What Hacked Files Tell Us About The Studio Behind Spider-Man 2

[Nhomnhom]

The budget alone are just the games though. That’s not factoring in marketing costs or licensing fees. Another Thing is that last of us didn’t sell fast enough. Took several years and now they’re trying to rerelease it on ps5. They can’t sustain this. Developers themselves are saying some of the things I’m saying here as well.

"Not sustainable": Developers across the industry react to The Last of Us Part 2's $220 million budget

As budgets soar, devs break down what that means

www.gamesradar.com

If they can't sustain this they should shut down their business. Xbox hasn't had a 10m+ selling game in more than a decade and is still hanging around and spending $80B and doubling down on producing games.

Based on the leaks we know TLoU Part 2 still sold a few million more units than GoT. Even if doesn't end up selling more than the original TLoU it still sold really well (a lot of the sales of the original game were the remaster including heavy discounted and bundled).

Not sustainable was also being said about BG3 earlier this year. Turns out what isn't sustainable are the likes of Redfall, Starfield and Hi-Fi Rush that sell like shit.

 

[Danja]

The budget alone are just the games though. That’s not factoring in marketing costs or licensing fees. Another Thing is that last of us didn’t sell fast enough. Took several years and now they’re trying to rerelease it on ps5. They can’t sustain this. Developers themselves are saying some of the things I’m saying here as well.

"Not sustainable": Developers across the industry react to The Last of Us Part 2's $220 million budget

As budgets soar, devs break down what that means

www.gamesradar.com

The last of us 2 was profitable after it's first 3 days what are you talking about? Not to mention the game sold a shit ton this year and will sell maybe a few more hundred thousand next month... Which cost them little to nothing to make.

 

[Gamernyc78]

The last of us 2 was profitable after it's first 3 days what are you talking about? Not to mention the game sold a shit ton this year and will sell maybe a few more hundred thousand next month... Which cost them little to nothing to make.

Most Sony first party are profitable. Those bangers sell millions idk what he smoking.

 

[Nhomnhom]

The last of us 2 was profitable after it's first 3 days what are you talking about? Not to mention the game sold a shit ton this year and will sell maybe a few more hundred thousand next month... Which cost them little to nothing to make.

PC Ports selling 2m, 3m tops on PC (some didn't even sniff 1m) - amazing return / free money
Gamepass game that neither boosted Gamepass subs nor sold well and cost more than any game Sony made - genius
Game that what profitable after 3 days and since then has sold many more millions with more to sell - unsustainable

 

[Snes nes]

The last of us 2 was profitable after its first 3 days what are you talking about? Not to mention the game sold a shit ton this year and will sell maybe a few more hundred thousand next month... Which cost them little to nothing to make.

That’s not true at all. It was regarded as a flop and divided an entire fanbase in half for a number of reasons. Also cost about 400 million on the game alone not counting licensing and other shenanigans.

They could solve this easily by just making a smaller budget game with some sort of innovative idea. It doesn’t need to be a rpg game. Could be anything but what they’re doing. Just limit the budget to a million dollars and they can churn out more games on the same level nintendos been doing.

 

[Danja]

That’s not true at all. It was regarded as a flop and divided an entire fanbase in half for a number of reasons. Also cost about 400 million on the game alone not counting licensing and other shenanigans.

They could solve this easily by just making a smaller budget game with some sort of innovative idea. It doesn’t need to be a rpg game. Could be anything but what they’re doing. Just limit the budget to a million dollars and they can churn out more games on the same level nintendos been doing.

This is nonsense lol. The game cost around 220 million overall. Neil himself said they broken even after the first week 3 days. Naughty Dog is based in California and their wages are super high not to mention they had to go on a hiring spree plus they had to outsource a lot ... So almost a thousand people worked on the game just so they could get it out without sacrificing quality.

They are usually pretty good with budgets but we have reached a stage where gamers are demanding more and more. Every single detail is under a Microscope thanks to Digital Foundry and armchair tech analysts online lol.

People keep forgetting this game was made swiftly after Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy... Resources were exhausted at the company by then

 

[Darth Vader]

That’s not true at all. It was regarded as a flop and divided an entire fanbase in half for a number of reasons. Also cost about 400 million on the game alone not counting licensing and other shenanigans.

I'm stoned and you're the one whose brain is not working. TLOU 2 cost 220 million.

