Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank
It was the desire to reach more players. We’re extremely happy with the loyal PlayStation 3 fan base, and our goal now is to take our games to a broader player base — to go to Xbox 360 as well.
We’ve been building to this point for a while. We have multiple teams working at Insomniac. We have a team dedicated to this project. We are dedicating new technology for the Xbox 360. As a company, we are taking more time for all our projects to make sure we can really polish them up and make sure fans have the best experience possible.
This is a great deal for EA Partners, which gets to publish games from one of the best developers in the world. Although Price insisted that his company’s commitment to Sony will remain strong, it has to be seen as a blow to the PlayStation 3. Sony’s exclusive relationship with fantastic developers like Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Sucker Punch helped differentiate its first-party games from the competition’s. It’s great that more gamers will get to experience Insomniac’s games, but it definitely sucks for Sony that it has to share the love.
Honestly, I’m still in a bit of shock. I haven’t had my coffee yet and this is big news to wake up to. How do you boys and girls feel about it?
It makes a ton of sense for 3rd party developers to go multiplatform honestly.
@Nightshade386 It depends on the situation. Insomniac had a sweet deal with Sony, including huge marketing dollars and access to tech before other developers. While I love a lot of what EA Partners has done, who knows how well it will support Insomniac. There's a good chance that the partnership will turn out great. As an Insomniac fan and a fan of so many people in the company, I certainly hope so.
I'm not affected by this at all. When a game is multiplat I tend to base my decision on the controller and if my friends are buying.
It makes sense for them financially to do this. I understand that the Ratchet and the Resistance franchises are tied up with Sony so at least they still have those established franchises but it will be interesting to see what Insomniac can come up with. I have both PS3 and 360. (i do play my 360! honestly, just so many games i'm catching up on the ps3)so this will probably not affect me in any way but they are a good company and everyone that owns a 360 only needs to be able to play their sweet games as well.
@Ray: EA would be foolish NOT to give Insomniac full support. Fact of the matter is, they're gonna maintain that loyal fanbase on the Sony side, and potentially gain a whole new fanbase on the 360 side.
@Nightshade386 It's not like EA hasn't done foolish things in the past. While it has recently done well with creators through EA Partners, it wasn't that long ago that it burned companies like Oddworld Inhabitants.
@tokz_21 It should make sense, but there are no guarantees. There's certainly risk on Insomniac's part. This isn't an automatic by any means.
@Ray: I know, and I agree. But I'm looking at the recent track record w/ some hope.
@rpad
agreed. Hey maybe Sony told Insomniac to sign with them to bring down the 360, like it has been rumored Vince did with WCW, hahaha.
I look for whatever 3rd parties that are left to do the same thing.
As long as they develop for the PS3 first I'll be okay with it, I hate when they make games around the 360 and then they just put that on a blu ray.
EA has to support them to the best of their abilities. Activision has Bungie now after all.
@Ray
They may have gone multiplatform for the same reasons Square Enix did. Sony just isn't paying out for exclusive third part games like they used to. Although I like that, it is hurting their hand and they need to compensate for this.
@Sandrock It's not really comparable to the Square Enix situation. Square Enix publishes and developers its games. Insomniac develops games and relies on a publishing partner for PR/marketing/distribution etc.
@All I learned that the deal is only for one game. To me this makes it riskier for Insomniac than for EA.
@Ray: I agree that a one game deal does make it riskier for Insomniac. However, I understand the draw of being able to go multiplatform.
@Ray
Haha It's like EA is trying to copy Activision.
@ All
F.Y.I UFC 2010 requires a code to play online if you don't purchase new. It is a $5 charge instead of $10 it still sucks because that game is a rental for a plethora of people.