How much do publishers get / game?

[zaphodile]

I was at a presentation from Starbreeze (makers of the Darkness, Chronicles of Riddick), and they spoke about developing costs and publishers etc. It usually goes down this way: For every game sold Starbreeze gets maybe 10%, if they're lucky. With that money, they have to first pay back for the developing costs for that game. If Starbreeze couldn't pay back all the money for the developing costs through royalties, their "debt" is gone. If they can pay back, only THEN can they make money for themselves. In the case of the critically acclaimed Chronicles of Riddick, Starbreeze only barely managed to break even. They never actually got any money from sales... It's tough being a developer.