New Research Firm Releases “Console Intelligence Brief 2007”

A new research firm called Electronic Entertainment Design and Research has released its “Console Intelligence Brief 2007” study, which examines new business opportunities created by the latest generation of game consoles.

Games that receive high review scores sell significantly better than average games, according to the brief, with the best of them selling as many as five times more copies than games with middling scores. Online functionality is also an important part of increasing audience and maintaining longevity for many titles, according to the report.

EEDAR COO Geoffrey Zatkin said, “In the increasingly expensive and risk averse publishing environment, understanding the market and a better knowledge of the features that resonate with your customers can help game makers use their creativity to develop titles with blockbuster sales potential.” The report looked at the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 consoles from their release dates until June 1, 2007, using both publicly available sources as well as internal studies to gather data. A total of 406 games across the three platforms were analyzed based on genre, ESRB rating, sales, review scores and other factors.

Other findings from the study include:

• 45 percent of retail games and 98 percent of Wii games have no online component, despite connectivity being a “big marketing aspect” for current-generation consoles
• Mature rated titles have the highest average gross sales in the U.S., despite not being offered for sale at some major retailers, and also received the highest average Metacritic scores
• Games with Metacritic scores over 90 showed up to 531 percent more gross sales than the industry average, but accounted for less than two percent of all games released

Electronic Entertainment Design and Research was founded in 2007 “to serve the contemporary needs of publishers and developers in understanding and navigating the electronic entertainment and games market.” The company is based in San Diego, California. More information on the Console Intelligence Brief 2007 is available at the company’s website.