"If you look at the market dynamics, as much as there's a desire for new IP, the market doesn't reward new IP this late in the cycle; they end up doing okay, but not really breaking through."- Electronic Arts' Labels president Frank Gibeau argues that now is not the time to release new IPs for existing consoles because the next generation of systems are due soon. Gibeau believes the best time to launch an IP is at the beginning of a hardware cycle, when it's easier to show that the property can do "something really, really remarkable" by taking advantage of new console's improved capabilities, according to an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. "We have to shepherd the time that our developers spend, as well as the money that we spend on development in a positive way, so we're focused on bringing out a bunch of new IPs around the next generation of hardware," Gibeau added. EA is currently working on three to five new IPs for next gen systems. There are plenty of arguments against that line of thinking, though -- like the advantages of having a much bigger audience to reach when you ship a game late into the console cycle, or being able to deliver much more impressive titles once you've had plenty of experience working with the technology. Are those advantages enough to make developing new IPs for current platforms worthwhile right now?
Is it worth introducing new IPs this late in the console cycle?
"If you look at the market dynamics, as much as there's a desire for new IP, the market doesn't reward new IP this late in the cycle; they end up doing okay, but not really breaking through." - EA's Frank Gibeau.