss, and you usually have to venture into 5M copies to start actually making money, generating value and creating confidence in the brand / IP. The AAA arms race has destroyed many studios, IPs and careers. 10 years ago, it used to be that one single hit could pay off your other 9 underperforming titles. With budgets going up 10x and top sales going up at best 2x, that balance can't hold and you have to be ruthless killing underperformers. I'm not a fan of Bobby Kotick (I was part of one of his layoffs!), but look at how he has led Activision as a company.