Development costs for a typical fighter?

[CFFJR]

I've been curious about this, both as a ballpark average and specific figures for certain games.

For specific games I'm interested in finding the cost for both Mortal Kombat 9 and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Searching about anything regarding expenses for MvC3 inevitably turns up nothing but people bitching about DLC, so I haven't had much luck.

I'm just looking to get an idea really. Obviously a big budget game like MvC is going to cost a helluva lot more than say, that new Skull Girls game.

Video game budgets don't get a lot of publicity unless they're stupidly expensive, but I figure there must be some info out there.

Anybody know anything about this?

[SplashChick]

Why do you need to know that?

[CFFJR]

Why do you need to know that?

I don't need to. Its strictly a matter of curiosity.

Its really no biggie. I was checking it out for the hell of it (among many other things related to media budgets), and when I couldn't find anything I figured I'd ask.

If no one knows I won't lose any sleep over it.

[Flake]

CFFJR and I are going to team up to create a new Ranma 1/2 fighter.

[CFFJR]

CFFJR and I are going to team up to create a new Ranma 1/2 fighter.

Yes, that's the plan!

Its gonna be the best damn fighter ever too.

By the time you and I are done, Viz and Capcom will be knocking down our door, the first begging to pay us, and the second begging for the secrets of our genius.

[REPO Man]

MvC3 obviously cost more, cuz of the fact that half of the characters were licensed.

MK9 only had one licensed character, but I'm still holding out for Jason and Leatherface, but in a perfect world, we'd also get:

Dawn Davenport from Female Trouble (the film's owned by NewLine, and by extension Warner Bros), who is totes crazy and is a serious bad-ass! Oh, and she BLEW RICHARD SPECK!!!!

Now, a major developer would go all out, while a smaller developer (doujin fighter pop into mind) might not.

[CD AGES]

MK9 only had one licensed character, but I'm still holding out for Jason and Leatherface, but in a perfect world, we'd also get:

If you are referring to Freddy, I thought Warner Bros. has some sort of ownership of the character (which in turn also has ownership of the MK brand and NRS)

I've been curious about this, both as a ballpark average and specific figures for certain games.

For specific games I'm interested in finding the cost for both Mortal Kombat 9 and Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Searching about anything regarding expenses for MvC3 inevitably turns up nothing but people bitching about DLC, so I haven't had much luck.

I'm just looking to get an idea really. Obviously a big budget game like MvC is going to cost a helluva lot more than say, that new Skull Girls game.

It all depends on the nature of the product. Take SF4 for example, before the game had to be made on consoles, They opted to make an arcade version as a means to better market the game to both hardcore players in the U.S. and the arcade scene in Asian territories for the game to be taken serious. Such a proposition for an arcade port requires Capcom to license the arcade board from a 3rd party (Taito) as oppose to using an in house engine and a major loss in a business sector that Capcom likely doesn't profit from. Then on consoles you have the major expense of outsourcing development (Dimps), building a network infrastructure from the ground up for a stable online performance and a massive amount of money on marketing alone!

Let's take a look at a game like MVC3. Licensing plays a major role in expenses for a fighter of this magnitude as well as outsourcing development (8zing). On the other hand, No arcade version means no need to pay for outsourced hardware (the game runs on Capcom's NT Framework), marketing is shared by both parties which perhaps helps alleviate some cost, but consequently has Marvel call the shots! (Capcom blames the small gap between releases of MVC3 and UMVC3 as a result of licensing issue between both parties).

Now onto a game like Tekken. Here we have a game that is still being developed in-house at "Namdai", Still being developed on hardware that is joint ventured by both in-house and Sony efforts, still released on a ill arcade market sector yet manages to make profits due to Namco's strong arcade presence and connection to that industry as well the franchises healthy arcade roots.

It's a different take depending on the title. i'm sure it can range from real expensive to small budget considering the Doujin scene in Asia and upcoming titles like Skullgirls

[pakopako]

It's a different take depending on the title. i'm sure it can range from real expensive to small budget considering the Doujin scene in Asia and upcoming titles like Skullgirls

An if licensing fees are included -- you can't market something you made in MUGEN or Fighter Maker (actual PS2 game, wow) which means you'll have to develop your own engine.

Dammit, Ranma Super Battle was awesome. It just needed Turbo speed and maybe juggling.

[Erik_Twice]

What I want to ask is: Are many fighters using 3D graphics because they are cheaper to make? Honest question there.

[alienjesus]

I'd say yes. They aren't inherently cheaper than 2d graphics (in fact, in terms of programs used it's quite the opposite), but it's far more time consuming to animate a 2d sprite than a 3d model. In terms of man hours and wages, it'd be much cheaper to use 3D.