Why do Devs Port Eroge Games to Consoles?
Have you ever wondered why there are console versions of Eroge games? Eroge games are initially released on PC without any censorship and are later ported to consoles, where they are entirely censored, removing adult scenes.
Why do Devs Port Eroge Games to Consoles?
Eroge game developers took to social media to discuss the benefits of porting Eroge games to consoles in the early 2000s and why this was a common practice. On Twitter, a developer commented:
”Porting an eroge game to consoles is hardly profitable for publishers. Additional scenarios and illustrations were obtained at a unit price, and the royalty was based on the percentage of sales.
Still, porting to consoles was desirable. The biggest advantage was that the console could lead to adaptations into anime. Going from an eroge game directly to a TV anime adaptation was virtually impossible.”
Another person joined the conversation, mentioning that it was a standard strategy in the early 2000s to negotiate a development set that included manga, novels, and anime.
It was common for console versions to have additional features such as an opening and a theme song, new heroines and routes, and more prominent secondary characters.
It was also common for two companies to end up producing ports for different consoles of the same game. Take, for example, the eroge game Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, initially released as an eroge and later ported to Dreamcast and Playstation 2.
Kimi ga Nozomu Eien was published by Alchemist for its Dreamcast version and by Princess Soft for the PS2 version, leading to differences between the two versions.
エロゲの移植化権を機種単位で切り分けてDC版とPS2版が全く違うメーカーから同時期に発売、なんてのも今考えたらあの時代のクレイジーな所で。
同業の別メーカー、バチバチなライバル会社がそれぞれ原作監修は当然ありつつも独自に移植してるから倫理修正や追加箇所、ムービーや主題歌が全く違うの。 pic.twitter.com/cCteLk3I2R— H/de.(TECHNOJAPAN.net) (@hide_loopcube) November 2, 2023
But there it is—the main reason Eroge games had censored ports for consoles was the potential for anime, manga, etc., generating more revenue because the port itself wasn’t financially rewarding.
via Twitter
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