Sony court blunder reveals $200M cost of The Last of Us 2, Horizon Forbidden West

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s FTC hearing is pulling back the curtain of the highly secretive industry

www.polygon.com

Edit: And only lunatics labelled the game a flop. It sold like hot cakes.

 

[Snes nes]

I'm stoned and you're the one whose brain is not working. TLOU 2 cost 220 million.

Sony court blunder reveals $200M cost of The Last of Us 2, Horizon Forbidden West

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s FTC hearing is pulling back the curtain of the highly secretive industry

www.polygon.com

That’s still too much money spent. They could spend less and deliver better stories. Budgets do not affect the quality of a story that’s the human element coming into play. You don’t need fully voiced cutscenes and videos to tell a story in a video game.

This is nonsense lol. The game cost around 220 million overall. Neil himself said they broken even after the first week 3 days. Naughty Dog is based in California and their wages are super high not to mention they had to go on a hiring spree plus they had to outsource a lot ... So almost a thousand people worked on the game just so they could get it out without sacrificing quality.

They are usually pretty good with budgets but we have reached a stage where gamers are demanding more and more. Every single detail is under a Microscope thanks to Digital Foundry and armchair tech analysts online lol.

People keep forgetting this game was made swiftly after Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy... Resources were exhausted at the company by then

Being located in California is even worse given the excessive expenses that comes with being in california. Theres many reasons many are leaving the state. I seem to recall part 2 as a flop and disappointment by many.

Also I Think the armchair analysts are just ignored by the wider gaming market lol.

 

[Nhomnhom]

That’s not true at all. It was regarded as a flop and divided an entire fanbase in half for a number of reasons. Also cost about 400 million on the game alone not counting licensing and other shenanigans.

They could solve this easily by just making a smaller budget game with some sort of innovative idea. It doesn’t need to be a rpg game. Could be anything but what they’re doing. Just limit the budget to a million dollars and they can churn out more games on the same level nintendos been doing.

Number of reason...

What are those reasons? Being a PlayStation exclusive? Looking much better than games on PC? Being too "woke" for the snowflakes? Abby being jacked? Having the balls to take the story in a direction that made sense for the IP?

Nothing attacks green rats and people that go along with them more than the opportunity of shitting on TLoU Part 2.

BTW what AAA games that came before TLoU Part 2 have great story for in your opinion? Since you seem to put so much weight on story I would like to know.

 

[Darth Vader]

That’s still too much money spent. They could spend less and deliver better stories. Budgets do not affect the quality of a story that’s the human element coming into play. You don’t need fully voiced cutscenes and videos to tell a story in a video game.

Moving the goalpost are we?

 

[Gamernyc78]

That’s still too much money spent. They could spend less and deliver better stories. Budgets do not affect the quality of a story that’s the human element coming into play. You don’t need fully voiced cutscenes and videos to tell a story in a video game.



Being located in California is even worse given the excessive expenses that comes with being in california. Theres many reasons many are leaving the state. I seem to recall part 2 as a flop and disappointment by many.

Also I Think the armchair analysts are just ignored by the wider gaming market lol.

OH so we want a BOTW? Hell nooo one of the most mediocre games I've played in my life and had no voice acting and I hated it!

What Sony does it does well and it is the reason they were able to turn it around second half of PS3 era because of those spectacular, big budget games you cannot find anywhere else and that is factual in terms of first parties. You remove that aspect from PlayStation ND they become no diff from their competitors and thy will lose sales and, mindshare. You don't change what has been their bread and butter.

 

[Snes nes]

Number of reason...

What are those reasons?

let’s see

Being a PlayStation exclusive?

The Last of Us™ Part I on Steam

Experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us™, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards.

store.steampowered.com

Nope they need the rest of the gaming sphere to make a profit. That’s why Spider-Man 2 could Come to pc. They need that money From external sources.

Looking much better than games on PC?

I don’t think spidy2 looks better than stuff like Alan wake lol.

Being too "woke" for the snowflakes?

yes that played a factor but discussion of It would not be accepted here.

Having the balls to take the story in a direction that made sense for the IP?

It wasn’t according to peoplewho bought the game.

I despise people that turned on PlayStation because of TLoU Part 2 story more than I do the average Xbox shill.

Iirc people Turned against Sony because their no longer a Japanese game company their western if anything lol. Part 2 was just one of the many reasons.

Moving the goalpost are we?

