As if the folks at Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo needed any more of a warning. Zynga COO John Schappert told MCV in an interview that social and mobile games have, in his opinion, put the console game makers against the wall. The new Zynga executive defected from the console game space after leaving EA for Zynga, so he might know a thing or two about the subject."Traditional gaming is under a little bit of pressure," Schappert admitted to MCV. "If those businesses are not ready and want to live in the traditional world, they can. It's just there's only going to be a few big games a year. If you're one of those games, more power to you. If you're not, it's going to be tough."
The traditional gaming world is more consolidated than ever, meaning the fat cats call the shots on what's hot and make a majority of the cash. Plus, according to Schappert, "Big console games take years to make. They need massive budgets and you have to hope the bet you started three years ago pays out. If it doesn't, it's a game changer for you. And not in a good way."
But wait a second, all of this talk sounds terribly familiar. The social gaming scene looks more and more like the picture that Schappert has painted for us. Just look at the top 25 Facebook games of this month ... and last month ... and the month before that. As far as developers (and games, frankly) are concerned, do the lists look all that different?
[Image Credit: 20th Century Fox]
Is Schappert right in saying that console game makers will face tough times? Will social games suffer the same fate? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.