Geoffrey Zatkin, president of research firm Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, estimates that just 4% of all released games actually return profits for publishers.

Speaking to Forbes, Zatkin showed that there is truth in numbers. In fact, numbers are EEDAR's specialty. The firm maintains a database of over 6,000 games catalogued by genre, features and sales figures.

That data is used to create models that estimate how well a game will sell based on the way the game is pitched. EEDAR's sells its services to publishers including Electronic Arts, Activision, and Ubisoft.

Zatkin, a former game designer, co-founded EEDAR after experiencing first-hand the stress of making major decisions early in the game design process. "Every game I have ever worked on, we've gone in blind as to which features would... Read more

Gears of War 2 producer Cliff Bleszinski thinks that the industry's superstar designers deserve a little more attention--at least to the extent that the games business can benefit from them.

"I don't think the industry values visionaries as much as it could," Bleszinski said to Gamasutra. "Look at a guy like [BioShock designer] Ken Levine or [Fable II designer Peter] Molyneux or [Demigod designer] Chris Taylor or [Metal Gear Solid designer Hideo] Kojima. I mean, we all need to celebrate these people," he asserted.

Gears of War 2, the latest from Cliff Bleszinski

Bleszinski, who has his own fan following among hardcore gamers, appears not to be letting Internet Celebrity get to his head. Rather, the industry veteran... Read more

The stock markets may be moving like a rollercoaster each day, but the games industry will be OK, according to the quotable industry analyst Michael Pachter.

From the offices of firm Wedbush Morgan, Pachter wrote "Notwithstanding this month's anticipated decline, we believe that the videogame software sector remains highly recession-resistant," in an investors' note. "This month's anticipated decline" is the almost certain year-over-year drop from September 2007, when Halo 3 had its blockbuster release.

"As a category, games are one of the lowest cost forms of entertainment, particularly to those households that have already invested in a home console," wrote the analyst.

Pachter also predicted that September sales will hit $620 million in software--a 6% decline--but sees large increases in hardware sales, citing increased Wii production and the Xbox 360 price cut that Microsoft claimed gave a 600% bump in sales.

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson suggested that game publishers could achieve greater financial success by elevating talent and pushing key development figures as a reason to get consumers interested in a project.

"There are very few people in this world who know how to create hits. Not create a hit, but create multiple hits," Wilson told MTV Multiplayer. "Those creative minds should be recognized and remunerated in the video game industry for their contribution as much as other forms of media."

"From a business perspective, that might be more expensive, but if the reward is better selling games the trade-off is worth it," he added.

Wilson went on to suggest that despite that potential, many publishers see development icons as interchangeable in terms of franchise development, noting that Take-Two would likely develop a BioShock sequel with or without ... Read more

Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine today revealed a study ranking the top 50 game development studios worldwide using sales and reputation data.

Studios were assessed using 2007 sales figures, Metacritic review scores, and an anonymous survey distributed to Gamasutra community members which scored game developers on overall reputation.

The ranking situates Nintendo EAD at the top of the list, followed by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) developer Infinity Ward and World of Warcraft maker Blizzard Entertainment at two and three, respectively. Shacknews community darling Valve ranked at number five, and BioShock creator 2K Boston appears as 13th.

"Nintendo's incredibly accessible and well-designed games continue to support its hardware success, which is why they reached the Top Developer spot," said Game Developer Magazine publisher Simon Carless. "The mix of Western and Japanese developers in the Top 20 shows a flourishing world ecosystem for game development."

For a full rundown of the top 50, check out the complete list.

An unsurprising study funded by the Entertainment Software Association found that the industry is performing relatively phenomenally, with 17% annual growth from 2003 to 2006. The ESA boasts that this rate trumps the 4% annual growth of the overall economy, basically saying "in your face" to less fortunate industries.

"Computer and video game companies play an ever increasing role in our nation's growing economy," said ESA CEO Michael Gallagher. "These companies and their colleagues across the nation are making entertainment software one of the fastest growing industries in the United States."

The study by Economists Incorporated for the Entertainment Software Association found that the industry directly employed 24,000 individuals as of 2006 with an average salary of $92,300. In that year, the industry added $3.8 billion to the U.S. GDP.

