Why don't more game developers do this?

[Jory]

I'm talking about what I will henceforth call Project Portal.

Basically, I think we're all fed up of the high volume of sequels and/or samey FPS space marine and war games. But I can also understand that in this day and age, when AAA games cost so much to make, that you have to make sure your game is going to sell.

So what can we do about it?

Valve demonstrated a fantastic solution to this, even if it was by accident. Portal was risky, there was no prior indication as to the success that it would garner, it was original.

So let's imagine a developer has an idea for a game, but the big cheeses don't know whether it will sell. Instead of abandoning the project, a developer would work on a proto-game, aiming for 3-6 hours play time (depending on the genre, RPGs would probably require more than FPSs) and it would be priced as a budget title. This would NOT be a demo, it would be a complete story, perhaps a prequel, or a side story, different to the intended game. It would be complete in features however.

I can't see a downside to this. Companies get insurance on their investments when they decide to pour millions in to a big title, as well as more regular cash injections, from the shorter development cycles. Gamers get to play a wider variety of games, as well as have some control over what the industry creates.

Opinions?

And are there any other examples of big developers doing this kind of thing?

 

[Zantos]

XBLA is full of this sort of stuff. Along with the hobby game designers that fill it with their good and bad ideas fdor a bit of extra cash flows there are also short games by smaller developers looking to get picked up by a publisher.

 

[StBishop]

So let's imagine a developer has an idea for a game, but the big cheeses don't know whether it will sell. Instead of abandoning the project, a developer would work on a proto-game, aiming for 3-6 hours play time (depending on the genre, RPGs would probably require more than FPSs) and it would be priced as a budget title. This would NOT be a demo, it would be a complete story, perhaps a prequel, or a side story, different to the intended game. It would be complete in features however.

Are you suggesting that FPS games last more than 3 - 6 hours?

Most don't these days.

 

[Twilight_guy]

You do realize that a large portion of the game cost would still be incurred to make a short game. yeah you might save 3/4 of your money but when it costs a few million dollars to make that still over a million dollars to make a short game. Because its short, unless its fantastic it will get less respect and sales then a full game and thus will make less. Short games like this will inevitably bomb and not be worth testing. Not to mention hat you'd dived your development team away from making a full game into making side games during the time and delay your bigger projects. The whole thing just seem like a big mess.

 

[MrMrAwesom]

they don't do that because they are afraid thinking outside of the box might give them a brain aneurysm and die.

also a budget game doesn't make as much money and most of them are only out for your wallet not praise.

 

[Kryzantine]

Except, that's not how Portal got distributed. Portal's popularity came about because it was originally bundled with the Orange Box and consequently attached to the really popular HL2: Episode 2. People who bought the Orange Box were genuinely surprised when they decided to pop in Portal and realized that it was really awesome. It wasn't worth releasing by itself at the time.

In fact, though, it hasn't been the first time a dark horse game has been bundled with a highly-marketable product to boost its own popularity. When Crackdown was released, it was bundled with the very popular Halo 3 multiplayer beta. People went to get Halo 3 beta, were stunned to realize Crackdown was amazing fun as well. Studio made quite a bit of money, released their sequel with no need for bundled product.

But you know what? I do want to see more of this. So far, it's been working really well for smaller developers.

 

[Mischlings]

Except, that's not how Portal got distributed. Portal's popularity came about because it was originally bundled with the Orange Box and consequently attached to the really popular HL2: Episode 2. People who bought the Orange Box were genuinely surprised when they decided to pop in Portal and realized that it was really awesome. It wasn't worth releasing by itself at the time.



But you know what? I do want to see more of this. So far, it's been working really well for smaller developers.

Don't forget the nearly a decade in waiting Team Fortress 2. But yes, the entire reason for Portal's success was being bundled with successful games (I bought The Orange Box for Portal, but that was after it had become popular), so I think this could really work.

I think the best way for it to happen is to focus on what makes the game different, meaning that as much money can be poured into that as possible. With Portal, some graphics were taken from the Half-Life games to lower the art budget, meaning that more money could go into modifying the Source Engine to get the portal system to work, as well as to make the puzzles and writing better.

The problem, I think, would be managing to get your game bundled with something else. Not everyone has the Valve situation, where something else your company is making will be successful on its own, so how do you get someone who can definitely produce something successful to pay attention to you?

 

[Psymon138]

Because new IPs are dangerous. You don't know if it will succeed or fail. And when many AAA games need to sell upwards of a million copies just to break even, most companies won't want to take the risk. Portal's success was mainly due to the fact it was packaged with new instalments of TWO very popular franchises, Half Life and Team Fortress. If it had been released on its own, even from a respected developer like Valve, I doubt it would have become so wildly popular, so quickly.

For an example of why companies are cautious, look at Mirror's Edge. I love that game. It looks wonderful and was genuinely innovative, from EA of all people! But it wasn't a runaway success and now EA has suspended all work on a sequel.
Alternatively, the 2008 Prince of Persia reboot. It was a new direction for the series that could have been really fascinating, but people didn't like it. So Ubisoft went back to making the Sands of Time series again.