According to a CMA study, the cost of producing big-budget games is as high as a billion dollars!

As part of the proceedings of the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released some interesting information that concerns the cost of producing big-budget games.

Here's What We Know

Analyst agency International Data Group has conducted research into the costs of major game companies and published statistics on which the CMA has relied.

According to International Data Group, the average budget for AAA games will increase from $50 million to $150 million to $200 million or more over the next few years.

The 418-page document shows the approximate development and marketing costs of publishers for games, without naming either publishers or game titles.

For example,

• one company listed an average development spend of about $164 million and $55 million on marketing;
• Another publisher spent between $80 and $350 million on game development, and up to $310 million on marketing;
• a third company has reported production costs ranging from $110 million to $350 million;
• the highest spending figure was named by a fourth publisher: one game cost it $660 million for production and $550 million for marketing, while the average figures range from $90 million to $180 million for production and $50 million to $150 million for marketing.

One can only guess which games the document was referring to. What project could have cost more than half a billion dollars just for marketing. Cyberpunk 2077? Red Dead Redemption 2?

Source: Kotaku