like all of you, i have been wanting to know just how much $$$ goes to the publisher for each game sale.

royalties--around 20%.  i read that this is around $9 to $11 for a full priced game.

retail markup--i just don't know.  i've read figures from a 50% markup (i.e. $33 wholesale on a $50 retail game) to about 15% markup (i.e. about $43 wholesale for a $50 game).

misc.--i don't know if publishers chip in for the console makers' marketing costs, etc, like how they do it for car dealerships.  and shipping, boxing, etc.

assuming for now, $10 royalties, $13 markup (35% markup), $2 misc, a $50 game on the market the publisher ultimately gets $25 bucks.  50% of gross.  guess that's kind of like the movie box office.

does anybody have 1st hand knowledge how much retailer makes on each game sale?  figures for royalties would also be nice.

Here is a breakdown of costs for Gears of War.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/19/ps3-xbox360-costs-tech-cx_rr_game06_1219expensivegames.html 

Console Owner Fee: 11.5% (about $7)

This is why Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are laboring so mightily to make their machines to success: Each gamemaker that wants to roll out a new title has to fork over a fee for each unit sold. This may vary per console maker--some publishers say creating games for the PlayStation 3 is more expensive because of fees Sony charges to use its Blu-Ray DVD standard. "But that number can get smaller depending on the publisher's status," says Peer Schneider, vice president of content publishing at IGN, News Corp.'s gaming portal. "The fee can be waived for exclusivity to a platform--that will buy you a kickback."

So if Sony gets $7 for each game sold then how exactly are they going to make back the $200-250 that they lose on every system?

i've read that forbes article before, but the % representation which leads to publisher's profit is obviously wrong--design, development and programming are fixed costs.

the $12 retailer's profit, $7 royalties, $3 packing are marginal costs, which is what i'm looking for, so they add add to $22. distribution is probably primarily a marginal cost, so add $1, brings to $23, with $37 left.

i have read that licensing fees are generally a fixed cost, though it varies from case to case. i'm not sure about marketing, advertising and the likes. store placement might be a marginal cost, i dunno.

estimating $4 for those marginal costs, brings us to $33. which is 55%. i guess that would be a figure to go by.