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GamesIndustry caught up with iD Software">Steven Nix, director of business management at iD Software, and managed to ask a few questions. One of them was about episodic content. "We would have to see the model proven a little bit more," Nix said.
From where we sit, Valve Corporation must have felt that episodic content was sound; they released Half-Life 2 in episodes, each advancing the story. iD didn't share the sentiment, as Nix explained. "I don’t think (story or narrative is) the key reason people buy a game." In iD's opinion, game innovation is the factor that drives game sales: gameplay innovation, graphical innovation.
"The problem with episodic is how do you make something really compelling
gameplay-wise or technology-wise in that short of a window (between episodes)? I don't
know how you do it - it's just really challenging."
True enough, although we feel that one of the rationales behind episodic content is that the narrative, the story has enough of its own hook to draw in the gamers. Nix said that he believed narrative was important, but not that important.
Probably means that we won't be seeing any Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Episode (x). On the other hand, Nix revealed that iD software currently has a couple of "interesting things" being worked on, and particularly mentioned the Xbox 360 as a lead SKU.
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