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Nintendo Co Ltd. (NTDOY)
Developer agree : WiiWare better than XBLA for developer
Developer agree : WiiWare better than XBLA for developer
developmag - March 13, 2008
Submitted by apujanata (14935) at 9:54AM PST on March 14, 2008
Microsoft recently drop royalties paid for Xbox Live Arcade from 70 % to 35 % on games < $4m in revenues (the rate rises closer to 50 % when revenues > $4m). ,,,
"Nintendo explained that we'll not only be making a better royalty rate from WiiWare games, but we'll also have a better chance of selling games, since the service won't be clogged up with the retro titles that have blighted the chances of many independent studios on Xbox Live Arcade," said one studio business development boss.
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1Animate posted on Nintendo Co Ltd. (NTDOY) at 12:28PM PST on March 14, 2008. RE: Developer agree : WiiWare better than XBLA for developer@apujanata,
That's exactly how I feel. They make it sound like XBLA is horrible in comparison to WiiWare because there are many retro titles on XBLA taking away from independent game sales. But doesn't Virtual Console have even more games available than XBLA & they are all retro titles? It's just located in a different channel. This is very backwards.
As for royalty rates I've read that it did go from 70 to 35, but I've also read that it was never as high as 70, and I've read that it did not go down to 35.[ Oracle ] [ Level 26 ] [ Rank: 241 ]bids
2apujanata posted on Nintendo Co Ltd. (NTDOY) at 9:59AM PST on March 14, 2008. RE: Developer agree : WiiWare better than XBLA for developerPersonally, as I understand it, there IS a retro title on Wii, called Virtual Console. I don't understand what is the major difference here, other than the fact that VC channel is located differently / separated from Wii Ware channel. Isn't it easy for Microsoft to also separate retro XBLA title and new (non retro) XBLA titles ?
At least that will address one of the major complain by developer. It is up to Microsoft whether they are willing to return to the original 70% royalties, to counter Nintendo's move.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 14935 ]bids
4apujanata posted on Nintendo Co Ltd. (NTDOY) at 9:57AM PST on March 14, 2008. RE: Developer agree : WiiWare better than XBLA for developer@apujanata,
Additional text from article :
Added another WiiWare developer, who also didnt want to be named: Frankly, were not looking at making games for Xbox Live Arcade because the service is full of shit, he said, pointing towards the services number of retro remakes.
You can read the full report on how Nintendo is waging - and it seems winning - what one developer called a secret war here.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 14935 ]bids
21apujanata posted on Nintendo Co Ltd. (NTDOY) at 9:54AM PST on March 14, 2008. Article: Developer agree : WiiWare better than XBLA for developerMicrosoft recently drop royalties paid for Xbox Live Arcade from 70 % to 35 % on games < $4m in revenues (the rate rises closer to 50 % when revenues > $4m). ,,, "Nintendo explained that we'll not only be making a better royalty rate from WiiWare games, but we'll also have a better chance of selling games, since the service won't be clogged up with the retro titles that have blighted the chances of many independent studios on Xbox Live Arcade," said one studio business development boss.[ Oracle ] [ Level 30 ] [ Rank: 14935 ]
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About royalty rates, I sure hope that a website with "developmag" as a name know deeply about developer's situation. The other website with good and trustworthy developer grasp is gamasutra.
Personally I am sceptical that MSFT are willing to give 70% of revenue to developer. 50% is more likely, and probably it was halved to 25%. Of course, I am just stating what I BELIEVE might be what really happened, and I don't have any basis / supporting document on it.