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From this week's Escapist, a rather sobering look at the 'demise of Clover Studios.' Everyone claims they want new, different, innovative games, but somehow a studio like Clover that produced Viewtiful Joe 2, God Hand and Okami can't stay afloat. The author points out that for a "scrappy independent developer," selling hundreds of thousands of copies would be quite the achievement, but for a division of Capcom it was a "stinging disappointment."
In a post-shutdown interview, [Clover CEO Atsushi] Inaba reflected, "I think that it is becoming almost 'impossible' for an original game to succeed financially. This can't be blamed on anyone, but it's a simple fact that an original game doesn't appeal to the majority of gamers."
Despite tons of essays, blog posts, and whining to the contrary, it would seem that while people like the idea of new and innovative, when push comes to shove, they don't want to plunk down the cold, hard cash - which is the real shame about Clover, because they delivered on their mission of creating innovative and different games. While studios are a business, and in today's world if you don't make money you can expect to be shuttered, it is especially depressing when put next to all the high-minded talk of innovation and creativity.
Vision Doesn't Sell Copies: The short life of Clover Studios [The Escapist]
