100 mil for an RTS? Ok, those campaign cinematics must be fucking insane...

It's either over expenditure or a case of a bit of chest beating. You'd think in terms of advertisement, the game sells its self. In terms of production you'd also think with a giant like Vivendi as the owners, the production costs would have been much lower. Seriously $100 million on a game. Sounds like a bit chest beating to me: "look at us, $100m is play lunch money".

Wonder what Diablo III will cost. The mind boggles.

Carnagath:
100 mil for an RTS? Ok, those campaign cinematics must be fucking insane...

You know they'll be. Chris Metzen said the final cutscene of the game is the best in a Blizzard title yet and that he's proud of it.

coldalarm:

Low Key:
I like how when anytime Bobby Kotick talks, sales figures are the only thing that come out of his mouth. It's like the guy is a parakeet or something.

"Rrawrk! Bobby want a dollar! Bobby want a dollar!"

Haha exactly! Hmmm...that could be meme-worthy.

John Funk:

.Ricks.:

Carnagath:
100 mil for an RTS? Ok, those campaign cinematics must be fucking insane...

You know they'll be. Chris Metzen said the final cutscene of the game is the best in a Blizzard title yet and that he's proud of it.

Whoa, source? That is one hell of a claim from Mr. Metzen.

Because let's face it, topping Arthas' Betrayal is one tall order.

I agree, Arthas' Betrayal is going to remain in my memory for ever. I don't remember where I read it I'll try to find it and post a link.

Edit: Found it. Although I have to apologize, what he said isn't that it was the best, no such claim. I mean just as you said Arthas' Betrayal isn't easy to beat but what he said was "He considers the ending of the game to be one of his favorite moments out of all the work he's done at Blizzard Entertainment."

I read this on the SC Wiki. If it's a reliable source or not I don't know... anyway here is the link, scroll down to the Trivia section.

Hopefully there's an interview somewhere with his words if they do exist.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_II:_Wings_of_Liberty#Trivia

WOW! I didn't expect it to go that far. When you say to yourself "one hundred million was poured into this game", you expect it to be great.

I'm sure they'll have no problem making it back, this things been hyped to death.

JerrytheBullfrog:

Rakkana:
I'm going to play starcraft 1 until it's cheap.

Take that blizzard! Pull this crap on diablo again and I'll boycott you for good!

Pull this crap?

...spending lots of money and time on a game until it's great? That's kind of their schtick you know.

Or did you mean the $60 price (which was also for WC3 and Diablo 2) and expansions (which every Blizzard game has had)?

SC1 is a great game to play tho :)

Yeah the money and seperate campaigns don't bother me, but this kinda does - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=127066

I can not WAIT for the Single player campaign! I did the Multiplayer Beta but the highly competitive atmosphere wasn't my cup of tea.

John Funk:

.Ricks.:

Carnagath:
100 mil for an RTS? Ok, those campaign cinematics must be fucking insane...

You know they'll be. Chris Metzen said the final cutscene of the game is the best in a Blizzard title yet and that he's proud of it.

Whoa, source? That is one hell of a claim from Mr. Metzen.

Because let's face it, topping Arthas' Betrayal is one tall order.

It wouldn't surprise me at all. If the music is anything to go by, they did manage to surpass all their previous games by far. The main theme of Wings of Liberty is one of the most brilliant compositions I have heard in gaming, it nearly had me in tears when I first heard it. The way it manages to weave together 3 different themes from Starcraft 1 and add so much to them in one final composition is a strong indication of the whole mentality behind the game's design for me.

Linking it for those who haven't played the Beta (and for those who are in too much of a hurry to play that they never listened to it as a whole).

And from the comments:

Good old Starcraft main theme at 0:10. Tassadar's sacrifice theme at 3:30. DuGalle theme at 5:10.

Tom Goldman:
I wonder what a $200 million game would be like?

