A study to look at whether it's possible to create the 'perfect' game by adding in the best bits of other successful games has thrown up some startling statistics.
Forbes visited The Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) to see whether a theoretical game could be made based on other successful titles, and found that while it's impossible to make the perfect game, projected sales and revenue are possible.
Apparently only four per cent of games that make it to market garner a profit, as it seems a significant amount of the budget goes on redesigning or reworking the game.
Multi-value
It also appears that adding things like multiplayer modes and co-operative missions can add real value to a game (surprise, surprise), though just sticking a multiplayer option on at the end isn't going to win any fans, as it has to be integrated with the gameplay.
"Every game I have ever worked on, we've gone in blind as to which features would sell the game better," says EEDAR President Geoffrey Zatkin, according to Forbes.
"No one or two things can determine the success or failure of a game."
Oh, and it turns out Forbes' idea of a secret agent that accidentally wiped out the human race and had to keep going back in time to sort it out was something of a winner... not in the 'three million sales' bracket like Halo 3, but still good enough to make a respectable amount of cash.
