Game development costs are increasing
In this first graph from ArsTechnica, the left hand side represents the average amount of people working on a game. This figure has been increasing less than exponentially. This isn't really the frightening bit. The frightening bit is shown in the text in the x axis, you will realise that since the 16 bit era, cost of making a game has gone from an average of $0.05 million minimum, to an average of $17 million minimum, so its become at least 340 TIMES more expensive to make games since then !!
This second graph just shows game development costs (previous showed both gaming development costs and number of people working on them). Data is from ArsTechnica If this graph is even 50% accurate (i.e if 50% was the margin of error), then it would mean the average cost of making a next gen game in 2012 would be $25 million minimum, if its 100% accurate then the average cost of making a game in 2012 would be $50 million. Lets get straight to the point. This seems unsustainable. Lets make a new word up, call it "market entry figure". It represents an average developers view, on what the user base of a video game console should be before they start developing/making games on that console. This "market entry figure" has surely been increasing every generation. By Human nature, if something is risky, you are less likely to do it. Hence I speculate the following:
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VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "XDefiant is a game that can be interrogated over its utility in the current shooter market and have no good answer. Sure, maybe a pie slice from CoD shows its market utility, but nothing else. That doesn't necessarily make it bad or awful by any metric compared RedFall or Crime Boss for example; that said, it's the current frontrunner for most beige game of 2024. The mechanical foundation operates and most maps are at least decently composed. The problem is those key multiplayer qualities are swallowed by a flat personality, various launch-window woes, and an exceedingly grinding structure. Leave it to Ubisoft to replicate a template more boring than its typical open worlds."
"XDefiant is a game that can be interrogated over its utility in the current shooter market and have no good answer. Sure, maybe a pie slice from CoD shows its market utility, but nothing else"
Probably a difficult task to interrogate a game.
"The mechanical foundation operates and most maps are at least decently composed"
Glad to hear the mechanical foundation operates.
I don't know if this review was written by a faulty AI or a human who has a thesaurus but doesn't know how to use it.
Bundle up!
If this doesn't have the original soundtrack in a rock flavor then it's a real missed opportunity
Discover how Cameron Monaghan unexpectedly became Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, from a secretive audition to an iconic Jedi role.
He would kill it with a show or trilogy based around the character or some other story that involves Cal Kestis. Currently the best thing about Star Wars.
This is the price of wanting "next-gen" hardware out on the market. Rising development costs as a result of "next-gen" graphics engines and the manpower needed to run them just to make decent use of that "next-gen" hardware. The irony of it all is that today's video games cost less than they did 20 years ago.
I'd like to see the numbers of incoming revenue from games during these eras. It's obvious the price of game development will rise as the industry goes and from inflation, but the number u need to examine is the money coming in now comparitive to older eras. That will better tell you if gaming is in trouble or not.
Let's count on the indies then :')