Starcraft 2 might actually be that game as well. Battle.net 2 must cost some money to maintain, and the hard balancing act Blizzard to do across three very different races and lots of units has and will require tons of updates, patches, and other money spendings. And to get Battle.Net 2 fixed, it will take a LOT of effort.

John Funk:

I know that for games like GTA4 and anything BioWare does, the voice acting is a HUGE part of the budget. Obviously it'll be less so in this game, though.

I'll complement the notion of voice acting being expensive. Back when Warhammer Online was still in development, Mythic didn't have the money to do any kind of professional voice acting, until EA bought them. It was stated in one of their monthly podcasts, when the game was still in development.

But anyways, does that mean SC2 is the most expensive game of all time?
According to this site, and a Finnish gaming magazine, GTAIV is the most expensive game to date, with a $100 million budget. I guess congratulations are in order.. or something.

God so fucking tired of hearing "WAHHHH KOTICK" this and "waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh KOTICK" that. Seriously, drop it.

Research past installments of Blizzard's flagship titles and you will see that that's how they do things.

And for god's sake can we get a new arch-villain in the gaming industry? This Kotick crap has been beaten to death to the point where I'm getting the urge to defend him. Which is scary.

It's like Obama for Republicans/Bush for Dems. GET OVER IT.

OT: Not at all surprised that they spent so much on SC2. I think it shows, and I think the 'risk' (lol if anyone thinks they took that big of a risk doing sc2..) will be well worth it in the end. Can't wait till my CE gets here ;).

"Blizzard dropped 100 Million on SC2!"

But you, the comsumer, can aquire it for just 3 easy payments of $59.99 (US)! Call now, and we'll throw in some dubious comments about the possibility of charging for BN connectivity!

Thats like paying for 1 game at the cost of 3! Operators are standing by to take your order!

But no, seriously. It might have cost less, had they constructed additional pylons. Everyone knows that.

Whiskey Echo!!
Mythgraven

Im torn between wanting it to fail miserably and wanting it to succeed for no other reason then to shut up the people who keep saying pc gaming is dying

I think it'll easily turn a profit. They've got 3 big places for income to come from :

1.Starcraft fans

2.World of warcraft fans

3.RTS fans

This plus Korea's love of the first game means big sales.

I would think about getting it myself were it no the knowledge that I get my ass handed to me every game.

I remember back when the first game to spend over a million dollars was Wing Commander II or some such, one of Origin's games. Sigh, I remember Origin and loved them, and whatever the guy currently occupying Lord British's body did with him, I'd really like him back.

Anyway, $100 million doesn't surprise me, considering what they spend of some really godawful movies these days. I'm curious as to what they've spent on World of Warcraft so far, for that matter. It's got to be more than that.

I don't understand how development for an RTS could possible cost that much. Someone explain, please.

John Funk:

.Ricks.:

Carnagath:
100 mil for an RTS? Ok, those campaign cinematics must be fucking insane...

You know they'll be. Chris Metzen said the final cutscene of the game is the best in a Blizzard title yet and that he's proud of it.

Whoa, source? That is one hell of a claim from Mr. Metzen.

Because let's face it, topping Arthas' Betrayal is one tall order.

^This. Especially when you consider the atmosphere it added for future incarnations of it.

But I'm also extremely biased in the matter.

That is pretty fucking crazy!

I will not be getting the game I must say, I am probably going to end up waiting for the next two parts of the game to get released and get them all at once. Or see if they toss us a bundle pack.

Suggesting the Starcraft's quality has anything to do with its budget is what's wrong with gaming and Blizzard in particular... -_-

EDIT: All this love for Arthas' betrayal, have you all forgotten the far, FAR more memorable Inauguration?

I suppose I don't know what to expect since I don't know what 100mil will get you, but I am kind of surprised that number isn't larger.

I mean, I can imagine WoW spending that sort of money on making a boat out of frozen money.

I'm strongly considering buying it, dependent on whether or not I can prepare my brain for strategies more complex than "make huge army and destroy everything" and prepare my spirit for the savage beatings I would take if I ever tried multiplayer.

