Comments on: Ask Producer: How Much It Costs to Produce a Console Video Game http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/ I'm baking games. Indie style. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:37:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Ken Bowen http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/comment-page-1/#comment-12027 Ken Bowen Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:40:21 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/#comment-12027 I should note that the consoles I refered to were Current Gen platforms. IE Xbox, GameCube, and PS2 not next gen. I should note that the consoles I refered to were Current Gen platforms. IE Xbox, GameCube, and PS2 not next gen.

]]> By: Ken Bowen http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/comment-page-1/#comment-12026 Ken Bowen Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:33:55 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/#comment-12026 Yes it does cost for the license to sell the game on a console. This is actually where the console market gets its money from, as you may know many consoles actually take a hit on each console sale but they are recompensed by the sale of software. So how much does it cost to do a console game? You have to factor in a few things, a) Where people are living, b) How much you are paying them, c) taxes, marketing, etc.... I live in Troy NY, if you go to salary.com and check out their quality of living calculator, a person in Mountain View California (Not even the biggest metropolitan area) has to earn about 45k-50k compared to someone in Troy who needs to make only 35k for the same standard of living. See how your costs just skyrocketed by having to pay your employees an extra 10,000 dollars a year? Juuso is right about calculating the rest. Now that you know how much your paying a group of people (remember more senior members get more) then you have to look at how many people are working for you and how much you are paying them (health insurance costs a lot, etc...) take that price and add it up to how many years it's going to take. How long does a project take? A GBA game takes 8 people 8 months (this varies with tools, support, skills, and legacy code etc...) A console game takes 15-30 people 1 to 3 years (Not including Daikatana). Scoping your project correctly will determine how many people you need. I won’t go into all of it but you have to look at how much an employee can produce per unit of time which will allow you to look at what kind of game you need to do. Mix in your marketing, taxes, rent, heating and electricity bills, legal fees, QA, and you've got yourself a formula for a console (or any) budget. Hope that helps. Yes it does cost for the license to sell the game on a console. This is actually where the console market gets its money from, as you may know many consoles actually take a hit on each console sale but they are recompensed by the sale of software.

So how much does it cost to do a console game? You have to factor in a few things, a) Where people are living, b) How much you are paying them, c) taxes, marketing, etc….

I live in Troy NY, if you go to salary.com and check out their quality of living calculator, a person in Mountain View California (Not even the biggest metropolitan area) has to earn about 45k-50k compared to someone in Troy who needs to make only 35k for the same standard of living. See how your costs just skyrocketed by having to pay your employees an extra 10,000 dollars a year?

Juuso is right about calculating the rest. Now that you know how much your paying a group of people (remember more senior members get more) then you have to look at how many people are working for you and how much you are paying them (health insurance costs a lot, etc…) take that price and add it up to how many years it’s going to take.

How long does a project take?

A GBA game takes 8 people 8 months (this varies with tools, support, skills, and legacy code etc…)

A console game takes 15-30 people 1 to 3 years (Not including Daikatana).

Scoping your project correctly will determine how many people you need. I won’t go into all of it but you have to look at how much an employee can produce per unit of time which will allow you to look at what kind of game you need to do. Mix in your marketing, taxes, rent, heating and electricity bills, legal fees, QA, and you’ve got yourself a formula for a console (or any) budget. Hope that helps.

]]> By: Juuso Hietalahti http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/comment-page-1/#comment-11963 Juuso Hietalahti Fri, 15 Sep 2006 03:33:21 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/#comment-11963 @Matt: Argh... I did the same typo again! Thanks for letting me know. Your guesstimations are good I think. I would add another aspect: making million dollar budget games in Western countries compared to making games in Eastern countries (such as Japan) will give another twist in the budget. @Matt: Argh… I did the same typo again! Thanks for letting me know. Your guesstimations are good I think. I would add another aspect: making million dollar budget games in Western countries compared to making games in Eastern countries (such as Japan) will give another twist in the budget.

]]> By: Matt Franklin http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/comment-page-1/#comment-11904 Matt Franklin Thu, 14 Sep 2006 18:18:00 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/13/ask-producer-how-much-it-costs-to-produce-a-console-video-game/#comment-11904 I doubt most companies will give out the info on budgets or profits. Someone willing to do some digging into company financial reports might be able to dig out some info here and there, though. My guesstimations: games aiming for XBox 360 and PS3, top tier, will run at least $10 million (probably more like $12 million when all is said and done), and as high as $25 million for a core franchise (dev only, not including marketing). Companies are finding ways to make solid next-gen games for under $10 million-- not AAA, but good. On average, I'd guess next-gen console games will run more expensive than most PC games, because no one's going to sell enough PC games to cover that. Huge IPs are the exception. (Also, the game is called Prey, not Pray!) I doubt most companies will give out the info on budgets or profits. Someone willing to do some digging into company financial reports might be able to dig out some info here and there, though.

My guesstimations: games aiming for XBox 360 and PS3, top tier, will run at least $10 million (probably more like $12 million when all is said and done), and as high as $25 million for a core franchise (dev only, not including marketing). Companies are finding ways to make solid next-gen games for under $10 million– not AAA, but good. On average, I’d guess next-gen console games will run more expensive than most PC games, because no one’s going to sell enough PC games to cover that. Huge IPs are the exception.

(Also, the game is called Prey, not Pray!)

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