Originally Posted by stuff.co.nz
New Zealand's largest games developer, Wellington firm Sidhe, will stop developing console games sold on shop shelves and bet the house on downloadable or online ***les that are largely free.
The firm, which employs more than 100 staff, has developed ***les for major United States publishers, including games based around the Madagascar film franchise.
But Sidhe managing director Mario Wynands told attendees at the User Experience conference in Wellington that its Rugby Challenge game for PlayStation 3, XBox 360 and PC, due for release about the time of the Rugby World Cup, could be its last traditional retail ***le.
The console games industry was undergoing rapid change, he said, and faced a challenge from cheaper, digitally distributed games, that can be supported with advertising and offer enhanced, monetised features and services.
Sidhe met with mixed reviews for its contract work, but its home-grown downloadable brick-breaking game Shatter was well received by critics and consumers.
Its FlickKick Football game, developed by mobile gaming arm PikPok, has been purchased and downloaded more than a million times, he said.
From next year, nearly all its games would be free or very low cost, but would allow people to purchase items or services within them, he said. `We're not a production line any more. We're a service provider."