GuardianAngel470 wrote...
stysiaq wrote...
CDProjekt RED could give you Enhanced Edition pack for free.
Besides, I paid for a clear ending already. Clearance was promised several times.
I still have no idea how they did that. They must have made BANK on TW1 and TW2. Where the heck did they, an upstart developer, get 1) the money to build a brand new, amazing engine, 2) the funding to make the HUGE TW2, and 3) the funds to pay developers to both make new content AND make an amazing port?
One) They aren't the only ones.
Two) If you are really honest... selling.. lets say 1 million copies worldwide for 50€ a piece nets you 50 Million Euro. If we assume retailers get 15-20% of that. The rest goes back to the Publisher. The publisher keeps probably another 50-60% for print, merchandise, advertisements and such. (Of course i am only familiar with books and i am assuming printing books is more expensive than printing CDs) At the end of the day the Artist, in this case the developers should be geting somewhere between 5 to 15% of the money. Lets say they get 10% for the ease of the mindgame.
So they still just made 5 Million Euro. 5 Million divided by 20 people, is 250000 Euro each. The average german nurse makes about 1 Million in 40 years of working. Quarter that and our Devs just made by selling one game the equivalent of 10 years of working in a "normal" job.
Of course this kind of money has to cover their expenses of the past 4-5 Years they spend working on it, and ideally cover the next 4-5 years to develop your next title. So it really isn't that much. But its easy to see that if you spend another year to create an extended cut, offer it for free to people and a new retail product.
You get positive press, which means you won't need as much advertisment. You will have loyal customers, who will advertise it for you. You will have Software Pirates, who previously liked your game, come out of the bushworks and buy it, (Yeah not all, but thanks to DRM and the way many companys threat their customers a lot people who normaly wouldn't be pirates are pirates) taking the opportunity to "own" the game they loved.. especially now that its "ENHANCED".
Many people do buy extended editions... or games of the year editions once they get released. If you add those additional revenue, its easy to see how spending some more time into it, can not only ensure you have happy customers and happy customers turn into fans, in this branch of the industry. Which only serves to ensure their loyality, as Bioware had once uppon a time. With their next product they will have people buying their stuff simply because its them producing it. Guaranteeing a sale and thus securing the next 4-6 years of work for you.
Of course thats all a nice idea, until the big money rolls in, people start to be managers and don't care to be "normal working" people anymore. But rather like wearing a suit and a tie and getting a couple million bonus as boardmembers at the end of the year as we so frequently see in about every big branch. I am not sure how much money EA pays their higher ups, but i am sure its a lot more than a normal working class person gets. Of course, they won't make more money by selling the game. But that means their devs, the Gruntworking force suddenly gets "less money" or rather there is less money to work with. Because their managers have to be paid 3-4 times as much as their normal working force. Thus bloating up the system, and at the end of the year there probably are big time payouts to reward the good work. Because top managers like those payouts or they leave to some place where the grass is greener.
But as long as your a small firm, true to your cause, being content with making a normal living like the rest of the people. Having a passion for your work and not get the "Bling Bling" into your eyes. As long as you can maintain that attitude.. you can basically create a lot of good quality and don't need to worry about release dates as much as the rest of them.
And last i checked.. 1 Million Copies isn't all that much, world wide. Take Minecraft as example, if you care to.
stysiaq wrote...
The resourcefulness and determination of this 20 person team are legend to me at this point. It's like I'm a guy in the audience at one of Franz Liszt's performances. I just do not know how they did it.
Well they do it like everyone else did it when they started out. Getting a financial plan and a loan and having a vision. Staying through to it and living of instant ramen, when the money gets tight. Just like the rest of us does.
They'll eventually get the "bling bling" into the eye. Bioware was for a long time very much like them. Eventually they'll fall.
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