You know, I just love it when LucasArts president Jim Ward attempts to start lecturing the industry on how to act and then basically makes an ass out of himself.
This time around, GamesIndustry.biz has posted an interview with Ward where he slams the industry for relying on single-shot retail products and the tendency to cater to the same audience repeatedly instead of looking for new markets while praising the idea of downloadable content as a way to bring in additional revenue for their titles.
"Right now this industry has a business model that does not work. This industry has been flat for the past six years; we've been selling games to the same people. Our revenue model is based on one shot at retail - we have no back-end revenue streams like a movie might in terms of DVD, TV, that type of thing." - Jim Ward, president, LucasArts
While I fully see where he's coming from on the issue of back-end revenue via downloadable content, that doesn't change the issue he's discussing - namely not trying to open new markets and selling to the game people over and over. You know, what LucasArts essentially makes it's living doing - selling Star Wars games to Star Wars fans.
I find it even more ironic that not only does LucasArts sell to the same people over and over, but they used to be the kings of additional back-end revenue streams with the frequent expansions they released for their titles - that too has vanished over the years.
So basically, what Ward is saying is that the industry needs to act more like LucasArts used to. Maybe he should look in his own backyard first before he takes other companies to task. Here's an idea, rather than selling yet another rushed Star Wars game to the same ever-loyal Star Wars fans, why don't you try to reclaim the graphic adventure game market segment - that's certainly an under-explored source of new customers nowadays. Make a sequel to Grim Fandango if you can find people skilled enough to bring it off right - or is it that current market realities dictate that your statements are really just a way to blame the industry for LucasArts woes? Then again, given Ward's preference for speed over quality, maybe that sequel isn't such a hot idea.
Check out the GamesIndustry.biz article here and our previous article on Ward's take on the industry here so you can laugh along with me. Yes, the scars of the Freelance Police cancellation run deep.