We’ve all heard by now about this cataclysmic “economic crisis,” especially now that it’s started to have serious repercussions on the videogame industry. While many of us expect fresh IP to suffer as publishers hide behind trusted established franchises and guaranteed money makers, Microsoft has promised to take the opposite approach.
“… If we’re in the eye of the storm right now in terms of the economic situation, then clearly we’ll come out,” explains MS exec Chris Lewis, who promised his company would continue to innovate. “… The healthy companies will be the ones that have invested sufficiently during that phase that they’ve got exciting IP and innovative things happening for when that recovery starts to happen. I don’t know when that is … I’d love to know, but I tend to think very positively about the opportunities that it subsequently creates.”
A noble goal if true, but since a Microsoft executive said it I’m inclined to think it’s bollocks. I’m willing to be encouraged by any commitment to fresh IP, although it remains to be seen just how strong that commitment is from a company that only seems to have Halo games on the horizon.
