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Bring on the credit crunch

All I’ve been hearing on the news for the last month is about the current dire financial situation, allegedly borne from people spending above their means and being capable of doing so because of the abundance of credit.

We’re all aware of the effect this has on the banks and building societies but I’m intrigued to see what effect it will have on gaming.

In the short term, the average consumer will have less money to spend on games. Whilst I don’t consider myself as an average gamer (I play the 360 more regularly at work than I do at home and the last game I bought was GTA IV), I’m noticing changes in the community I’m part of:

  • Friends are playing new games for longer – new titles meant games only a few weeks old would be cast aside; not any more
  • Older games are being revisited rather than being traded in – finishing Mass Effect seems to be a popular choice!

In the medium term, I’m expecting games development to be limited to tried and tested intellectual property which represents lower financial risk. I’m also saddened to consider the negative impact the situation is likely to have on indie game stores, many of which were already going out of business before the downturn.

On the positive side, I’m hoping that these effects will collectively mean more downloadable content will be released. After all, holding onto your games longer creates a larger downloadable content market.

In any case, I hope everyone is still managing to enjoy their gaming – I’m off to dig out Mass Effect.

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7 responses to “Bring on the credit crunch”

  1. Emily avatar
    Emily

    I’m still not entirely certain about the ‘credit crunch’, then again I’m a student and I never have any money anyway.

    I actually have my fingers crossed that downloadable content doesn’t always happen. I’m sick of it. It should’ve been in the game I spent £50 on in the first place.

  2. Tony avatar
    Tony

    You spent £50 for a game?

    No wonder you never have any money…

  3. Kirsten avatar
    Kirsten

    I’m not an economist and only have a passing familiarity with the likes of Meynard Keynes. I wonder if the current economic climate were to drive down the price of consoles and games, it’s possible this would put gaming back in the hands of the lower working class and increase the amount of gamers to the point of actually being helpful to the industry in the long term. It may slow down the production of AAA titles and increase amount of games with lower production values increasing the need for innovation.

  4. arc14716 avatar
    arc14716

    I’ve been renting a couple of the new games that came out recently. Mercenaries 2 and Saints Row 2 for example. I actually was tempted to buy my own copy of Saints Row 2, then changed my mind and chose to rent it instead. It’s a good way to find out if the game that you wanted to get is actually going to be any good and worth spending any money on. It’s one thing to read a review on it, it’s another thing to get actual hands on time on it.

    So far, I’m liking both Merc 2 and Saints Row 2. I may decide to get my own copy sooner or later.

  5. NorfolkNChance avatar
    NorfolkNChance

    I don’t think we’ll see much of a change, budgets for titles in pre-production or production were probably agreed upon a year or two ago, so the money is there. What we may see is more gamers as people will be spending less money on entertainment elsewhere, such as the cinema, so will be looking for a better return on investment (ROI) which is where games come in. The usual argument of hours per £/$ works in gaming’s favour with the vast array of titles available to play offline/online/with mates all whilst not investing more on the next new experience.

  6. Michael avatar
    Michael

    Maynard Keynes. Jesus, that brings back memories… Foucault vs Weber! Anyway…

    I very rarely buy games on release anyway, even if they are ones I’ve been waiting for. Well, usually.

    But if the number of gamers were to increase, wouldn’t that mean that profits would increase (perhaps, of course, driving down game prices per edition yet making the same revenue) and, so, AAA games would remain a constant? At least, initially? Innovation does not preclude the shiny shiny graphics…

    I bet you I’ve missed something.

  7. Tony avatar
    Tony

    I feel like I’m singlehandedly trying to save the economy over here.

    In the next few weeks I will be buying:
    LittleBigPlanet
    Far Cry 2
    Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
    SOCOM: Confrontation
    Fallout 3
    Gears of War 2

    Meep!

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