Sure House of the Dead: Overkill and MadWorld did not sell outstandingly, but they will sell enough to ensure profit considering the low budget costs for Wii development.

If it took 5 million each to develop games that means the total cost was 10 million. Add another 2 million for advertising.

Both games combined sold 500k copies at full price. If SEGA sold each copy to retailers at $30 that means that 30 times 500 000 = $15 million.

That is 3 million profit already. Even if the development cost was a bit more, they would be in profit already. With no price drop for Overkill, and recent price drop for MadWorld, sales will increase and profit will increase.

Since the development costs of Madworld and House of the Dead: Overkill can't be determined.. all you just said is full of fecal matter.

While your post isn't very accurate considering you don't know the development budget, most people who aren't trolls already take for granted that Overkill and MadWorld both made a profit.

Can someone please provide an accurate number of the development cost?

I don't think they are failures either, but I think it's a bit ridiculous that you make a claim that they didn't bomb based on hypothetical budgets.

That's as bad as the people who said they bombed because they sold less than 1 million (or any arbitrary number) without factoring in that it costs less to develop on the Wii.

this thread is rther pointless since the whole thing is based off assumptions

Can we really be sure about that? I personally think Overkill's about on track with what Sega could reasonably expect, and like its predecessor it's still selling steadily, but has it turned a profit yet? Likely, but not certainly. Madworld though is a tougher sell: Clover has a history of making expensive games that don't sell well, and while parts of Madworld make it seem cheap I can't say for sure that it's cheap enough to make money with its paltry sales.

The games aren't failures, no matter how many trolls try to convince you otherwise. I think in the case of OverKill, it shows that the genre of Light Gun games is satisfied here. Much like how deca sports 2 shows that thsoe types of games is becoming oversaturated. As with Madworld, a 5 hr black and white title sold a quarter of a million in a couple months? Not bad at all.

I'm almost certain that Overkill has turned a profit, since I imagine Sega want a quick return. They know it'll keep selling steadily, of course, but I don't think they'd give it a big budget and just wait for the return on their cash. Of course, nothing is certain since we have no solid numbers, but that's my take on it.

As for MadWorld, I just can't imagine it being that expensive after having played through it. I just can't see what parts of the game would have costed a lot. Neither is certain, but I feel fairly convinced that both are in profit territory so far, especially Overkill. MadWorld might have a bit left to go before breaking even, can't be sure.

Both titles are still selling decently. Another year on the market should see those sales (500k) increase by another 50%, bringing it to around 750k.


With a higher assumption that each game cost $7.5m (higher echelon Wii game) to make plus $2m advertising, you get $17m. Sega sells to retailers with an even lower assumption of $26. $26x 500k=$13m. The last 250k come at a reduced price point, making it $13 sold to retailers.

(THIS number is a problem because we do not know how much that number really is, we're not retailers)

$13 x 250k = $3.25m. That adds up to about $16.25m, $750,000 short of the mark I had. But lets look at revenue:

$50 x the initial (500k, but I'll use 485k) = $24.25m
$23 (standard Gamestop price) x the remaining 260k (round up to 750k) =$5.98m

The numbers change according to European currency, but excluding that,you get around $30.23m dollars. European money makes it much more lucrative, but this is all just speculation and assumption, take it with a high grain of salt.