Interview

[cheese04]

Gabe Newell Interview from PC games snippet

Gabe was asked how much hl2 cost, and he gave anecdotal story about how one of the higher ups said that it cost about 40 million... with 50 people working on the game, and another 50 for voice and beta testers. w00t! 40 mil is a lot dont u guys think?

 

[Megalomaniac]

Ya but I hope it's worth it...

 

[iamaelephant]

No. No I don't think it's alot.

 

[GWalker]

Yeah, but that's the engine too. Worth millions it's self.

 

[lordoftheroot]

Where did they get all that money from? Just HL.

 

[Jimmo]

nope, 40 miillion isn't much at all :/

 

[Lobster]

Production budgets for games are rising in general, not just with Hl2, carmmack from ID said he expected future generation titles to reach 100 million movie style budgets, lets just hope they get the idea and make high quality games.

And i do think Hl2 was worth it

 

[Asuka]

Wow thats insane! Link plz?

 

[Concept]

Impressive, and I remember Shenmue's development costing a reported $80 milliion too.

Big games with huge production values require huge budgets.

 

[Dagobert]

Big games with huge production values require huge budgets.

Shenmue and HL2 are amoung the most expensive games ever developed. Most games (like FarCry) will be well under $10 million.

 

[lordoftheroot]

Impressive, and I remember Shenmue's development costing a reported $80 milliion too.

Big games with huge production values require huge budgets.

i remember that! i was so sad for sega and AM2 when it flopped in the US. And thanks to that it will be awhile until Shenmue 3 comes out. ;(

 

[Daegan]

I'd like proof of this statement. I don't think Valve has that kind of money laying around. In fact I'd be surprised if even Halo 2 cost 40 million to develop. Maybe to develop AND MARKET.

 

[lordoftheroot]

How much did FFX cost i thought that was in the 30 million area

 

[Xenome]

This is no news for me..

Pc gameplay (dutch) already had a special on hl2 back in may , with e3 and all, and they also asked gabe the same question.

Answer: 40 million.

That's ... ALOT..

 

[GWalker]

I'd like proof of this statement. I don't think Valve has that kind of money laying around. In fact I'd be surprised if even Halo 2 cost 40 million to develop. Maybe to develop AND MARKET.

It's the source, the source damn you.

 

[Yombi]

I'd like proof of this statement. I don't think Valve has that kind of money laying around. In fact I'd be surprised if even Halo 2 cost 40 million to develop. Maybe to develop AND MARKET.

Yes they do

 

[Xenome]

I'd like proof of this statement. I don't think Valve has that kind of money laying around. In fact I'd be surprised if even Halo 2 cost 40 million to develop. Maybe to develop AND MARKET.

Halo 2 isn't even in Half-life 2's league..believe me..

 

[iamaelephant]

That statement has been removed, but it is from the translated version of the German interview with Gabe Newell in the latest PC Games magazine, which features an 18 page review of HL2. I have seen it, and can verify it is real.

 

[lordoftheroot]

I'd like proof of this statement. I don't think Valve has that kind of money laying around. In fact I'd be surprised if even Halo 2 cost 40 million to develop. Maybe to develop AND MARKET.

Halo 2 is going to be a enhancement from Halo. Bungie has said this many times. HL2 was built from the ground up and that cost a lot more.

 

[blahblahblah]

I think HL2 is the exception right now. ID Software only spent 25 million on Doom 3 (IIRC). HL2 suffered from a bloated developement cycle.

 

[Yombi]

I think HL2 is the exception right now. ID Software only spent 25 million on Doom 3 (IIRC). HL2 suffered from a bloated developement cycle.

er doom 3 also had a extended dev cycle. Just a couple months less than HL2?

 

[cheese04]

it costed more than 40 million because he mentioned this during the production of hl2.

 

[Asuka]

er doom 3 also had a extended dev cycle. Just a couple months less than HL2?

Doom 3 was suppose to come out in 3 years? came out in 4. Hl was suppose to come out in 5 years came out in 6.

 

[blahblahblah]

er doom 3 also had a extended dev cycle. Just a couple months less than HL2?

ID Software also made Doom 3 with only 20 odd people. HL2 was made with 50 plus people. Not to mention the time difference that Raziel-Jcd mentioned.

Not every developer can be as inefficent as Valve is.

 

[zapper]

I'd like proof of this statement. I don't think Valve has that kind of money laying around. In fact I'd be surprised if even Halo 2 cost 40 million to develop. Maybe to develop AND MARKET.

Do you know how much money the original Half-Life brought in? As for Halo 2, of course it's going to cost less to create since it's system specific. PC games are generally more expensive since you have to test for every case on every machine, and please everyone.

 

[iamaelephant]

Not every developer can be as inefficent as Valve is.

Priceless.

 

[lordoftheroot]

Video games are becoming more and more like the movies with there budgets i find this sad. when you have some one spending 100 million on a movie they don't take any risks so the movie becomes bland and just like the other movies.