Tag Archives: money

Surprise: MGSV was very profitable on Day 1

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So yeah, the whole Kojima Productions dismantling probably wasn’t about money.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain made $179 million globally on its opening day, according to Adobe Digital Index’s new report on gaming trends. Compare that to the blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron, which made $84 million globally on its opening day. Yes, The Phantom Pain made almost twice as much. So, the next time someone tells you that triple-A gaming is dying, you’re allowed to laugh in their face.

This shouldn’t be news, but of course there were countless commenters who replied to the controversy surrounding Kojima by saying MGSV’s budget was astronomical, the game would struggle to ever become profitable, etc.  Do these people realize that games cost over $60 USD each?  Did they realize that next-gen consoles have no games right now?  It will be interesting to see what the reaction is to this news.

This feat is even more impressive when you consider that Metal Gear Solid V had a cheaper budget. It cost $80 million to make, while Age of Ultron had a massive $250 million budget. And games already make more than film: Gaming will be worth $91.5 billion this year, according to research group Newzoo. Accounting firm PwC says that the movie industry will be worth $88.3 billion in 2015.

“The gaming industry is a lot bigger than most marketers realize,” said Tamara Gaffney, principal analyst and director at Adobe in the report. “These games get more social buzz on opening day than most movies do, and the revenue for one of the top games this year outdid the highest-grossing movie start [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with $91 million] by nearly double.”

Let’s act shocked.

Kojima on needing lots of money, knowing how to market

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Hideo KojimaIn a new interview with PlayStation Blog, Hideo Kojima compares being a game designer to producing a movie, saying:

Kojima: Right now, it’s very similar to movies: You need a lot of money. So rather than doing what you want, doing what you like, you must have a clear idea of marketing and sales. That’s what’s happening to us with FOX Engine; you do not need be an expert in programming to develop a game, but if you have a question, you still need an expert on-hand to provide an answer.

As for expression, that has reached a high level. Video games are trying to reach the peak of entertainment, so game makers should be clear that things like emotion and sound are among the many things that have to be involved. [source] [emphasis mine]

It doesn’t seem as if Kojima is complaining here, but he certainly has no illusions about being able to simply do “what he likes” and “what he wants”.  It’s all about marketing and sales.  It’s interesting that he would bring up the new FOX Engine as an example of this; does this mean he couldn’t do what he wanted with it, or is it just an example of requiring marketing savvy to get what you want?

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