Since before the launch of Xbox 360 in late 2005, Screen Digest has tracked multiple data points regarding every single packaged retail title confirmed for 256 bit home console platforms. The final Quarter of 2007 is the ideal time to release our first Console Games Publishing Bulletin given the level of activity in the publishing community and the emergence of trends which could prove highly influential in the shaping of this hardware generation. The thinking behind this Bulletin is to release regular updates, quarterly or half yearly depending on the data flow and market circumstances, in a similar format to enable subscribers to discern the key trends in the games publishing industry. The Bulletin will also focus in on key areas as necessary – shifting publisher commitment to Wii being the first example – to ensure that the content remains timely and relevant. Feedback from our client base has indicated a preference for data over textual analysis. To this end we have attempted to keep the text based analysis concise while generating more splits, slices and dices of the underlying data.

• With around a year less in the marketplace, Nintendo Wii will offer customers a games library with just twenty less releases than Xbox 360 has managed to generate in twice the time.
• Vigorous third party support and new releases of their strongest franchises in Super Mario Galaxy and Halo 3 will drive games sales for Wii and Xbox 360 in Q4
• PlayStation 3’s release pipeline is muted by comparison despite a pared down version of Gran Turismo, new IP in Uncharted and possible hardware related announcements before year end.

Key findings:

• Publisher commitment is shifting to Wii with eighty six releases in Q4 compared with forty seven for 360 and thirty eight for PS3. Of Wii Q4 releases over a quarter are exclusive to the platform, compared with eight for Xbox 360 and five for PS3
• With the most abundant development resources in the industry, publishing giant EA leads the way into the Christmas shopping season with the most releases scheduled for Q4. Ubisoft and THQ follow.
• Screen Digest believes that games based on IP licensed from other media constitutes more than a third – around 37 per cent - of all releases in Q4.
• For casual games publishers have shown a marked preference for Wii with nearly forty titles aimed at the casual gamer scheduled for release in Q4, compared with barely a dozen between Xbox 360 and PS3.
• Q4 releases cement the UK’s position as a key territory for console games developers, leading European territories and, given its size, more than holding its own against the US and Japan.

In the Bulletin:
Extensive analysis of all 256 bit console games scheduled for release in the final quarter of 2007. Areas under examination include:

• Releases by platform
• Multiplatform and platform exclusive release analysis
• Releases by publisher
• First and third party publishing activity
• Releases based on new IP or sequels
• Releases based on licensed IP
• Ownership of licensed IP deployed
• Core vs. Casual releases
• Q4 releases split by genre and setting
• Titles based on IP with strong historic sales of over five and ten million units
• Developer analysis: number of releases made by indies and publisher owned studios
• Publisher and studio relationships: who is working with whom?
• Developer locations: where are the games makers situated?