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Post by neocodex and 23 others on Apr 5, 2017 8:54:30 GMT
Sure, there are other costs involved and you don't reap the full value (exclude the VAT from the prices) but still, let's say half of that goes back to the publisher/studio as pure profit, not to mention deluxe and 100$ super deluxe editions, on top of some extremely overvalued Andromeda points for MP...
If they sold just 2 milion copies, 25% of them being deluxe editions, and maybe a very small portion of maybe 5% super deluxe - if I just take a sample from my origin friendlist, most of them have at least a regular deluxe, if not super deluxe, and there were people buying packs in MP.. with all these you could roughly average out that they get at very least, 50$ of pure profit on average per player, if not more.
So even 1 milion of copies sold with this average income per copy would be more than enough to cover all development costs and very likely make the game pretty well profitable, and that is just the first week, there's still many that will eventually buy the game on sale, or when it's patched and so on. Not to mention future DLC sales and MP store sales, which are extremely profitable return of investment for them, more than the game itself.
Their statement is millions, so you could expect that it was more than at least 2 millions, if you double up all those numbers I would say it was still a very good investment for EA and they might still be willing to support another ME title in the future, even tough this one was very poorly received and it looks like this is the end of the ME (but how will the next one sell that is the real question).
If the costs for this was just 40 millions, that's actually a pretty small budget considering how well this game is selling. We will see more of ME in the future just because of numbers alone, and you guys all know that EA likes their numbers.
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Post by guynice on Apr 5, 2017 9:03:03 GMT
Sure, there are other costs involved and you don't reap the full value (exclude the VAT from the prices) but still, let's say half of that goes back to the publisher/studio as pure profit, not to mention deluxe and 100$ super deluxe editions, on top of some extremely overvalued Andromeda points for MP... If they sold just 2 milion copies, 25% of them being deluxe editions, and maybe a very small portion of maybe 5% super deluxe - if I just take a sample from my origin friendlist, most of them have at least a regular deluxe, if not super deluxe, and there were people buying packs in MP.. with all these you could roughly average out that they get at very least, 50$ of pure profit on average per player, if not more. So even 1 milion of copies sold with this average income per copy would be more than enough to cover all development costs and very likely make the game pretty well profitable, and that is just the first week, there's still many that will eventually buy the game on sale, or when it's patched and so on. Not to mention future DLC sales and MP store sales, which are extremely profitable return of investment for them, more than the game itself. Their statement is millions, so you could expect that it was more than at least 2 millions, if you double up all those numbers I would say it was still a very good investment for EA and they might still be willing to support another ME title in the future, even tough this one was very poorly received and it looks like this is the end of the ME (but how will the next one sell that is the real question). The 40 million figure is the development budget and does not include marketing. Usually the marketing budget for AAA games and EA games in particular is about 2-3 times the development cost. So in total EA is likely to have spent in excess of 120 million dollars on the game. This is of course not based on insider info, but on past precedent and conjecture.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 9:04:54 GMT
I wouldn't be concerned if I were you OP. My guess is that EA plans on keeping ME around for a while.
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Post by warbaby2 on Apr 5, 2017 9:06:14 GMT
Also, who knows what expectations where... the Tomb Raider reboot was considered a commercial failure because it only sold 3.4 mil copies... still got a sequel, though.
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Post by colfoley on Apr 5, 2017 9:07:53 GMT
Yeah I think with EA the issue is not exactly 'did it make a prophet' but did it make enough of a prophet in their eyes? EA has expectactions for the game they want met, if those expectations aren't matched then something may happen.
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Post by neocodex and 23 others on Apr 5, 2017 9:09:59 GMT
The 40 million figure is the development budget and does not include marketing. Usually the marketing budget for AAA games and EA games in particular is about 2-3 times the development cost. So in total EA is likely to have spent in excess of 120 million dollars on the game. This is of course not based on insider info, but on past precedent and conjecture. 2-3 more times for marketing? How does one even spend 100$ million on marketing? That's insane. I just can't comprehend that. Oh right, this also sold on consoles, I'm sure they sold millions at least on the PC.
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Post by NRieh on Apr 5, 2017 9:12:13 GMT
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Post by warbaby2 on Apr 5, 2017 9:14:41 GMT
The 40 million figure is the development budget and does not include marketing. Usually the marketing budget for AAA games and EA games in particular is about 2-3 times the development cost. So in total EA is likely to have spent in excess of 120 million dollars on the game. This is of course not based on insider info, but on past precedent and conjecture. 2-3 more times for marketing? How does one even spend 100$ million on marketing? That's insane. I just can't comprehend that. Oh right, this also sold on consoles, I'm sure they sold millions at least on the PC. You have any idea what TV commercials alone cost? We are talking hundreds of thousands there, for one slot on one channel in one country... and they had a commercial on numerous channels in a number of countries. That alone cost them probably millions.