My points been the games are costing too much money. It never moved.

 

[Gamernyc78]

let’s see

The Last of Us™ Part I on Steam

Experience the emotional storytelling and unforgettable characters in The Last of Us™, winner of over 200 Game of the Year awards.

store.steampowered.com

Nope they need the rest of the gaming sphere to make a profit. That’s why Spider-Man 2 could Come to pc. They need that money From external sources.



I don’t think spidy2 looks better than stuff like Alan wake lol.


yes that played a factor but discussion of It would not be accepted here.



It wasn’t according to peoplewho bought the game.



Iirc people Turned against Sony because their no longer a Japanese game company their western if anything lol. Part 2 was just one of the many reasons.



My points been the games are costing too much money. It never moved.

Too much money is relative to a budget. If a game is bringing in a sizable profit doesn't matter if it's 300 million cost because ppl are buying that game due to scope and it's content. If tht 300 million game went down to 50 million trust me it wouldn't be the same game. It would look and be different. Factual most Sony first parties that cost 100 mil and above bring in way more than tht and are not too expensive.

Big difference between a low budget this...

As opposed to a big budget this..

The first one I wouldn't look at, let alone waste my money on.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Too much money is relative to a budget. If a game is bringing in a sizable profit doesn't matter if it's 300 million cost because ppl are buying that game due to scope and it's content. If tht 300 million game went down to 50 million trust me it wouldn't be the same game. It would look and be different. Factual most Sony first parties that cost 100 mil and above bring in way more than tht and are not too expensive.

Big difference between a low budget this...

As opposed to a big budget this..

The first one I wouldn't look at, let alone waste my money on.

Sony strength has been production value ever since the PS3 days. Single player AAA games is them playing safe since they pretty much perfected the formula and most other publisher have a really hard time competing with them in that space.

Sure, they could try to expand to different types of games, perhaps some that require less investment but certainly not at the expense of these.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Sony strength has been producing value ever since the PS3 days. Single player AAA games is them playing safe since they pretty much perfected the formula and most other publisher have a really hard time competing with them in that space.

Exactly.

 

[Shmunter]

Sony strength has been production value ever since the PS3 days. Single player AAA games is them playing safe since they pretty much perfected the formula and most other publisher have a really hard time competing with them in that space.

Sure, they could try to expand to different types of games, perhaps some that require less investment but certainly not at the expense of these.

They always had multiplayer modes till recently. Those modes were polished and high production, but they weren’t COD. Sony poor decision making to not cultivate those and possibly have one blow up, or not - there is intrinsic value to offering them no different to offering one and done single player.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

The budget alone are just the games though. That’s not factoring in marketing costs or licensing fees. Another Thing is that last of us didn’t sell fast enough. Took several years and now they’re trying to rerelease it on ps5. They can’t sustain this. Developers themselves are saying some of the things I’m saying here as well.

"Not sustainable": Developers across the industry react to The Last of Us Part 2's $220 million budget

As budgets soar, devs break down what that means

www.gamesradar.com

Nowhere in that article does it say anything about marketing costs separate from the budget (specifically to the Sony games covered). You're taking the Hollywood approach and assuming additional marketing on the production costs but the $220 million is simply noted as "budget" which might've already factored marketing into it (most likely).

As for licensing fees, well again for something like TLOU2 the engine is proprietary so no licensing fees there. It's not a licensed IP like Spiderman so no costs there either. The soundtrack is original compositions so, again, no licensing fees in that area either.

Yes the ballooning budgets are a problem and big AAA games costing $300+ million in the future is troubling in a sense, but you can't claim extra expenses that aren't explicitly stated by the source you yourself are using. At least not officially, specifically related to TLOU2 or Spiderman. Maybe other games don't factor their marketing costs into the budgets but we don't know if Sony did or didn't with their games.

I strongly suspect they did include marketing because if the marketing factor were to be similar to Hollywood, that'd be closer to $350 million for these games altogether which is more than most Hollywood blockbusters. That idea is also countered by a mention in the article where it says Sony had to make $220 million on TLOU2 before even seeing "a single penny on return". That wouldn't be possible if the budget didn't include marketing expenses in it.

 

[Nhomnhom]

They always had multiplayer modes till recently. Those modes were polished and high production, but they weren’t COD. Sony poor decision making to not cultivate those and possibly have one blow up, or not - there is intrinsic value to offering them no different to offering one and done single player.

