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Forums - Gaming - So, Final Fantasy 13 will have cost $100+ million to make?

JEDE3 on 07 August 2009
Slimebeast said:
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).


every game i bought new (which is every game) was for 60 dollars... except Disgea. and you are completely doing the survey wrong.

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outlawauron on 07 August 2009
Slimebeast said:
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).

But we're talking about Final Fantasy here which will get at least 50% of its sales in the first week!



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

Slimebeast on 07 August 2009
JEDE3 said:
Slimebeast said:
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).

every game i bought new (which is every game) was for 60 dollars... except Disgea. and you are completely doing the survey wrong.

1. You are a rude and dishonest member on VGC, you could be lying.

2. In either case you aren't representative of the gaming community as a whole. And Ive already proved this. Theres no debate, even PS360 gamers pay less than $50 for their games on average (new games).



JEDE3 on 07 August 2009
Slimebeast said:
JEDE3 said:
Slimebeast said:
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).

every game i bought new (which is every game) was for 60 dollars... except Disgea. and you are completely doing the survey wrong.

1. You are a rude and dishonest member on VGC, you could be lying.

2. In either case you aren't representative of the gaming community as a whole. And Ive already proved this. Theres no debate, even PS360 gamers pay less than $50 for their games on average (new games).


you're doing it wrong. and lol @ the dishonest remark.

Slimebeast on 07 August 2009
outlawauron said:
Slimebeast said:
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).

But we're talking about Final Fantasy here which will get at least 50% of its sales in the first week!

Point taken. It could be a few bucks higher in FF13's case, thanks to 2-3 million 1st month sales in Japan mainly.



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SaviorX on 07 August 2009

OK seriously, you guys need to stop quoting. lol



Leatherhat on July 6th, 2012 3pm. Vita sales:"3 mil for COD 2 mil for AC. Maybe more. "  thehusbo on July 6th, 2012 5pm. Vita sales:"5 mil for COD 2.2 mil for AC."

outlawauron on 07 August 2009

Actually, my average might be higher than $60 with new games with all these collector's editions.

EDIT: I just did the math for my 360 collection.

 Excluding games that did not start at least at the $60 retail price, I paid $60.65 for my games. (the games that started lower were things like Oneechanbara and the 2 or 3 greatest hits titles.



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

JEDE3 on 07 August 2009
Slimebeast said:
outlawauron said:
Slimebeast said:
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).

But we're talking about Final Fantasy here which will get at least 50% of its sales in the first week!

Point taken. It could be a few bucks higher in FF13's case, thanks to 2-3 million 1st month sales in Japan mainly.


you're doing it wrong. I also forgot about GT5P I bought that at 40.

JEDE3 on 07 August 2009
outlawauron said:
Actually, my average might be higher than $60 with new games with all these collector's editions.

my average would be slightly less than 60 just because of GT5P and Disgea 3... are we including tax? if so it'd be slightly higher than.

Slimebeast on 07 August 2009

My average is $30, so I even out you two.

$60+$60+$30 = 150 = $50 per game