12 ms·

I'd like a list like this but showing how much money was actually spent and required for the game that was released as opposed to how much money was wasted on d

I'd like a list like this but showing how much money was actually spent and required for the game that was released as opposed to how much money was wasted on development hell, marketing, licensing, publisher screw-ups, overinflated salaries, and failed attempts. A list of companies that managed to waste obscene amounts of money with or without ever producing a finished game is nice, but I was hoping for list that showcased the games which incorporated the most expensive technologies, talent, and resources to achieve something impressive that couldn't have been done for any less at the time. Such a list probably isn't possible without a lot more honesty in accounting than most game publishers would allow for, but it'd be nice to see the games which really leveraged everything they had to create something amazing for its time by overcoming the massive costs it required.

pcwalton 4y ago
Game developers do not, as a rule, have "overinflated salaries". They generally work below market rate.
- autoexec 4y ago
  The developer for ET (one of the listed games) got $200,000 for 5 weeks work (in 1982 money), a flight on a private jet to meet Steven Spielberg, and an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii. Game developers with "overinflated salaries" probably won't be too hard to find when you're talking about the games with the highest development costs.
  - djmips 4y ago
    That's a horrible cherry picked case from a time when you could only have one developer - and this is dwarfed by modern development costs. You just can't compare this one outlier to make any kind of statement.
    - autoexec 4y ago
      All of these games are outliers and extreme cases. The idea that the games with the highest development costs would likely have involved people who were overpaid seems unsurprising. The fact that the first game in that list I clicked on brought me to an article saying that one developer (reportedly) was hugely overpaid was just convenient.

pcwalton 4y ago

Game developers do not, as a rule, have "overinflated salaries". They generally work below market rate.

autoexec 4y ago
The developer for ET (one of the listed games) got $200,000 for 5 weeks work (in 1982 money), a flight on a private jet to meet Steven Spielberg, and an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii. Game developers with "overinflated salaries" probably won't be too hard to find when you're talking about the games with the highest development costs.
- djmips 4y ago
  That's a horrible cherry picked case from a time when you could only have one developer - and this is dwarfed by modern development costs. You just can't compare this one outlier to make any kind of statement.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    All of these games are outliers and extreme cases. The idea that the games with the highest development costs would likely have involved people who were overpaid seems unsurprising. The fact that the first game in that list I clicked on brought me to an article saying that one developer (reportedly) was hugely overpaid was just convenient.