Rhys Elliott

Rhys Elliott is a games industry analyst at MIDiA. Over the past decade, Rhys has honed his voice in the gaming business world, making his passion for games, analysis, data, and words his career. As a consultant, Rhys has worked with tech giants to help unpack market trends. He has also done consulting work for the biggest short-form video app (pinpointing the role of community and culture in launching successful games), a major global investment management firm (honing investment strategies around gaming’s biggest acquisition), and has worked on various other projects across big tech, media, and entertainment. He also plays, in his words, "WAY too many games".

Collector’s editions are becoming a backdoor for monetising early access

Cover image for Collector’s editions are becoming a backdoor for monetising early access
Rhys Elliott
Xbox
Xbox Game Pass
Ubisoft
Since publishers first increased AAA game prices from $60 to $70 in 2020, many people have asked MIDiA if publishers will raise that price further. Our answer: they already have – sort of, anyway. Via collector’s editions – more expensive versions of games with extra content – publishers are already leveraging superfans’ FOMO to grow launch revenues.
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Game budgets have gone out of control – let's shrink the scope

Cover image for Game budgets have gone out of control – let's shrink the scope
Rhys Elliott
PlayStation Productions
Xbox
Nintendo
AAA game development budgets and timelines for single-player games are getting out of hand. This was not always the case, but there has been an insidious creep over the past 20 years. While the cost of game development is a black box, leaks and disclosures around court cases and acquisitions show that budgets are now in the hundreds of millions for many AAA games.
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