There's nothing 'modest' about $70,000,000, especially with Polish wages. That's full-on, big budget AAA.
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The Witcher 3's budget was $32 million (120M Zloty) plus $35 million in marketing
- Thread starter boskee
- Start date
Count of Monte Sawed-Off
un33dab@dpu$$y
Anyone know how much Dragon Age: Inquisition cost to make?
So I must just imagined finishing the game then...
As of right now, the average income per person is 12.906 $/year before tax/social security/public health care (http://wynagrodzenia.pl/dane_gus.php).
I don't know how many people worked on the Witcher 3 (heard it was about 250) and for how long (3 years?), but 120 mln Polish Zlotych actually sounds like too much. Maybe the overhead costs more? Or they include work on the engine in between games? Or all the localizations, including VO (that's probably it)?
stan423321
Member
Not currency, environment.
Imagine you can be hired normally for 10k dollars per month or on an international airport for 40k per month, and you have to be alert all the time so you have to buy everything on the airport where everything but alcohol and jewellery is 4 times as pricey.
This is basically USA, except most airports allow you to bring your food and USA doesn't.
KillerMan91
Member
Just shows how huge part of total budget marketing is nowadays. Also why I am sceptic when people say that games like Splatoon make easily money with one million sold.
Reluctant-Hero
Member
I don't what game you're referencing. But last night finished The Witcher 3, a 96 hour epic RPG. Completely playable for me aside from 2 hard crashes to desktop.
Everything except for a lot of stuff
Electronics and games [not PC though] are more expensive.Food generally cost the same as in US. Same goes for many clothes.
But yeah, wages are lower due to currency difference.
You realise game devs get higher than avg salary, esp in a high profile studio that is Polands bigges national pride atm (srs the president of Poland gave Obama a copy of Witcher 2)
AHA-Lambda
Member
And yet Destiny was $500m
Seriously though a game like Witcher 3 for that much money is impressive these days, even if it is from Poland.
Seriously though a game like Witcher 3 for that much money is impressive these days, even if it is from Poland.
Comedy Central aired a commercial a few times.
AstroNut325
Member
This. If the man hours were calculated with USA currency then that budget would likely be close to 130 million.
lashman
Steam-GAF's Official Ambassador to Gaming-GAF
umm, yes ... maybe not average for gamedevs ... but definitely average in general
LurkerPrime
Member
Very respectable budget, in spite of being based in Poland.
I wonder how much it would cost to make a comparable game in the US, in terms of sheer content. The Witcher 3 just seems leagues ahead of other games in this regard. And, really, I would've thought such amounts of content impossible before, but now that we have CDPR's magnum opus in front of us it's impossible to deny.
I wonder how much it would cost to make a comparable game in the US, in terms of sheer content. The Witcher 3 just seems leagues ahead of other games in this regard. And, really, I would've thought such amounts of content impossible before, but now that we have CDPR's magnum opus in front of us it's impossible to deny.
And yet Destiny was $500m
Seriously though a game like Witcher 3 for that much money is impressive these days, even if it is from Poland.
Unless you think Bungie don't know the budget of their own game, Destiny was not $500M.
Astral Dog
Member
I dont see how this is so low, plus considering the lower wages.
Its fine for a AAA game budget i guess, never noticed much marketing for Witcher 3.
Its fine for a AAA game budget i guess, never noticed much marketing for Witcher 3.
whatsinaname
Member
If the game was completely developed in Poland, that translates to ~$70 million in the US. (Might not be an equivalent comparison to budgets of developers in the US because a lot of them outsource a part of the work).
Leafhopper
Banned
Probably, if not close.
RiotPelaaja
Remedy
There is a pretty big difference in AAA Europe vs US productions, with euro developers being a bit nore frugal (plus there's cost of living, lower salaries etc etc) in my experience.
They're living and working in places other than Poland. Y'know, where it costs more to live and they also get paid more. That tends to increase the budget.
Fruitster
Member
Of course it's a great deal of money, but there are certainly games out there that have had budgets that are many times that, especially when it comes to marketing. Not easy to compare due to different currency values and all that though.
Probably paying their developers better.
I didn't say that. I said what the average income was. If devs at CDP earn on average about 14 500 zlotych / month, more power to them
Thats not average, thats minimum.
Guille4000
Neo Member
Because Poland, all the costs of the material and the office like maintenance is pretty low, it's not like having your study in california xD
lashman
Steam-GAF's Official Ambassador to Gaming-GAF
... which also happens to be the average in most cases ... from my own experience
Fragamemnon
Member
Why couldn't this gem of brilliance be the first reply to the thread?
I can't help but feel that there has to be a smarter way to market big games. I'd love to see someone do a honest, well sourced CBA on the various costs in the marketing side of things. That area has to be ripe for efficiency.
His Majesty
Banned
They did some smart things marketing wise, for example the youtuber event. Must have generated a lot of publicity for them at minimal costs.
Turin Turambar
Member
The two great CG trailers (done apart from the intro CG) were part of the marketing, for example.
Paying the youtubers to fly to Poland to play their game wasn't free.
Just two examples of marketing budget, apart from normal ads (internet, bus stops, tv ads, etc)
wanderjahr
Banned
KoopaTheCasual
Junior Member
The range of comments in this thread is pretty amusing...
For the scale/detail of the world they built, that's a tiny budget in today's AAA market. Wish their development cycle would be published so other developers who make AAA games could figure out ways to spend more efficiently and not have obscene market expectations.
For the scale/detail of the world they built, that's a tiny budget in today's AAA market. Wish their development cycle would be published so other developers who make AAA games could figure out ways to spend more efficiently and not have obscene market expectations.
Well, you're correct regarding me.
... I just thought the marketing being the higher budget was funny.
stan423321
Member
Umm, no? Basic food is way cheaper. When I was in US I just had to ignore the comparison to not go insane. There are exceptions, but that's climate bound, I guess.Everything except for a lot of stuff
Food generally cost the same as in US. Same goes for many clothes.
But yeah, wages are lower due to currency difference.
Wow that's quite a low budget for a game of this scope. I bet the very same game would have cost up to $200 million if developed in countries like the US. While the overall quality of TW3 was pretty high, it didn't feel as polished as most big budget western RPGs, imo.
Lol and here's the only SSX game you will get this gen.
Lol and here's the only SSX game you will get this gen.
I agree that are a lot of shitty paid jobs in Poland, but for office jobs it is minimum, not average. For IT, the average is like 3 times higher.
I wonder how much of their budget was subsidized by the polish government, as this is probably a major cultural export for them.
Polished how? This was probably one of the most content dense, well written, well acted best looking wrpg's I've ever ever seen. And this is coming from someone whose opinion of the genre is very poor
Polished how? This was probably one of the most content dense, well written, well acted best looking wrpg's I've ever ever seen. And this is coming from someone whose opinion of the genre is very poor
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
That trailer with the redhead contract was expensive huh?
Lower wages.