At some point I remember reading about a game dev who was talking with their publisher who persuaded them to abandon the idea of launching on a last gen console. The numbers for new gen consoles are easy to understand in regards to determining whether or not the game should be designed with PS4 or XB1 in mind etc, but what about whether or not the game should also launch with PS3\X360 support?
Does anyone have any sales figure graphs to reference for a point like this?
I always thought it was interesting that PS2 lasted until 2013’ with FIFA 14. So in more than zero cases going way way deep on ports can pay off. I guess I’m just trying to get some information to help support that decision in some capacity.
So really how do you determine at what point to abandon porting to a last gen console? Any help is appreciated.
The PS2 outsold the next console generation for years into their lifecycle. Previous gen consoles are cheap and have loads of market penetration, which are pretty significant advantages over newer ones. Newer ones give you more powerful hardware. It’s really a question about what best suits your project, there is no global optimum.
Is there any place to be able to see unit numbers and purchasing habits to make a sound executive decision on that? Like a VGcharts for consoles?
I’m sure that the console vendors and/or publishers who work with them would be able to supply such figures.
they still have a good user base, and dont forget the late adopters buying up the used consoles now, but they’re probably likely to get used games as well.
lots of games had versions for both current and last gen playstation, even back in the ps1 and ps2 days