How Much Did SWTOR Cost to Develop?

[Talon_strikes]

At those thinking I'm trying to flame:

 

WRONG. I just wanted some statistics and more information because I'm going to be on a podcast, so I wanted to just talk to those who may think it probably costed $500 million to make.

 

I'm also curious because I'm hearing so much speculation on how much it really did cost. I've been looking into it, but seeing all the different ranges of development costs kinda confused me.

I'm really confused at the moment.

 

I hear three things:

• The game took about $80 million to develop
  
• The game took around $100–$200 million to develop
  
• The game could have taken $300 million or MORE to develop

 

I've seen a few articles and few don't have sources that support their claims with how much the game took to develop. Like I said, this has me really confused.

 

So how much did it really take to develop the game? A rough estimate would help, and almost any article would, too.

Edited May 14, 2012 by HomicidalWhales

[DarthWoad]

about $100 million.

[Oddzball]

I dont have links, so take my word for it or not. BUT in EA investor report they pretty much said it was around $200mil.

 

That didnt include advertising costs though, so its more if you factor that in.

[Lord_Ravenhurst]

I guess the higher numbers contain the huge worldwide marketing campaign. Looking at the state of the game 80M for development sounds about right.

Voiceovers are not THAT expensive, especially if you don´t hire A-list celebrities. Motion capturing could have been a huge cost factor too, and the amount of story writing wasn´t free either...

[Oddzball]

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/01/20/star-wars-the-old-republic-the-story-behind-a-galactic-gamble/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=63378#/0

 

200 million.

[Kalfear]

So ive never really understood this fasination people have with the cost of games?

 

Is TOR any more a success or failure in your mind if it costed 5 million or 300 million?

 

I just dont get the money issue and why gamers now a days focus on it so heavily.

 

To me its either you like a game or you dont and the budget really doesnt matter.

 

I do understand why people look at the subcription base when speaking of investors and returns as its relevant there but the rest of it. I just dont get it.

 

TOR probably costed more then it needed to because it had a bigger budget. People tend to spend to their limit, regardless what the limit is.

 

Not a bash at the OP, just dont get this fasination with game costs by many players.

[lokivoid]

I dont have links, so take my word for it or not. BUT in EA investor report they pretty much said it was around $200mil.

 

That didnt include advertising costs though, so its more if you factor that in.

 

No the report pretty much stated the estimate was speculation from independent analyst . Chances are the budget "leak" was part of a viral marketing tactic (vary common for EA), A analyst quick to jump to conclusions without checking information sources could easily make a bad report based on viral marketing information.

 

EA has never openly confirmed the budget.

[Kaphik]

Why does it matter? If you like the game, you'll continue playing, if not, there's plenty of other good games coming out in the next few months.

[Oddzball]

The 80 Million figure is just because people never learned to read.

 

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CHoQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cinemablend.com%2Fgames%2FStar-Wars-Republic-Subs-Down-EA-Investing-80-Mil-Next-Gen-42256.html&ei=1HOxT-S2LuTe2AXGgtzpCA&usg=AFQjCNFu1fONfMAopF_bi2djtGVFjHrGpA&sig2=4imKt6Zjbuzi2oqlykm6QA

 

It said EA plans to invest MORE Money, not the initial development costs...

[Jett-Rinn]

Why does it matter? If you like the game, you'll continue playing, if not, there's plenty of other good games coming out in the next few months.

 

It matters because this is a flame bait thread, that seems to be the main purpose of the general forums lately.

 

[Sparklehorse]

A better question is:

 

Who cares?

[Mallorik]

So ive never really understood this fasination people have with the cost of games?

 

Is TOR any more a success or failure in your mind if it costed 5 million or 300 million?

 

I just dont get the money issue and why gamers now a days focus on it so heavily.

 

To me its either you like a game or you dont and the budget really doesnt matter.

 

I do understand why people look at the subcription base when speaking of investors and returns as its relevant there but the rest of it. I just dont get it.

 

TOR probably costed more then it needed to because it had a bigger budget. People tend to spend to their limit, regardless what the limit is.

 

Not a bash at the OP, just dont get this fasination with game costs by many players.

 

A game that is really expensive to make is really expensive to make expasnions for. Most people agree that the voice acting probably cost a fortune, so they need alot of subs to pay for the expansions.

[lokivoid]

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/01/20/star-wars-the-old-republic-the-story-behind-a-galactic-gamble/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=63378#/0

 

200 million.

 

Notice that article does not state a source. If you cannot trace the source then such information should be treated as a opinion/speculation rather than fact.

 

The article also claims "The story runs 1,600 hours" (note the word "story" rather than saying playtime or gameplay) having played every base class to level cap, i can tell you this simply is not true.

[Talon_strikes]

At those thinking I'm trying to flame:

 

WRONG. I just wanted some statistics and more information because I'm going to be on a podcast, so I wanted to just talk to those who may think it probably costed $500 million to make.

 

I'm also curious because I'm hearing so much speculation on how much it really did cost. I've been looking into it, but seeing all the different ranges of development costs kinda confused me.

Edited May 14, 2012 by HomicidalWhales

[Oddzball]

Notice that article does not state a source. If you cannot trace the source then such information should be treated as a opinion/speculation rather than fact.

 

The article also claims "The story runs 1,600 hours" (note the word "story" rather than saying playtime or gameplay) having played every base class to level cap, i can tell you this simply is not true.

 

 

So? people keep quoting that stupid MMOData crap every day in here to try and compare subscription numbers, and that guy doesnt give his sources, yet people try to pretend its accurate.

