Isengard
No Hobbits Allowed
Funny that a lot of companies like for example EA are already doing this yet no benefits get passed down to the consumer
.
Why we pay top $ for games.
- Thread starter The Joker
- Start date
Funny that a lot of companies like for example EA are already doing this yet no benefits get passed down to the consumer
.
lilDeath
New member
The only way to make a stand and bring your / our point across about high game prices is to hit them where it hurts the most - their pocket.
So, we have the power as a collective to vote with our wallets. Individuals won't have any power.
There will be parents that will continue to buy, to satisfy their kiddies, but that is the same with everything. People will do what they want, when they want, how they want.
There will be ppl that will just scoff at this and continue buying anyway.
They can, it is what the majority of people do, that counts.
TO be frank - I am actually very surprised that several posters have posted over the last few weeks of the amounts of money they are spending on games. It's like money is being splashed / thrown around, without a care or worry in the world.
The moment a game is launched it is followed by posts like "OMG, must have it", "Excellent, it is expensive, but I must feed the addiction", etc. There are many such posts on this very forum.
So, it appears people are not too bothered by the high prices and pay it anyway. What was that about Killzone 2, it costs R1000?
Really now, who in their right damn mind will pay that for a game? I won't. I believe there is a reason for that though. I believe it is the mindset.
Whenever I want something I look at the price first. If it is not in line with what I think is correct, I walk away. I shop around for specials. I very rarely buy games straight off the bat, the moment it launches.
The only games I did buy immediately were the Guild Wars games, and then I still shopped around. I even canceled my kalahari.net pre-order when I saw they were more expensive than Take2, checked overseas, checked the online shop, dollar exchange, etc.
I was brought up to look after my money and I continue to do that still. Luckily I don't have to worry too much about it anymore, since I can afford it (with very hard work in my younger years I might add), but I still shop with my head and not my heart <- That's dangerous business.
I only allow myself to shop with my heart when it involves presents for special ladies.
Anyway, as I was saying, if you are going to be serious about this, then stand by it, don't falter. Believe in the cause. If something is too expensive, then don't buy it. Wait for specials. Things are not going to change overnight anyway.
This is where self-control comes in, because I firmly believe there are buyers that simply buy it just to be part of the craze and latest and greatest of gaming. It is an addiction of sorts, just like people that upgrade their 20k pc's every year with the latest and greatest 10k cpu.
OF course, this behaviour (and the high prices) can push people into the piracy direction as well, but that is another topic.
Also remember, with any action, there is a reaction, so in making a stand it might make matters worse. We already have a current case of XBox Live for instance.
What is MS's reason for not supporting / launching Live in SA? - "Not enough people, community too small to warrant the effort / expenditure"
This can potentially get even worse if people don't buy the titles - "SA don't buy titles anymore, so why should we worry about them, they only make 0.5% of our total revenue", etc.
Just to reiterate my point even further about control and the mindset behind buying games I will share this with you....
I do have some stages where I also go a bit crazy, just last month I was in an eBay bidding war for a very rare collector's edition game. My bid was over R2000 at the time (shipping included) ... and the auction was closing... I was literally sitting there at 3am in the morning, wondering if I should submit my next bid, I am sure I would have won it, but then decided.. screw it, this is not worth spending that much money on.
That's the 'limit' I had in my head and I proceeded to log off and go to bed, strangely at peace with my decision, even though I 'lost' in the auction.
To get back - A boycott is possible, but you need the numbers in support, then you have the power. Otherwise, you might as well peepee into the wind.
Anyway, just my thoughts on what I think of the subject at hand.
pc
So, we have the power as a collective to vote with our wallets. Individuals won't have any power.
There will be parents that will continue to buy, to satisfy their kiddies, but that is the same with everything. People will do what they want, when they want, how they want.
There will be ppl that will just scoff at this and continue buying anyway.
They can, it is what the majority of people do, that counts.
TO be frank - I am actually very surprised that several posters have posted over the last few weeks of the amounts of money they are spending on games. It's like money is being splashed / thrown around, without a care or worry in the world.
The moment a game is launched it is followed by posts like "OMG, must have it", "Excellent, it is expensive, but I must feed the addiction", etc. There are many such posts on this very forum.
So, it appears people are not too bothered by the high prices and pay it anyway. What was that about Killzone 2, it costs R1000?
