@Max: I meant it would be easier to understand what your point is regarding the budget. Because so far, all I've seen in your replies is you poking small holes on others' arguments without making any conclusions about the budget.

I've already posted a link saying KZ2's initial development budget was more than $21 million, and that's official information. Counting delays and advertising, I don't see how the final amount could be any less than $40 million, and that's a conservative estimate since advertising was $3 million in the UK alone.

Could be pretty accurate, if anything I'd say the game development cost may have been a bit smaller, and marketing a bit higher (which would more or less cancel out).

The only thing missing is the info on how many of the copies were sold bundled. Were those bundles a small limited edition?

 I could have said that Mario wears a red hat, and it would have been just as relevant an argument to why KZ isn't making any money yet as anything else you've blathered off.

Stop strawmanning and state your point...  Is it or isn't it simple "NO!  NO, NO, NO!!  I believe KZ2 is the bestest!!"

squil - id still put the dev and market cost down a bit. but as it stands its the most reasonable one yet.

on marketing cost - the reason i say lower isnt any data i have but for this reason... wasnt Halo 3s ad campaign 30million? 30million would put kz2s campaign 2/3rds of Halo 3s... and Halo 3s was HUGE. They had MD flavor AND I remember seeing ads run on prime time on the most notable channels. I never saw a KZ2 ad. the reason is because the advertized on cable channels (which i dont get).

basically i dont see how the ad campaign is close to Halo 3s... at least here in USA

Hmm they also sold the higher margin LTD edition version, but I don;t think the bundle lasted very long and it was only one region. I don't think it effects much as theres so much uncertainty already.

Halos Ad campaign cost more than the game to develop. But yeah 40M is high I was satisfying the nay sayers. I used to be one of the people who said it cost bla bla amount but I did some research so I know its less than $40,000,000 but I cannot tell by how much.

As for the total, $60M is high but the fact that the numbers work for a high estimate proves my point that the game is likely profitable even if they want to factor in the kitchen sink.

I have to agree with this...  Outside of rabid fans on forums, I probably never woudl have even heard of Killzone.

I know the game is first party, but $40 per game sounds too high to me.  I remember awhile back that Sven from Capcom (I know, not the most reliable guy) said that even $25 per game was too high for third parties.

Wasn't that in relation to Wii games?

fair enough. i at least people can now admit they are ballparking it. when the issue first came up people were talking like it was fact and thats what got me the most. I only state what i know and if i dont know i at least say " i have nothing to support this but..." thats why i havent stated an amount yet because i dont know.