game cost breakdown on $60 xbox360 game

Pk9394

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Pk9394 on 27 October 2007

just like to share this info:

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

- The US Official Xbox 360 magazine revealed the revenue breakdowns of a typical $60 Xbox 360 game.

$12 - Dealer or Retailer
$12 - Microsoft royalties and production cost
$7 - Marketing
$20 - Development cost
$9 - Publisher

big budget game = huge risk according to these figure

SamuelRSmith

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SamuelRSmith on 27 October 2007

$12 for royalties? I always thought it was only $2-$3, boy was I wrong.

FishyJoe

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FishyJoe on 27 October 2007

Forbes did an analysis for Gears of War some time ago. Most people underestimate the marketing, licensing, retail and distribution costs.

albionus

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albionus on 27 October 2007

Well I always figured it was about a 20(retailer)/30(royalties&misc)/50(publisher&dev) so I wasn't too far off. Though 33% for the dev kind of sucks unless they're also the publisher. Thats why as most devs say they need to sell over 1 million games on the PS360 to make a profit for the game. Then of course they need to sell even more to make a profit for the company.

The funny thing is a game can get reduced royalties and marketing help from the console maker but that's usually only done with mega games like GTA, MGS, FF, and such that will sell like crazy and make a huge profit for the dev regardless.