I don't mean to be rude, but honestly, how can any of you guys believe those budget numbers? IMO, it's pretty obvious why the industry never releases any information on estimated, game specific budgets, even in quarterly or yearly financial reports; the numbers are nowhere near the levels of Hollywood.
Why does that matter? Because the industry has been long searching for the air of legitimacy, and believe it or not, expensive projects are a key method of attaining this; especially in the American market. Until the industry even somewhat matches Hollywood-level numbers, you can bet we, the general public, won't find out anything specific. Ever. Hence why I don't believe these numbers.
Not to mention, IMO it's insane to believe that an almost completely digital creation can even come close to matching low to mid range Hollywood film budgets. Aside from miniscule voicework costs and R&D, the massive majority of game development costs are developer salaries. Middleware and licenses are slowly becoming more expensive, but I'd be completely surprised if the average game's budget isn't still 80%+ developer salaries. (Remember, I'm not counting marketing because Hollywood doesn't include marketing costs in their budgets either).
Three other points hinder these 'facts' about current game budgets. One, if anyone remembers the FFVII commercial, the narration during the ad stated the game had a budget of $20 million. What many forget is an interview with Andrew House (from SCEA) in 1998, after VII's massive success, where he admitted that they 'exaggerated the costs' to build anticipation.
The other two points concern Sega, who has divulged more budget info than any other studio. One was the budget for Shenmue, which many have simply taken as fact to be $20 million as well. In actuality, the budget was later revealed in an earnings report (due to the 'unfortunate' sales flop) in early 2001. It was over 25% below $20m, closer to 13m.
Finally, comes Sega's Ryu Ga Gotoku, that just recently released in Japan. The budget has been revealed by Sega to be 'over $20m', and as such, by Sega's claim, 'one of the most expensive games ever made'. Is it possible that Sega is fudging the numbers? Of course, and in fact I'd expect it. But no amount of fudging or even blatant lunacy would cause a company (even one as idiotic as Sega) to state the aforementioned in light of competing games costing twice as much.
Uh, anyways, sorry for the long post. Just to summarize, I don't believe these numbers in the least, and I don't think any of you should either. They don't make sense, are contradicted by the examples I provided above, and are pretty much just straight up hyperbole tripe that game companies don't mind floating around, because it provides the illusion that the industry throws around way more money than they actually do.
Why does that matter? Because the industry has been long searching for the air of legitimacy, and believe it or not, expensive projects are a key method of attaining this; especially in the American market. Until the industry even somewhat matches Hollywood-level numbers, you can bet we, the general public, won't find out anything specific. Ever. Hence why I don't believe these numbers.
Not to mention, IMO it's insane to believe that an almost completely digital creation can even come close to matching low to mid range Hollywood film budgets. Aside from miniscule voicework costs and R&D, the massive majority of game development costs are developer salaries. Middleware and licenses are slowly becoming more expensive, but I'd be completely surprised if the average game's budget isn't still 80%+ developer salaries. (Remember, I'm not counting marketing because Hollywood doesn't include marketing costs in their budgets either).
Three other points hinder these 'facts' about current game budgets. One, if anyone remembers the FFVII commercial, the narration during the ad stated the game had a budget of $20 million. What many forget is an interview with Andrew House (from SCEA) in 1998, after VII's massive success, where he admitted that they 'exaggerated the costs' to build anticipation.
The other two points concern Sega, who has divulged more budget info than any other studio. One was the budget for Shenmue, which many have simply taken as fact to be $20 million as well. In actuality, the budget was later revealed in an earnings report (due to the 'unfortunate' sales flop) in early 2001. It was over 25% below $20m, closer to 13m.
Finally, comes Sega's Ryu Ga Gotoku, that just recently released in Japan. The budget has been revealed by Sega to be 'over $20m', and as such, by Sega's claim, 'one of the most expensive games ever made'. Is it possible that Sega is fudging the numbers? Of course, and in fact I'd expect it. But no amount of fudging or even blatant lunacy would cause a company (even one as idiotic as Sega) to state the aforementioned in light of competing games costing twice as much.
Uh, anyways, sorry for the long post. Just to summarize, I don't believe these numbers in the least, and I don't think any of you should either. They don't make sense, are contradicted by the examples I provided above, and are pretty much just straight up hyperbole tripe that game companies don't mind floating around, because it provides the illusion that the industry throws around way more money than they actually do.
