Digital distribution has been a hot topic for most of this generation, and despite the great strides made with Xbox Live, Steam and PSN, publishers still aren’t jumping into the downloadable water with both feet.
According to PC developer Excalibur, it’s because publishers are too far up their own arses to work with retailers properly. What publishers should be doing is working with established online retailers rather than try to do it all on their own.
“I think some of the publishers are so far up their own arses that they do not actually see what the consumer wants or what is going on in the market,” suggests MD Robert Stallibrass. “The consumer is more likely to go to a GAME, PC World or Amazon website because they’re brands they’re more familiar with.
“Publishers are missing a big opportunity to work with retailers through their sites. A lot of firms say the only way they can keep their own IP is by not letting anyone else help — but that’s not clever distribution. Everybody is trying to shoot retail, but retail is still very important.”
Stallibrass also hit out at PC developers who bemoan the lack of retail space for their games, claiming that it may just because their games aren’t very good. Now this is a blunt man. I like him.
