Figures for development cost of games

[boco77]

"These numbers came from various sources, most of the numbers are from the various Famitsu I have collected over the years, these are by no means exact numbers. These numbers are only the development cost not including the advertisement and promotions. For example, the total cost of getting Halo 3 out of the door was close to 60 million USD, but the development cost was only about 30 millions. This distinction is important because publishers are usually the ones that pay for the advertisement while developers are the ones that soak up the development cost. First and second party developers have more flexibility in sharing the cost.


Project Estimated Cost
Final Fantasy VII 26 million USD
Final Fantasy X 40 million USD
Final Fantasy XII 52.3 million USD
Final Fantasy XI – Online + PlayOnline Network System 17-25 million USD
Killzone 2 20 million since 2007
Halo 3 30 million USD
Gears of War 10 million USD (not including the cost of Unreal Engine)
Metal Gear Solid 4 45 million USD
GTA 4 100 million USD (rumored)


Killzone 2 is said to have a development budget of 40 million USD, and this is probably not including the advertisement. Since GTA 4 is rumored to cost 100 million, KZ 2 didn’t seem so expensive after all. Another aspect to keep in mind is the place the game is developed, the wage is very different in India vs United States vs Eastern Europe. Let me remind everyone the cost, once again, is just the development cost not including all the promotions. From what I have seem, the advertisement and promotion can be just as much as the cost of making the game. Hope you guys enjoy the chart :)"

http://www.diggingtheweb.com/wiki/DevelopmentCost

[Visualante]

I don't dispute the Killzone 2 figure, in fact I think it's in the right ball park. The game has had troubled development, who knows what's to blame but the project doesn't seem to have been managed very well.

[DieH@rd]

well, 40mil$ for killzone 2 is not much, considering how weak is the dollar, and game is made in UK.

$40mil = 25mil euro

[CowGirl]

I expect Killzone2 to cost a lot more than $40m when all is done and dusted.

I know of some HD games (not on the list in OP) that have cost in excess of this amount, with a shorter development time.

[jakonovski]

Looking at that Gears of War number, I cannot understand why most developers insist on reinventing the wheel by building a new 3D engine from scratch. Especially MMOs. Their engines always suck donkey balls, even WoW!

[ColR100]

well, 40mil$ for killzone 2 is not much, considering how weak is the dollar, and game is made in UK.

It's being developed in Holland actually, where Guerrilla is based.

[nib95]

For the record. I read somewhere that including marketing costs, the cost of development for Halo 3 went to beyond $60 million. That's a hell of a lot of marketing.

Also, WOW at GTA IV.

[Guled]

I'm sure that mgs4 cost more then 45 million to make, they had over 200 people working on the game day and night

[Xyphie]

I'm sure that mgs4 cost more then 45 million to make, they had over 200 people working on the game day and night

Game devs in Japan have shit pay.

[Rapping Granny]

Wasn't the MGS 4 intro alone $1M?

[FFChris]

I wonder how much marketing costs correlate with profit for these big games.

[MisterHero]

wow if I was high-up in a 20-man team that made a super-awesome game I could make like $500,000-$1,000,000.

that'd be so awesome

[Alex]

Looking at that Gears of War number, I cannot understand why most developers insist on reinventing the wheel by building a new 3D engine from scratch. Especially MMOs. Their engines always suck donkey balls, even WoW!

WoW's engine is fucking great. You'd be a complete moron to say otherwise.

[Guled]

Game devs in Japan have shit pay.

I know, but still 4 years and 200 people, I think it will be more then 45 million

[MisterHero]

EDIT DP

[Propagandhim]

I can't wait until the industry crashes and every game has to resort to looking like Breath of Fire III. 2D RPGs redeemed.

[duckroll]

I know, but still 4 years and 200 people, I think it will be more then 45 million

So 200 people started work on it before MGS3 was even released? :P

[Deku]

I can't wait until the industry crashes and every game has to resort to looking like Breath of Fire III. 2D RPGs redeemed.

you seriously don't want to happen do you?