Really now, who in their right damn mind will pay that for a game? I won't. I believe there is a reason for that though. I believe it is the mindset.
Whenever I want something I look at the price first. If it is not in line with what I think is correct, I walk away. I shop around for specials. I very rarely buy games straight off the bat, the moment it launches.
The only games I did buy immediately were the Guild Wars games, and then I still shopped around. I even canceled my kalahari.net pre-order when I saw they were more expensive than Take2, checked overseas, checked the online shop, dollar exchange, etc.
I was brought up to look after my money and I continue to do that still. Luckily I don't have to worry too much about it anymore, since I can afford it (with very hard work in my younger years I might add), but I still shop with my head and not my heart <- That's dangerous business.
I only allow myself to shop with my heart when it involves presents for special ladies.
Anyway, as I was saying, if you are going to be serious about this, then stand by it, don't falter. Believe in the cause. If something is too expensive, then don't buy it. Wait for specials. Things are not going to change overnight anyway.
This is where self-control comes in, because I firmly believe there are buyers that simply buy it just to be part of the craze and latest and greatest of gaming. It is an addiction of sorts, just like people that upgrade their 20k pc's every year with the latest and greatest 10k cpu.
OF course, this behaviour (and the high prices) can push people into the piracy direction as well, but that is another topic.
Also remember, with any action, there is a reaction, so in making a stand it might make matters worse. We already have a current case of XBox Live for instance.
What is MS's reason for not supporting / launching Live in SA? - "Not enough people, community too small to warrant the effort / expenditure"
This can potentially get even worse if people don't buy the titles - "SA don't buy titles anymore, so why should we worry about them, they only make 0.5% of our total revenue", etc.
Just to reiterate my point even further about control and the mindset behind buying games I will share this with you....
I do have some stages where I also go a bit crazy, just last month I was in an eBay bidding war for a very rare collector's edition game. My bid was over R2000 at the time (shipping included) ... and the auction was closing... I was literally sitting there at 3am in the morning, wondering if I should submit my next bid, I am sure I would have won it, but then decided.. screw it, this is not worth spending that much money on.
That's the 'limit' I had in my head and I proceeded to log off and go to bed, strangely at peace with my decision, even though I 'lost' in the auction.
To get back - A boycott is possible, but you need the numbers in support, then you have the power. Otherwise, you might as well peepee into the wind.
Anyway, just my thoughts on what I think of the subject at hand.
pc
Isengard
No Hobbits Allowed
The only way to make a stand and bring your / our point across about high game prices is to hit them where it hurts the most - their pocket.
So, we have the power as a collective to vote with our wallets. Individuals won't have any power.
There will be parents that will continue to buy, to satisfy their kiddies, but that is the same with everything. People will do what they want, when they want, how they want.
There will be ppl that will just scoff at this and continue buying anyway.
They can, it is what the majority of people do, that counts.
TO be frank - I am actually very surprised that several posters have posted over the last few weeks of the amounts of money they are spending on games. It's like money is being splashed / thrown around, without a care or worry in the world.
The moment a game is launched it is followed by posts like "OMG, must have it", "Excellent, it is expensive, but I must feed the addiction", etc. There are many such posts on this very forum.
So, it appears people are not too bothered by the high prices and pay it anyway. What was that about Killzone 2, it costs R1000?
Really now, who in their right damn mind will pay that for a game? I won't. I believe there is a reason for that though. I believe it is the mindset.
Whenever I want something I look at the price first. If it is not in line with what I think is correct, I walk away. I shop around for specials. I very rarely buy games straight off the bat, the moment it launches.
The only games I did buy immediately were the Guild Wars games, and then I still shopped around. I even canceled my kalahari.net pre-order when I saw they were more expensive than Take2, checked overseas, checked the online shop, dollar exchange, etc.
I was brought up to look after my money and I continue to do that still. Luckily I don't have to worry too much about it anymore, since I can afford it (with very hard work in my younger years I might add), but I still shop with my head and not my heart <- That's dangerous business.
I only allow myself to shop with my heart when it involves presents for special ladies.
Anyway, as I was saying, if you are going to be serious about this, then stand by it, don't falter. Believe in the cause. If something is too expensive, then don't buy it. Wait for specials. Things are not going to change overnight anyway.
