PS3 Informer

Does Sony Keep Publishers in the Dark on PSN Sales?

How many copies does a developer have to sell in order to turn a profit on one of the digital distribution channels like PSN or Xbox Live Arcade? Electronic Arts last week said that its download-only game Battlefield 1943 sold an astonishing 600,000 copies in its first week on sale, killing all previous records for downloadable content. However, there isn't much to compare those numbers with, because many publishers do not release solid sales numbers for downloadable releases.

James Brooksby, head of doublesix games, would like more clarity about the prospects for publishers who go the digital route.

His company's recent Burn Zombie Burn! has sold 70,000 copies to date, a number that he is calling a success. Sort of. In a recent press release, the studio head sounded more than a little bit bitter, wondering aloud why other publishers don't make their sales figures public.

He also seemed ot making excuses for the game's lackluster sales, stating that "as digitally distributed titles tend to have a longer life cycle, the game continues to sell well after the initial release and doublesix are confident that 'Burn Zombie Burn' will reach a significantly higher lifetime figure."

He then went on to rant against a lack of transparency in the online publishing market:

"However, I do wish that all the platform owners would make their digital sales figures public. We feel this lack of transparency is hindering the development of these channels. We're happy to back this opinion up with the release of the figures for 'Burn Zombie Burn'. As a developer trying to decide which platforms to develop for, as well as what type of games to make, we're currently in the dark regarding real sales performance for digital platforms and that makes it increasingly difficult to make realistic plans. I'd like to see some kind of verified sales charts on all digital systems to encourage more developers to support these channels and to help make sensible investment decisions."

From the tone of this press release, it sounds like doublesix is not actually happy about its sales numbers, and feels somewhat misled about the potential for profits on Sony's digital download service. Or maybe we are reading too much into this.

It's you against the horde in Burn Zombie Burn. Apparently the video game industry is like this as well.

[Source: Press Release]