God of War: Ascension Had A Development Budget of $50 Million

GC - "Sony has spent a lot of money on God of War: Ascension. How much? $50 million apparently."

[Abash]

As much as I loved God of War: Ascension, it seemed like God of War III had a bigger budget. Especially considering that GoW3 had to be built from the ground up for PS3 and they were able to use it's resources when creating Ascension

[NastyLeftHook0]

god of war 3's budget was 44 million.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Yeah but I think Sony did a bigger budget with Ascension.

But after all those commercials and marketing campaign's it only managed to hit 360K. But then again, the game is still selling.

[Qrphe]

@Ice
http://www.vgchartz.com/gam...

[coolbeans]

It's funny how quick some people can be to use vgchartz's numbers when it's convenient for them.

http://1-media-cdn.foolz.us...

[aCasualGamer]

@Qrphe

So that means that it has already made $59 x 1 000 000 = $59 000 000

Keep in mind that it's not the actual figure after all expenses etc. but it's on it's way to profit. That's good imo. As long as it breaks even i'm happy, it means they didn't loose any money on the franchise.

[HBK619]

@Coolbeans
Yeah but they're more reliable than the random '360k' that AngelicIceDiamond came up with. Maybe they're talking a specific region or something? Claims on VGCharts are that it's being undertracked as well.

@aCasualGamer
That's not really how it works. It's not the full RRP of the game going to the publisher. You have to take cuts for the retailer, then divvy things up to developer, manufacturer, etc.

Sony would be making around $20-$30 off (being generous - I believe normal 3rd party publishing is $12 per copy - Sony doing it 1st Party means they'll obviously take a bigger cut) each copy sold at full retail price right now.

[Tr10wn]

Thats leaving out what gamestop take from those $59.99, i dont think GoW:A was profitable.

[aCasualGamer]

HBK1619

You are absolutely right, that's why i said "Keep in mind that it's not the actual figure after all expenses etc." The etc, refers to all the cuts from publisher to various studios.

I know Santa Monica Studios hasn't made $59 million but the game itself has. They've probably made 30 percent of that, which is roughly $20 million.

[coolbeans]

@HBK619

The 360k number is focused on NA and Ascension's first month only. (By a source to have actual reputation)

http://www.psu.com/a019097/...

And why should anyone care about claims by random internet users of it being under-tracked?

[yesmynameissumo]

Oh! Oh! Can I play financial analyst? Can I?

Also - GOW:Ascention was great.

[hesido]

Anyway, the takeaway lesson is GOW Asc did not sell as much as predicted, and it had a big budget. The other GOW (Gears of War) didn't fare too well either. Is there fatigue?

[sikbeta]

SO... can they recover the money for this game, afaik, Aecension isn't selling amazing...

[Athonline]

Don't forgot money coming from DLCs, PS Passes and indirectly: from selling toys, royalties from strategy guides,shops exclusivity in DLCs/ collector's editions and finally PS3 systems sold...

[Gaming101]

Everyone probably demanded more money for the next game, that shoots the cost of development through the roof. Once you resign onto the next contract there's usually a raise if your last game sold by the truck full. Plus the team was probably way larger this time with more networking programmers and testers since this is the first online game in the GoW series.

Marketing with that superbowl commercial wasn't cheap either lol

[calis]

"Anyway, the takeaway lesson is GOW Asc did not sell as much as predicted, and it had a big budget. The other GOW (Gears of War) didn't fare too well either. Is there fatigue?"

They've been out a month, give or take. See how it goes after 6 months or a year.

[house]

i think switching directors effected the game and not to mention leaving things out that could have made the story better i think the family death scene would have been impacting, the epic moments also slowed down they never matched the start of the game.

with that said i think god of war needs a break i mean there's only so much you can add to kratos story

[Yodagamer]

While that would have added to the story i don't think that would have helped. The best prequels have always explored a character we don't know much about, we knew alot of kratos past already and you really can't top fighting gods like in 3. It was fighting against its own series in alot of ways.

[god_o_war]

I believe each console game had a different director not sure about the psp versions

[Arai]

Kratos: God of the Arena
PS4 exclusive fighting game....believe!

They registered "Kratos" so who knows what spawns from that, it could be something or it could be nothing.

Bought all 4 HD remakes couple days ago, brilliant games to be honest.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Wow!! That much?? I apologise for calling it a quick cash grab in that case.

[xXBlondieVanHarlowXx]

What a waste Sony could have used that money to get Ps3 owners some timed GTA5 exclusive content.

