Elevation Still Planning on Going Public

[fitbabits]

Head on over to Next Generation (http://www.next-gen.biz) for details (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1895&Itemid=2).

Just a little over a month after venture captial firm Elevation merged Pandemic and Bioware, The New York Times confirms that the super-developer still has plans on making an unprecedented move by going public.

Analyst Michael Pachter is skeptical that the plan would work at all.

"They don't have any chance of success," he said frankly. "There's not an appetite to segment the different links in the value chain. The best evidence of that is that we have companies like Viacom, Disney and News Corp."
Don't you just love the arrogance of analysts? I wish Elevation good luck - if only to show Pachter up as ill-informed. This is also the third time this week I've seen the phrase 'value chain' used.

[Cha-Ka]

This is also the third time this week I've seen the phrase 'value chain' used.[/I]

Three times? That means it's now legally a buzzword, right?

[fitbabits]

Three times? That means it's now legally a buzzword, right?
You should know by now that nothing can be considered a buzz word until it's heard coming out the mouth of J. Allard! :rolleyes:

[PIPBoy3000]

Going public, eh? It's tempting to buy a piece of Bioware and see how it pans out.

Of course, how is Elevation different than a publisher if they do everything except actually make and ship CDs?

[T-Dub]

It it was blizzard or even valve i would be all over it. bioware is pretty good, so i'll consider it. i've always wanted stock in a good gaming company

[Exodus]

how much is bioware stock? I'm SOooooo buying some :)

[Pretzel]

I don't think this is going to be a good thing. For one, I don't think that most stockholders will have any taste for the risks of game development. If they slip one quarter in shipping a game, they'll get pressure from stockholders to ship or the price will slip. Publishers work mainly because of the volume of games they ship--even if one game slips (which is still a big pain for them) they have a dozen other titles still coming out that quarter. Still, they end up cutting games to reduce their losses. So what will this new game studio do? They'll cut jobs.

The reason Pixar works is because they are extremely rigorous with their schedule, much more than any game developer. For a game developer to do the same, they'd probably lose half their employees due to stress. Pixar doesn't have that problem since their animators are under contract. They can't leave mid-project. Also, people in the animation industry are more willing to put up with low pay and a lousy work environment just to be able to work on a movie. Game developers have a lot more options for places to work.

I wouldn't be surprised that if they go public, we've seen the last of the good games from either of these developers. I hope I'm wrong.

[Pretzel]

BTW, I'm not suggesting Pixar is a bad place to work (unlike WETA, who do all Peter Jackson's CG), just that what works for them may not work for a game company.

[greenapple]

Unlike other analysts speaking about gaming quality/sales/demand this analyst is talking about the securities viability of a potential public offering.

He's in his element and gamers are out of their's.

he's not talking about the quality or desireability of Bioware's gaming product, this has no bearing on that.

What investors are looking at are growth industries or stable blue chip dividends, gaming developer stock would be neither.

Don't confuse the desireability of the gaming product with that of financial securities from the developer.

[mister_slim]

Let's face it, Elevation isn't going to be as profitable as just a dev as they would be as part of a publisher. I think they'll do okay, and eventually be taken over by EA or something.

[thFOOL]

Michael Pachter is a tool. He loves to talk out of his ass in regards to gaming business. There's some bullshit prediciton of his at least once a month floating out there somewhere.

[Mason]

how much is bioware stock? I'm SOooooo buying some :)

You played Jade Empire, right?

[Mason]

I don't think this is going to be a good thing. For one, I don't think that most stockholders will have any taste for the risks of game development. If they slip one quarter in shipping a game, they'll get pressure from stockholders to ship or the price will slip. Publishers work mainly because of the volume of games they ship--even if one game slips (which is still a big pain for them) they have a dozen other titles still coming out that quarter. Still, they end up cutting games to reduce their losses. So what will this new game studio do? They'll cut jobs.

The reason Pixar works is because they are extremely rigorous with their schedule, much more than any game developer. For a game developer to do the same, they'd probably lose half their employees due to stress. Pixar doesn't have that problem since their animators are under contract. They can't leave mid-project. Also, people in the animation industry are more willing to put up with low pay and a lousy work environment just to be able to work on a movie. Game developers have a lot more options for places to work.

I wouldn't be surprised that if they go public, we've seen the last of the good games from either of these developers. I hope I'm wrong.

Also, Pixar is in a tiny industry, big-budget children's (family?) films bring in a ton of money and there are few enough studios making them that there's no threat of saturation. They only have to compete on quality with Dreamworks and Disney, who aren't exactly creative powerhouses.

The game industry is the exact opposite. Tons of very capable studios competing on quality for a much smaller and more saturated market. That's not a good investment for anyone. And having to work with stockholders calling the shots will finally kill any last shreds of ambition and creativity that Bioware might've once had.

[Viking+]

The last 5 games Pandemic has developed are all million sellers and some multi-million sellers. I don't know what Bioware's record is, but I imagine it's pretty good. How is this not a good bet? There are very few developers with this track record.

[nonchalance]

Save my pennies, buy some stock.