Game budgets are growing at insane rate. Graphic from State of the Industry report shows it perfectly
A report by the Epyllion Group showed how insanely production costs for popular game series have been rising over the past several years.
The Epyllion Group recently published a report describing the current state of the gaming market. One of the most interesting elements is the analysis of rising production costs. It has been known for a while that budgets are increasing, but an examination of specific brands reveals a very troubling picture.
- The development of Final Fantasy XIII (2009) cost just over 50 million dollars. Fourteen years later, the production of Final Fantasy XVI consumed approximately $220 million.
- In 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 had a budget of less than 50 million dollars. In the case of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, released six years later, it was already 300 million, and the development of last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 consumed $550 million.
- Halo: Infinite had a budget of 600 million dollars, while Halo 4 had a budget of about 120 million, and Halo 5 approximately 180 million.
- The development of Horizon: Forbidden West consumed four times more money than Horizon: Zero Dawn. In turn, the budget for Cyberpunk 2077 was about three times higher than that of The Witcher 3.
- The development costs of The Last of Us Part II were four times higher than the first installment.
Source: Epyllion
In many cases, such expenses yielded results for a long time. The report also included an interesting infographic (you can find it below), showing which games brought in the most revenue from sales in the US each year. Each brand was given a distinct color, allowing the image to illustrate how firmly popular series are maintained.
The problem is that high places on the bestseller lists are no longer enough. Production costs are rising much faster than revenues. That's why many publishers are watching to see if Take-Two prices GTA 6 at 80 or even 100 dollars, thereby setting a new price threshold for AAA games.
Source: Epyllion