/Sarcasm. SARCASM please don't de-bubble me i'm joking >_< lol

[Blaze929]

Ascension sure as hell didn't feel like a $50 million game. God of War Ascension felt so, pointless to me at the end. Sure it was a prequel but I felt I could've been a-ok, had I totally skipped this game.

The multiplayer is there for those who care I guess but multiplayer was never was brought me interest in the series, it's the story.

Who directed this game? I know about 4 directors for the God of War series which IMO, is already too many directors and directions. Jaffe did it the best. Barlog was nice with GoW2. Stig was alright with GoW3. And even Ru Weerasuriya for Chains of Olympus.

Too many changes in lead.

[GraveLord]

Ascension also had multiplayer so that really added to the costs. It's essentially 2 games in one.

[Pandamobile]

That most likely included a pretty sizable marketing budget.

[admiralvic]

Without question. Not only was that live action commercial anything but cheap, they aired it during the superbowl (various sources claim a 30 second ad was roughly 3.5 million for the 2012 SB, so this is at least 2%+ of the overall budget.).

[smashman98]

Thats true for the televised superbowl but they only aired the commercial for ppl watching online much cheaper than on television

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

that commercial is amazing e.e

[FunAndGun]

Yeah, the commercial only aired for those watching the Superbowl by streaming on the net. The commercial did not air during the televised Superbowl.

[RyuCloudStrife]

The commercial did not air on TV, it aired online, hence it was cheaper than a 3.5 mil T.V airing.

[admiralvic]

@ Everyone who replied (minus chobit)

While you're right that it never aired on the TV, I only listed the TV price because it was the only data I could find and you would see that despite that, I only mentioned it being a million dollars.

2% of 50,000,000 is 1,000,000... really basic math.

[FunAndGun]

I REALLY enjoy Ascensions MP.

[xXBlondieVanHarlowXx]

Then chances are, we've killed each other at least once :b GODdamn addictive!!

[BLKxSEPTEMBER]

Still haven't played it yet. Waiting for it to be around 25$ before I buy it.

[vishmarx]

im still for more info on the tlou demo before i buy this...

[MasterA]

I wonder if they can recoup their investment. Seems pretty risky to make high budget games now, considering the current state of active buyers.

[hellzsupernova]

They have already sold over a million copies im sure Sony is going to be fine with that

[LocutusEstBorg]

No the problem is a high budget game needs to be a GOOD game, relative to everythign else. Good on it's own? Yes. If you've played the 5 games before it? Not gonna sell $50M.

[calis]

"If you've played the 5 games before it? Not gonna sell $50M."

That's not even logical. It's at 1 million after a month, see what it does in another 6 or a year.

I don't get why people see a number and assume that's it. That is all it will ever sell. It is so short-sighted.

[Agent_hitman]

Amen to that

[TheFallenAngel]

I felt that God of War:Ghost of Sparta was better done than Ascension. Good game and great combat but nothing like God of War 3.

[etownone]

Hard to understand....

Plastation's #1 franchise coming in this late into this gen with around 80 million ps3 owners out there and made with a 50 million dollar budget.....

.... And it only sells around 1 million? Wtf

[yewles1]

"Plastation's #1 franchise"

Nah-ah...

http://www.polyphony.co.jp/...

[jcnba28]

GOW still sold horribly. 1 million copies are you serious?

Why do PS3 owners not buy their exclusives? It makes no sense.

Look at Microsoft and Nintendo exclusives, they always sell well, much more than PS3 exclusives.

[calis]

"Look at Microsoft and Nintendo exclusives, they always sell well, much more than PS3 exclusives."

Like Gears of War: Judgement?

Guess that must have done horrible because it's sold crap after one month.

[TrailerParkSupervisr]

@jcn...I do buy sony exclusives. Infamous, uncharted and little big planet. Bought each installment for each series. at the end of the day god of war is a hack n slash. I'm not gonna drop 60 bucks on a hack n slash no matter how pretty it is.

[Prophet-Gamer]

Gran Turismo is PlayStation's number 1 franchise. Also, iirc, Uncharted is bigger than God of War as well.

[calis]

"And it only sells around 1 million? Wtf"

ffs. It's been one month!

1 million is not the final number. God, you people can't be this stupid.

[Zezo]

It amazes me how once this powerhouse of a franchise sank just like that. How in the world did this happen?

This is one of the dangers of having a continuing game going for long. It becomes over-saturated after a long period of time. Will Batman Arkham Origins fall victim as well?

Highly doubtful, but we said the same thing about Kratos.

[darren_poolies]

One game hasn't sold well...GOW3 sold over 5.2 million. I wouldn't exactly say the franchise has sank.

