richardhutnik said:
In the arms race of videogames, production value is what the indusrtry thinks makes a difference. The belief is not that you do something new, but you do something at a higher production value, and more people will buy it. If you go the innovator's route, you usually can get off a lot cheaper (read Portal here), but then companies have a hard time justifying anything. So, the idea is to do a $100 million GTA4, because it is a lock to sell a TON, the belief goes. |
Games are budgeted based on analysis of what is needed in terms of employees and tools. Number of employees are estimated based on what assets are going to be needed in terms of game content and code. Executive's purses are pinched pretty tight, in order to justify budgets, things must be explained. No one just writes blank checks.
