God of War III Developed for $44 Million

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
14,499
0
0
God of War III Developed for $44 Million



God of War III [http://www.amazon.com/God-War-III-Playstation-3/dp/B000ZK9QCS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1278968473&sr=1-1] was an expensive game to make, which was already known, but now SCEA has revealed the exact cost.

Some videogames can be developed by a single person with nothing for a budget other than as much Dr. Pepper and Taco Bell as it takes. Others, like God of War III, cost more to make than a jet fighter, as John Hight, Director of Product Development at SCEA for God of War III told Giant Bomb in an interview released today.

When Hight was asked what it takes to make a big title like God of War III, he replied: "We are stamping discs now, so we're effectively done. Just got a couple of countries that we're finishing up on this week, and we spent $44 million to make God of War III" Not the most expensive game by any means, in fact it doesn't even make the top ten [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98682-Top-10-Most-Expensive-Games-Ever], but $44 million isn't an amount of change that can be made by chumps, as they say. Still, this was "right within budget," Hight said.

Part of the large budget may have something to do with the amount of people that worked on God of War III, which Hight said was a "shocker" to him. God of War took roughly 30 people to create, God of War II took around 60, but God of War III was completed with the efforts of no less than 132 separate human entities. Why so many? Hight reveals: "The biggest area that we grew was graphics, on the art side."

As gamers, we always look toward the next big thing, so many people may be wondering when God of War IV could come out even though God of War III doesn't hit the streets until March 16. Hight had a little bit to say on the matter: "We hope to have another game out on the PS3. It's our goal to take this investment in technology, and show it off for the next game." However, he gave a reminder that SCEA is "also capable of doing other IP," so the next game to use the God of War PS3 engine may not be the next God of War at all.

Source: Giant Bomb [http://www.giantbomb.com/god-of-war-iii-interview/17-2133/]

Permalink
 

Booze Zombie

New member
Dec 8, 2007
7,416
0
0
Seeing the breasts rendered in the videos I've seen?

Worth every penny.

I kid, but they were rendered pretty well.
 

Fox242

El Zorro Cauto
Nov 9, 2009
868
0
0
It appears to be worth every penny. Seeing Kratos covered in blood and shredding wave after wave of mythic creatures in such gorgeous detail could only have been made at such a high budget.
 

Booze Zombie

New member
Dec 8, 2007
7,416
0
0
madbird-valiant said:
I'd get slaughtered if I said what was actually on my mind while reading this, so I'll instead say "Woo! Halo 3 is in the top 10". Also, holy balls, $100m for GTA 4 D: It didn't feel like $100m worth.
It's amazing what an organised and properly scheduled team of devs can do with just a "small amount of money", eh?

Rockstar games just seem to brute force their way into making games.

"Is it good yet?"

"No."

"Throw more money and time at it."
 

Proteus214

Game Developer
Jul 31, 2009
2,270
0
0
That's pretty cheap from what I expected. I was imagining somewhere near the 100M range.
 

squid5580

Elite Member
Feb 20, 2008
5,106
0
41
OMG they plan on making a God of War clone next.

I can't believe it cost that much to make. Was that including the hooker and blow fund? Since they already have everything there set up for them I just don't see why it cost 44M to make it shiny.
 

soapyshooter

That Guy
Jan 19, 2010
1,571
0
0
i will keep that in mind when i rip open an enemy and its guts and blood spew everywhere and think to myself...mmmmm $44,000,000 gore. Tasty.
 

CK76

New member
Sep 25, 2009
1,620
0
0
Didn't Shenmue cost 60 million plus over a decade ago?

44 does not seem too bad these days given how development costs have risen these past generations.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
Wow, I actually expected it to be more.

CK76 said:
Didn't Shenmue cost 60 million plus over a decade ago?

44 does not seem too bad these days given how development costs have risen these past generations.
Yeah, Shenmue was like a vortex that absorbed all money.
 

sneakypenguin

Elite Member
Legacy
Jul 31, 2008
2,804
0
41
Country
usa
Wow that seems really low, I guess there is still marketing cost left though.
 

Darkwolf9

New member
Aug 19, 2008
394
0
0
They'll make way more than that off of it. I thought this supposed to be the last entry in the God of War series. That's what all of the officials have been saying. I realize it's a bit naive to believe they'd give up on such a heavy hitting franchise like this, but it could be the case that they may not be able to deliver much on the epic side of adventures for Kratos after this one. I suppose we'll see.
 

CheckD3

New member
Dec 9, 2009
1,181
0
0
It's supriseing to hear that, especially since they noted the amount of people working on it, meaning a lot of the costs went into payments and working related for each of the 132 people.

I'm glad they said they won't keep dragging on the God of War series for now. By God of War engine, it means we get the same top of the line graphics and gameplay, but a new main character for us to fall in love with.

Though I do hope that God of War IV does come out, just not for some time...the longer the better, because it means they aren't a one trick pony and it also means that the game will be decent, not "for the fans" and total crap
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
5,237
0
0
Mmm, tasty. And exciting. And I hope they also keep going with the series by changing protagonists. I love Kratos as a developed character with a bit of an anger complex and weird obsession for bathing in the guts of his enemies, but I wouldn't mind seeing them apply their massive talent to someone new.
 

Jezzascmezza

New member
Aug 18, 2009
2,500
0
0
Yeh, I'm not surprised,
the game looks amazing.
And this is coming from someone who doesn't even own a PS3.