The CEO of a U.K.-based game development company lashed out at the high costs of next-generation game development publishing at a trade conference last week, Gamesindustry.biz reported.
Speaking at the Northern Exposure conference, Blast Entertainment CEO Sean Brennan said the multi-million dollar endeavors are unsustainable and not viable.
Brennan said, “What a joke. What embarrassment. There’s no way on a USD 20 million development project that you can break even on a game – not now in the cycle.”
The CEO complained that costs in the range of $15 to 20 million prevents developers from breaking even, because console penetration is still low.
He also said American publishers have become more “insular” since 9/11 and are reluctant to trust their work to overseas staff.
Blast Entertainment describes itself as “the leading video game company aimed exclusively at the younger children’s market.” It has produced PlayStation 2 titles such as The Flinstones and Charlotte’s Web.