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Post by anacronian on Apr 5, 2017 9:17:54 GMT
Also, there many other costs to releasing a game - Like on the consoles Microsoft and Sony takes a substantial cut and Marketing is also a huge expense.
The common saying is that for every 10 million in dev budget you have to sell 1 million copies <- this is just a loose rule of thumb but it usually checks out unless your game is an MMO or something that gets extra payment after launch.
So loosely ME:A would have to sell around 4 million copies in all to break even.
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Post by Psychevore on Apr 5, 2017 9:21:16 GMT
Also, there many other costs to releasing a game - Like on the consoles Microsoft and Sony takes a substantial cut and Marketing is also a huge expense. The common saying is that for every 10 million in dev budget you have to sell 1 million copies <- this is just a loose rule of thumb but it usually checks out unless your game is an MMO or something that gets extra payment after launch. So loosely ME:A would have to sell around 4 million copies in all to break even. Except that ME:A has multiplayer with in game sales, so it will make more money than just by selling the base game.
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Post by warbaby2 on Apr 5, 2017 9:26:52 GMT
Also, there many other costs to releasing a game - Like on the consoles Microsoft and Sony takes a substantial cut and Marketing is also a huge expense. The common saying is that for every 10 million in dev budget you have to sell 1 million copies <- this is just a loose rule of thumb but it usually checks out unless your game is an MMO or something that gets extra payment after launch. So loosely ME:A would have to sell around 4 million copies in all to break even. Except that ME:A has multiplayer with in game sales, so it will make more money than just by selling the base game. True, but since it's free MP, it's hard to calculate... The 10/1 mil scale is roughly accurate, though. TR2013 cost around 100 mil to make and SE projected 5-10 mil copies sold to make it a success.
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Post by Ajax on Apr 5, 2017 9:30:58 GMT
Marketing budget being 3 times the development budget is a total outlier and only applies to Call of Duty afaik. Usually a marketing budget of an AAA title is about the same as the development cost.
Btw I'm hard pressed to believe MEA only cost 40 million to develop. For an enormous game like that, built on a brand new engine, with brand new assets it seems like peanuts. I bet they went massivelly over budget so EA made them to rush the game with all the bugs and placeholder character models.
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Post by Psychevore on Apr 5, 2017 9:31:53 GMT
Except that ME:A has multiplayer with in game sales, so it will make more money than just by selling the base game. True, but since it's free MP, it's hard to calculate... The 10/1 mil scale is roughly accurate, though. TR2013 cost around 100 mil to make and SE projected 5-10 mil copies sold to make it a success. Except the MP for a lot of people isn't free. Micro transactions are easily done and profits can run into the dozens of millions. FIFA (much bigger game of course) made over a 100 million from microtransactions alone.
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Post by neocodex and 23 others on Apr 5, 2017 9:33:20 GMT
Marketing budget being 3 times the development budget is a total outlier and only applies to Call of Duty afaik. Usually a marketing budget of an AAA title is about the same as the development cost. Btw I'm hard pressed to believe MEA only cost 40 million to develop. For an enormous game like that, built on with a brand new engine and brand new assets, it seems like peanuts. I bet they went massivelly over budget so EA made them to rush the game with all the bugs and placeholder character models. A lot of things in this game really do seem like a placeholder. Don't get me even started on low-res looking weapons, and the UI which seems like early concept that eventually didn't get changed.
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Post by warbaby2 on Apr 5, 2017 9:36:20 GMT
Marketing budget being 3 times the development budget is a total outlier and only applies to Call of Duty afaik. Usually a marketing budget of an AAA title is about the same as the development cost. Btw I'm hard pressed to believe MEA only cost 40 million to develop. For an enormous game like that, built on with a brand new engine and brand new assets, it seems like peanuts. I bet they went massivelly over budget so EA made them to rush the game with all the bugs and placeholder character models. A lot of things in this game really do seem like a placeholder. Don't get me even started on low-res looking weapons, and the UI which seems like early concept that eventually didn't get changed. Reused assets for characters, creatures and environments (some of it explained through lore), cinematic placeholders, no unique game mechanics/mini games, etc. Basically, what you see during the first 10 hours of the game, is what you get for the rest of it, for the most part.
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Post by alanc9 on Apr 5, 2017 12:59:35 GMT
ME:A commercials are still running. I saw one two days ago. I can't remember where; best guess is Comedy Central, either Daily Show or @midnight.
