Have you ever wondered how much a game like Grand Theft Auto V costs to make? We don’t have official figures, but Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia suspects that the sum is around $137.5 million. The forecaster deduced the enormous number via a “hypothetical probability model”, assuming that around 250 people worked on the release for a period of five years. It all sounds completely reasonable to us.
The analyst continued that he expects the title to sell around 18 million copies during its first six months on the market, adding that it’s likely to be the best selling game of the year. According to Bhatia, only the next Call of Duty could topple it, which he predicts will be Modern Warfare 4.
Grand Theft Auto V was pushed back until 17th September yesterday, prompting stocks in parent company Take-Two to drop. Some pundits have predicted that the delay may be due to Rockstar porting the title to next generation consoles, which wouldn’t surprise us either.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 9
I know GTA can do no wrong in the eyes of most. But Rockstar cant keep playing by their own rules forever. Like @Savino said their are games out there wiht potential upset power so they cant keep doing what ever they want think people will wait forever. Having the game on current AND next gen might be the right idea though.
The thing is, Rockstar games just have something special about them. Sometimes it's hard to quantify — I'm not sure whether it's the writing, the attention to detail, or something else. There's just something about them that elevates them above most other games.
I agree that Sleeping Dogs plays better than pretty much every other open world game out there, but it's still not a patch on GTA4.
A lot of people will disagree with me, but I think the main reason why GTA V was pushed back, had a lot to do with The Last of Us. Naughty Dog have proven time and time again that they are serious competition for pretty much every development studio out there.
Yes, $137.5 million is a lot of money, but remember that Black Ops 2 grossed 1 Billion in its first 15 days of sale! GTAV may not do quite that well, but it would easily recoup those costs (assuming they are true). I can imagine a higher number personally.
Also, remember that at one point GTAV was scheduled for late 2012, so they have added 9 months onto development to polish the game (with associated costs).
In any case it is a day 1 purchase. My only real concern is the controls. After playing GTA1V recently, the controls suck! Please stop trying to assist the camera. Sleeping Dogs humbles it that regard. I'm sure they have watched and learned.
Personally I think what sets Rockstar games apart is "attitude". It is hard to quantify, but they somehow just ooze charm (in a very politically incorrect way, almost a guilty pleasure). Did I just say that out loud?
"Analyst".
Stopped reading there.
Ginkgo wrote:
I think thats a big part of it. I really enjoyed RDR, and while I'm a big fan of westerns (a notoriously cheesy and poorly done genre) what sets it apart is Rockstar's signature pull no punches yet doesn't take itself too seriously attitude. I've yet so see anyone strike that balance between seriousness and tongue in cheek humor like they do.
R* is just a great studio in general though, with a really nice balance in game play despite the size of their games and a certain flare for storytelling. I would really like to see more original games like Bully and RDR from them, they're the ones that really stand out.
Sebtember 17th? Hell... GTAV will need to wait, because I am buing Killzone Mercenary =)
I'm just excited for this girl cop on girl criminal action.
they'll get there money back from the game, that's the main thing I guess. Me personally, I hate GTA since the last one came out (it was boring). I was hoping for so much after San Andrea's, and I got GTA 4...blah I hope this game will be a better successor to San Andreas.
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