Responding to claims from EA that it’s recent financial troubles will not spell the end of its renewed commitment to original IP, Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter has admitted that he fears for the recent trend for innovation and new ideas.

“Developers can't afford to take risks,” he told Kotaku. “If you take too many in a row you end up with no money and no franchises. Even EA got in trouble last year doing way too much.

“It's sad that it's easier to sell an Iron Man game or a 50 Cent game with the right license and it's hard to create a new Dead Space. The cost of potential failure on a new idea is too high.

“I think you're going to see moving forward one new game a year from a publisher, not five.”

This month has seen a number of publishers post disappointing financial results, including the likes of EA, THQ and Capcom.