This is where self-control comes in, because I firmly believe there are buyers that simply buy it just to be part of the craze and latest and greatest of gaming. It is an addiction of sorts, just like people that upgrade their 20k pc's every year with the latest and greatest 10k cpu.
OF course, this behaviour (and the high prices) can push people into the piracy direction as well, but that is another topic.
Also remember, with any action, there is a reaction, so in making a stand it might make matters worse. We already have a current case of XBox Live for instance.
What is MS's reason for not supporting / launching Live in SA? - "Not enough people, community too small to warrant the effort / expenditure"
This can potentially get even worse if people don't buy the titles - "SA don't buy titles anymore, so why should we worry about them, they only make 0.5% of our total revenue", etc.
Just to reiterate my point even further about control and the mindset behind buying games I will share this with you....
I do have some stages where I also go a bit crazy, just last month I was in an eBay bidding war for a very rare collector's edition game. My bid was over R2000 at the time (shipping included) ... and the auction was closing... I was literally sitting there at 3am in the morning, wondering if I should submit my next bid, I am sure I would have won it, but then decided.. screw it, this is not worth spending that much money on.
That's the 'limit' I had in my head and I proceeded to log off and go to bed, strangely at peace with my decision, even though I 'lost' in the auction.
To get back - A boycott is possible, but you need the numbers in support, then you have the power. Otherwise, you might as well peepee into the wind.
Anyway, just my thoughts on what I think of the subject at hand.
pc
Very well said
. I just hope people will be clever and realise they need to do something about it or endure these prices forever.
Shamrock
New member
Facebook groups ftl.
It's not exactly a problem of pricing, though. Not in my opinion, at least. Look at it this way...games can be incredibly fun, and some games are just amazing. You get a real feel for the characters, get into the story, really love it. There are games like that, genuinely original and fun.
Now take a game like GTA IV. Brilliant advertising. They don't sell out -- imagine if EA owned Rockstar; the radio stations would have real ads in them, which would make me feel ripped off. But Rockstar do make decent games, and they built up a hype about their game and lived up to it (so I've heard, haven't played it myself) and make half a billion US in one week. Genius.
Now look at Devil May Cry. The first game was great. Then they made 2 and it got worse. Then 3 and it got worse. Then 4 and I just wouldn't trust anything made by them.
Look at Final Fantasy X. It was a good, fun game. Not great, but fun. Then they continue an ended storyline with X-2 and mess it up. That's looking for more money, that's selling out your story at the expense of reputation, trust and work etiquette.
If Starcraft II came out in one week and it was priced R400, would you not buy it because of the price? I don't like buying games for R400, but Starcraft II or Diablo III and I'll take it. And that's because Blizzard impress me. They release games when they're ready, they take their time, and I'm willing to pay their prices for a great game. 11.5 million users, they're doing something right.
Now I hate EA with a passion. They do a good job of some things, but I also see it as being a profit-motivated company, that and nothing else. Take every sports game...Madden NFL 2009. For the love of god, I remember playing NFL Blitz in '98, I think it was. Then Rugby. And cricket. And every other sport, every year. Call me crazy, but I'm not buying a new rugby game each year for a slight change. Wanna know why they aren't making money? Too many releases, too little care.
If they got me hyped up about something, they promoted brilliantly, got everyone anticipating it, held out until they felt the game was good to go, then released a great product which I love, and kept doing that, I'd have absolutely no problem paying R400 for a game of theirs.
People don't complain about a fairish price for a brilliant game, they just don't. It's worth it if the game keeps you entertained.
It's not exactly a problem of pricing, though. Not in my opinion, at least. Look at it this way...games can be incredibly fun, and some games are just amazing. You get a real feel for the characters, get into the story, really love it. There are games like that, genuinely original and fun.
Now take a game like GTA IV. Brilliant advertising. They don't sell out -- imagine if EA owned Rockstar; the radio stations would have real ads in them, which would make me feel ripped off. But Rockstar do make decent games, and they built up a hype about their game and lived up to it (so I've heard, haven't played it myself) and make half a billion US in one week. Genius.
Now look at Devil May Cry. The first game was great. Then they made 2 and it got worse. Then 3 and it got worse. Then 4 and I just wouldn't trust anything made by them.
Look at Final Fantasy X. It was a good, fun game. Not great, but fun. Then they continue an ended storyline with X-2 and mess it up. That's looking for more money, that's selling out your story at the expense of reputation, trust and work etiquette.
