The production values on that game were huge. They hired a lot of talent for the cinematic aspects of the game as a high profile release.

Unfortunately, those production values are probably what ate into a lot of the more bread and butter sections of the game that were strictly game play related.

HS could have been a longer game like NG or NG2 if they had dumbed down the cinematic elements of the game to the same level. But IMO, those elements were a large part of what made the game such a treat to enjoy.

Most of the high cost aspects of production were tied to the celebrity voices and "hollywood" style of game making.

Maybe that is a really bad management call considering the userbase they were selling the game to when it was released. One can only guess that management must have thought the PS3 was going to sell a lot more consoles at $600 by the time they went gold than it did in reality.

Probably most games released this generation for HD systems haven't really made money. If you look at the top 10 console owner published games for the DX9 twins you'd probably find only about 8 of those actually made money.

I remember the MGS4 dev saying to even consider it a success, it would need min 1 mil on day 1 to recoup cost, not to break even.  Besides, he backpedaled shortly after that:

As fun as it's been to dream about the vague, but imminent peril hinted at by Metal Gear Solid 4 assistant producer Ryan Payton when he allegedly told Reuters that the game must sell over a million copies on day one (or else...?), it's time to wake up -- all bets are off! Speaking on the Bionic Commando podcast, Payton denied ever quoting the ominous figure, admitting, "I don't even know how many figures we'd need to sell to be profitable."

The gaming industry has essentially morphed into the same business model as the American film industry.

It's not all just about raking in huge profits, but selling enough to justify financing the next project, which will presumably cost less to produce if it's another sequel. 

Although with the major publishers like EA, Ubisoft and Activision, one has to wonder why the hell they exist as these huge game corporations if it's not for the purpose of expansion and profits. Usually, they are profitable.

Even the major movie studios release box office clunkers on a regular basis, and yet they still maintain enough hits to keep the films coming.

Yeah... Andy is more of a D level talent... at that.  Think about it this way.  Videogame movie adaptions.  Use the original voice actors... who are MUCH bigger then Andy.

Your dellusional if you think he even got paid 1 million for voice acting.

LOL ok. I'm the delusional one but your the one who sees words on the screens that arent there. BTW the link shows 1 hour in the studio = 750k. Andy spent a whole lot more than an hour and he was "my precious" from a trilogy that made bank. He is pretty high on the list for nerds (gamers) no matter what you think. The guy probablly made a couple million on his work for HS. I seriously think you are under estimating this because all the evidence that you guys present doesnt back you up.

No... it doesn't.  It's 750K for "Top talent" as in a HUGE actor.  This guy is not that.

You are silly... you keep putting this guy up as if he was Robin Williams or something.  The 750K an hour was most likely an actor doing a movie game.  You know... they have to pay BIG time actors to do that.  Hence what that number is for.  BIG time actors.

It's not like this guy is in the highest demand career wise.  To where he had a lot of other options for work.

I mean hell, that guy who plays Spike from Cowboy Bebop has a WAY more recognizable voice then Andy does and he's in like every freaking videogame.  It used to be one of my favorite PS2 hobbies.  I'd see how long it'd take me to find Spikes voice in a videogame.

I doubt he's getting millions thrown at him left and right.

Andy Serkis WISHES he had Steve Blum's value in the voiceover industry.

I'm sorry does he have a role as a character in a trilogy that made 3 billion dollars?

No matter what Andy does from now on the guy has Smeagol/Gollum on his resume now. He'll get over paid. Keanu Reeves too. Because of the Matrix no matter what that guy does now he'll make more than he should (but andy is more talented)

Also its 750k for 1 hour of work. Andy did a whole lot more than that