It’s no secret that video games cost a lot of money to make. It’s also no secret that the development cost has skyrocketed from the early days of consoles. It used to be that in a few weeks, and with some friends by your side, you could make a good enough title to release from your garage or basement if you had the right setup. But now, to make a true AAA title, you need hundreds of workers, some of the best technology around, and a massive budget to “complete your vision.” That’s something The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West know all too well.
In the ongoing war in court between Sony and Microsoft, some “redacted” documents were revealed that highlighted how both The Last of Us Part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West cost over $200 million to make. Not to mention, the games had between 200-300 people working on them, and each game took over five years to make.
Many would point out that both games were successful, but that’s not the point. The cost of game development is going up so much that it requires titles like these to make many millions of dollars simply to break even. Furthermore, the $200+ million budgets we mentioned were just for making the games. That didn’t include marketing or showing off the title at shows like E3 or other gaming events.
While the games were successful and technically made a profit, the fact that they had to sell many millions of units to get that profit shows a problem that can’t be easily fixed. Furthermore, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, and Sony would have to split that profit because of development on both sides, not to mention other teams that might have helped out.
Another issue here is that prices will continue to skyrocket as games try to push both length and realism. The PS5 has some of the best graphics on the market, but those aren’t cheap to develop. So what happens if the cost of development continues to rise? That’s a problem that many developers and publishers have to ask themselves.
Do they simply go and make smaller games or simpler titles? Do they stop trying to make the “most realistic” games ever to save money? Or do they keep doing what they’re doing and hope the gaming community buys enough copies? Only time will tell. But either way, it’s something to think about going forward.