If Starcraft II came out in one week and it was priced R400, would you not buy it because of the price? I don't like buying games for R400, but Starcraft II or Diablo III and I'll take it. And that's because Blizzard impress me. They release games when they're ready, they take their time, and I'm willing to pay their prices for a great game. 11.5 million users, they're doing something right.
Now I hate EA with a passion. They do a good job of some things, but I also see it as being a profit-motivated company, that and nothing else. Take every sports game...Madden NFL 2009. For the love of god, I remember playing NFL Blitz in '98, I think it was. Then Rugby. And cricket. And every other sport, every year. Call me crazy, but I'm not buying a new rugby game each year for a slight change. Wanna know why they aren't making money? Too many releases, too little care.
If they got me hyped up about something, they promoted brilliantly, got everyone anticipating it, held out until they felt the game was good to go, then released a great product which I love, and kept doing that, I'd have absolutely no problem paying R400 for a game of theirs.
People don't complain about a fairish price for a brilliant game, they just don't. It's worth it if the game keeps you entertained.
Keldarza
New member
On in game advertising: So the "runs best on an intel" and the "Nvidia" logo which is like almost every game isn't enough? I think in game advertising is a terrible idea. But ultimately I think that it's going that way.
My reasons for the collapse of gaming and increase in price.
EAism: EA suck in one simple regard - the pump out games to death. NFS, dead to me, C&C is getting a release every year now it'll soon be dead [heck, RA2, my most favourite RTS of all time is tainted by the terror that is RA3]. Sims etc etc etc. EA is just pushing games out and they are losing quality to a point you wont buy them coz you have 15 just like them and they only get worse. Ultimately it gets over the threshold of Sales/Costs for NFS 10. Same thing with Tomb raider, it's becoming a waste to invest in those brands. EA has failed to see this.
Making a stand: If you dont buy, and there are poor sales, the gaming industry calls "pirate". Sales aren't good MUST be that everyone is pirating the game. Instead of re-evaluating WHY they are losing sales they call pirate.
On piracy: Pirates are a fact of life. Gaming should accept that it will happen. Lets face the facts - Securom, starforce etc etc are not open and free projects, the imprinting and secuirity costs ALOT of money to do. So in your R400 game, best cast is that R20 has gone to anti-pirate solutions. And the truth is most games are cracked before they are even on the shelves. The R20 per game extra for the 'protection' is a waste. Put simple protection on the game and save the R20 [Think about it, 100 000 sold would give an extra R2million income...].
Combating pirates is best done with value. Give people a reason to own an original over a pirated copy. Time and time again you feel punished by online activations, cd-keys, time activations, install limits - all because you BOUGHT the game, meanwhile the pirates are laughing as they have bypassed all these annoyances. (Really, an install limit makes my BOUGHT game a brick after 3 installs? No wonder spore is the most pirated game ever)
My reasons for the collapse of gaming and increase in price.
EAism: EA suck in one simple regard - the pump out games to death. NFS, dead to me, C&C is getting a release every year now it'll soon be dead [heck, RA2, my most favourite RTS of all time is tainted by the terror that is RA3]. Sims etc etc etc. EA is just pushing games out and they are losing quality to a point you wont buy them coz you have 15 just like them and they only get worse. Ultimately it gets over the threshold of Sales/Costs for NFS 10. Same thing with Tomb raider, it's becoming a waste to invest in those brands. EA has failed to see this.
Making a stand: If you dont buy, and there are poor sales, the gaming industry calls "pirate". Sales aren't good MUST be that everyone is pirating the game. Instead of re-evaluating WHY they are losing sales they call pirate.
On piracy: Pirates are a fact of life. Gaming should accept that it will happen. Lets face the facts - Securom, starforce etc etc are not open and free projects, the imprinting and secuirity costs ALOT of money to do. So in your R400 game, best cast is that R20 has gone to anti-pirate solutions. And the truth is most games are cracked before they are even on the shelves. The R20 per game extra for the 'protection' is a waste. Put simple protection on the game and save the R20 [Think about it, 100 000 sold would give an extra R2million income...].
Combating pirates is best done with value. Give people a reason to own an original over a pirated copy. Time and time again you feel punished by online activations, cd-keys, time activations, install limits - all because you BOUGHT the game, meanwhile the pirates are laughing as they have bypassed all these annoyances. (Really, an install limit makes my BOUGHT game a brick after 3 installs? No wonder spore is the most pirated game ever)
The Joker
Thread Killer MKII
The only way to make a stand and bring your / our point across about high game prices is to hit them where it hurts the most - their pocket.
