I want to see the balance sheet.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012...uts-2-happens/
$20 Million estimate for a sequel?
20 Million dollhairs? For a sequel to a game that wasn't that good to begin with. If it was, we'd have seen a sequel before Minecraft hit the web.
Wouldn't it be cheaper to create a new ip?
Do fuck off.
That is completely uncalled for.Originally Posted by sabrage
I also would like to see where all those money go. I never expected games to be that expensive... I mean Psychonauts caliber not COD4 or MMORPG.
I can see that.
15 million is a pretty mid level price for your average movie, so I can see how something like "Psychonauts" could cost that.
Especially since even CGI animated films (which you would think would be cheaper to make) often cost 50-75 million--and psychonauts had some pretty high quality animation, writing, acting.
Last edited by Juan Carlo; 11-02-2012 at 01:25 AM.
I'd say it again if I hadn't already said it.
I only played this game at all because of the steam winter sale, made me check the reviews and a lot were wildly enthusiastic.
Well it's totally fantastic, if anything this game is severely underated and underplayed.
I wondered how I had missed it before.
And yeah, I can see how it could cost a bundle to make.
Would love to see psychonauts 2 someday
I've read that the average game budget is estimated at $25 million. If that's true, then Psychonauts was built on a pretty low budget.
This thread made me realize I did not own it on steam, and I rectified that and will be playing it this weekend. Kudos.
Creating an engine, game assets (character models, levels, etc), animations, hiring voice actors, writing the script, renting recording studio time for the voice acting, localisation, QA testing, certification costs for Xbox and PlayStation 2, manufacture and global distribution. None of these things are cheap. And remember that this was 15 million in 2003-2005 dollars.
That said, I would think that Psychonauts 2 would actually cost slightly less. They've already got the Psychonauts engine, and could pretty easily re-purpose the Brutal Legend engine for Psychonauts 2. Level creation is still probably the most expensive proposition (consider that each mind you explore in the original was pretty much a 30-45 minute game in and of itself). And I'm assuming that there aren't any major new features planned (I could see some form of online co-op being planned, where each player plays as one of the Psychonauts and you have to use their specific powers in tandem to solve puzzles. Adding netcode and balancing the gameplay would be extremely time consuming).
That's a budget today. Psychonauts was released in 2005. 15 million back then was a fair amount. Also albeit a Pixar movie costs a lot more, a Pixar movie will also make a significantly larger return. Films, unlike games have after theatrical release revenue streams (DVD sales, rental, broadcast revenue) where as a games largely don't (toy merchandising aside).
Fixed.For a sequel to a game that wasn't that good to begin with (imo)
Also if you disliked the original, why would you care what a sequel costs? It's not like you have a vested interest in the process.
Why yes you're right I'm deliciously evil
Tradition is the tyranny of dead men
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I believe Psychonauts went over-budget somewhat, due to publisher issues; I remember the game was on the bring of cancellation for a while before resurfacing.
Yeah, the publishing deal with Microsoft fell through when the game was just about done, as I recall. In the end, it was in development for just shy of five years; Wages and office costs alone probably ate up a good portion of that budget.
3 year dev cycle, 100 people on 33.3k a year average wage, you're already at 10 million.
It's a given that it was his opinion if it came out of his mouth. It'd be different had he said that everyone disliked the game.
The point was to highlight that it's a personal opinion, and then question why if that's the case he gives a damn what it costs.
Why yes you're right I'm deliciously evil
Tradition is the tyranny of dead men
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Probable Replicant
*blush* I'm flattered by the attention boys, but please let's not make the thread about liddle old me
The idea that if it was good, we'd have seen the sequel already is the asinine part of his statement, not what people seem to be focusing on.
But as we know, "good" doesn't equal "great sales and revenue". Therefore, it was a valid point to underline that Heister implied that his personal view was a generally accepted fact (which of course is a bit tricky when it comes to the appeal of any game).
I've got to admit that I was also surprised at that figure. Psychonauts was just a glorified platformer and certainly didn't look like a $15,000,000 game. I certainly don't think the 5 year development cycle was justified. I'm sure under better management the game could have been released in two years for much less.
By the way I thought the game was amusing but incredibly frustrating and somewhat poorly designed with ridiculous difficulty spikes.
Then again I've always considered Shaeffer a better writer than game designer.
Last edited by BobsLawnService; 11-02-2012 at 03:38 PM.
I don't think anyone denies that Psychonauts was a rough ride both in terms of its development, but $20 million for a sequel is still probably a fairly accurate estimate I'd say.
Why yes you're right I'm deliciously evil
Tradition is the tyranny of dead men
Steam:Kadayi Origin: Kadayi GFWL: Kadayi
Probable Replicant
*blush* I'm flattered by the attention boys, but please let's not make the thread about liddle old me
But isn't that assuming it'll be AAA quality?
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