You wouldn't last long as a boss of a public company lol
Many people would be fine with a great game on a more modest budget.
For example, almost no one asked for multiplayer in Dead Space 2.
$60 is absolutely feasible for a video game, but budgets will need to be reigned in, big time.
BotW was likely created with a fraction of the budget of many AAA titles and it's going to end up selling 10 million copies and likely stay the highest rated game of the generation.
That being said, companies like EA, Activision, Warner Bros., etc. aren't going to change their business model anytime soon. In most cases, it works for them.
Was the animated movie apart of the marketing budget?
How much did Dead Space 3 cost?
And this is why I'm NEVER going to be a huge fan of EA at the end of the day. And that's why I love Sony's approach to allowing and funding "artist like" games that may not make millions in profits back.
I don't know how much to this day but wikipedia states 605K copies sold.
When do you think we'll get another MotorStorm or Driveclub?
Well, i bought it.
When do you think we'll get another MotorStorm or Driveclub?
That happened with the inception of the franchise.They went full transmedia batshit with the animated movie(s), novels, spin-off games... probably also a comic, I'd have to look that up.
Non-graphic parts of games aren't getting better. gameplay mechanics are getting simpler
Can someone explain where exactly that 60 million is going to?
Yes I know basically its to pay the salaries of the people working on it. I mean where did all the man-hours go to?
Graphics come down to this:
- 3D models
- Animation
- Texture work
- Lights and shader programing
- Bug and Glitch fixes
- Optimising for hardware limitations
What is costing so much? Non-graphic parts of games aren't getting better. AI hasn't seriously evolved, gameplay mechanics are getting simpler, and they no longer have to build a new engine for each game. Its all unreal or unity these days.
I wonder how much of it is throwing out and redoing completed work? Some manager comes in and decide that location isn't doing it for him or is getting poor marks from focus groups and then months and millions of dollars are thrown out on a whim.
Just listing art, which is only ONE part of a process that takes years and involves hundreds of people...there are TONS of things you need to spend money and time on. Here are just A FEW:.
No wonder DS3 was full on co-op cover shooter with weapon microtransactions. Wonder how that one sold and fared since the 360 era was full of games in that mould( resi 5/6, Mass effect 3 MP)
If the publisher only sees $12 of a $60 game then at 4 million copies sold, it made a loss.
If the publisher only sees $12 of a $60 game then at 4 million copies sold, it made a loss.
You gotta spend $60 million on marketing! You just gotta! What are we going to do, not double our budget on terrible campaigns that only served to drag the game's name through the mud? What kind of business do you think we're running here?
If the publisher only sees $12 of a $60 game then at 4 million copies sold, it made a loss.
Isn't it closer to $18 per $60 game?
Found a kotaku article stating the marketing budget for dead space 2 was $5M-$10M.
https://kotaku.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-big-video-game-1501413649
"According to a document from the advertising industry Effie Awards, EA's media expenditures on the sci-fi horror sequel's "Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2" marketing campaign were between $5 million and $10 million."
Maybe that's only specifically for the "your mom hates dead space 2" campaign?
I linked to this Kotaku article early on in the thread that puts the amount of money a publisher sees from a $60 purchase at $27. The article was published in February 2010, and Dead Space 2 came out just under a year later, so I'd presume it didn't fluctuate too much in that time. Likely also worth noting that while a digital version of Dead Space 2 is available and would presumably see a bigger return to the publisher due to the platformer holder's cut being 30% (I'm assuming there are no other fees involved seeing as there's no physical stock to account for, also, Dead Space 2 was released before EA's Origin platform went live so it's not like digital PC sales would have seen a 100% return back to EA), digital was also much smaller contributor to sales in 2011.
Yeah, the article is saying that $5-$10 million estimate is only for the Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2 campaign.
Worst Dead Space game. 1 is still the best. Also loved 3 and Extraction. 2 was disappointing for me.
Not even close.So with digital sales the game probably made at least $100 million right?
So with digital sales the game probably made at least $100 million right?
how bad did dead space 3 do
You gotta spend $60 million on marketing! You just gotta! What are we going to do, not double our budget on terrible campaigns that only served to drag the game's name through the mud? What kind of business do you think we're running here?
Yeah, the article is saying that $5-$10 million estimate is only for the Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2 campaign.
Holy shit I just remembered DS2 had a shitty multiplayer mode! I wonder how much they could've saved had they abstained from adding that tacked on Mode. It couldn't have been cheap to make.
4 million copies is a lot... kind of crazy when you think about it.
Just one of those things that LITERALLY no one asked for. Same goes for the MP in the first Tomb Raider reboot. Feels like someone from higher up forced them to waste money on it because CoD was doing gangbusters with its mp mode.
Given that you already have the option of gifting them an extra $30+ for a cheesy statue or a 15 page artbook, I wouldn't say that the $60 price tag is what's hurting them.And this is why we see like a fraction of the AAA games that we used to see released.
The market's refusal to go above the $60 price tag killed games like this.