By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Sony Discussion - How Many Copies Did The Last of Us Have To Sell To Become Profitable?

 

How many copies to make the game profitable?

Less than 1m 26 6.03%
 
1m 51 11.83%
 
1.5m 64 14.85%
 
2m 81 18.79%
 
2.5m 33 7.66%
 
3m 31 7.19%
 
3.5m 19 4.41%
 
4m 34 7.89%
 
See results 92 21.35%
 
Total:431
painmaster212 said:
Me and 2 coworkers were having this same discussion at work just 2 days ago but on gaming in general,with development,marketing,publishing,shipping,artwork/cases/manuals and stores taking their percentage how much does the average game have to sell before it turns a profit? I was thinking the average game needed at least 300k to turn a profit but these big budget games would tend to need quite abit more.

Then i look at how low of costs it takes to create a pair of Nike/Jordan shoes and they turn around and sell them for $160 to $260 per pair and realize how lucky we all are to have games selling for $60 (even though alot of them are not worth that)

A Wii game would make a profit at 300k sold (full priced), but not an average HD game.
That's not even $10m, which is below the development budget, which doesn't include marketing costs.

Metro 2033 on 360 broke even with ~400k, (back then a THQ guy told it to a journalist) but only because it was made in the Ukraine. Which also means that it wasn't an "average" game.