30°

Activision Blizzard Spent More Than $100 Million Developing StarCraft II

Wall Street Journal writes : "Although videogame sales are in a slump, expectations for "Starcraft II" are high. Blizzard's parent company, Activision Blizzard, has spent more than $100 million developing the computer-based game."

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online.wsj.com
Forbidden_Darkness5024d ago

"To continue reading, subscribe now."

NO! Damn you and your stupidness!

Saryk5024d ago

I don't personally have anything against Activision or Blizzard. But I don't think they will get their money back. I hope I am wrong.

Hyrius5024d ago

Don't worry, 100.000.000$ = what they earn every month thanks to WoW subscribers.

Zinc5024d ago

The first game sold 1.5 million units in its first year.

Now, it has sold almost 10 million units worldwide since its release.

My guess is they will sell 2+ million units before this calendar year is up. That's not even 6 full months. If they do that, that will mean $100,000,000 in final retail price sales. Which, probably means 75,000,000 after retail markup; and after that I don't know what the split would be between the developer/publisher. But, since they all own each other, like some kind of family circle-jerk, I suppose that's a moot consideration.

If the 100,000,000 number is accurate, it won't even take a full calendar year to recoup the investment. That is astonishing. What is more astonishing; is that even when you consider multiple production runs and price reductions over time, they will still(most likely) at the very least triple the initial outlay.

Not only that, but since the initial investment in resources is front heavy, they will only need to spend a fraction of that original amount to produce the next titles in the series. Which, no doubt, will be just as successful , as the last.

All the while they are making more than a billion dollars a year from WOW.

And I didn't even go into Diablo 3...

Can you say hand-over-fist? I can, but barely, mostly because of the brain damage and concentrated gorilla dust.

led10905023d ago

NA preorders alone are over 600,000. It will probably sell 1 million copies in america alone. My bet is 3 million copies at launch which equal around 180 million. So they'll probably see a profit in the very first week

despair5022d ago

people who are too young to remember starcraft don't understand the support and love for the series, SC2 is going to sell millions easily,I've been waiting 12 year for this sequel and definitely day one for me.

150°

Microsoft has ‘let Blizzard be Blizzard’ following its acquisition, studio says

Microsoft has 'let Blizzard be Blizzard' following the acquisition of the veteran developer according to World of Warcraft's executive producer.

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videogameschronicle.com
Kaii15h ago

Diablo 4 storefront being a cash grabbing shitshow does unironically attest to that, kudos.

XiNatsuDragnel12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

Okay i will be interested if they become old Blizzard but might as well be dead.

Vits12h ago

Shame most of the people that made Blizzard what they were, have already left a while ago.

ApocalypseShadow12h ago

I was about to say this. How can they be blizzard when they're no longer blizzard from yesteryear?

blacktiger2h ago

Rare was the thing I lost heart

victorMaje4m ago

Exactly. Blizzard hasn’t been Blizzard for a long time.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Knightofelemia8h ago

Blizzard is not the same Blizzard like it use to be.

PassNextquestion3h ago

Were you expecting Microsoft to hire everyone that had left Blizzard long before they purchased the company...

Microsoft has let the Blizzard company they purchased continue to be the Blizzard company they purchased.

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390°

Former Blizzard President Suggests Players Should Have Option to Tip Developers

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra recently suggested an interesting concept that has sparked a debate among gamers - the idea of being able to tip developers after completing a game.

LG_Fox_Brazil3d ago

If I had a 100% way to be sure that this money would go to a fund or a reserve dedicated only to the guys who develop the games, be them designers, artists, programmers and so on, I could think about it.

But we all know that this 'tip' would only end up in a publisher's CEO pocket to buy a new yacht, so, no, I ain't tipping anyone anytime soon on this industry

neutralgamer19922d ago

Exactly these companies were raising money for good causes and gamers were donation and come to find out they are keeping a good chunk of be pie

PapaBop2d ago

Yeah tip your developer, 5% proceeds go to developer, 95% to the publisher or whoever. Isn't tipping for staff not making minimum wage? How about they just pay their developers properly and like you know, give them fair bonuses? Too much to ask from Blizzard these days, Kotick saw to that and is now laughing all the way to the bank.

MrDead2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

It's the t**ts at the top looking at ways to cut devs wages and get the players to tip them like waiting staff, and I'll guarantee a percentage is skimmed and kept by Activision Blizzard. This is 100% for shareholder and CEO playouts.

Popsicle2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I have to agree with this. On the surface tipping devs sounds like a great idea, but in the end it leads to pay cuts and subsidization of pay. Tips then become an expectation or the devs “can’t make a living.” Lastly, especially in the US, tip culture has gotten out of control, and it serves as an excuse not to properly pay employees. Sounds good but doesn’t end well.

drizzom1d 22h ago

@ Popsicle

I think your right on the nose with how much tipping has become rampant. Instead of it being a relationship directly between the customer and the developer or employee, it now has a middle man ingrained in the system. DoorDash is one example. It ends up becoming a metric where the company can measure 'just how much more money you are willing to part with' before raising the price on the main product.

1Victor2d ago

Uh so they’re trying triple dip or more we buy the game that they’re already withholding/cutting content for dlc we was told that season pass would help the developers thrive we felt for it.
Now on top of all that plus their sales bonus they want tips enough is enough whatever happens to you create/built a good game get a bonus for sales milestones you care about your game and community we reward you with more sales not for doing 3/4 of a game then save the other 1/4 for dlc and passes after

raWfodog2d ago

The 'tip' is me buying your game in the first place.

S2Killinit2d ago

Very well said. If it was possible to send the money to either the developer or some organization for the betterment of gaming, sure. But we all know that will not be the case.

Rynxie2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

No, it would go to those on the top. They will still fire developers, have a bunch of microtransactions, raise prices of games and so on.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1d 22h ago
H93d ago

So they eventually don't pay their workers and depend on our tips to pay them like the case with waiters!

Deeeeznuuuts2d ago

That kind of practice is only normal in the states, as far as I know anyway, what a backwards system

H92d ago

No it's as well in a every country that wants to amercanize

bloop2d ago

Ireland is literally the first stop across the pond and we don't have a tipping culture. The only establishments here that would expect a tip are the tourist haunts that Americans visit. Other than that, you might tip in a restaurant as a sign of gratitude for great service and waiting staff would be paid a full wage anyway.

Rebel_Scum2d ago

Tipping is not customary iin most countries dude. Get a passport lol.

Jin_Sakai3d ago

Is this a joke? How about the big wigs giving up some of their pay for their hard working developers.

MrBaskerville2d ago

Maybe the CEO could earn his money based on tips.

mastershredder3d ago

good god. The devs are not baristas dude. Total 1% ideals. Fing Chadosaurus.

Show all comments (76)
50°

Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase Renew Agreement to Bring Titles Back to China

Blizzard and NetEase have announced that Blizzard's games will return to mainland China under a new publishing agreement.

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blizzard.gamespress.com
AdonisIsBeast5d ago

Chinese propaganda incoming. Thanks Microsoft!