14 DAY TRIAL // A study by the Screen Digest group shows how much two publishers are willing to set their mark on the videogames launched during what's left of 2008.
From July to September, which is oddly seen as a pre-Christmas period, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts will publish more than 75% of all the games that are scheduled to be launched during this time frame. Electronic Arts will release 21 products, some of which will be versions of the same titles for different platforms, as it presents its line up of sports games, including Madden and Tiger Woods titles, while Activition Blizzard will release 19 products.
Their domination will lessen during the next period, which runs from October to December, as the two mega publishers will, between them, release just 40% of the games slated for these months.
Ed Barton sees a trend developing where "while most publishers appear to ramp up release volume in the key Christmas quarter, EA and Activision Blizzard appear to be ramping up release volumes to similar levels in both calendar Q3 and Q4". We might just begin to see a situation where just very big companies, like EA and Activision Blizzard, have the resources and the distribution network required to keep launching titles all through the year, while smaller and independent publishers will have to concentrate their efforts on the lucrative period that is the holiday season, when the videogames industry makes most of its money. It seems that the crowded Christmas season is going to get even more crowded.
The Screen Digest report also notes that the Nintendo Wii is the videogame console which has the biggest games library and a quick look at the fall release dates shows how the lead will only widen by the end of the year. This is important because the size of the games library is often taken into account by people who intend to buy a new gaming console.