Should/Will PS3 devs be compensated for delays?
- Thread starter nelg
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Compensated by Sony you mean?
I'm sure the publishers are not very happy, but then again, the delay is only in Europe so they will still release games on Japan and the US. I don't think there were any Euro-only games.
I think at the moment, if there is someone who's happy with the delay, it's the developers...
i'm sure lots of those developing for PS3 now took the news quite well! It will give them 4 months to fine tune games, and we keep hearing devs complaining about tight deadlines...
I'm sure the publishers are not very happy, but then again, the delay is only in Europe so they will still release games on Japan and the US. I don't think there were any Euro-only games.
I think at the moment, if there is someone who's happy with the delay, it's the developers...
i'm sure lots of those developing for PS3 now took the news quite well! It will give them 4 months to fine tune games, and we keep hearing devs complaining about tight deadlines...
I think companies planning to release games at or near launch are anything but happy with the delays and product shortages. Remember they only make money when they sell the games and this diode shortage could really hurt them in that regard.
I think EA is the exception where they can afford this but for the most part these companies have hoped there would be around 'x' units in 2006 and now thats cut in half (and maybe worse when all is said and done).
EDIT: but to answer the question no, i think there's no chance they get compensated.
Yes by Sony. It is not just the time but the number of units. I would imagine for many smaller developers, they took a made the decision to produce a title for the PS3 with a reasonable expectation that by x date there would be x number of consoles sold. If it was Sony that furnished those projections should they be held accountable? Some of them may have to wait much longer than expected without adequate cash flow. If they were given reasonable assurances of market projections by Sony an the reality differs greatly, to the point of causing material harm. Should they be compensated?
Launch software dev teams likely recieved benefits from Sony either dev cost compensation or assistance to get them up to speed as it's in Sony's best interest to have their first gen launch software look great.
fastasleep
Newcomer
If you're EA and looking to sell madden on the ps3, the events of this morning are anything but good news.
Yes/no
good point! compensation may be out of the question so how about - will there be any dev/pub repercussions from the delay/shortages?
Actually EA is probably the company that would be hurt the worst. While it can absorb the losses, they've got 5 PS3 games lined up for launch, and cutting the sales of all 5 is going to put a big dent in their earnings.
I think a few smaller developers might have to think about going multiplatform rather than just with the PS3, but only a few small ones who were counting on the PS3 sales to stay in business.
true. why the hell should they compensate for anything? this is no non profit organisation
Actually the smaller devs should be headed to wii or 360 as wii dev costs should be minimal (~gc) and 360 dev costs can be shared (xna) with pc dev costs so they get the two for one special there
. Not sure why a small dev house would be exclusive to ps3 at this point without heavy compensation ...
He's saying that's what we're being told. If Sony still sell 6 million units by March, what is there to be compensated about? Low Day 1 figures are meaningless (just read an MTV quote that apparently these figures are comparable to PS2's launch figures). What matters is user base after the break in period. If Sony can't ramp up production and figures stay at 250k every month worldwide, it's bad. If they do reach 1+ million a month, the devs won't mind the low Day 1 figures.
Well the only thing going through my mind right now is that this is actually good news for a project I'm involved with, as it might end up now being a launch title. This means it'll probably sell better because the buzz around launch with a million or whatever people picking up a console and looking for something to play, is better than it would be if they'd bought their consoles over a period of a few months prior to release...
Of course not everyone is in that situation.
Honestly I've never heard of a console manufacturer compensating developers for a late launch, and typically no-one gives us "guaranteed" install-base figures for how many people might buy our games - we just have to take a risk and hope we back the right horse. Despite these delays, Sony is likely to be one of the safest bets for the coming generation, though certainly Microsoft is gaining ground.
Of course not everyone is in that situation.
Honestly I've never heard of a console manufacturer compensating developers for a late launch, and typically no-one gives us "guaranteed" install-base figures for how many people might buy our games - we just have to take a risk and hope we back the right horse. Despite these delays, Sony is likely to be one of the safest bets for the coming generation, though certainly Microsoft is gaining ground.
Thanks for the insight. On the other side of the coin are those who were assuming to be a launch title in a much smaller field. For the same reasons that you cited, they may be disappointed in the dilution.
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