You know that Activision Blizzard is going to make a sh*tton of money on the follow-up to one of the biggest PC games ever created. Apparently they also knew that, as they spent $100 million to make its sequel.
The Wall Street Journal says that AB spent over $100 million on the three parts that will eventually make up the full sequel. That insane total is strictly development cost, so it would be way higher adding in marketing and other costs.
I asked a visiting friend, a Starcraft fan, to guess how much he thought Starcraft II cost to make. He said $14 million right of the bat. Then I said it was higher. He said "No."
Then I told him.
"No f*cking way. They'll never make that back."
I think my visiting friend is wrong. They'll make that back easily.
Starcraft II cost $100 million to make [Gamespot]
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
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Contest:
6:30 PM on 07.16.2010 | 
today, i'm still sure, but hope they don't
And with that REDICUOUSLY marketing scheme where they sell the game in 3 different parts for $50 each will totally make up for the cost too. You just know a bunch of starcraft desperate rabid fanboys will eat that up.
Personally I don't see the appeal. I imagine Starcraft 1 is a great and balanced game and all, and it's a good RTS when it came out. But now? Meh.. the gameplay is just not for me. It's too old and archaic, and more about click speed than strategy just like Starcraft 1.
The worst part about it? I'm probably the only RTS fan and PC gamer on earth that won't be playing this so it'll make me feel like I'm missing out, just like with WoW and etc. But I'll save money and sanity by playing better things for me, so it'll be good. Even if half of my friends list on steam will be full of people playing "Starcraft 2 Right now!"
This is gonna be crazy. This is the most I ever heard a PC to cost. I think the next lowest I heard was Half Life 2 with 40 million? I may be bugging out though.
They will make money hand-over-fist from this.
http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_II
Read the Trilogy part of that page.
(cause accounts are getting hacked left and right, thus, Blizzard is making a killing on selling "Accout Authenticators", you see)
"The Wall Street Journal says that AB spent over $100 million on the three parts that will eventually make up the full sequel."
But I know that Blizzard =/= Activision, the game should be great. I just hate their boss so much...
The original one sold 10,000,000 or 40 times that amount -according to http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=63682
So 10M x $40 = 400,000,000 - 100,000,000 = tripling your investment.
A basic rough forecast calculation sure.
3x or 4x your investment is a normal markup target.
So they are in the basic ball park of how business people think.
I would say competition has increased in the industry. If they don't have a captive audience I don't see how they will have the same or better sales figures.
They will pay back the bank loan though. The rest, who knows.
You are either a liar or completely uninformed.
Starcraft 2 will cost $60 for the main game and the expansion packs will be priced as expansion packs,NOT SEPERATE GAMES.
I hope you know that this is made by Blizzard... They'll make it back in a month or less.
THIS GAME REUSES A FIXED NUMBER OF UNITS AND TEXTURES ACROSS A VARIETY OF MAPS. IT'S CHEAPER TO MAKE THAN A FPS.
GULLIBLE PEOPLE ARE EASY PICKING, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY PEDDLE 3 GAMES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE AT 60 DOLLARS RETAIL.
and I still think that CNC3 defendantly beat them to the punch when it came to making a revamp old school RTS, but I would trust that battle net 2 is defenatly better than any EA net and lan code so people should be playing this one for quite some time.
YEAH I SAID IT!!!
i mean, just look at it!
in a world post COH and WIC, what starcraft 2 has shown so far cannot impress me
hell i didnt even think the first one was THE BEST strategy game of that time, that place goes for age of empires 2
it was a good game though
SC2 has had a surprising amount of bumps in its development cycle.
I mean overall:
-annoyance over it being made solely as n e-sport
-it being basically SC 1.5 in 3D
-BN 2.0 being more like BN .7
-no LAN
-no Chat channels (until later)
-Bobby kotick mentioning DLC and name change for money!
