It’s not about Uncharted. It’s about everything else.
Let’s assume that the OP is correct – Uncharted cost “only” $20m to develop, start to finish. He claims that’s pretty cheap. OK, let’s forget whether that is or is not cheap, and by what definition of cheap you use. Let’s just say that he’s right – this is game is a relative bargain for the PS3.
Now, the sales are around 1m, at $60 a piece. Assuming that the developer and publisher gets between $20-30 per game, that would mean Uncharted will net them between $0 to $10,000,000 in profit. Then, by the OPs estimate, this successful game, a supposed bargain for the developer, nets, at best, half the money needed to develop another game.
Is this a successful business model? And what of the dozens of other games that never come close to sniffing 7 figures in sales? How many developers will look at Uncharted, an unqualified critical and commercial success, and see that profit margin and think that the PS3 is a good platform to develop for?
