Activision appears to be tickled pink with the success of Prototype. Activision Publishing CEO, Eric Hirshberg, talked with GamesIndustry.biz about the intellectual property and Activision’s interest in the series.
“We often get painted with the brush that says we’re only just working on our existing franchises,” Hirshberg said. He realizes it might be an accurate description, but there is a reason for their single-minded focus:
New IP with Bungie, new IP with Skylanders, doubling down on new IP with Prototype; what we’re focused on is making the games that we feel we can make better than anybody else, the places where we have a unique advantage, idea or development partner, that can set us apart.
However, Hirshberg is optimistic with Prototype’s newer status:
People forget that Prototype was the biggest selling new IP the year it came out. Launching an IP is the hardest thing to do in this business. I think nine out of ten of the best selling games last year were based on existing franchises. We feel we can grow Prototype. That’s obviously much more of a core audience – it’s a grotesque, ultra-violent, beautiful game – that obviously doesn’t appeal to everybody. It really appeals to the people who play it, so we think we can grow that.
The one thing to make note of is that, as exciting as Prototype 2 looks, the fact remains that it’s a sequel and therefore it’s not considered an original IP anymore. It’s an existing franchise. I’m definitely not complaining, but it’s hard to call Prototype 2 a fresh IP when it has existed since the summer of 2009.
However, since its release, Prototype has sold over two million copies. Considering that it was a brand new property, it’s certainly something that the devs should be proud of. With Activision’s overwhelming backing of this title, it doesn’t seem like Radical Entertainment will have any excuse if Prototype 2 doesn’t completely deliver when it is released on April 24th next year for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
