Developement costs

[ziiip 1]

Hi dudes,

I was wondering, why do so many games cost so much to make? I mean after you have the right tools to create it, all you need is your own computer science skills, right? I understand theat if you let, for example a separate studio do the sound work, then they ask big money for it, but for a team like BIS, who do all the coding themselves, what consumes all the money(not talking about salaries and advertisement).

For example, AFAIK the develoment of OFP cost about 1 million eur, or someting like that(correct if im wrong). And they say its not much compared to big budget titles.

Plz explain. :D

[stgn 39]

People needs food, cloth and housing.

STGN

[echo1 0]

Good programmers can be expensive. When you drag that out over a long period of time it builds up. In some of the larger companies, middle management can overcomplicate things and make the process even longer and more convoluted. There's also the price of the various middleware. Things like sound technologies, Havok physics or graphics engines (if you haven't made your own)

Also, you are forgetting artwork.

[BronzeEagle 2]

basically paying the people involved is where the money goes. voice actors, etc.

[JdB 151]

The biggest cost factors in producing a game (with a major publisher especially) are:

-Salary for the employees;

-A place to put the employees to work (including computer hardware);

-License fees (both for the development software, the engine and for any 3rd party artwork in case you don't want to make everything yourself);

-Marketing (considering how crappy most of the games sold by major publishers are, a large part of the funds need to go into this to make it look like the turd you're trying to sell is made of solid gold).

Of course all of these points are split up into subcategories, depending on the company.

[sanctuary 19]

And don't forget that you have to pay the strippers for "moral support", then pay enough those corrupted website reviewers so they give a great review to your product.

In the end and depending on how long it takes to complete your project, the cost can skyrocket, especially with the strippers as they are not really cheap nowadays.

[von_paulus 0]

And don't forget that you have to pay the strippers for "moral support", then pay enough those corrupted website reviewers so they give a great review to your product.

In the end and depending on how long it takes to complete your project, the cost can skyrocket, especially with the strippers as they are not really cheap nowadays.

Eheheh.

[chris330 0]

Some highly well informed replies in this thread!!!

[riffleman 20]

Finance is first,full support of everything they need to develop.

[vilas 477]

a lot of money is lost for whole wholesalers chain

the money that you pay for game in fact, like with the music, goes to people who sell it, not who did it

people who did it have less than all publishers and etc.

i would like my money to go to BIS hands not other who eat what BIS cook (or musicians)

i know some musicians in private life, and they say they earn from live shows, not from releases

example from Poland (i only know my market):

CD cost 50-60 PLN = 12-15 Euro let's say

25-30% takes shop

shop has it from wholesaler for lets say... circa about 8 Euro

wholesaler takes it from publisher wholesaler for lets say 6 Euro

etc.

publisher has big company bureau, musicians ask if they will be released or not

but finally they sign contract and no matter if 2000 or 20 000 is sold , those money takes publisher (metal musicians, not pop stars)

at least 50-60% of price is : shop, wholesaler, sometimes publisher store for wholesaler , musician takes small percent (depending of how know he is)

i wonder how many cents have BIS from 1 copy ? cause i would like them to have more from my pocket , instead all this "chain of sales" (which my friends musicians feel frustrated signing contracts)

so if you think "how much it cost BIS to make Arma" than i think "how much was eaten by fat guys from publisher, wholesaler and etc."

Edited October 24, 2009 by vilas

[kklownboy 43]

Finance is first,full support of everything they need to develop.

And that "Finance" comes with payments, and all the sharks that need to make more than the codies who do nothing but push it out to soon to get a return.

[ziiip 1]

Thanks guys. :)

BTW: I wonder if any of the BI devs have a Ferrari or something like that. :D

[tcp 10]

Maybe if we send them beer and caffeine, their development costs will go down.

[Dwarden 1125]

vilas what stop You buy version from sprocket where it goes directly to developers ?

[Maddmatt 1]

BTW: I wonder if any of the BI devs have a Ferrari or something like that. :D

I doubt it. If one does, he probably doesn't have a house :p

[Student Pilot 0]

And that "Finance" comes with payments, and all the sharks that need to make more than the codies who do nothing but push it out to soon to get a return.

In some cases the release may have been too soon, but keep in mind that the longer you wait for release, the more difficult it is to make the required return or, in worst case scenarios, break even.

And those "sharks" you so endearingly refer to are either the capital providers or agents of capital providers without whom there would be no game in the first place.

-Student Pilot

[vilas 477]

vilas what stop You buy version from sprocket where it goes directly to developers ?

how ?

how person from other country can buy a disc from other country ?

and how to pay and what will be cost of paying to foreign bank ?

how can i pay on foreign account from my bank account without extra money for bank for transfer money...

and if not on disc, but downloadable game, than downloading 8 GB with my internet connection... few days or week ? :(

if you live in country where it is no problem, okay, but for me here it is problem to buy something like westernians do

and bank provisions (bank costs) are too high there

[sudayev 27]

how ?

how person from other country can buy a disc from other country ?

and how to pay and what will be cost of paying to foreign bank ?

how can i pay on foreign account from my bank account without extra money for bank for transfer money...

and if not on disc, but downloadable game, than downloading 8 GB with my internet connection... few days or week ? :(

if you live in country where it is no problem, okay, but for me here it is problem to buy something like westernians do

and bank provisions (bank costs) are too high there

See?

You can pay here with any cards shown in the box but I think best best online payment method is Paypal. All you need is a credit card like Visa Classic to open your Paypal account. With Paypal you can wire money to any country and online store without any bank commisions. Few clicks and you're done, ready to buy games from sprocket. I bought lotsa stuff (clothing, cd's, games, electronics) from online stores or auctions by using Paypal.

Here check it out on paypal.pl

Edited October 28, 2009 by Sudayev