Microsoft Prioritise 360 Over PC
In an interview with Games Industry.biz Mircosoft Games Studios’ Peter Zetterberg and Matthew White discussed marketing strategies and business models in Europe for the PC and 360.
They claim that they don’t release 360 and PC games at the same time in Europe so as to help drive sales of the 360 title yet they go on to claim that they don’t prioritise the 360 over the PC. Either I am getting lost in market-speak but they are talking out of their arses!
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Matt Martin 08:00 (BST)
01/07/2008
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* MGS Europe: Simultaneous releases would “shoot ourselves in the foot”Microsoft Game Studios Europe Part 2
In the first part of our interview with Microsoft Game Studios, Peter Zetterberg, business development manager for Europe, detailed the publisher’s dedication to the European region, the differences between publishing in the US and Europe, and its criteria for working with local independent and internal studios.
In the second part of the interview, Zetterberg is joined by Matthew White, creative director of MGS Europe, and the two discuss the difference between publishing on the PC and Xbox 360 platforms, adopting new business models in the PC space and the regions they are keeping their eyes on to spot future talent.
Q: Which format is your priority in Europe? You have these big Xbox 360 titles such as Mass Effect, but they don’t see release on the PC until six months after the console release. Why don’t you go for a simulataneous treatment on these titles?
Peter Zetterberg:
On a global scale the Windows Vista business is as important as our Xbox 360 business. But in Germany for example, we want more gamers to buy our Xbox 360. If we launch a game that is on 360 and PC simultaneously, we basically shoot ourselves in the foot by allowing the German market to choose to play the PC version – because they are more likely to buy that than spend their money on the Xbox 360. On a global scale the PC is very relevant to us. And I would say that 90 per cent of the games that are pitched to us are on console. We’re strongly perceived as a console publisher because we’re the first-party publisher even though the Windows operating system is equally important to us. If we launched a Halo game on PC and 360 in Germany simultaneously, 80 per cent of sales would be on the PC. So we need to pick and choose our formats.
Q: So you’re admitting that the Xbox 360 is the priority, because you don’t want to lose console sales.
Peter Zetterberg:
No, they’re equally important. The PC has a much wider use, it’s so established, it’s so dominating already so in some territories we need to make the games for the 360 to increase the sales there.
So I’ll be honest that these guys are failing to convince me that they are interested in pushing the PC as a gaming platform. They are admitting that when a market, such as Germany, is predominantly PC orientated they would rather push a 360 version of a game first so as to maximise sales opportunities.
I really don’t understand it, surely if they can see that the PC is the dominant platform in a market that they should do what they can to ensure PC gamers have equal opportunities to their console bretheren.
Guess this just goes to show where Microsoft really have their priorities.
Tags: Microsoft