David Cage, head of Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream, has revealed his past struggles in releasing his games in the United States, saying: "The US has a problem with my games."
Speaking to Develop, Cage pinned the blame on US marketing departments, who he said "have this image of their market being gun-loving rednecks. It's completely wrong."
Quantic Dream's first game, The Nomad Soul, had its name changed, as did 2005 adventure Fahrenheit, which was released in the US as The Indigo Prophecy, which Cage describes as "a fucking stupid name."
"The US always have problems with my games, to be honest," he said. "We had huge arguments with [publisher] Atari in New York about Fahrenheit. We told them they were making a huge mistake not supporting the game - they will see the reviews and they will like what they see.
"They should have put marketing dollars on the table, and I told them that, but they didn't want to listen to us. When the reviews came in they were even better in the US than they were in Europe, but by the time they realised, it was too late. Fahrenheit sold well in the US, we made money out of it, but it was a slice of the potential, because of this lack of trust."
Fahrenheit, released for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC, would go on to sell around 700,000 units worldwide, but Cage believes his experience is symptomatic of a culture of risk aversion among the US videogame industry's marketeers.
"Each time you come to marketing departments with very simple concepts, like 'the hero has ten weapons and goes through twenty levels...' then they have it. The marketing departments go: 'Oh, that's really interesting.'
"When you come to them about a game based on a story, or a game based on child abduction, they think: 'My god'. It's very difficult for them to commit to anything that's remotely different."
Cage, however, shows no sign of changing his ways. "Keep at it," he said. "Show them how successful you are, and hope that eventually they, and the whole industry, will turn around." With Heavy Rain comfortably outselling Fahrenheit - Cage revealed in February it had sold over two million copies - perhaps he has a point.
Source: Develop
Comments
13I'd like to tear a strip off Cage for being arrogant, but hes' probably right. There is a market for these types of games, but they often get overlooked for the next military based first person shooter or what have you.
Sony started off really backing Heavy Rain, but by release date I hardly heard a peep about it. Enslaved suffered a similar fate; with its publisher afraid to spend any money promoting it.
NO ONE RECOGNISES MY GENIUS IT TURNED OUT THAT THE MURDERER ... WAS YOU.
YOU DON'T GET THAT IN COD
I just had to make an account for this site to thank you for ruining the ending on a game I just bought yesterday, and have not played yet. I guess you are the genius---thanks.
I think you may find it less ruined than you currently think it is.
You don't get it in Heavy Rain either.
Considering the sort of games coming out I'd say he's probably right.
He sounds so pissed off that it seems like he is surprised. This is America you're talking about Mr Cage, you either conform to their narrow minded outlook on... well... everything, or get out.
He's right about creativy stagnation when it comes to business decisions in the industry, but his games don't sell as well because for alll their cinematic inclinations, they often miss the point of being a video game. Too far on the narrative side, and not enough of the interactive. Oh, and also, the stories are mostly nonsensical.
I have to say I'm not entirely on board with Cage on this one. Let me say first - I own both Fahrenheit and Heavy Rain. They were both great games. That said, has anyone noticed that Mr. Cage is quite fond of complaining lately? First a rant against the used games industry complaining about money that he "lost" to them on Heavy Rain, and now this. To me it comes out sounding like "I didn't make as much money as I could/should have and it is in no way my, or my company's, fault". Not everyone goes for a game like Heavy Rain. I've loaned my copy to three of my friends and out of them one got into it, the others were just terribly bored. If Quantic Dream is looking for a bigger foothold in the US market then they simply need to innovate more. Other foreign developers have done so. Just look at the fanatical fanbase FROM Software's Demon's Souls has here. It can happen. It just takes a company that is willing to bring it's creative forces to bear while also listening to what the gamers want.
I think some are missing the point here - he's not attacking players in the US, but rather marketing departments in that territory.
The players backed Cage, the games sold reasonbly well and made money, despite not having sufficient backing. With a marketing push, Quantics game's would undoubtedly sell more.
I am certain that other developers *could* make the same claims. Yet I also see underadvertised titles, such as Demon's Souls, becoming overwhelmingly successful in the US, and we hear no accusations coming from such as them. Other titles have unusual mechanics or innovative story telling, such as Catherine, and once again I hear no similar accusations coming from them. Even major franchises do not always win when they present something different. Take the Metal Gear Acid games for instance. Those two games were both wonderful experiences, but they recieved only a lukewarm reception even with Capcom behind them. It is far easier for a developer, such as Mr. Cage, to criticise marketing personnel rather than re-evaluate any shortcomings in his own product.
It's ludicrous to see other forums (I think I just read the escapist) immediately go into all-out defensive stance, claiming mostly that "Cage should be making actual games and we would buy them". Thereby completely proving Cage's point, only expanding it to contain the public at large instead of just the marketing people. I say just keep making the games you love, I love me some non-gun-centered experiences.
I love David Cage games.
When all other games are shooters or hackers, his games are mature refreshing.