182
rate

Rockstar Discovers Blizzard’s Secret to $$$$

February 04, 2009 in News comments 11

Gameplayer argues that with The Lost and Damned downloadable episode for GTA IV, developer Rockstar have stumbled upon a comparable business model to Blizzard's World of Warcraft, only tailored to a console audience. And that it will be the catalyst that changes the face of gaming.

The way they've built it, Rockstar's Liberty City has the legs to sustain gamer interest for many years to come. Why not do three, four, five episodes? Ultimately the graphics will begin to age, but the depth of the world and the quality of its production means that it could, feasibly, continue to remain an income stream right through to the end of this generation. For the sake of round numbers, even if only 10% of the 7 million owners of the Xbox 360 GTA IV game buy The Lost and Damned at 1600MPs (US$20), then that is US$14,000,000 dollars in the bank. And given the quality of the game, 10% could be quite conservative
Sucks2BU via gameplayer.com.au »
Favourite this article Add source
| More
Report!
News story attached to:

Comments

Register as a member to subscribe comments.
  • 0
    GTA_Fanatic Feb 5, 09
    So what? It's a conspiracy when a company tries to make a profit?
    • 0
      chautemoc Feb 6, 09
      Not necessarily a conspiracy, just soulless maybe.
      • 0
        PacoDG Feb 7, 09
        Soulless? How so?

        (this line of text to get the 25 character length)
  • 0
    huntyr Feb 5, 09
    downloadable content for games is hardly a new concept. Companies have been doing expansions for years (which is what this basically is)
  • 0
    AznLiquid Feb 6, 09
    Blizzard's secret is easy.

    Make fun games.
    Cancel games that don't look promising (SC: Ghost).
    Let the fanbase grow for years before announcing a sequel.
    • 0
      GTA_Fanatic Feb 6, 09
      quote AznLiquid
      Let the fanbase grow for years before announcing a sequel.
      Doesn't that end up pissing off the original fanbase?

      I mean, I hate waiting for sequels...
      • 0
        AznLiquid Feb 6, 09
        Seems to have worked for Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft.
      • 0
        Ameer Feb 6, 09
        Just because you hate waiting for them doesn't mean you lose interest in them.
  • 0
    Bale Fire Feb 6, 09
    I don't expect the Lost and Damned expansion pack to sell that well. It's taken far to long to arrive, people have moved on from GTA IV now.
    • 2
      Ameer Feb 6, 09
      I disagree. There's a strong GTA audience out there, willing to spend on whatever new content they can grasp.
      • 0
        Bale Fire Feb 7, 09
        I'm sure there's a few people out there, but enough to justify Microsoft's 50 million dollar investment? I don't think there's much chance.

This news story is archived and is closed to comments now.