"From what I've heard is that Sierra has shut down several games, such as Cry.Sys, Capitol Punishment, and Cloak, while they were well into development. I was wondering how do you decide when a game no longer holds any appeal for the market?"

Submitted by: Alan

Answered by: Mark Hood (general manager, Sierra On-Line)

"It's always a tough call, but at some point, it becomes clear that a product just isn't coming together. When that happens, it's nearly always clear to most people looking at the product.

"Sales has to be convinced it will sell, Marketing has to be convinced it's got a shot, and Development has to have a passion to create something extraordinary in order for a product to make it to market."

Answered by: Brad Bethune (marketing brand manager, Sierra On-Line)

"Each project has individual issues regarding its potential in the gaming marketplace. Generally speaking, at Sierra we look at many game prototypes per year and as you can guess, not all of our prototypes make it to market. But it is a summation of many factors which determine a product's future. We analyze each title on its own merit and try to come to some conclusions on how it might do in the existing marketplace. What are its strengths and what are its weaknesses? How much will it cost us to develop, market and support? Is that the best use of our research and production $$$'s, and how can we maximize our returns?

"We also try to determine, given our limited resources (no company has limitless budgets for development and promotion), which games might have priority over another, or -- if they all have great potential -- when is the most opportune time for their release?

"As you can see, many decisions have to be made before a title will breathe life. Some have died only to be resurrected later when technology advances or our priorities change. And some have been buried only to live on in lore! *grin* But as I've stated, each product must go through this approval process and of course has its own set of hurdles to jump.

"I hope this helps in explaining how a product lives or dies in the industry!"

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