So, we have the power as a collective to vote with our wallets. Individuals won't have any power.
There will be parents that will continue to buy, to satisfy their kiddies, but that is the same with everything. People will do what they want, when they want, how they want.
There will be ppl that will just scoff at this and continue buying anyway.
They can, it is what the majority of people do, that counts.
TO be frank - I am actually very surprised that several posters have posted over the last few weeks of the amounts of money they are spending on games. It's like money is being splashed / thrown around, without a care or worry in the world.
The moment a game is launched it is followed by posts like "OMG, must have it", "Excellent, it is expensive, but I must feed the addiction", etc. There are many such posts on this very forum.
So, it appears people are not too bothered by the high prices and pay it anyway. What was that about Killzone 2, it costs R1000?
Really now, who in their right damn mind will pay that for a game? I won't. I believe there is a reason for that though. I believe it is the mindset.
Whenever I want something I look at the price first. If it is not in line with what I think is correct, I walk away. I shop around for specials. I very rarely buy games straight off the bat, the moment it launches.
The only games I did buy immediately were the Guild Wars games, and then I still shopped around. I even canceled my kalahari.net pre-order when I saw they were more expensive than Take2, checked overseas, checked the online shop, dollar exchange, etc.
I was brought up to look after my money and I continue to do that still. Luckily I don't have to worry too much about it anymore, since I can afford it (with very hard work in my younger years I might add), but I still shop with my head and not my heart <- That's dangerous business.
I only allow myself to shop with my heart when it involves presents for special ladies.
Anyway, as I was saying, if you are going to be serious about this, then stand by it, don't falter. Believe in the cause. If something is too expensive, then don't buy it. Wait for specials. Things are not going to change overnight anyway.
This is where self-control comes in, because I firmly believe there are buyers that simply buy it just to be part of the craze and latest and greatest of gaming. It is an addiction of sorts, just like people that upgrade their 20k pc's every year with the latest and greatest 10k cpu.
OF course, this behaviour (and the high prices) can push people into the piracy direction as well, but that is another topic.
Also remember, with any action, there is a reaction, so in making a stand it might make matters worse. We already have a current case of XBox Live for instance.
What is MS's reason for not supporting / launching Live in SA? - "Not enough people, community too small to warrant the effort / expenditure"
This can potentially get even worse if people don't buy the titles - "SA don't buy titles anymore, so why should we worry about them, they only make 0.5% of our total revenue", etc.
Just to reiterate my point even further about control and the mindset behind buying games I will share this with you....
I do have some stages where I also go a bit crazy, just last month I was in an eBay bidding war for a very rare collector's edition game. My bid was over R2000 at the time (shipping included) ... and the auction was closing... I was literally sitting there at 3am in the morning, wondering if I should submit my next bid, I am sure I would have won it, but then decided.. screw it, this is not worth spending that much money on.
That's the 'limit' I had in my head and I proceeded to log off and go to bed, strangely at peace with my decision, even though I 'lost' in the auction.
To get back - A boycott is possible, but you need the numbers in support, then you have the power. Otherwise, you might as well peepee into the wind.
Anyway, just my thoughts on what I think of the subject at hand.
pc
Some really good points mate.
That' why a facebook group was created last nite. If enough people join we can really make a stand for it!!
The Joker
Thread Killer MKII
Piracy won't die out, we all know that but if these stupid companies make for some good prices, people would rather by the original just because of a moral sense to do so.
I try to only buy original but unfortunatly they are pushing me to start buying
the copies. R100 vs R1000...Its not a hard choice
The Joker
Thread Killer MKII
That's still alot to pay for a game mate.
The 2nd hand idea works well, cause I do that myself but sometimes you wait 4 months for the title your looking for
Wich is useless!!
The Joker
Thread Killer MKII
Should I really type out that entire story about input costs and such? It will take a while to get all the research done but I can do a "rough" draft for now
It'll be mucch appreciated mate
Jan
Grand Poobah
I was just going to mention that. Things are not going well for all games companies at the moment. I think Activision also posted a first quarter loss. I hope StarCraft 2 goes well for them...
QFT.