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Post by chawktrick on Apr 5, 2017 13:08:07 GMT
Their statement is millions, so you could expect that it was more than at least 2 millions, if you double up all those numbers I would say it was still a very good investment for EA and they might still be willing to support another ME title in the future, even tough this one was very poorly received and it looks like this is the end of the ME (but how will the next one sell that is the real question).A good game will sell, even if past versions were not up to par. The most recent Resident Evil is evidence of that. Hell, NCAA football did pretty well year-to-year even though boo birds were constantly saying "I'm never buying one of these again." People who say that are often making veiled, empty threats. The fan base is there and I think a lot of people are enjoying this game despite some of the issues, myself being one of them.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 13:10:04 GMT
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_ArtsAccording to Wikipedia EA made 1,1 billion dollars last year. So yeah they could probably take a hit, i mean they already did with Titanfall 2 and that might get a sequel. People are being dramatic for no other reason than drama. Also the ME:A multiplayer will surely be profitable if it is as popular as the one from ME3. The microtransactions alone are a gold mine.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 13:13:41 GMT
2-3 more times for marketing? How does one even spend 100$ million on marketing? That's insane. I just can't comprehend that.Oh right, this also sold on consoles, I'm sure they sold millions at least on the PC. Yeah, that does sounds insane. Also a true shame, imagine how much more impressive the game could have been if most of this amount went into making it better. I think aslong as you have brand awareness there is no reason to market it excessively. This was going to sell on name alone, they could've dropped 3 trailers, made sure there were shared by everyone and spent more money on the game. Read somewhere that some Disney/Warner Brothers movie actually spend as much on marketing as they do on the movie - So Batman V Superman is rumored to have cost 500 million dollars, that is stupid. You have Batman and Superman in the title, people are going to go watch it. I really hate marketing, and the people that do that kind of job don't understand what the fans want to see either.
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Post by II So Close II on Apr 5, 2017 13:16:44 GMT
The 40 million figure is the development budget and does not include marketing. Usually the marketing budget for AAA games and EA games in particular is about 2-3 times the development cost. So in total EA is likely to have spent in excess of 120 million dollars on the game. This is of course not based on insider info, but on past precedent and conjecture. 2-3 more times for marketing? How does one even spend 100$ million on marketing? That's insane. I just can't comprehend that. Oh right, this also sold on consoles, I'm sure they sold millions at least on the PC. As someone who works with branding, I can totally see both how it would seem excessive and how it could be spent. FWIW, the rule of thumb is that any movie or video game has to take in at least twice as much as it cost to make in order to break even.
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Post by Ahriman on Apr 5, 2017 13:21:14 GMT
The 40 million figure is the development budget and does not include marketing. Usually the marketing budget for AAA games and EA games in particular is about 2-3 times the development cost. So in total EA is likely to have spent in excess of 120 million dollars on the game. This is of course not based on insider info, but on past precedent and conjecture. If the "marketing" I saw costs 80+ millions dollars, then I'd recommend to fire a few dozens of people involved.
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Post by linksocarina on Apr 5, 2017 14:04:54 GMT
2-3 more times for marketing? How does one even spend 100$ million on marketing? That's insane. I just can't comprehend that.Oh right, this also sold on consoles, I'm sure they sold millions at least on the PC. Yeah, that does sounds insane. Also a true shame, imagine how much more impressive the game could have been if most of this amount went into making it better. Does mass effect seem like a game that had an aggressive marketing campaign though? It feels like it's much more modest compared to the past, I'd bet on 20 to 30 million onto the overall budget. All speculation of course. No way to confirm.
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on Apr 5, 2017 14:10:31 GMT
As said in an argument I read elsewhere, the bad rep won't affect THIS game too bad, but when the NEXT Mass Effect comes out we may see another Assassin's Creed Syndicate or CoD Advanced Warfare situation where the audience suddenly turns their back on it because the result last time burned them.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 14:14:24 GMT
As said in an argument I read elsewhere, the bad rep won't affect THIS game too bad, but when the NEXT Mass Effect comes out we may see another Assassin's Creed Syndicate or CoD Advanced Warfare situation where the audience suddenly turns their back on it because the result last time burned them. Which is why Andromeda 2 or whatever it'll be called has to really deliver, and that pressure is either good for Bioware or they can't handle it and stumbles. To be honest i am not expecting them to make a GOTY that wins 250 awards and is talked about all the time. I am expecting a good game however, something that would be worthy to win GOTY awards. They should be able to do so, they got the talent and the skill. Just either piss poor leadership or lack of vision, or both.
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Post by Link"Guess"ski on Apr 5, 2017 14:20:56 GMT
This game "really had to deliver" after the fiasco of ME3. Are you just going to keep moving the goalpost? Nothing is riding on MEA2. If it turns out to be better than 1 it'll be a happy accident.
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