Activision studios handle a lot of games. With fifteen active studios all working on multiple titles you can perhaps understand why the market seems a little crowded sometimes and why – occasionally, we’re not pointing any fingers here – the quality control can slip a bit.
Activision bosses understand this too, which is why they have announced that from here on in each studio under the Activision umbrella will be sticking to just one title at a time.
Speaking to Joystiq, Activision vice president Dave Stohl said, “You’ve really got to focus, people want the freedom to put all their resources against the big opportunity, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The move is partly a response to how the industry fared over Christmas 2009, where major publishers like Activision had focused on one or two big titles. The other key issue is saturation – particularly noticeable in music games like Activision’s huge Guitar Hero franchise and its associated titles.
“Between Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, as a business overall, it’s still a big business,” said Stohl, “Is it as big as it was back in the heyday? No. But it’s still a big business and I think there’s still a lot of opportunity there.”
“We’re not pursuing the strategy of doing as many SKUs [that's 'games' to non-marketing types] as we were. And that’s a good thing, because that will simplify the strategy around one release on the Guitar Hero side and focus on innovation there”
It sounds like a plan. While we might miss a few titles, we would certainly be happy to see more games arrive on time and not laden down with bugs because they had to be rushed out of the door. What do you think?
Out TBC | £tbc | Activision (via Joystiq)