California, a hotbed for the gaming industry, employed 40% of the industry's workers last year. The state's gaming industry grew by 12.4 percent and added $1.7 billion to California's economy, the study found.

With nearly $1 billion in sales recorded for the month of July, the year-to-date progress of the North American gaming industry is up some 43% over July 2006 numbers, with NPD's Anita Frazier now putting the yearly estimate of total industry sales at $16-18 billion.

Nintendo has emerged as the clear leader in hardware sales this year, with 425,000 and 405,000 sales of its Wii and DS consoles recorded in July, respectively. Sony's PlayStation 2 pushed 222,000 units, while the PSP recorded 214,000 sales. Microsoft edged out Sony with 170,000 Xbox 360 units sold to the PS3's 159,000. Nintendo's die-hard Gameboy Advance followed up the pack with 87,000 units.

Shack community member Chazums charted the numbers in a series of graphs, showing the yearly current-gen hardware sales broken... Read more

Paris-based Ubisoft will more earnestly pursue game-related movie efforts with upcoming titles, CEO Yves Guillemot revealed after his keynote at the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Guillemot's words indicated a desire to pursue more full-scale movie-making efforts, such as the upcoming Prince of Persia movie.

Guillemot had hinted at this shift in the past, though this time he characterized the move as an absolute business necessity to stay competitive in the industry. "We will have to start making movies," he said. "If we don't do it, we won't be able to take advantage of the power of the next generation."

The CEO made it clear that unlike the late-in-coming Prince of Persia movie, he hopes to launch accompanying movies and books simultaneously with upcoming video game launches. The company already revealed an Assassin's Creed novelization and a short film based on the title, which is being... Read more

The folks at Cosmos Gaming have posted a Q&A about games in Russia, asking representatives from 1C Company, IT Territory, Step Creative Group, and Lesta Studio about the Russian games industry, Russian to English translations and games they are working on.

It seems that these days, any and every U.S. politician will find some time to speak out against the "atrocity" of violence and sex in videogames. It's such a frequent occurrence that it spurred on a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dennis McCauley, to start-up GamePolitics.com. Just in the last week alone, we have a U.S. senator calling for the boycott of the unreleased 25 to Life, a D.C. Mayoral Candidate saying the videogame industry is "out of control," and a group of North Carolina state senators trying to pass yet another restriction of sales of violent games.

Schumer called upon New York retailers to boycott the game, and for Sony and Microsoft to cancel their licensing deals with Eidos for 25 to Life. "Little Johnny should be learning how to read, not how to kill cops," Schumer said. The bottom line is that games that are aimed and marketed at kids shouldn't desensitize them to death and destruction."

Another interesting point of discussion that was brought up is GTA: SA's unlockable sex mini-game. Could it make the game as obscene as a hardcore porno flick, thus making it illegal to sell to a minor? Get caught up on your game politics right here.

According to a recent editorial by technology pundit John C. Dvorak, the game industry is on the verge of collapsing in a monumental fashion. Citing lack of innovation and stale content, Dvorak says, "I really can't imagine this scene continuing as it is for much longer. I suspect that the next generation of machines will be the last - or at least the last in the current boom market. It will be downhill from there."

Dvorak also attacked one of the industry's leaders in innovation, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. He shrugged off their new titles, like Nintendogs, because they're rehashing old ideas (like Tamagotchi). "If that doesn't flatten the market, the never-ending need to satisfy the demanding full-time game-player should do it. Some of today's games are ridiculously hard to play - unless gaming is your so-called life - and so daunting to casual players that they will quickly reject them. Who needs to devote themselves to a game just to play it once in a while? I'll take Spider Solitaire instead."

While we all know there is no union for the gaming industry, developers and publishers do often hire talent that are members of the SAG or AFTRA unions, which protect artists in the film, television, an radio businesses. For a while now, SAG has met with top videogame publishers and worked out bare-bones deals to protect their members, but the current contract is set to expire Friday with no new deal in place. Variety.com suggests we could be just a day away from a videogame-related strike.

