‘Huge problems ahead’ for mid-tier console devs

Mid-tier console studios will cease to exist in future as triple-A games become bigger and consumers look to mobile and browser platforms, Ian Livingstone has said.

Speaking at Bafta’s question time, the Eidos life president said that with large developers constantly raising the bar with investment and pushing graphical boundaries, double-A studios will likely go away as they struggle to compete.

He also said that with a plethora of platforms such as mobile and browser, the huge amount of cheap apps would mean smaller console developers will not be able to compete to get their titles noticed.

“It’s certainly a case of the rich getting richer,” said Livingstone. 

“The bar is being raised in every sequel that the mid-tier developers haven’t got a hope in hell of surviving. Everyone is buying the same games like Call of Duty and FIFA. The mid-tier is going to go away because people have so much more choice on mobile platforms and Facebook today.

“Mid-tier console games have got huge problems ahead.”

Also featured on the panel, Peter Molyneux said that realistically triple-A titles had to sell between five to seven million to achieve that status, and could cost anywhere between £50m to £80m to develop and market.