Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social)
bsky.app
Exact budgets of video-game productions can be tough to corroborate (more transparency from publishers would be nice!) but the numbers I've heard floating around AAA game dev these days are $300 million or more — sometimes much more! — which I think helps explain the current state of the industry

Full post: Exact budgets of video-game productions can be tough to corroborate (more transparency from publishers would be nice!) but the numbers I’ve heard floating around AAA game dev these days are $300 million or more — sometimes much more! — which I think helps explain the current state of the industry

To address some frequently asked questions:

  • These are US and Canada productions. If you’re wondering why game X cost so much less, it was probably made elsewhere
  • These budgets are almost entirely dev salaries + overheard and have nothing to do with executive compensation (which is mostly stock)
    • null@lemmy.orgEnglish
      14·
      2 months ago

      For every one game this happens to there are thousands of others that flop every year.

      • BlackLaZoR@lemmy.worldEnglish
        31·
        2 months ago

        And yet, lately it’s the low budget indie games that dominate steam charts with massive successes.

        • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          2 months ago

          And Counter-Strike, and Marvel Rivals, and PUBG, and Crimson Desert, and Baldur’s Gate 3, and Elden Ring, and (somehow) Delta Force. I don’t think you can say it’s only indie games doing so.

          • BlackLaZoR@lemmy.worldEnglish
            2·
            2 months ago

            Of corse not only indie games. But there’s huge shift in the market from behemoths like EA, or Ubisoft towards smaller studios and indie devs.