It just seems like the industry is on an unsustainable spiral, the excesses are truly mind boggling. tens of million dollar bets. I feel like its the 1980s all over again (not an allusion to the Atari crash but to the stock market of that era)

[Tieno]

I know, but still 4 years and 200 people, I think it will be more then 45 million

I doubt MGS4's development team was at peak size for 4 years, from inception to finish.

[Propagandhim]

you seriously don't want to happen do you? It just seems like the industry is on an unsustainable spiral, the excesses are truly mind boggling. tens of million dollar bets. I feel like its the 1980s all over again (not an allusion to the Atari crash but to the stock market of that era)

Well, I was kidding. I'm not sure about the general trend of gaming economics..if only a few big-budget ones are profitable, or if all those games pay for themselves. I'm only 22, but the most fun I've had with videogames were when things were a lot more simpler and devs could risk innovative gameplay schemes without huge and expensive technological showcases. However, I think there's a place for both those types of games to exist - specifically one being on the DS and the other being on next-gen systems.

I also thought Breath of Fire III was fun.

[Y2Kev]

Wiki says FFVII cost 45 mil. We really need to see what their "sources" are.

[hauton]

I take it these numbers are not adjusted for inflation?

[duckroll]

I doubt MGS4's development team was at peak size for 4 years, from inception to finish.

I doubt MGS4's development was 4 years, from inception to finish. :)

[industrian]

From Factor 5's presentation at GDC 2006.

[jakonovski]

WoW's engine is fucking great. You'd be a complete moron to say otherwise.

Take it easy dude, you sound like I insulted your mother.

As far as I'm concerned WoW's engine used to be ok until Burning Crusade, where all the extra special effect crapola really started to take its toll on the low-poly powered performance. The engine also fails to dynamically scale complex things like player models, so we get raid slowdowns and such.

[Oblivion]

I wish we had figures on how much Nintendo's biggest titles, Mario, Zelda, etc. cost.

[gaheris]

What does Nintendo spend on development? I wonder what the cost of Super Mario Galaxy was.

[Yaweee]

I'm kind of surprised at Halo 3's expense. Yeah, it was worth the investment for Microsoft, but do relatively straight-forward sequels like that really cost that much?

[[Nintex]]

I wish we had figures on how much Nintendo's biggest titles, Mario, Zelda, etc. cost.

Didn't they spend like $84 million on R&D last fiscal year?

They actually gave a number for Zelda TP, it was their most expensive game. I don't know where I read it though

[Oblivion]

Didn't they spend like $84 million on R&D last fiscal year? They actually gave a number for Zelda TP, it was their most expensive game. I don't know where I read it though

Dunno about the R & D number, actually. I'm not sure about TP being their most expensive game, tho. Most of what I heard about it was conjecture, but the staff size was nearly double on OoT, and then you have the 700 people who worked on SSBB. So those two would be the contenders, I'd think.

[[Nintex]]

Dunno about the R & D number, actually. I'm not sure about TP being their most expensive game, tho. Most of what I heard about it was conjecture, but the staff size was nearly double on OoT, and then you have the 700 people who worked on SSBB. So those two would be the contenders, I'd think.

Well back then Nintendo said it was there most expensive game. I remember Koizumi being dissapointed because the Mario team was only about 40 people while Aonuma had more than 100 developers for Zelda TP. SSBB must've cost a fortune to make. Especially since they hired Game Arts and opened a new office for it.

With all the delays I'm sure that Nintendo's big titles ended up being more expensive than expected. MP3, almost a year late. Zelda, a year late(but the GCN version was done spring 2006), Mario about 6 months late(although they might have kept it for the holiday season), Smash Bros(delayed a couple of months) etc.

[TheOddOne]

For the record. I read somewhere that including marketing costs, the cost of development for Halo 3 went to beyond $60 million. That's a hell of a lot of marketing. Also, WOW at GTA IV.