"described StarCraft II as one of the company's seven "pillars of opportunity," which could each provide more than $500 million and up to even $1 billion in profit over the total product life span."

Guess What!

Blizzard just bought North and South Korea....and maybe they can buy Activision...?

Lt. Vinciti:
Blizzard just bought North and South Korea....and maybe they can buy Activision...?

Hahahahahaha.

I see what you did there. Good show.

i never played starcraft so all this stuff kinda went over my head
but now i hear there willing to spend that kinda money on it...
im now interested hell i cant w8!
normaly i wouldnt let a little thing like how much a company blew on it but...
i mean...thats alot...and they made diablo 2... so they clearly know what there doing
this could be a better example of "showing what is possible" then crysis...

uppitycracker:
i'm sure the nation of korea will singlehandedly make that entire amount back on day 1.

but regardless of korea, it certainly justifies that 60 dollar pricetag, i'd think.

So racist against my kind, you bunch are. I am half south Korean.

I've had this game pre-ordered since April for the Collector's Edition. Bring it on!

T_ConX:
$100 Million to develop, and it still only comes with one campaign?

For a while, I was concerned that this was going to be the game that I would break my Activision Boycott for. After I heard about 'premium' map packs and the campaigns getting split into three games, I realized that nothing, not even Starcraft, was safe from Bobby Kotick.

First of all, Bobby Kotick has no control over Blizzard as stated in the merger agreement.
Second, There's been no news about "premium maps" because Blizzard has never done map packs since when you join a game you download any map you don't have automatically.
And Finally, It's being split into three campaigns because this game is supposed to have A LOT MORE than 20+ hours of campaign ALONE!

$60 is nothing to pay for what you get with SC2.

I couldn't agree more Reyalsfeihc, Kotick has no control over blizzard. What they do, what they charge, is all up to them, and personally, i like that they are splitting into 3 campaigns, it increases the amount of campaign there is, which in my mind is a good thing, based on what i have seen on the campaign(ill get back to you next month when it actually comes out lol). And 60 dollars is indeed nothing to pay (100 here in australia) considering we are getting the galaxy editor aswell, which means we can have many many more games, just from that.

tautologico:
Oh yes, as always, blame it on Kotick.

SnwMan:
Kotick has no control over blizzard.

Reyalsfeihc:
First of all, Bobby Kotick has no control over Blizzard as stated in the merger agreement.

Incoming TOLD in T-minus 3... 2... 1...

TOLD!

Official Site of Activision | Blizzard - About Us - Board of Directors:
Robert A. Kotick
Director; President and Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard.

There you have it. Right from the mouth of the demon himself.

Or, since it seems that none of you even read the news article...

tautologico:

Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has described StarCraft II as one of the company's seven "pillars of opportunity," which could each provide more than $500 million and up to even $1 billion in profit over the total product life span. With millions of copies expected to sell this year alone at $60 a pop, StarCraft II could be in the black before we celebrate 2011.

You guys make this too easy.

Reyalsfeihc:

Second, There's been no news about "premium maps" because Blizzard has never done map packs since when you join a game you download any map you don't have automatically.

Commander! A swarm of TOLD has appeared on our RADAR! It's about to hit us!

1UP: StarCraft II Will Support Premium Maps
ShackNews: StarCraft 2 to Support Priced Maps, Mods
KotakuBlizzard: You May Sell Your StarCraft 2 Maps On Battle.net, Eventually

So there you have it. How about you try just a little harder next time... ok?

I see your point, however i still maintain that blizzard has its own autonamy.

Assuming the number is even real, that's probably 70% advertisements/actor casting/unnecessary things that I can't remember now, and only 30% actual technical effort.

Hmm Seven pillars, I'm trying to work out what they are...

WoW
SCII
CoD
Guitar Hero
Diablo 3(?)

That's all I got...maybe Tony Hawk and DJ Hero.