APB Wiki "Development costs were in excess of $100 million.[25]"
I know information on Wiki cannot be completely trusted. However, it's not the first time where we've seen huge numbers flying around when it comes to game development.
APB is a fun game with loads of customization. However, it's still pretty small with not that much to it. It's 100% Player Vs. Player, consists of only 2 large zones and a few little arena-like areas.
Why the hell does game development cost so much? Over $100,000,000 for one game? How can this be the norm. Are companies just that stupid or are coders just that costly?
I remember I wanted a drawing done for a website that I was making. I contacted a professional company and was quoted some crazy number in the thousands. I then went to devientart.com. I posted what I needed done and was bombarded by some of the most talented artists around. They worked for very reasonable rates, too.
In creative industries such as music,art, etc... When you are doing business it is common practice to not have a set price for a specific service but to ask what's your budget. If you are a graphic artist you are going to charge coke a hell of a lot more than a local mom and pop shop. Imagine you went to the store to buy a soda and you asked how much for this soda and there response was how much you got. That's basically how it works...
Originally posted by mmoDAD
APB Wiki "Development costs were in excess of $100 million.[25]"
I know information on Wiki cannot be completely trusted. However, it's not the first time where we've seen huge numbers flying around when it comes to game development.
Why the hell does game development cost so much? Over $100,000,000 for one game? How can this be the norm. Are companies just that stupid or are coders just that costly?
both the guardian article and wiki explore that
the associated blog article from 08/27/2010
Last week, Scotland's biggest game studio, Realtime Worlds, went into administration with the loss of 150 jobs. Gamesblog speaks to two ex-staff about what led to the collapse
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/aug/27/realtime-worlds-collapse
wiki company overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realtime_Worlds
On 11 December 2006, New Enterprise Associates announced an investment of 30 million US dollars into Realtime Worlds.[3]
On 14 February 2008, it was announced that Realtime Worlds had secured US$50M in funding from a consortium led by venture capitalists Maverick Capital and New Enterprise Associates and joined by the WPP Group, a London-based advertising firm. The funds are expected to be used towards "continued expansion".[1]
On 27 April 2009, Gary Dale left his COO position at Take-Two Interactive to become CEO of the company. Dave Jones stepped down as CEO of the company and took the title of creative director.[8]
On 1 May 2010 Realtime Worlds annual accounts revealed a further US$21M investment was made in the company in January 2010.[9] This brings the total investment in Realtime Worlds since 2006 to US$101M.
The greatest portion of MMO development costs will always be salaries and wages. Many of the team will be on fixed-length contracts, which will make them substantially more expensive than monthly paid employees. Given the fact that development times for MMO's usually run from 3-5 years, the costs mount up quickly.
Of course, those huge loans will not be cheap either. I'd imagine they attract a higher than average interest rate, given the risky nature of game development.
They could have bought 100 million dollars-worth of manure for that! Oh, wait...
What I don't understand is why it takes so long? Can anyone with mmo programing experience give me a quick run down?
Originally posted by Badaboom
What I don't understand is why it takes so long? Can anyone with mmo programing experience give me a quick run down?
There's a lot of stuff to code, draw, test, and design in a standard game. An MMORPG is that much more complicated. And like many things, the quality will increase if you have time to do multiple drafts.
Does anyone know how much it cost to make Aion, Gw1 and GW2?
I wouldn't be surprised if they all cost $100mil combined.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didnt WoW cost 40 million to produce?
Originally posted by DaezAster
In creative industries such as music,art, etc... When you are doing business it is common practice to not have a set price for a specific service but to ask what's your budget. If you are a graphic artist you are going to charge coke a hell of a lot more than a local mom and pop shop. Imagine you went to the store to buy a soda and you asked how much for this soda and there response was how much you got. That's basically how it works...
I don't work in the music or art world but I can't fathom why it work work like that. In most other businesses if you're outsourcing part of your project then you put out RFP's to vendors who could do the job. They come back with a proposal and a bid. You choose from there.
Jacking up the bid depending on the customer I can see happening. But I would never tell a vendor what I'm willing to spend.
