And people wonder why this industry is unstable
[Update: For his part, Ken Levinehas deniedreports of a $200-million budget. We are in the process of getting a full response.]
Developers, like Rockstar, have bragged in the past that games make more than films at the box office, so why not fund games like Hollywood does? 2K Games is doing just that by throwing nearly$200 millionatBioShock Infinite,according toThe New York Timeswhich cited unnamed analysts. Not sinceGrand Theft Auto IV— allegedly$100Mand produced by 2K’s owners Take-Two — has so much money been thrown at a project
Around $100M was spent onInfinite‘s production and as much as another $100 will be spent on marketing. Remember when we were all gobsmacked thatGears of Warcost $10 million? While game budgets have gone up,BioShock Infiniteis pushing to the top of the list of most expensive productions.Shenmue($94M in today’s economy) says hi!
Destructoid recently reported that Ken Levine decided toaxe theBioShockfilmwhen Universal declined its $200 million budget. I wondered where that ridiculously high number, usually reserved for major franchise sequels (Harry Potter,Transformers), came from. Well, it may have come fromBioShock Infinite‘s budget. Hard to go back to a measly $80 mil, right guys!?
Theexclusive review, generous pre-purchase offers, and massive marketing push around this game is all starting to make sense: 2K doesn’t want to take any chances after investing so heavily in this risky venture. Even a 90+ Metacritic score and strong ad push may not be enough to make this bird fly. I sure hope so, as the resulting dialog among publishers may lead to less ambitious games in the future.