[Andryah]

I agree with Jett-Rinn, this thread is just an attempt at flame baiting.

 

It actually does not matter how much it cost to deveop.

 

Development costs are capitalized expenses, drepreciated over a period of years, and generally accounted for as a sunk investment cost by EA. Same goes for promotion and marketing, it's separate from ongoing operations costs.

NOW, what is important is the ongoing cost of operations for the game. Since EA has said the game breaks even at 500000 customers, that establishes the total cost of operations for this MMO property (at current staffing and operations levels). Factoring in subscription bundling, etc. that comes out to be about $85 million a year at current payroll and operations. So subscription fees for every customer above 500000 falls directly to the profit line for EA.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Andryah

[Kalfear]

A game that is really expensive to make is really expensive to make expasnions for. Most people agree that the voice acting probably cost a fortune, so they need alot of subs to pay for the expansions.

 

Thats arguable!

 

Case in point: Did EAoware use known actors (we know they did) where as unknown actors for 1/1000 the cost would have done just as well.

 

Voice acting doesnt need to break the bank

 

But again, the money spent doesnt improve or decrease the game in itself.

 

I love the Voice Overs, its something EAoware got right with this product. But to say you have to spend 100s of millions to get voice acting is wrong. Many games use starting out actors that work for base pay rather then inflated amounts that established actors ask for

 

And honestly speaking, I recognized some of the voices and while it was fun to recognize them, I did ask myself if they really needed a recognizable voice for a single droid you interact with once on Taris?

 

As for Expansion, why would it be more costly? Everything is already in place that the costs of any expansion is pennies on the dollar because your not designing everything from scratch.

 

/shrugs

 

Guess I dont get it.

 

My favorite game this past year was The Witcher 2. It didnt have known actors doing the voice overs, so their budget was smaller then many other games. Yet Ill take The Witcher 2 over ANY game released in 2011/2012.

 

Budget does not dictate game quality to me.

 

PS: While I dont trust EAoware numbers (I mean last month we were told there was no drop in subs for this report and yet when it comes out there is a 400,000 drop, yeah dont trust EAoware at all not to spin) they did say early on they needed 500,000-800,000 subscribers to break even. So till we reach that number, its all really about nothing imo.

[Oddzball]

I agree with Jett-Rinn, this thread is just an attempt at flame baiting.

 

It actually does not matter how much it cost to deveop.

 

Development costs are capitalized expenses, drepreciated over a period of years, and generally accounted for as a sunk investment cost by EA. Same goes for promotion and marketing, it's separate from ongoing operations costs.

NOW, what is important is the ongoing cost of operations for the game. Since EA has said the game breaks even at 500000 customers, that establishes the total cost of operations for this MMO property (at current staffing and operations levels). Factoring in subscription bundling, etc. that comes out to be about $85 million a year at current payroll and operations. So subscription fees for every customer above 500000 falls directly to the profit line for EA.

 

What is interesting is pratcher or whatever estimated that it costs EA ~$5 per player operating costs, and %33 of sub goes to lucas arts.

 

That means EA gets ~$5 profit from the sub fees.

[Andryah]

At those thinking I'm trying to flame:

 

WRONG. I just wanted some statistics and more information because I'm going to be on a podcast, so I wanted to just talk to those who may think it probably costed $500 million to make.

 

I'm also curious because I'm hearing so much speculation on how much it really did cost. I've been looking into it, but seeing all the different ranges of development costs kinda confused me.

 

If this statement was actually true, you would not be threading up in General forum as your source for data. So, I still say shenanigans.

Edited May 14, 2012 by Andryah

[Andryah]

What is interesting is pratcher or whatever estimated that it costs EA ~$5 per player operating costs, and %33 of sub goes to lucas arts.

 

That means EA gets ~$5 profit from the sub fees.

 

Nobody actually knows what Lucas Arts gets, and under what terms. I think there may have been a Bioware or EA statement that they got a performance guarantee payment up front, followed by a royalty downstream. If true, and I don't know that it is, then Luca Arts is guaranteed a minimum floor royalty, and an upside on a thriving game. But that's still speculation

 

Proft per sub is meaningless, because it changes depending on the number of paid subscriptions, because they have a hard floor of operations costs.

[Talon_strikes]

What is interesting is pratcher or whatever estimated that it costs EA ~$5 per player operating costs, and %33 of sub goes to lucas arts.

 

That means EA gets ~$5 profit from the sub fees.

I recognized what you said and it was on an article that said that SWTOR costed as much as $80 million.

[Galbatorrix]

A better question is:

 

Who cares?

 

 

^^^^^

[Annex]

over 10k.

[Oddzball]

Nobody actually knows what Lucas Arts gets, and under what terms. I think there may have been a Bioware or EA statement that they got a performance guarantee payment up front, followed by a royalty downstream. If true, and I don't know that it is, then Luca Arts is guaranteed a minimum floor royalty, and an upside on a thriving game. But that's still speculation

 

Proft per sub is meaningless, because it changes depending on the number of paid subscriptions, because they have a hard floor of operations costs.

 

Im just saying what that financial analyst guy is saying(Pratcher). I mean, thats his best quess, based on his last report.

[Talon_strikes]

If this statement was actually true, you would not be threading up in General forum as your source for data. So, I still say shenanigans.

Tell me where else could this thread fit?

 

I'm sorry that I'm curious about the costs and using the General Discussion to get some more data to help out others who, too, are curious with the costs.

 

I'm sorry but my statement is true and that's final. Take it or leave it.