Video Game Development Costs

Video Game Prices can often be difficult to justify when we make that all important purchase, so here is a brief insight of what it costs to develop a video game. Who makes what from a sale of a video game?

Let’s start by looking who the players that bring us our beloved video games that keep up us up at all hours of the night. The major players, the ones who get a cut of our hard earned money are, the Publisher, Developer, Manufacturer, Retailer and for console gaming there are associated Console Royalties to be paid to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. What you might find interesting is how the cost of a $60 USD game has its costs distributed amongst these major players.

The most interesting thing I find about the distribution of the following is how small of a cut the developer receives, and how much the retailer gets! This is my primary consideration when deciding to search out the best Video Game Prices.

Video Game Development Costs Breakdown

Data Source: Video Game Industry Trends

Video Game Development Costs are different for every game. What is the cause of one game costing much more than another? It comes down to the ability to appeal to the masses and initial pitch of an idea to determine there is a market out there for the game, and on a grand scale! I can guarantee you that the first Call of Duty did not cost over $50 million dollars which is what the current iteration of Call of duty Modern Warfare 3 had a budget for. Not to mention Skyrim had a total budget of in excess of $50m. Note that I have mentioned two games that now have a long history of bringing out sequel after sequel. No different to what Hollywood does by bringing out movies in Trilogies, with the budget for each subsequent movie typically receiving more on the back of the success of the prior movies.

Here’s a bit of a glimpse of what major release games can cost to develop; these figures don’t even count the hundreds of millions of dollars of marketing money that is poured into games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield 3.

Video Game Development Costs for Major Releases

This table alone beings to give me an appreciation of how many sales a game needs to reach just to cover its costs. So when you do feel like you've paid a little extra for a new game you can take it with a grain of salt knowing how much money is poured into a final product. Not to mention the blood, sweat and tears!