Those were organic MP modes, showing up where they made sense. GT is Sony most successful multiplayer game (that they didn't just buy) and it's just a racing IP that works for that, not some Fortnite wannabe.

Nowhere in that article does it say anything about marketing costs separate from the budget (specifically to the Sony games covered). You're taking the Hollywood approach and assuming additional marketing on the production costs but the $220 million is simply noted as "budget" which might've already factored marketing into it (most likely).

As for licensing fees, well again for something like TLOU2 the engine is proprietary so no licensing fees there. It's not a licensed IP like Spiderman so no costs there either. The soundtrack is original compositions so, again, no licensing fees in that area either.

Yes the ballooning budgets are a problem and big AAA games costing $300+ million in the future is troubling in a sense, but you can't claim extra expenses that aren't explicitly stated by the source you yourself are using. At least not officially, specifically related to TLOU2 or Spiderman. Maybe other games don't factor their marketing costs into the budgets but we don't know if Sony did or didn't with their games.

I strongly suspect they did include marketing because if the marketing factor were to be similar to Hollywood, that'd be closer to $350 million for these games altogether which is more than most Hollywood blockbusters. That idea is also countered by a mention in the article where it says Sony had to make $220 million on TLOU2 before even seeing "a single penny on return". That wouldn't be possible if the budget didn't include marketing expenses in it.

Big budget comes with a big advantage, less competition. Meanwhile every publisher is trying to push some sort of GaaS that will compete for the same players.

What is going to compete with God of War, Spider-man, TLoU, Horizon? Even a new IP like GoT had no trouble standing out and selling well.

 

[Snes nes]

OH so we want a BOTW? Hell nooo one of the most mediocre games I've played in my life and had no voice acting and I hated it!

What Sony does it does well and it is the reason they were able to turn it around second half of PS3 era because of those spectacular, big budget games you cannot find anywhere else and that is factual in terms of first parties. You remove that aspect from PlayStation ND they become no diff from their competitors and thy will lose sales and, mindshare. You don't change what has been their bread and butter.

To be honest with you botw was decent but overall not a zelda game. I don’t mind the open world direction but it’s not what I wouldve wanted out of zelda. But what Nintendo does do is put gameplay first. The game was a huge system seller and totk builds Upon it. They did well to not focus on big budget games this year as well. Their games did very well this year.

Too much money is relative to a budget. If a game is bringing in a sizable profit doesn't matter if it's 300 million cost because ppl are buying that game due to scope and it's content. If tht 300 million game went down to 50 million trust me it wouldn't be the same game. It would look and be different. Factual most Sony first parties that cost 100 mil and above bring in way more than tht and are not too expensive.

100 million is too expensive. all these games similar to what I’m describing like ff16 Alan wake starfield cyberpunk etc all had enormous budgets. They all were flops. Cyberpunk innovated via its latest dlc though I can give it that.

Nowhere in that article does it say anything about marketing costs separate from the budget (specifically to the Sony games covered). You're taking the Hollywood approach and assuming additional marketing on the production costs but the $220 million is simply noted as "budget" which might've already factored marketing into it (most likely).

As for licensing fees, well again for something like TLOU2 the engine is proprietary so no licensing fees there. It's not a licensed IP like Spiderman so no costs there either. The soundtrack is original compositions so, again, no licensing fees in that area either.

Yes the ballooning budgets are a problem and big AAA games costing $300+ million in the future is troubling in a sense, but you can't claim extra expenses that aren't explicitly stated by the source you yourself are using. At least not officially, specifically related to TLOU2 or Spiderman. Maybe other games don't factor their marketing costs into the budgets but we don't know if Sony did or didn't with their games.

I strongly suspect they did include marketing because if the marketing factor were to be similar to Hollywood, that'd be closer to $350 million for these games altogether which is more than most Hollywood blockbusters. That idea is also countered by a mention in the article where it says Sony had to make $220 million on TLOU2 before even seeing "a single penny on return". That wouldn't be possible if the budget didn't include marketing expenses in it.

I saw the devs were taking pay cuts too and a lot of crunch time id assume. I recall hearing there was a lot of internal turmoil but regardless if I’m right or not I think it’s too much money being spent on these games. They could tell an even better story if they had fewer Cutscenes and less acted dialogue. I think with a lot of these newer games out now they over emphasize on the story.