4 ms·

Anecdotes are one thing, but the picture is clear when you look at inflation-adjusted trends: https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/23/the-cost-of-games/ https://vent

Anecdotes are one thing, but the picture is clear when you look at inflation-adjusted trends: https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/23/the-cost-of-games/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/23/the-cost-of-games/ The development cost for games, especially AAA titles, has in fact risen significantly. Given the sacrifices that developers and especially artists have to undergo to work in the industry, I have absolutely no problem with saying that video games should monetize as much as they can, to ensure that the crew can continue to make a decent living.

Grakel 5y ago
Unfortunately you're both right, and companies are making huge profits at the expense of their employees typically measured in time and mental health.
- dkersten 5y ago
  And money. Lets not forget the trend of paying their top executives big bonuses while laying off the staff. For example: https://www.ign.com/articles/activision-blizzard-has-reportedly-laid-off-nearly-190-employees https://www.ign.com/articles/activision-blizzard-has-reporte... (yes, yes, that bonus was part of a contract from 5 years ago, but its still in rather bad taste to pay out hundreds of millions while laying off a load of staff)
dkersten 5y ago
Its worth keeping in mind that typically those huge budget games spend approx half of their budget on marketing. For example, Red Dead Redemption 2's budget was US$ 70–240 million on development and a further 200–300 million on marketing: https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/31/red-dead-redemption-2-could-hit-20-million-in-sales-and-turn-a-profit-by-december/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/31/red-dead-redemption-2-cou... > Given the sacrifices that developers and especially artists have to undergo to work in the industry, I have absolutely no problem with saying that video games should monetize as much as they can, to ensure that the crew can continue to make a decent living. If the money actually went to the developers, I'd agree, but largely it doesn't. It goes to the executives. Bobby Kotick got a US$200 million bonus while at the same time laying off staff. The money made by big budget AAA titles largely doesn't go to the developers who have to undergo those sacrifices, it goes to already rich executives who don't need it and make no sacrifices.
- AndrewOMartin 5y ago
  Thank God for you.

Grakel 5y ago

Unfortunately you're both right, and companies are making huge profits at the expense of their employees typically measured in time and mental health.

dkersten 5y ago
And money. Lets not forget the trend of paying their top executives big bonuses while laying off the staff. For example: https://www.ign.com/articles/activision-blizzard-has-reportedly-laid-off-nearly-190-employees https://www.ign.com/articles/activision-blizzard-has-reporte... (yes, yes, that bonus was part of a contract from 5 years ago, but its still in rather bad taste to pay out hundreds of millions while laying off a load of staff)

dkersten 5y ago

Its worth keeping in mind that typically those huge budget games spend approx half of their budget on marketing. For example, Red Dead Redemption 2's budget was US$ 70–240 million on development and a further 200–300 million on marketing: https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/31/red-dead-redemption-2-could-hit-20-million-in-sales-and-turn-a-profit-by-december/ https://venturebeat.com/2018/10/31/red-dead-redemption-2-cou... > Given the sacrifices that developers and especially artists have to undergo to work in the industry, I have absolutely no problem with saying that video games should monetize as much as they can, to ensure that the crew can continue to make a decent living. If the money actually went to the developers, I'd agree, but largely it doesn't. It goes to the executives. Bobby Kotick got a US$200 million bonus while at the same time laying off staff. The money made by big budget AAA titles largely doesn't go to the developers who have to undergo those sacrifices, it goes to already rich executives who don't need it and make no sacrifices.

AndrewOMartin 5y ago
Thank God for you.