Why does it cost some companies hundreds of millions of dollars to make a popular video game?
A few weeks ago, the New York Times took the blame. The endless quest to deliver more photo-realistic graphics— and the industry is starting to see diminishing returns, prompting layoffs and studio closings.
But Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. Disputing this review. “A little off the mark.” He didn't deny that budgets had increased dramatically ($20 million for Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 in 2009 and $220 million for their “Last of Us Part II” in 2020) or that graphics played a role, but he did say it was because of better graphics. yes But the expanding scope of the games meant that larger teams needed longer.
In addition, Anyone who has been in business for at least a few years has a “horror story” about management decisions. There are hundreds of teams or features that were scrapped because the CEO's teenage kid didn't like them. People are “scrambling before production trying to figure out what the 'core loop' of a game is going to look like.”
So if game companies are really worried about ballooning budgets. Schreier said they should focus their “examination” on mismanagement that could waste everyone's work and time.