[LocutusEstBorg]

It sunk because the game was uninteresting compared to GoW III. The single player was not even remotely as sasisfying as brutally murdering all the gods.

[x5exotic]

Because, if you use logic, you can see it happened before GoW1, and killing a god then would ruin god of war 1 and the feels it gave you.

It was more focused on the story, and I liked that. Still a million is not "sinking", nor is God of War a continuous game. Name any other mainstream game that releases games 3 years apart?

[Fatmanp]

TBH 1 million for a marquee series is not very good.

[Zezo]

I blame sony for their over focus on the multiplayer part when advertising. People probably didn't realize that this is a fully fledged GoW-Game, not just some spin off.

[Fatmanp]

Possibly. Or maybe it was that the PS4 was announced and people are just holding off.

[yewles1]

It's exactly as I predicted, PS4 announcement has practically assassinated sales expectations for all PS3 games. Expect similar to worse sales for TLoU and Beyond...

[coolbeans]

I personally think it's more because of franchise fatigue.

[e-p-ayeaH]

exacly god of war had a good run but people now want something else.

[insomnium2]

Yup. I bought GOW3 but not GOW:A. I might buy it cheaper but I just am not that interested in yet another GOW title. Same with Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3 tbh. I bought those two when they GAVE them to me for 15€ each and they are still wrapped in plastic in my backlog. I loose interest pretty quick if it's more of the same. This is however just my opinion about this.

edit @ people calling salesdoom.

This GOW will sell well. I find it laughable for people to claim this game will flop in sales or something. It might not hit 5mil like GOW3 did but it will go up to 3.5-4 million for sure. Haven't we seen this already people..?

[Darrius Cole]

Yewles is probably correct, or at least halfway correct. The PS4 announcement probably has hurt PS3 sales of both games and hardware). To be honest it probably hurt 360 sales of games and hardware also. I personally had my money ready to buy another PS3 and GOW:Ascension, but when they announce the PS4 I promptly put my money back in my pocket and waited for more guidance.

I'm still waiting for more guidance (emphasis on the word "still"). The PS3 still costs $249US - $299US, depending on which one you buy. There is no way in hell I am paying that with a PS4 releasing this year. But without knowing what Sony will do I can't tell what the best way to spend my money is. Sony needs to tell us a price and a date for the PS4 and they need to go ahead with the PS3 price cut.

P.S.

Game makers should realize that gamers only have so much money.

[jcnba28]

Nah the game didn't sell because it sucked.

It had nothing to do with the PS4 announcement.

[danny818]

This is true. Now that I am more careful on what games I buy with the next gem, the reviews and a couple friends who had it said it was different.... Harder, shallow etc. that discouraged me from buying the games. Ima highly anticipating the last of us

[ZodTheRipper]

Disagree. I'm still enjoying it, the multiplayer is fun as hell. It's well executed (even if not balanced perfectly) and much more importantly, something fresh.

[Realplaya]

So you are telling me 80 million ps3 owners are waiting for a ps4 to buy a game?

[Crazay]

Does this price tag not worry any of you guys as gamers?

$50 Million is a crap load of cheddar to be spending on a videogame. I can see the argument that systems are so complex now that it takes that many more people to complete a project but it just means that a) prices are going to need to go up to offset these costs or b) perhaps titles that are actually really good but fail to make profit expectations may not see sequels or further support.

[Gorilla_Killa_X]

Dude, next gen consoles will be easier to develop for,supposedly, and developers like epic will be leasing out there engines that are easier to develop games with meaning that making games should use less time and money.

[Persistantthug]

AAA Games aren't gonna be cheaper to make and market next gen.

In fact, since you mentioned Epic....Tim Sweeney said it would cost double.

http://www.vg247.com/2012/1...

What most certainly I can assure you of, is AAA game development and marketing costs is not gonna get cheaper....that's a guarantee.

[despair]

"“For God of War: Ascension a mid double-digit million amount was invested,” lead producer Whitney Wade said. (Via rough translation)"

This is what everything in this "article" is based on? Yea how about waiting for an actual number rather than a convoluted statement from a probably badly translated website.

[Brian1rr]

I'll buy it when it hits $30

[ZodTheRipper]

I've got it for 40 and it's worth it. Get it while there are enough people playing it online, without the MP I'd say you miss 60% of the fun.

[WUTCHUGUNNADO]

Well damn... I thought the link said $50.

[ZILLA]

WHO CARES!!??cost me $89 for limited edition.and BRUTAL KILLs online is worth that alone.ASCENSION ONLINE...F T W!!

