Game Development

Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 2 was created at $220 million with nearly 200 staffers. Meanwhile, Guerrilla Games' Horizon Forbidden West set back Sony $212 million with 300 employees on the project.

The economics of a platform holder building games for its own hardware are just different, and the end result is that Sony is one of a very small number of companies that can afford to spend these kinds of budgets on development while still sticking to a relatively old-fashioned pay-to-play business model. Neither game features any kind of battle... See more

Horizon: Forbidden West has sold about 8.4 million copies, and The Last of Us Part 2 has shifted over 10 million. For Sony, both of these games are profitable – but “for Sony” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. For any other publisher, turning a profit from these games would have been a lot harder, because the economics of being a platform... See more

"Why make the player watch something when they can do it? If possible, we shouldn't rely on narrative bookending to tell the bulk of the narrative," Wasselin said. "Avoid exposition cutscenes, and tie narrative to interaction whenever possible. Even a small interaction is better than none, and when that isn't possible find tricks to make the player... See more

What do you think the going rate for the best indie games ever made is?

Did you guess 'Free'? You're right! Go to the Epic Game Store every week and they'll hand you the best indie games, games way better than mine, for free!

That not enough? Join the Humble Monthly Bundle. For just $12/month, they'll send you 6-7 games every month, plus you can also... See more

If there's a middle way, a way for premium games to somehow find a paying audience on devices such as phones and tablets, then the Game Pass style subscription to a game library is probably the best bet.

if nothing else, video game development is a series of concessions and tough decisions. There's that perfect game you WANT to make... and then there's the game you CAN make. Sometimes, if the gods smile on you, those two are very close.