Nah it was about 30 mil, about 10 was like only for the game the rest was marketing (from what i understand).

[Althane]

Using an inflation calculator:

What cost $26000000 in 1997 would cost $34039618.19 in 2007.

So, FF7, costing 26 mil in 1997, ten years later would cost 34 million. Not that enormous of a difference.

(for the guy who asked about the inflation adjustment)

[RSP]

Last thing I heard about the budget of Killzone 2 was from the guy who was an exec at Guerrilla at the time the first killzone came out. He told me the development costs have hit the 60 million euro mark.

He seemed pretty legit.

[Campster]

[IMG-Horrifying Dev Costs] From Factor 5's presentation at GDC 2006.

This should terrify us all.

[[Nintex]]

Last thing I heard about the budget of Killzone 2 was from the guy who was an exec at Guerrilla at the time the first killzone came out. He told me the development costs have hit the 60 million euro mark. He seemed pretty legit.

Sony is really investing too much into Killzone 2. I'm sure it'll be a great game, but I don't think that it'll reach COD4 numbers.

[Uncle]

http://i32.tinypic.com/10glffn.jpg From Factor 5's presentation at GDC 2006.

Hey, they separated Lair from an actual AAA title even before it was released. Honesty is the best policy.

[Ether_Snake]

I know, but still 4 years and 200 people, I think it will be more then 45 million

They don't have 200 people for 4 years. Only in later production stage.

[Phife Dawg]

So Famitsu gives away development costs? Interesting.

What would be even more interesting to know is if those numbers are Famitsu estimates or actual numbers given to them by developers (not very likely). Would be interesting to know the other sources as well.

[ciaossu]

Wow. Very surprising, though I guess it makes sense considering how long the credits are in games lately.

[Tieno]

From Factor 5's presentation at GDC 2006.

Are they trolling their own game in that slade?

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Are they trolling their own game in that slade?

I...See it.

[anonnumber6]

For the record. I read somewhere that including marketing costs, the cost of development for Halo 3 went to beyond $60 million. That's a hell of a lot of marketing. Also, WOW at GTA IV.

Microsoft put most of their budget for advertising into Halo 3

[boco77]

Why did FFXII cost so much? developing for ps2 was cheap by then and its not exactly a huge big budget game compared to say Gears of War..one disc, less cg movies etc.

[nib95]

Why did FFXII cost so much? developing for ps2 was cheap by then and its not exactly a huge big budget game compared to say Gears of War..one disc, less cg movies etc.

I think development halted half way through with the game for some reason or another? The lead creator left or took a break or something? I think that's what I read anyway. Could have been one of the reasons. A prolonged development period.

[CowGirl]

Why did FFXII cost so much? developing for ps2 was cheap by then and its not exactly a huge big budget game compared to say Gears of War..one disc, less cg movies etc.

It's a fallacy to say that development for a particular platform is "cheap".

Development cost is proportional to the amount of staff and time spent on a project.

[ckeur]

I think development halted half way through with the game for some reason or another? The lead creator left or took a break or something? I think that's what I read anyway. Could have been one of the reasons. A prolonged development period.

Yea, the lead guy had to step down due to health reasons. Production took over 5 years, which really added to the cost of the game.

[Mefisutoferesu]

I do not believe these numbers in the very least... except for maybe Halo and MGS4.

[brain_stew]

Looking at that Gears of War number, I cannot understand why most developers insist on reinventing the wheel by building a new 3D engine from scratch. Especially MMOs. Their engines always suck donkey balls, even WoW!

That cost includes no work that was spent on the engine which is just a wholly worthless figure. For it to be useful it would assume that any UE3 licensee would not modify the engine for their game one bit, and that simply doesn't happen. Its not unheard of for engine modification and optimisation to cost just as much as building an engine from scratch.

[Kafel]

Wasn't the MGS 4 intro alone $1M?

Very expensive death sticks.