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Claims suggesting that it is too late in the console cycle to introduce new IPs are “bullsh*t”, Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz has said.
“Any publisher is looking for blockbuster IPs and any publisher who has managed to establish one hangs onto it and develops and nurtures it,” Kundratitz told MCV.
“We do not believe that at this time in the console cycle you cannot establish new IPs – that’s bullsh*t.
“You can find excuses as to why you’re not doing it as a company but it’s just not right. We just need innovation. That’s what the industry, in many areas, is lacking. For lack of ideas, it’s throwing more money at production values. For many, it’s the formula. It works for some but, being our size, we have no choice but to try out new avenues.”
Kundratitz adds that the recent trend of using bigger teams and budgets is “not sustainable”.
“The market doesn’t allow that really. If a publisher says, ‘Unless I sell 6m units, I’m not breaking even,’ to me this doesn’t feel like good business practice.”
Back in September, EA Games label boss Frank Gibeau said that he felt the “market doesn’t reward new IP this late in the cycle,” adding that EA is “focused on bringing out a bunch of new IPs around the next generation of hardware.”
Koch Media’s publishing label Deep Silver, of course, saw huge success with Dead Island, a new open world horror IP that launched during the summer of 2011. A sequel, Dead Island Riptide, is due for release next April.
And Kundratitz isn’t the only one to disagree with Gibeau’s claims.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com last month, Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price – who is currently working on new IP ‘Fuse’ – said that he felt Gibeau was wrong.
“Well, we’re seeing evidence of [the market rewarding new IP] right now with Dishonored, right?” he said.
“I believe, and we at Insomniac believe – and I think EA believes – that new IP can always succeed if it’s a well-made game that offers players something that is compelling.
“And I think this spring we’re still going to see a lot of new IP,” he continued. “We’re going to see Fuse, we’re going to see The Last of Us, and so as a player, I’m always interested in experiencing new universes no matter where we are in the life cycle. I also like playing sequels, but new IP is a break for players from the games that they have been playing for the last five or six years.”
Source: MCV
