invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers?

No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so...

JEDE3 said: invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers? No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so...

There is no game that sells all it's copies at $60. $50 is more reasonable, meaning retail buys them for $40 tops.

Sony actually takes $10, and the distributor+transport+package is easily $5 ---> only $25 in revenue per copy is left to split between publisher and developer.

(this is no criticism at your numbers, but a continuation, because you are closer to the true numbers than the other guys in the thread)

Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers? No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so... There is no game that sells all it's copies at $60. $50 is more reasonable, meaning retail buys them for $40 tops. Sony actually takes $10, and the distributor+transport+package is easily $5 ---> only $25 in revenue per copy is left to split between publisher and developer.

LOL... stop your pulling numbers from your ass. Retail doesn't get 20 dollars per copy. BTW -Devs don't get money till the game breaks even for the pub. The pub pays the dev to make the game so the devs already got their money. Then the pub sells the game and make their money back, then they give royalties to the dev. This is why F5 and FR can't blame the Ps3 since Sony and Ubi took the hit for being the pub for those games.

JEDE3 said: Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers? No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so... There is no game that sells all it's copies at $60. $50 is more reasonable, meaning retail buys them for $40 tops. Sony actually takes $10, and the distributor+transport+package is easily $5 ---> only $25 in revenue per copy is left to split between publisher and developer. LOL... stop your pulling numbers from your ass. Retail doesn't get 20 dollars per copy.

LOL at you. I never said so. Are you blind? Retail sells games for $50 on average, thus getting only $10 per copy.

Oh man... I want these 50 dollar games. POINT ME IN THEIR DIRECTION!

Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers? No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so... There is no game that sells all it's copies at $60. $50 is more reasonable, meaning retail buys them for $40 tops. Sony actually takes $10, and the distributor+transport+package is easily $5 ---> only $25 in revenue per copy is left to split between publisher and developer. LOL... stop your pulling numbers from your ass. Retail doesn't get 20 dollars per copy. LOL at you. I never said so. Are you blind? Retail sells games for $50 on average, thus getting only $10 per copy.

Slimebeast, that may be the case in Europe, but many games stay full price long after they release. Uncharted and Heavenly Sword are both still $60 even over a year after release!

TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy.

Are you excluding marketing/advertisement costs?

 

I think $50 million is a lowballing figure. Development of the Crystal Tools engine originaly started in the Playstation 2, then transcended to the PS3. With FF12 costing $40m like some users said earlier in this thread, I doubt after developing a whole new engine on arguably the most difficult console to create software, costs only increase...... 25%

outlawauron said: Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers? No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so... There is no game that sells all it's copies at $60. $50 is more reasonable, meaning retail buys them for $40 tops. Sony actually takes $10, and the distributor+transport+package is easily $5 ---> only $25 in revenue per copy is left to split between publisher and developer. LOL... stop your pulling numbers from your ass. Retail doesn't get 20 dollars per copy. LOL at you. I never said so. Are you blind? Retail sells games for $50 on average, thus getting only $10 per copy. Slimebeast, that may be the case in Europe, but many games stay full price long after they release. Uncharted and Heavenly Sword are both still $60 even over a year after release!

Even if they drop the price a month after the game releases the majority of sales would have been at te 60 dollar price point.

Hephaestos said: between the development costs, the man hours and the advertisement they are gonna do, I highly doubt that this game can cover it's costs.... especially with the userbase it releases to in JP... Now if you discount the development to the 10 next games, sure... why not discount the man hours too cause that's experience gained on the HD consoles? Or the advertizing cause it increases brand recognition? FFXIII is mostly sunk cost for Square, but that's in the previous fiscal years already.

You don't know how development works...

outlawauron said: Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: Slimebeast said: JEDE3 said: invetedlotus123 said: TheSource said: I don't think FFXIII cost $100 million. I could see $50 million. But its releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3. It is going to do 5-10m worldwide so it will be profitable pretty easily. For an average $60 PS3/360 game, a third party gets $35 back in the USA for the first 200,000 copies, then more after 200,000, more after 400,000, more after 1,000,000 from what I've been told. So the first 200k is $7m, the next 200k is $7.2m, then next 600k is $22.2m, the next 1m is $38m etc. So you can make $72.6m or so if you sell a million copies. That means if the development is $50 million then they're fine. The port probably adds another couple million, and I would expect it to have a big ad campaign. But it should be profitable week one in Japan - what it sells outside of Japan is gravy. How will they'll go getting more from each copy as they sell more? They just get increasing their price to retailers? No, what the source said didn't make sense to me but how it would work (theoretically) would be like this we have 60 dollars. 12 gone to retail alone. so 48 dollars. Console manufacture take out 5 to put their game on their console. So 43 dollars. materials... ect ect... anyway, Publisher would take the most out then after recouping their cost they take less and give royalties to the dev. But SE are publishers and dev... so... There is no game that sells all it's copies at $60. $50 is more reasonable, meaning retail buys them for $40 tops. Sony actually takes $10, and the distributor+transport+package is easily $5 ---> only $25 in revenue per copy is left to split between publisher and developer. LOL... stop your pulling numbers from your ass. Retail doesn't get 20 dollars per copy. LOL at you. I never said so. Are you blind? Retail sells games for $50 on average, thus getting only $10 per copy. Slimebeast, that may be the case in Europe, but many games stay full price long after they release. Uncharted and Heavenly Sword are both still $60 even over a year after release!

Just look at your own game collection. How many games did you pay full price $60? How many u bought cheaper and how many even from the bargain bin.

I've done this survey on VGC already and the average price point what the consumer pays for a HD game is less than $50!

We're not discussing 1st week or 1st months sales here, we're basing these budget/break even calculations on lifetime sales (obviously).