One would imagine that, wouldn't one? And yet both Steam and Impulse (I'm a PC gamer so I don't know much about the console digital distribution channels) charge ~$50 US for new AAA titles -- the same as you would pay in store for them most of the time.
Just about every week they run specials on certain titles -- but you can bet your pants it won't be on the 'just released' stuff. And don't get me started on the Copy Protection scheme Steam forces on all products delivered through Steam. Anything you buy through Steam (or Impulse, I think) you also don't have the option to resell.
I bought mine all Collector's Editions through BT Games and paid R450 for a box chock full of awesome stuff. Now, less than two years later that's what I'm being asked to fork over for a DVD case with a single disc and maybe an inlay.
Rise up and revolt, citizens! This is a revolution!
D3 I'd probably pay R400 for, depending on what you get in the game box, but not a cent more. SC2:WoL I wouldn't buy for more than R349 but for reasons beyond the scope of this thread... I think I'll start a separate "Why is Blizzard intent on ruining SC2?" thread in a moment.
I bought the first StarCraft second hand from Cash Converters for R120. Nowadays CD keys are associated with online profiles, linked to Steam accounts, and all kinds of other stuff that makes it almost impossible to resell.
F.E.A.R. 2 and DoW2 both use Steamworks as DRM meaning that the PC versions can't be traded or resold. I've associated my StarCraft and Diablo 2 CD keys with my Blizzard Account so if I were to sell those games then whichever sucker bought them from me won't be able to do the same.
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Why You Pay $$$ for games.
I’ll approach this from an economics stand point. Most people don’t think about all the costs that go into making a game, and most of the times forget about a couple of stuff. I have never worked for a developer/publishing company so these are all estimates and my personal guesses as I have done no research to substantiate this. I shall also be looking at a company making its first game, let’s have 30 people working on this for arguments sake. If you however see where I am incorrect please correct me So let’s begin.
Development cycle 20 months.
Rent: $1000 per month x20 + Water + Electricity = $200 per month x 20
Salaries: $8000 per month on average x20 x 35
Hardware: 15 High end Nvidia Quadro pc’s for coders and modellers + 20 other pc’s for the rest of the work. About $80 000 (http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=74_224&products_id=13368 that’s the kind of graphics card you use)
Software: Now you have to buy windows for all those pc’s and the development tools you will need. http://store.autodesk.com/servlet/C...layHomePage&SiteID=adsk&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE So we need 10 licenses of 3d’s max. That’s $34 950. Vista x64 Ultimate x35 = $1 500. Also we have to office = $1000. That’s another we will be using the Unreal Engine for our game and need 10 copies so that’s another $6000 plus we are doing using C++ so that’s another $5000(http://www.unrealtechnology.com/development-kit.php?ref=order)
We have now reached month 10 and want to have our beta up and running. Now we have dedicated servers and our beta download is 5GB’s 1000 people download it and play on our servers for 5 months. That’s another $20 000 (give or take
)
Finally the beta is done. Now we are going to release 500 000 copies of our game.
$500 000 for DVD’s. $2 000 000 for the case and booklet printing( we hired a company to do this and that’s their labour cost worked in). Let’s have a guess that shipping will be about $1 000 000 for everything.(I am not sure that the store or the publisher pays for shipping to the store, but it's going to add to your price somewhere along the line)
Now there hasn’t been any marketing done. And the game has just been released on the pc. If we wanted to release the game on the Xbox or PS3 we would have to buy those development tools and the consoles as well.
Just to release the game on pc we spent $9 272 450. To make our company break even on the game we will need to charge $18.54 per game. But we want a profit and we need to pay back that $10 000 000 loan we got 20 months ago so we need to get $12 000 000 just to break even. So with the loan taken into account it’s $24 to break even.But for our profit margin we sell the game at $35 and we do so worldwide.
Ster-Kinekor in South Africa buys the game as the sole distributer and adds a little bit of profit on that price. To $40. Now look and listen buys the game from Ster-Kinekor and adds its profit And the game sells for $45.
Understand now?
I’ll approach this from an economics stand point. Most people don’t think about all the costs that go into making a game, and most of the times forget about a couple of stuff. I have never worked for a developer/publishing company so these are all estimates and my personal guesses as I have done no research to substantiate this. I shall also be looking at a company making its first game, let’s have 30 people working on this for arguments sake. If you however see where I am incorrect please correct me
So let’s begin.Development cycle 20 months.
