There are many gaming topics right now that are causing serious discussions within game developer rooms and those who play games. One of the biggest ones by far is the question of how much it takes to develop AAA titles. Once upon a time, you could make video games with one or two people and have them out in stores in a few months. But nowadays, they sometimes take HUNDREDS of people and hundreds of millions of dollars to create. It’s a lot to process. But in the case of Ghost of Tsushima, that game broke the mold in more than one way.
First off, it was made by Sucker Punch Productions, who had a good track record up to that point but hadn’t done anything as grand as this title before. That led to the game being in development for six years, which isn’t always a guarantee of success. But what’s rocking many people’s worlds is the revelation that despite the long development period and how much was in the game, Ghost of Tsushima only cost $60 million to make!
Some of you might be thinking, “But isn’t that still a ton of money?” Yes, that is a lot of money by your account and hours. We wouldn’t even know what to do with $60 million if someone gave it to us! But in the context of video games, that’s well below what a title costs in the AAA market. Remember, the game was released in 2020, and games were costing many more millions than what Sucker Punch used. For example, when The Witcher 3 came out in 2015? It cost $80 million! Fast forward to 2022, and God of War Ragnarok cost $200 million!
That will make you scratch your head because not only was Sucker Punch’s game expansive, it was praised by many as being one of the most beautiful and in-depth titles ever created. We’ve even heard people proclaim it might be the best game they’ve ever played!
So, the fact that they were able to do it with such a “small budget” will tilt people’s heads. Oh, and as fans mentioned in the comments section of the tweet above, they also had multiplayer! And that’s never cheap!
The point is that Sucker Punch did their best work with a small budget, and while not everyone would be willing to do what they did, it does make you wonder if these game costs could go down if people put their minds to it.
