ProtoType II delayed for the PC - a symptom of profit-only driven developers?

[ArithonUK]

Radical Entertainment have announced that the PC version of ProtoType 2 will be delayed some time after the release of the console version.

Why?

The real reason for any multi-platform version delay is to prevent PC gamers with consoles buying the game at a lower price. Since developing for the consoles is much more expensive with high licensing costs for SDK's they want to get the full-price sales of the console versions maximised.

Development for the PC is easier and less expensive, since the SDK's are infinitely cheaper and the platform is the one being used to develop on. It's only more difficult when doing multi-platform because of the severe limitations of the consoles restrain what can be done with any game and putting larger maps and textures on the PC version, so it doesn't look circa 1993, will cause any cross-platform engine to groan if has been lobotomised to fit the console.

So why develop for consoles if it is more difficult and a lot more expensive? Because if you make a title that sells, you stand to make a lot more money as the profit margins are higher. There are lot of console gamers and they all have very short attention spans. Games get played for a few hours then taken back to the shop and exchanged for the next title.
How does that work? Well, console gamers played BF: Bad Company for a few months and then it was dead. PC gamers are still playing BattleField 2. So the console market has a much higher turnover. It isn't a case of "who is best" and it has zero to do with piracy, but simple maths. Large and frequent sales make more money and while expensive to develop, will return a good profit.
So is PC gaming dead? Not a chance. Developers are just looking at ways to increase the longevity of PC games to make them stay around long enough to make DLC a profitable option. Develop a game, hold some assets back and drip-feed them over time to keep the money coming. Others are using "off the shelf" engines to make development faster (Unreal, ID Tech). The alternative is MMO's, which have a chequered history of success, but if you crack the winning formula, it's a lottery ticket! World of Warcraft earns more EVERY year than any "record breaking" console release ever did.

Prototype 1 was a fairly fun FPS on the PC, but it had almost no replay value. Had the game been PC only, and the developer provided mod tools, we'd all be talking about how X game matches up the the awesomeness of Prototype. Sadly a quick profit mentality has seen the end of the mod-tool. Even those developers (Valve) who started out as modders (Half-Life was a Quake 1 mod) have lost sight of this and as a result, there are less indie developers, fewer new IP's and almost no original games.
Soon, all games will be multi-platform and you'll have a choice of SIMS X, COD X, Battlefield X, Sonic X, Mario X, Pokemon X or FIFA X. There won't BE any other games!

PC gamers are not in decline, nor are they happy about the situation. 31,000+ fans of Half-Life who want Valve to state their intentions regarding the completion of Half-Life 2 (where is episode 3?) are holding a protest this weekend.