Remember that old 80’s film, Revenge of the Nerds? The one about all these nerds go to college and fight against pranks and threats from the “cool” kids on campus. Well that movie’s plot can be ripped straight from the headlines of a newspaper, as just recently the video game industry has become more profitable then the film industry.
A recent video game release called Call of Duty: Black Ops has grossed over $650 million according to the company Activision. Let’s compare that to the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, The King’s Speech which grossed $244 million according to www.rottentomatoes.com. That’s one third of what a single video game grossed!
The trick to current video game marketing is to release ‘downloadable content’ or DLC. DLC is an update for the game that can add over 3 hours of brand new playing in the video game. The typical DLC costs around $15, and are available for immediate download on any console connected to the internet. This would be the equivalent of The King’s Speech being reissued every 3 months or so with about a half hour of screen time added to the film.
Video games also offer memberships that video gamers can buy online and use to talk to their friends online and play games with them. These memberships can cost as much as $13 a month, with family plans costing as much as $50 a month. Tacked on to these consoles is the ability to use the website Netflix to watch movies through the console. In that way, video games are almost replacing the movie industry! Why go to the movies when you can enjoy them in the comfort of your living room?
Netflix costs another $7 a month to use and only if your just watching movies through your console. It seems that video games found a way to get as much money out of a person as possible while providing the perfect amount of stimulation to keep these gamers paying. It’s becoming a nerd’s paradise in the market these days.
