Pachter Factor Questions for January 2018

You've suggested Nintendo might make a Switch Mini or Switch XL. What about a screenless Switch? How much less would it cost? You say you consider it a portable system, and game journalists seem to agree, but people I know in real life who have a Switch use it docked like a console.

Hey Mr.Pach, the WHO (not the band, the World Health Organization. :D) recently added a new disease named "Gaming disorder" in the International Classification of Diseases, how does this kind of stuff affect the industry (did it affect anyone stock prices)? Is this, plus the whole lootbox/gambling stuff, enough red flags for governments to get really worried and start wanting involvement in regulating the industry and combating bad practices?

Hey Pach, with all of the studio closures going on lately (Visceral, Runic, and more earlier), it got me wondering, when a publisher goes under and dissolves, who gets the money when you purchase a game published by them when the assets weren't bought by another publisher (Deep Silver buying Saints Row from THQ)?

Joseph La Russa

Yowza! Amazing questions everyone!

Hey Pach, what game do you think coming out this year has a chance of having the same success as PlayerUnknown's Battleground's had in 2017 (at least a game that's not made by RockStar)?

With 49% of European players documented as wanting to revisit classic games, and since we're waiting for nintendo's virtual console plans to be announced, what now or who determines what a "classic game" is? What "classics" do you go back for from time to time, if any? [[SHOWSTRUM in my old man's american... or just SH(long-O)ss]]

Hey Pach, the Nintendo Switch is now the fastest selling console in the US, in its first 10 months (breaking the Wii record). Will you now eat crow and admit that the Switch can surpass the PS4 and perhaps reach the level of the Wii?

Hey Pach, I'm curious what your take is on EA telling its investors that turning off Battlefront 2's microtransactions will not affect earnings. It would seem unlikely that this would be accurate given how big the profit is from other EA titles like FIFA. When forecasting sales to investors, do they just not take in account potential microtransaction income so the forecasting is more accurate?

Hi Pach, You've often talked about a console-less future. Would that involve a dissolution of the current licensing fee model that game makers pay to console manufacturers to publish games on their platforms? And if so, how do you think this will impact the publishing costs of games? Will we see a repeat of the shovelware wave that the Atari 2600 suffered and can be seen on Steam today? Or will we have some other kind of "gatekeeper" function introduced into the system? Thanks!

Hey Pach- An unnamed PlayStation source claimed the next God of War's pre-order numbers were soft. Does the lack of a concrete release date for a game like God of War hurt numbers? Are pre-order numbers in general fading industry-wide? Pre-ordering physical media from brick-and-mortar stores was critical last gen with limited inventories, but I would think the digital marketplace has caused a strong decline in pre-orders. Thanks!

Brandon

Hey Pach, what did you think of The Last Jedi? Personally I thought it was awful but opinions are all over the place on this one. Also, what was your favorite film of 2017?

Simon Wallace

Mr. Pachter, I asked a question a while back and I'm not sure if you ever got to it or not (hell, maybe the question sucked, always a possibility). I was just wondering what your thoughts are on a musing I had to myself: Why doesn't Sony forego the free games with psn subscriptions and just offer the ps now library? I am usually either dissatisfied with the free games on offer or already own them. I have mild interest in ps now but nowhere near enough to pay the seemingly exorbitant subscription fee for the fraction of games I would genuinely play and the slew of others I would at least check out. Also, do you know why Sony doesn't sell the games offered through the service at piecemeal? Thanks.

Julian Watkins

Dear Pach. With Play Link being pushed by Sony and the audio adventure games using google and Alexa voice recognition do you see these a welcome extension to what’s seen as the core games industry? Could these be a gateway for more people into what is viewed as the core industry so just likely to keep people in there own ‘sector’ of the industry in a similar way to mobile vs console for some people?

My question to you Mr. Pachter is: According to a report from Superdata, the VR game on PC with the highest revenue had approx $2.56m in revenue compared to PSVR where the highest revenue was $2.14m. With PSVR having sold more units than all PC manufacturers combined, is Sony doing a poor job at marketing PSVR or why don’t they bring in more revenue? Thanks for a great show, btw!

Dear Mr. Pac, Would publishers ever have any incentive to enforce ESRB ratings for their games' online multiplayer? It seems to me half the problem of toxic online communities stems from immature players who aren't even old enough to buy the game for themselves.

Itsjustlikeaminimall

Between Take2 & EA there are 18 board members. 3 are women. 17%. Do any game companies have better equality? @OlgaVMack @BoardsWomen

Dear Pach, with the biggest VR-Releases from Bethesda behind us, can you estimate if VR really is “the next big thing”, or will it go the way of the kinect?

Dear Pachter. With Bethesda’s ‘save single player’ campaign do you think this reveals a shift in the industry that a company like Bethesda needs to adjust to or a smart campaign to try to boost sales for titles that undersold through last year?

Dear Pach. I know I’ve been asked about your New Years resolutions in the past. So instead if you could impose a resolution on someone, a company or organisation who and what would it be?

Hey Pach. With the recent release of Zelda DLC, Wolfenstein 2 DLC, etc in mind, are big budget DLC and expansions a straight up profit deal? Or, more of a subsidy akin to an HBO/Netflix original series where brand cache and the opportunity to sell more people on the platform (in this case, whatever base game) ultimately offsets all of or some of those costs? With expansions in particular, are they profitable at all?

Hey Pach! As a father of two daughters (iirc) what is your opinion on the gamer girl stereotype („anything but The Sims is just for show“)? What do your girls play?

Volker Bach