How much does it cost to create a video game?

Original artwork by Oriol Soler Vilallonga

One of the most important questions you’ll need to ask yourself before starting any gaming project is, “How much will it cost?” Isn’t this a simple question? It’s pretty hard to answer, though. This question is among the most difficult to answer in the video game industry.

The companies that create video games hardly ever release their budget. The investor reports of public companies rarely include any information about the expenses of particular games. Most of the time, the figures we hear about are just informed estimations made by authors or analysts. Between $0 and $265 million is what I’d give you as a quick response.

There are a lot of answers here. A game’s development and marketing expenses may only be a small portion of its creation, distribution, and marketing costs, which is why we rarely get definite statistics. While particular numbers given to the public may be inaccurate, accounting may play games with budgets to make things look different. As a result, we’ll do our best to shed some light on the subject, explain the several aspects of price, and provide an idea of what some well-known games cost.

Now that we’ve confused you let’s discuss the game’s budget.

The Big Picture

Art, coding, sound, and performance testing are all part of the game production process. Take a game concept and turn it into a fully-fledged game by doing everything from designing to developing, programming, engineering, rendering, and testing. However, it’s an excellent starting point, but it doesn’t give you the whole picture.

It is determined by their location how much a developer’s services cost. You may anticipate poor-quality work at a low cost when you outsource your game development to countries like India, China, and the Philippines. American developers will charge twice as much to provide the best service possible. You’ll get great value for your money in Central and Eastern Europe. The cost of developing an entertainment application in Eastern Europe typically begins at around $7,500.

Once you’ve chosen an outsourcing partner and determined the scope and functionality of your project, the chosen company will set up a team. Because just one artist and one developer are needed to make a basic 2D mobile phone game, the project’s cost is far cheaper than that of a AAA game requiring all studio employees’ involvement.

How Much Do Video Games Cost to Make: Simple Math and What Does Complexity Have to Do With It?

We hear the phrase “cost depends on complexity” all the time, but we don’t truly get what it means until we see it in person. In reality, the complexity of a game is directly proportional to the amount of time it takes to create it. And it implies more outstanding money for everyone on the team. It’s easy to see the connection between complexity and time. Anybody may calculate the cost of making a video game. Why not? The math is straightforward. You must gather the following information:

The location of the team. 
  • A rough estimate of the number of workers assigned to your project. 
  • In the area of your choosing, the average income for a developer. 
  • The estimated time frame for completion of the task. 

When working on a project, the team’s form might change. Animators and sound designers step in once the concept artist has finished their part of the project. Second, do not neglect marketing expenses, representing 20% to 100% of the development budget.

Let’s go to the study case.

Let’s say that ten workers from an Eastern European company will be working on your game. According to the studio, the game’s development will take six months. With the average developer compensation of $40 per hour, a working day of 8 hours, and an average of 20 working days per month, we arrive at the following:

(40 x 8) x 10) x 20) x 6 = $ 384,000

We’ve been paid the appropriate amount for the team’s effort, assuming that the team’s composition remains stable throughout the project. Substituting the necessary values into the formula will also allow you to do your calculation:

(Rate Per Hour x 8) x Number Of Employees) x 20) x Number Of Months Of Work

BTW, how much of the crew working on your game, do you know? Let’s have a look at this.


Video Game Creation Team

Several factors determine the cost of making a video game, including the wages of those who work on the project and the amount of time it takes to complete the task. Here is what a game’s development team should look like:

Designers of games

The game’s concept, rules, circumstances of win and failure, storyline, and characters are all on their minds while they’re in this mode of thinking. When developing a tiny mobile 2D game, The game designer might delegate the designer’s role to other team members. The designers create a game design document for more significant projects authorized by the client and serve as an introductory guide for their colleagues.  

Artist and Animators

A 3D game will always be more costly than a 2D game because of the additional complexity and time required to build it. Interface and menu items are also the work of artists. Animators may give static art life. Depending on the project’s complexity, the number of artists and animators needed for a game might range from one to a complete department. 

Developers

C++ and C# are two programming languages often used in video games. Thus it’s crucial to discover C++ and C# experts. Java and Swift are the languages of choice for Android and iOS mobile games. Before you begin development, you must know precisely what you want from the game and have ready-made artwork.

Sound Engineers

Music is integral to every video game, even the most basic. These sound libraries include both paid and free choices. But if you want to stand out, you’ll need the services of sound designers to produce music and sound from scratch.

Testers

There are several benefits to testing the quality of the game, such as ensuring that it does not have any problems or faults. Testers look at everything from how it responds to players’ actions to how it displays visual aspects, To ensure that the game works as expected. You can’t cut corners on quality assurance testing since other team members can always step in.

A decade’s expertise in gaming helped us design clear and well-established working processes that allow for open communication across all departments. We know how long it takes to make 2D and 3D games of various genres and how long it will take if we anticipate multiplayer. Thanks to this, a formula may give a first estimate cost of your future match with the functionality and visuals you are interested in during the day.

The more information you can provide us, the more accurate the estimate will be in-depth knowledge of the project. With this information, you may make a well-informed decision on the kind of game you should make and who your target audience is. If we don’t make any more changes, we’ll be able to estimate the time and cost of the project accurately.

A strong desire to carry out the plan. You merely want to develop a game but have no idea what kind of game to make. Then we recommend you attempt to focus all your many wants on a single goal and come up with a more concrete solution. Then, as in the previous scenario, we develop a prototype and continue to create a game following its acceptance. While making many modifications and revisions possible, we present an estimate for each work block separately: art design, animation development, sound design, and testing. 

Don’t quit upon making a game, even if you merely have a concept and a lot of excitement. Let’s discuss your idea and see if we can help you rectify it or point you on the right path.

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