[lovegames718]

lol i love how ppl act as if GOW Asc. will just sit at little over a million hahaha It will sell over 3 mil. over its lifetime im pretty sure about that.

As for the GOW mp wow!!!!! I just love it!!!!! No lie i spent maybe 6 hours playing it off and on yesterday. Its the only mp that really gives me that Spartacus gladiator feel and gives me all the badass gore i want!!!!! Final kills just look awesome! and are done so so well.

Cant wait for the dlc as well and this game will make tons off that! Sony will def. turn a nice profit on this. The same way LBP is a dlc monster, so will GOW be. Im already itching for new maps and level ups!

[Tzuno]

When to much is too much...

[QuickdrawMcgraw]

There was no need for GOW Asc.Just a cash grab.Story was so boring I even forgot what it was from time to time.And I am a huge GOW fan.Just my opinion.

[ZodTheRipper]

If that's so, then there is no need for FIFA, Assasin's Creed or Call of Duty either. GoW has a big enough fanbase to justify another game.

[MilkMan]

I'm sure they will make their money back. Just keep that silly MP away from SP experiences.
You'll read a lot about how many play it and love it, then its all dead silent and crickets 2 days later. In other words. WASTE OF MONEY.

[FunAndGun]

Thats funny because the SP experience only lasts 2 days and then there is not much else to do. I have been playing the MP since launch and still haven't upgraded everything. What is so bad about having a SOLID MP experience that lengthens the life of a game? Where fans of GoW can play together instead of just talking about the epic moments of SP.

Do you not like MP games?
Did you even try the MP in Ascension?
Did you try the MP in Ascension and get murdered online?

[MilkMan]

I like competitive MP games like BF, COD and some others.
Every single player game that has MP attached to it has varying degrees of success, none of them are worth talking about.
I did fairly well in Ascension. But its not a compelling experience.
Its as shallow. Like MOST MP, competitive or not.
But in SP games, it hurts all the more.
Cause these monies and effort could have been put to good use elsewhere.

You say Ascension was not what you expected, maybe it would have been, if they'd focus on this component more.

Its all academic at this point, I suppose.

[FunAndGun]

I didn't say Ascension was not what I was expecting. I actually haven't even gotten halfway through the SP yet because I have been addicted to the MP.

The same size team that worked on GoW3's SP worked on Ascension's SP. Nothing was taken away from SP because of the inclusion of MP.

You say it is shallow, but I have found it to be the freshest MP's in a long time and it has plenty of depth. There has not been one single MP game that is like or even similar to Ascension's this whole gen.

Obviously that is your opinion, but you say "WASTE OF MONEY", then say you like BF and COD, and you "Can't wait" for Splinter cell. So it just seems you don't have much of a range....and that is truly shallow.

[mediate-this]

I didnt finish ascension. The combat felt like a step dowm from gow3, nothing could top killing all the gods.

As i was playing ascension i just wanted to play god war 3 more and more.

[TheKayle1]

just that money for this masterpiece?!?! wow

[jakmckratos]

Sucks because it was the worst one in the series. Including the PSP ones. Seriously it's time to see Kratos take on Odin Sony!

[user7693958]

well i'm playing the game and the campaign is not as epic as GOW3 it does feels bigger environments but the visuals in GOW3 felt better.. is just more of the same ..

they should have not invest that much money into it ($30mill should have been enough).
and less not forget GOWA helps GOW collection to sale.
I bet they can bring a upgraded GOW:A or a ultimate collection running in 4k in a future and get another 1million + copy's sold easily..

anyways this is sing for Santa Monica to move on into a new IP!! or reinvent GOW.. more of the same seem not good enough anymore . plus the kratos campaign is done.. they could bring a new era a new badass hero but it will be hard to surpass Kratos I don't think is possible.

Maybe a RPG putting all his campaign in one game, reinvented with nexgen visuals, new gameplay and graphics plus many epic extra huge battles? idk
I bet Sony will figure it out..
Santa Monica needs to adapt.. or they will end up like London studio :/

[Jamaicangmr]

That seems alot considering the engine was already built but ok. However more importantly is how much has it made thus far? I want it to make Sony a profit because Sony and a few other development/publishing houses actually take risks and bring us big budget games. So i want them to turn a profit or else slowly we might be only getting low budget crap and epic games like GoW, Halo, MGS, FF will be a thing of the past.

[PirateThom]

I probably share a common opinion of the game as many others.

It's still God of War and still a great game but it just feels entirely pointless. It just feels lacking compared to GoWIII, like it lacks the soul the other 3 console games had.

It definitely feels more like one of the PSP titles, God of War but not really living up to the high standards.