2023-05-14 12:00:02
Game News The future of EA, the fatigue of the Switch and PlayStation which bets on this unexpected country: the business news of the week
It’s Sunday and it’s time for a new weekly article on the latest crisp news from the video game industry. Sales, strategies and other future bets: here’s what you need to know.
Summary
- Nintendo takes stock: the Switch is getting tired and we are slowly talking about a new console
- Electronic Arts bets on “platform games” and clarifies its future
- PlayStation bets on India for the creation of video games and launches a new program
- Briefly in the business news of the week
Nintendo takes stock: the Switch is getting tired and we are slowly talking about a new console
Nintendo has delivered the financial report for the last fiscal year, which was therefore held from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023 and the figures are quite impressive. Let’s start with the good news: the Switch now totals 125.62 million consoles sold worldwide since its launchconsolidating its third position in the ranking behind the Nintendo DS (154 million) and the PS2 (155 million).
Regarding the fiscal year in question, the Switch therefore found 17.97 million takers. It’s a lot, yes, but really less than the previous year with a drop of 22% all the same. What to worry about? Not really since the rate of sale remains logical given the longevity of the console, currently in its sixth year of existence. At the same stage, the PS4 had sold 13.5 million times: the Switch therefore remains well above.
It should be noted that this score achieved over the fiscal year 2022-2023 does not reach Nintendo’s initial objective, which was to sell 21 million consoles. For the current fiscal year which will end on March 31, 2024, the Kyoto firm plans to sell 15 million consoles (i.e. -17% compared to the results above).
Nintendo sold 17.97 million Switches worldwide in the last fiscal year (April 2022 – March 2023), a 22% drop from the previous year. Which remains at a very high level. At the same stage of its career, the PS4 was at 13.5 million. pic.twitter.com/3obmtxFBOL
— Oscar Lemaire (@oscarlemaire) May 9, 2023
On the side of video game sales, a decline is also to be recorded. 213.96 million titles were sold on Switch (-9%) and this small fall is quite simply the first recorded since the launch of the console. For many, this effectively marks the beginning of an end to the cycle… and one therefore wonders when another machine will take up the torch.
On this subject, Nintendo is almost playing the language of wood. “Almost” yes because during a call with investors, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa says that no new console will arrive by March 31, 2024. Which means, roughly, that new hardware could actually land once this date has passed. Many rightly estimate the arrival of a new console at the end of 2024.
Electronic Arts bets on “platform games” and clarifies its future
For years now, “game as a service” (more commonly known as service games in France) have experienced unprecedented growth. The idea is to maintain a video game in the long term by providing regular content, by animating a community of players and by developing the content over time. Electronic Arts is more accustomed to it, he who is behind Apex Legends or The Sims, to name a few.
But for the American publisher, the future is obviously focused on… “platform games”. CEO Andrew Wilson calls them “games as a platform” in his native tongue, as heard during a recent call about the company’s financial results. A “game-platform” goes further than a game-service: it allows you to play, but also to gather or to exchange socially.
If there is one thing that we think will last, it is this movement towards these social ecosystems which are video games, “platform games”. What we see here is the evolution of the very definition of a game.
While we’re thinking about building EA Sports FC for the future as well as The Sims, Battlefield, Apex, Skate and other of our franchises, we really think about it in the context of making platform games, to drive those businesses long-term through values like playing, watching, creating, connecting.
According to its definition, a game like Fortnite could thus be likened to a perfect platform game. We play it of course, but the experience goes much further than the simple battle royale with the possibility of discussing, exploring, creating levels, watching exhibitions or downright trailers and unreleased concerts – almost a metaverse, in short.
“We believe this will last longer than the current type of macroeconomic climate. “And that’s certainly where we’re investing a significant amount of our time, money and resources over the next few years,” Wilson adds.
Obviously, the fear of no longer seeing single-player games from Electronic Arts is legitimate. On this subject, the thinking head of the editor reassures: cthis future policy “don’t take away the opportunity” to launch more games like Star Wars Jedi Survivor, for example. “A large part of our investment” will go into projects aimed at large online communities, but the firm “will continue with a more focused and deliberate investment in narrative and story-driven games”.
FinallyWilson said development timelines for upcoming video games will be extendedin order to help the very quality of the site but also to build games that will last a long time, for a decade or more.
PlayStation bets on India for the creation of video games and launches a new program
A few years ago, Sony had launched the PlayStation China Hero Project program, in order to support Chinese studios: we had thus seen the emergence of very good projects, like FIST Forged In Shadow Torch or ANNO: Mutationem. On the strength of this experience, the Japanese giant is therefore repeating the thing… but in India, this time.
So here is the PlayStation India Hero Project, an initiative that encourages Indian developers to put forward their ideas in the hope of bringing them to life, in partnership with Sony. Sony Interactive Entertainment India’s Chief Market Strategy Officer, Radhika Thakur, aptly put it:
As part of our drive to ensure that PlayStation remains the best place to play, we are committed to developing regional incubation programs capable of identifying new developers around the world. The India Hero project is the result of this commitment and our confidence in the Indian video game market.
Through mentorship, training and investment in these projects, PlayStation strives to lower the barrier to entry and showcase the most incredible talent emerging from India. We are pleased to announce this new initiative and our call for applications.
The choice to bet on India is not trivial and, like China, a large part of the population (already massive, in itself) is very fond of video games. Ihe country would even be the one that is growing the fastest in the gaming sector in Asia, in particular thanks to mobile phones, while PlayStation remains the leader there in terms of home consoles. ”””
It remains to be seen which games will come out of this PlayStation India Hero Project and above all, how different studios will use the program to improve and elevate themselves.
Briefly in the business news of the week
- Electronic Arts has unveiled the financial results for the past fiscal year, with revenues of 7.4 billion dollars (+6%).
- Private Division (a publisher belonging to Take-Two) announces a partnership with Game Freak (the developers of Pokémon games) for a brand new franchise that contrasts with the previous productions of the Japanese studio. This new game will be action-adventure and is scheduled for fiscal year 2026.
- Horizon Forbidden West, the PlayStation exclusive released for PS5 and PS4 in February 2022, has sold over 8.4 million units.
- Sales of several Nintendo Switch exclusives have been revealed, such as Fire Emblem Engage (1.61 million), Metroid Prime Remastered (1.09 million), Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe (1.46 million) or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (31.09 million sales!).
- Sony has announced the closure of Pixel Opus, one of its studios to which we owe Concrete Genie and Entwined.
- Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy just surpassed 15 million in sales, surpassing $1 billion in revenue.
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