Opinionation: Do Review Scores Help Sell Games?
We all know that good games get good review scores because they're good, but do those scores translate into good sales? THQ CEO Brian Farrell is certainly thinks so. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, the Saints Row publisher kingpin is quoted saying...
"Our strategy is to focus on bigger titles," he said. "The formula is to make great games and market them effectively. High review scores lead to high sales and high profits. We think we have a plan in place to do that and return the company back to profitability."
While I would like to agree with Farrell that good reviews bring good sales, last year's NPD numbers don't exactly back up this notion. Just looking at the review scores of some of the biggest sellers last year (namely Nintendo's casual gamer offerings) tells a very different story. Which begs the question: do high review scores actually help sell games?
Personally speaking, I think that it really depends on a game's genre and intended audience. For instance, the crowd that follows FPS games on the 360 is more likely to research upcoming titles and will be more aware of the review scores that you will find on MetaCritic than your average "casual gamer." These high review scores may encourage a few extra pick-ups from the hardcore, but I can't imagine that it was be a significant number. When was the last time you saw a game well outside of your genre tastes get a 90-something and thought to yourself, "I should get this because it got good reviews?"
This isn't to say casual gamers don't look for review scores, but rather they look for a different set of review scores. In my own research into the casual market, I've found that this set of gamers are more likely to search out community reviews (think of outlets like iTunes Store reviews) and personal opinions rather than enthusiast media. At the end of the day, I think each of these score types play an important role in selling games, but are no means a deal maker/breaker. Because if all a game needed to generate blockbuster sales was a high scores I'd be playing Okami 3 right now.
What do you think? Do review scores help sell games? Are they ignored? Tell us what you think in the comments section blow.
Game-Boy
Posted to Miscellany on 5 March 2009
· Comments (1)
Other stuff like this: business practices, gamasutra, in these harsh economic times..., reviews, thq
Yes...I usually won't buy a game without reading a review. Once you get burned a few times..you learn. Games are too expensive to take a chance and with no way to return them if you don't like them...you have to rely on reviews (or at least user opinions aka Amazon).