Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregstrom
That doesn't sound too unreasonable for an AAA title. If you're aiming lower, then I'd guess costs can drop noticeably. Is that the cost to the publishers, btw?
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Game developers won't get rich unless they make a huge seller such as Diablo or Halo or Max Payne or something. Publishers "feed" several game developing companies, so that they'll get at least few huge successes that will then be turned into franchises. Shrapnel's blog has few articles on niche games, retail and economy. They were an eye-opener when I read them some years ago. Most games don't make even, and most games get discounted FAST to make shelf-space for new titles. Creating a game can easily take over a year, and then it's sold for month for 50$, then another month for 20$, and then for 5$.
It probably isn't always that bad, but the image I have from the game-creation business is enough to make me want to seek work elsewhere. Unfortunately, I'm currently studying game-dev. Hopefully I can use the same skills to create tv-ads or something else, where at least your salary won't depend on the amount of sales generated by the ad (as calculated by the contractor's clerks). Not only that, but at least I wouldn't have to work on the same project for years at a time.
I'll have to mention that indy developers can make fantastic stuff, and at least some of them work full-time on their games, these days. They often start by trying to survive with their savings and trying to generate money via pre-order sales with open betas or alphas (Mount & Blade, Overgrowth), and/or with donations (Dwarf Fortress). They may try to get their games published by a publishing company, either via retail or online services such as Steam (or that Stardock alternative, and there are probably others as well).
There's also the firms that make smaller games for mobile phones, hand-held consoles or for the bigger consoles' online stores. They're probably somewhere between indy and big game developers, as far as the risks go. I don't know about profits. They might be a pretty big market, but the last console I had was the first Playstation so I have no idea.