Paramount Exec. Claims Retailers Drive Demand for Licenses Over Original IPs

Paramount Digital Entertainment executive Matt Candler talked about the relationship between videogames based on films in terms of marketing during a GC Developers Conference panel.

“A video game is part of an overall licensing strategy…but it’s also a revenue stream,”

“Wal-Mart or Target [are] looking for licenses because that’s something that’s going to stand out on shelves,” he says. “They’re not interested in original IP.”

Sidhe Interactive’s Jos Ruffell talked about the short memories of gamers when it comes to licensed games.

“If you don’t think you can do a good job on a [licensed] project, walk away,”

“You don’t want to be known as the developer that screwed up Star Wars. …As a developer, you’re only as good as your last project.”

Sidhe has just shipped the game adaptation of the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer film. Although Speed Racer is rated much hirer than the poorly received movie, Ruffell is still a bit worried. He used Secret Level’s dissapointing Iron Man as an example of the opposite problem.

In other words it’s not that developers don’t have any fresh ideas or the games industry doesn’t want to risk capital on new projects. It’s the retailers fault for demanding familiar titles anyone in a smock can talk about to customers. i don’t buy either side completely. It takes two to tango and if publishers want an original IP badly enough they’ll push it.