News for May 2008
Wing Commander Arena In Danger?
Maverick
Posted on Thu 22nd May 2008
The online video game business magazine, Next-Gen, today revealed via an interview with the general manager of Xbox Live some policy changes to the service that may end up affecting the poorly received Wing Commander Arena. Microsoft has decided that underperforming Xbox Live Arcade titles will eventually be removed from the list of downloadable games altogether, in order to free up space and make browsing easier for customers.
From the interview, Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten on the requirements for a game to be removed from Xbox Live Arcade:
The way it will work is that the title will need to be at least 6 months old and have a Metacritic score below 65 and a conversion rate below 6% on the service. This way titles are not just considered if they are not selling well or not getting good reviews, but actually a combination of both. We will also give a three-month notice before delisting any title. Overall I think you will find this will focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for.
The interview also expounds on other changes coming to the Xbox experience, such as changing the DRM on XBLA games to allow for people who have had their systems replaced under warranty to play their downloaded games without connecting to Xbox Live.
Wing Commander Arena currently has a MetaCritic score of 51, well below the cut-off of 65. Depending on the games current and continuing performance, Arena could very well be a candidate for delisting. If this is the case, according to Whitten, you can expect to see an announcement of its delisting 3 months in advance.
If anything, perhaps this will push game developers to put more time and effort into their products to make them the best that they can be, ensuring that they stay on the XBLA service.
Discuss.
Sources:
Next-Gen: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MS to Delist XBLA Titles
MetaCritic.com: Wing Commander Arena
The online video game business magazine, Next-Gen, today revealed via an interview with the general manager of Xbox Live some policy changes to the service that may end up affecting the poorly received Wing Commander Arena. Microsoft has decided that underperforming Xbox Live Arcade titles will eventually be removed from the list of downloadable games altogether, in order to free up space and make browsing easier for customers.
From the interview, Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten on the requirements for a game to be removed from Xbox Live Arcade:
The way it will work is that the title will need to be at least 6 months old and have a Metacritic score below 65 and a conversion rate below 6% on the service. This way titles are not just considered if they are not selling well or not getting good reviews, but actually a combination of both. We will also give a three-month notice before delisting any title. Overall I think you will find this will focus the catalogue more on larger, more immersive games and make it much easier to find the games you are looking for.
The interview also expounds on other changes coming to the Xbox experience, such as changing the DRM on XBLA games to allow for people who have had their systems replaced under warranty to play their downloaded games without connecting to Xbox Live.
Wing Commander Arena currently has a MetaCritic score of 51, well below the cut-off of 65. Depending on the games current and continuing performance, Arena could very well be a candidate for delisting. If this is the case, according to Whitten, you can expect to see an announcement of its delisting 3 months in advance.
If anything, perhaps this will push game developers to put more time and effort into their products to make them the best that they can be, ensuring that they stay on the XBLA service.
Discuss.
Sources:
Next-Gen: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MS to Delist XBLA Titles
MetaCritic.com: Wing Commander Arena