Pachter: Development prices for next gen games will only increase by 10-15%

[JEMC]

zarx said:

http://www.warhorsestudios.cz/index.php?page=blog&entry=blog_007

...

"Last year I received a proposal to work for one of the biggest publishers as a writer on a big franchise. They asked me what exactly I’d done in the past and so I answered that I wrote most of the game design, mission design, complete story, most of the dialogues plus I also designed controls and parts of the GUI and HUD. Of course I mentioned that I worked with other people, but I did all that stuff mostly myself. There was a moment of silence on the other side, and I believe I overheard coughing as well. ”Ehhh... We have a team of thirty people for that, sir. You would be one of them, working together with our creative director, producer, lead designer, lead level designer and lead writer.” Shit. What are all those people, plus 20 writers under them, doing on the design of a linear FPS shooter? A script for a two hour movie has 120 pages. At the speed of three pages a day I can write it in two months and rewrite it completely 6 times within a year. Who the hell needs a team of several writers to write ingame dialogues (which are usually tragically crappy anyway)? I mean what was the last game you finished and said to yourself – wow, this was a pretty damn good story."

...

Yesterday when I finished Alan Wake. Quite a good story. But I mostly agree, things have gone out of control, specially in regards to AAA games.

And, if I remember correctly, last week or the week before, someone posted news of a developer working in projects for the next gen saying that they had to double the work and time spent in some parts of game design (I'll see if I can find it).

That with the fact that it is Pachter who is saying this, makes me belive that development costs will rise more than 10-15%. If only for that extra work and the yearly increase in salaries.

Btw, I'll miss your Triss avatar.