Patch Notes #2: How does the game industry survive beyond 2025?
We're back, and I mean that in a very literal sense. We've just returned from Gamescom 2024 where this (rather fatigued) editor had a wonderful time catching up with old faces and new.Most of our week was spent flitting between the business areas, chatting all things video games with developers, publishers, studio leaders, and pretty much anybody PR would let us in a room with. Our ongoing Gamescom coverage is right here, so do tuck in.Outside of the show, the flags were cracking, the bratwurst was sizzling, and the Kolsch was flowing. I know, because that's pretty much all I could hear from my hotel room in Alter Markt. Yes, I chose to slap myself in the middle of a market square bustling with interlopers whose sole purpose in life was to prevent me from sleeping. Yes, it w…
Read morePhysical games can help drive digital sales, says Maximum Entertainment CEO
What's the best way to buy a game, physical or digital? According to Maximum Entertainment CEO Christina Seelye, the two can help each other equally.Talking to Game Developer at Gamescom, she explained that selling physical versions of a game can help get more eyes on a title, particularly online. Amazon and in-person stores like GameStop go a long way, and that attention can spread to digital stores like Steam and PlayStation Network.Seelye noted Maximum itself has shown this "time and time again…there is no cannibalization." Citing the choice to release a physical collection of the Five Nights at Freddy's games, she claimed doing so helped digital sales for those individual games go "up and up and up."