A strike would most affect the industry with regard to the use of big names. From Clint Eastwood to Vin Diesel to Heather Graham and even Marlon Brando in EA's "Godfather" adaptation, A-list talent is turning from a rarity to a must-have in the vidgame world. SAG is increasingly hungry for residuals to be part of a mix, because when a game hits, it can hit big -- bigger than the heftiest studio blockbuster, in some cases.

This has been a difficult process for all parties since SAG has no official authority to work with and many members of the industry don't know or don't care about the issue. Most companies are content with using non-union workers for their games. Also, when it comes to turning a franchise into a film, some companies don't use union workers until absolutely necessary. For instance, Microsoft has been working on the Halo movie without going through any film studio.

There is a Reuters article about the game industry and how it's shedding its geek image. Right. The only real example being offered is EA, where they are hiring animators and such from Hollywood. If you've ever seen a behind the scenes documentary on TV or DVD, you know that these people are the same type of geeks as game industry people.

"In our industry we have people who are recognized as the consistent producers," said Steve Dauterman, general manager of EA's British studio. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day they become superstars like Steven Spielberg, but right now they're known within the industry, not outside."

Seems pretty unlikely to me, what do you think?

Since we certainly have a big portion of aspiring game developers out there or at least people who are interested in how things go in the industry, here's some numbers you guys may find interesting. From a recent GDC survey:

- The average game programmer salary is $66,000.
- A technical director with 6 or more years experience earns an average of $104,000.
- Game artists earn an average of $61,000.
- A game designer with one year of experience earns an average of $52,000, with the highest salary reported at $300,000.
- Game producers earn an average of $76,000.
- Developer salaries are highest in California and Texas, where game development studios tend to cluster.
- Women in the game industry fare better than women in other industries, earning 89 cents on the dollar, exceeding the national average of 76 cents.

Remember that sillyness over in Indianapolis about trying to prevent minors from being able to play games? Something about thinking games turned kids in to psychos or whatever. Well as expected the failed attempt was a waste of time and money as the game industry won the case, and even more amusing now is that the court has awarded over $300,000 to the game industry for legal fees they incurred. Tax payers in Indiana, thank your local congressman! Thanks jasonepowell

Among the backers is Indianapolis retiree Mary E. Douglas, who said taxpayers foot the bill for many "nonsensible things," but that the ban was a worthwhile goal. "They shouldn't be allowed to play those games, period," Douglas said of minors. But Dave Danz, owner of the Indianapolis-based courier company Double D Express, called the law "a ridiculous waste of money." "It's up to us as parents to teach our children values. However well-intentioned it might be, it's not a function of the government to intervene," Danz said. "We're blowing taxpayer money at a time when we need to be looking at things like sewers."

Nintendo put out another PR saying how well they are selling as they compete with Microsoft for releasing the most impressive sounding PR. They go over recent sales figures etc saying Smash Brothers has sold over a quarter million in just 9 days. But here is the stat that really grabbed me:

The video game industry overall is hotter than ever, with total 2001 retail revenues now on track to exceed $8 billion for the first time ever (+19% vs. 2000).

19% growth in sales for the entire industry in just one year? Great googly moogly!

The local hero here CliffyB from Epic Games has a .plan update pointing to a quick article of interest to anyone wanting to get a job in the gaming industry. Just some common things that you should know and ask and think about before signing your life away.

The Adrenaline Vault has posted the fourth part of their PC Gaming As An Industry article. This time author Brad Wardell dispels some myths about the industry.

Eric J. sent word that the IDSA has just released their report for the gaming industry that has all kinds of interesting stats that you can look through. Here are a few of the latest ones that are of interest:

- 57% men and 43% women breakdown of gameplayers
- $6.02billion worth of game sales in 2000 and 219million games
- 42% over 35, 30% between 18 and 35 and 28% under 18 years old for computer game players
- Computer games are 2/1 more popular as a "most fun activity" as polled by 1600 households over TV
- 21.35% Strategy / RPG , - 17.42% Action , - 14.95% Sports Sim ,  - 12.57% Family/kids - 10.08% Racing ,  - 23.53% Misc Categories

There's a new article on CliffyB.com, which originally appeared in Game Developer Magazine. In it, CliffyB rants about why this industry is so insecure that games need celebrity endorsements, instead of the games speaking for themselves.