-the retarded Map publishing system
-splitting the game up into 3 (smelled like a move for $$$)
-Facebook integration
-The Real ID system-at least how they were going to make u use ur real name (fixed)
-Not to mention the delays of this whole thing
And Bobby Kotick is such slime. I would really laugh if the game sold only 1 million copies within the first few weeks. Activision-Blizzard kind of deserves to fail at this point, being lead by jerks like Bobby Kotick. They need a good kick in the pants to make them realize they can't just design a game around profits every year (there are actual studies that show that for creative ideas, money is not nearly as good a motivator as autonomy, mastery, and purpose)
This ridiculous hatred is baffling, personally. Blizzard =/= Activision, even if their rot is seeping into Blizzard's business model. I really don't give a shit about 'OH IT'S JUST STARCRAFT 1 EXCEPT 3D'. And what would happen if they diverged from the formula? Ever heard of C&C4? That shit was awful. You get hate if you do, hate if you don't. Hell, there are people complaining about the minute differences made in the formula (like MBS). All I really care about are two things. One is the story of StarCraft 1 finally being resolved and two is the massive power of the Galaxy Editor.
Jesus.
If being gullible means getting "3 GAMES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE", them sign me up.
I am disappoint.
No, it does not look like a 12 year old game. If you looked at GOOD videos or screenshots or maybe even listened to someone in Beta and noted the detail, effects, and interface along with all the modern improvements in resolution/AA, you'd realize this. You also seem to have forgotten the in-game cinematics that will be appearing in the single player. I don't recall SC1 having that, do you?
No, it does not play exactly the same as SC1. No, they could not completely reinvent SC2's play mechanics and pull a DoW2. Even the smallest changes like being able to select all of your units in one go (something impossible to do in SC1) causes the Team Liquid forums to scream like Blizzard killed a puppy on their webcast. If they HAD gone for a completely different gameplay feel, you same people would be accusing Blizzard of turning SC2 into a casual game for the $$.
NO, THEY ARE NOT CHARGING THREE TIMES FOR ONE GAME. I realize some console gamers are completely oblivious to how things used to work in PC land, but try to stay with me:
1. Release sequel that is just as long or longer as the original game, with a much more fleshed out campaign for one of the races. Full-featured multiplayer is in this release. Game is priced at the STANDARD BLIZZARD PRICE SINCE DIABLO 2 of $60, with retailers adjusting it down if you're not bloody stupid, and a collector's edition priced at $100 that always sells out. DOW2 only had the space marine campaign, with promises of the others appearing in expansions. Do you remember that? Did you scream and cry like infants then, too?
2. Release expansion pack that is just as polished and content rich as the original, PATCH IN NEW MULTIPLAYER UNITS FOR ORIGINAL COPIES. DoW2 just did this for it's new expansion. Blizzard has already stated that is what they'll be doing, and that those with no interest in the campaigns will be able to skip the expansions if they so chose and not be left behind. Expansion pack is priced at the standard Blizzard price of ~$40. SC1 had Brood War. D2 had Lord of Destruction. WC3 had Frozen Throne. THIS IS NOT NEW.
3. Repeat #2. Instead of the typical Blizzard one expansion pack rule, we get two.
The new B.Net sucks, specifically because they're trying to turn it into crap like Xbox Live. The game it's attached to most certainly does not, no matter how much some of you scream and cry and just make shit up the closer it gets to release.
Just because YOU hate amazingly well-polished base-building RTS games does not mean it's lazy game design. If you want a dumbed down console-minded RTS, may I perhaps recommend Supreme Commander 2 and suggest you leave the rest of us alone?
Whatever you think of Blizzard games, like them or not, they are some of the most meticulous, quality-centric developers out there. Star Craft II will be an impressive over-all production, I have no doubt.
- Premium DLC
- Partnerships with hardware manufacturers
- partnerships in asia with coke, doritos, etc
- Esports licensing
- The Map Marketplace they are planning.
- Who knows what else.
I don't really give a shit what people say, I'm getting this. I haven't played RTS in forever, and I miss it.