At least, that was what made sense back when publishers started pushing games. After seeing games like Borderlands move a couple million units in the face of stiff opposition, I was left wondering if too many games had moved out to Q1, effectively delaying the holiday bloodbath by three months instead of eliminating it entirely.
Looks like Capcom feels that the first quarter of 2010 has gotten way too crowded, so as part of a presentation on its next fiscal year, the company announced that Super Street Fighter IV, Lost Planet 2, and the domestic release of Monster Hunter Tri would be better off if they moved out past March 31. That's when the company's current fiscal year ends.
Interestingly, these delays aren't being blamed on the games not being ready. The reasons given include avoiding "the major titles that other companies plan to introduce in the 4th quarter." Keep in mind by "4th quarter" they mean "Q1 2010," as they're talking fiscalyearspeak.
No updated dates for the games were given in the report, only that they'd be released during the next fiscal year, starting on April 1 and trucking through to March 31, 2011. On top of that, the company cut its sales forecast for Dark Void, which is still on track to ship in January. Previously, the Dark Void forecast was 1.3 million units. Now, the company is thinking somewhere around 600,000. I ain't no businessman, but that sounds like a distinct lack of faith in Will Grey's Bermuda Triangle battle to me. Or, well, maybe that's just a more realistic approach to the game, considering that when that initial forecast was given, the first quarter of 2010 wasn't looking like a minefield packed full of big games.
If this keeps up, though, won't Q2 end up being just as packed? I'm all for having big games shipping all year long, but this stuff is kind of starting to get scary. Even scarier? I've just about got my mind wrapped around this whole "fiscal year/calendar year" thing. Business!!!!!
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