Lack of marketing and wise spending causing 'middle industry' to shrink - report

The holiday season is almost upon us, and gaming's biggest triple-a juggernauts are about to come out and play. Gamasutra's Matt Matthews has shed light on why games that fall between indie and triple-a - the 'middle industry' - are having a tougher time these days. Basically they aren't marketed enough and you're not spending as much money.

Matthews stated to Joystiq that games without the big marketing spend aren't going to perform as well - which is obvious we know - but the middle market is now shrinking by 11 per cent annually as a result, rather than expanding.

Matthews explained, "Consider games like Sleeping Dogs and Darksiders 2, each of which sold under 300,000 units in August and then disappeared from the top 10 by September. These middle-tier titles fall by the wayside when they don't get the first-class promotions of titles like New Super Mario Bros. 2, which is now over 500,000 units in its second month on a platform with fewer than 6 million owners."

"However," he added, "I think it likely that other titles, like say XCOM: Enemy Unknown, are on the edge and at risk of being overlooked by gamers who appear to have become more discerning with the money they're spending on games."

He has a point though. Money is becoming tighter these days. Does this have a felt impact on your gaming habits these days? Will the coming of next-gen consoles give the middle market a chance to thrive once more, or has the gap widened too far for them to catch up now?

Let us know what you think.