Report: Online console games bring in more revenue (Joystiq)

[R.O.B.]

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

It seems like just yesterday when online functionality was a new, exotic feature that was far from required for most games. Now, it seems, online functionality is practically a must if a publisher wants to squeeze as much money as possible from a release. Reuters is reporting on a new study by research firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research that shows, so far in this generation, console games that allow online play bring in nearly twice as much revenue as games that don't.

This isn't that surprising, considering mega-sellers like Madden, Gears of War, and Resistance are weighing on the online side. Would these same exact games make half the money without an online component? It's hard to say, but it's definitely a possibility, and one that should worry online-shy Nintendo. According to the study, only two percent of Wii games included an online component as of June 1, compared to 23 percent of PS3 games and a whopping 77 percent of Xbox 360 titles. That could translate to a lot of early revenue left on the table for the big N. Look, just make the Super Smash Bros. Brawl's online functionality relatively painless and all will be forgiven, all right?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

[Clueless]

I was hoping that corruption had some sort of online but it doesn’t look like it (I haven’t played the game yet)… Any new news on SSBB out there?

If Nintendo really wanted gain more profits they would send free cookies to all Wii owners; people would be practically throwing money at them. They can do that over the internet, right?

[Tull]

Free Yoshi's Cookie to all!

[Pegasus]

Just because a game has online features doesn't mean it's going to dramatically increase sales. Crappy games will still be crappy, no matter what. Then there are the games that would gain little to nothing at all by said features.

Frankly, MP3's friend voucher system seems totally backward. Other than forcing people to trade reward points with one another there's absolutely no point to it using wiiconnect.