BioWare: 10 million sales is a hit

BioWare's Greg Zeschuk has said that 10 million sales constitutes a hit in the console market.

Speaking to Videogamer, the co-founder of the Mass Effect and Dragon Age studio said that the team hopes its big MMO release for Electronic Arts, Star Wars: The Old Republic, reaches that figure.

"We need to sell 10 million units," he said. "That's actually the new target, right? We do top 10 games, our stuff is quite successful. I know Mass [Effect 2] is number eight so far this year, in North America."

"Sometimes I'm facetious when I say some of those things, knowing that we can sell a few million but seeing that someone else can sell 25. You're kinda like, 'Well, that's a hit!' We always joke that if we only do half as well as Blizzard on Star Wars: The Old Republic, we'll be quite satisfied. We've been very fortunate."

Zeschuk added that he knows the team is in a fortunate position, able to create blockbuster games backed by the marketing muscle of owner EA.

"I think we know how lucky we are. When we're saying that, we always know that we're super-fortunate that we have a nice combination of things going on - really great support from EA, a budget to make great big giant games. We recognise that in a sense it's a privileged position we're in."

Last month Zeschuk warned smaller developers that working on triple-A projects was too risky, with only the studios at the top are able to succeed in an expensive and competitive market.

"It's more competitive than it's ever been, it's more dangerous than it's ever been," Zeschuk told attendees of the Develop Conference in Brighton. "Right now it's precisely the wrong thing to chase."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...sales-is-a-hit