God of War III was an expensive game to make, which was already known, but now SCEA has revealed the exact cost.
Some videogames can be developed by a single person with nothing for a budget other than as much Dr. Pepper and Taco Bell as it takes. Others, like God of War III, cost more to make than a jet fighter, as John Hight, Director of Product Development at SCEA for God of War III told Giant Bomb in an interview released today.
When Hight was asked what it takes to make a big title like God of War III, he replied: “We are stamping discs now, so we’re effectively done. Just got a couple of countries that we’re finishing up on this week, and we spent $44 million to make God of War III” Not the most expensive game by any means, in fact it doesn’t even make the top ten, but $44 million isn’t an amount of change that can be made by chumps, as they say. Still, this was “right within budget,” Hight said.
Part of the large budget may have something to do with the amount of people that worked on God of War III, which Hight said was a “shocker” to him. God of War took roughly 30 people to create, God of War II took around 60, but God of War III was completed with the efforts of no less than 132 separate human entities. Why so many? Hight reveals: “The biggest area that we grew was graphics, on the art side.”
As gamers, we always look toward the next big thing, so many people may be wondering when God of War IV could come out even though God of War III doesn’t hit the streets until March 16. Hight had a little bit to say on the matter: “We hope to have another game out on the PS3. It’s our goal to take this investment in technology, and show it off for the next game.” However, he gave a reminder that SCEA is “also capable of doing other IP,” so the next game to use the God of War PS3 engine may not be the next God of War at all.
Source: Giant Bomb