Rent: $1000 per month x20 + Water + Electricity = $200 per month x 20
Salaries: $8000 per month on average x20 x 35
Hardware: 15 High end Nvidia Quadro pc’s for coders and modellers + 20 other pc’s for the rest of the work. About $80 000 (http://www.sybaritic.co.za/store/product_info.php?cPath=74_224&products_id=13368 that’s the kind of graphics card you use)
Software: Now you have to buy windows for all those pc’s and the development tools you will need. http://store.autodesk.com/servlet/C...layHomePage&SiteID=adsk&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE So we need 10 licenses of 3d’s max. That’s $34 950. Vista x64 Ultimate x35 = $1 500. Also we have to office = $1000. That’s another we will be using the Unreal Engine for our game and need 10 copies so that’s another $6000 plus we are doing using C++ so that’s another $5000(http://www.unrealtechnology.com/development-kit.php?ref=order)
We have now reached month 10 and want to have our beta up and running. Now we have dedicated servers and our beta download is 5GB’s 1000 people download it and play on our servers for 5 months. That’s another $20 000 (give or take
)Finally the beta is done. Now we are going to release 500 000 copies of our game.
$500 000 for DVD’s. $2 000 000 for the case and booklet printing( we hired a company to do this and that’s their labour cost worked in). Let’s have a guess that shipping will be about $1 000 000 for everything.(I am not sure that the store or the publisher pays for shipping to the store, but it's going to add to your price somewhere along the line)
Now there hasn’t been any marketing done. And the game has just been released on the pc. If we wanted to release the game on the Xbox or PS3 we would have to buy those development tools and the consoles as well.
Just to release the game on pc we spent $9 272 450. To make our company break even on the game we will need to charge $18.54 per game. But we want a profit and we need to pay back that $10 000 000 loan we got 20 months ago so we need to get $12 000 000 just to break even. So with the loan taken into account it’s $24 to break even.But for our profit margin we sell the game at $35 and we do so worldwide.
Ster-Kinekor in South Africa buys the game as the sole distributer and adds a little bit of profit on that price. To $40. Now look and listen buys the game from Ster-Kinekor and adds its profit And the game sells for $45.
Understand now?
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Impi
MR. TK 999
OK I havent read all the posts here, as im too busy.
But I will say this.
Gaming companies/Game developer companies make so much money off of us they could use the cash a TP.
Years of development go into making a kickass game.
All of these companies also pay magazines etc to hype up the game and make you want to but it.(example: Hellgate London looked orsm but in the end it sucked, not graphics wise but playability wise)
But they basically over charge you by about 200-300% of its actual worth.
They actually start making profit within less that 2 months of selling the product if more than X amount of people buy the game.
For example:OK I know UT3 is "old" now but when it came out you had to pay 400 bucks if not more, a few days back I saw it in a bargain bin for 100 bucks.
Am I wrong in my opinion?
But I will say this.
Gaming companies/Game developer companies make so much money off of us they could use the cash a TP.
Years of development go into making a kickass game.
All of these companies also pay magazines etc to hype up the game and make you want to but it.(example: Hellgate London looked orsm but in the end it sucked, not graphics wise but playability wise)
But they basically over charge you by about 200-300% of its actual worth.
They actually start making profit within less that 2 months of selling the product if more than X amount of people buy the game.
For example:OK I know UT3 is "old" now but when it came out you had to pay 400 bucks if not more, a few days back I saw it in a bargain bin for 100 bucks.
Am I wrong in my opinion?
There is certainly a very large amount of money that goes into making a game. With our recent games, they're full on titles with studios for sound, visual effects, etc, etc, etc. Of course, these companies are making a huge profit from the games because there are many millions of us buying them.
So long as our games become more and more advanced and we keep buying them, the pricing will remain the same and slowly go up in price with the rest of everything else going up in price.
I also think that when times are tough like they are now, people will rather go and buy a game and sit and home playing than spending far more money taking weekends away and eating at fancy restaurants. So the recession might not even hurt them at all...
So long as our games become more and more advanced and we keep buying them, the pricing will remain the same and slowly go up in price with the rest of everything else going up in price.
I also think that when times are tough like they are now, people will rather go and buy a game and sit and home playing than spending far more money taking weekends away and eating at fancy restaurants. So the recession might not even hurt them at all...
