The rising cost of video games - 2007-12-30 5:07 AM
Cost of next-gen game production is a burden on developers
by Griffin McElroy
by Griffin McElroy
- Game developers always have a sizable stack of things to worry about when working on a new project; things like: Is my game going to be any good? Will people buy my game? Am I making Vampire Rain? Is it too late to cancel? Of course, financial worries are always present for developers, who have a growing number of costs to deal with during the creation of a game. However, according to a recent report by BBC News, budgeting woes have escalated into a full-blown panic among developers due to the growing cost of making games for next-gen consoles.
To put things in perspective, the article gives the example of Namco, who, in 1982, made Pac-Man for nearly $100,000 (today, it would be about double that amount, due to inflation). According to BBC News, the average PS3 game costs nearly $15 million to make -- and that's before any marketing is done for the game. Not only is this bad news for gamers, as it almost ensures our store shelves will be stocked with sequel after buyer-recognizable sequel, but it's also bad for developers, who could go belly up after one unsuccessful title.
As technology continues to improve and game consoles get more sophisticated, we wonder how this price spiral will continue to affect the industry. Will there be more safety-ensuring corporate mergers? Higher quality games? Most worryingly -- will there be too few games released to sustain the industry? The video game crash of 1983 was due to there being too many games on the market -- will a situation on the opposite end of the spectrum lead to another crash? For all our sakes, we certainly hope not.
