| theRepublic said: I doubt The Conduit will be that expensive. Development started in October 2007 and it is approx. a 30 man team. That's a fairly small team and less than two years of development time. I've heard the same about Madworld. It was definitely developed on a small budget. |
I think you're right. However, it was the only third-party game I could think of that might possibly-maybe-sorta challenge Red Steel in the budget arena, so I'm willing to concede the faint possibility.
Actually, let's crunch some numbers. We know that in 2007 the average game developer received a take-home salary of $73k.
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/416/the_game_industry_salary_survey_2007.php
We know that salary alone is only a portion of an employer's cost: social security, health care, etc. all add up as well. Let's be conservative, and peg each employee at $110k/year.
110k/12=9.2k
9.2kx20 months (Oct.2 2007->June 2009)=$184,000
$184,000x30=$5,520,000
If these numbers and assumptions are accurate (and there's almost certainly some variation that I missed) The Conduit cost $5,520,000 in salary, assuming the developers are all average-paid, numbered 30 in total, and all 30 worked on the game for 20 months. I can guarantee that there are additional costs (keeping the lights on, buying dev. kits/other equipment, etc.). I feel comfortable rounding this off $6 million.
Am I missing anything?
Also, I forgot about Monster Hunter 3. 
| superchunk said: I was saying on a $50 game: $3 to retailer $5 to costs related to shipping (and all costs related), materials (and all costs related, incl packaging), and advertising $42 somehow split between publisher and developer Now, I am 95% sure on the retailer part as I when I worked at Circuit City for 8 years we bought items at CC's cost. On games/movies/music/etc it was only a few dollars off if anything of the retail price. That was due to the almost no markup on these items. So I would expect if I got $2 off, then CC probably paid $47 for that $50 item as $1 would be part of their cost for selling the game. Granted I could be off by $1 or $2, but I doubt it. So, Maybe a max of $5 goes to retailer. Now for the costs in the $5 I have above, that is on a mass scale item where they are making hundreds of thousands of copies if not millions. We all know they pay <$1 per disc. So include case/manuals/ect is probably $4 for everythign, in the quantities that they get. Then add shipping costs of ~$1 per game. So maybe I was lowballing that figure. So, maybe a max of $10 goes to manufacturing, shipping, advertising. That's still leaves $35 easy for publisher and dev. Currently that means SEGA has netted over $62 million. So, the OP is about right in his guestimatation that they are about half way to breaking even. Should be doable and that really isn't bad considering the type of game Madworld is, its graphic style, and that its a new IP. It will be profitable in its lifetime. |
How sure are you about those numbers? Because while I admit to lacking firsthand knowledge, they seem really, really low. I can see $3 for a DVD, but for a $50 (let alone $60) game? I dunno, dude, that seems like a recipe for retailer bankruptcy to me.
