Where Hath Origin Gone?

Hey this question is to the real know-it-alls, how many copies of Wing Commander Prophecy + Gold sold (despite the poor advertising). Approximatley how much profit was made on each unit and since how much did WC3 cost to make? (A new WC game would do fine with WC3's budget I'm sure)
 
Prophecy has sold over 750,000 units to date. I have no idea what ther average profit on those was, and I doubt EA lets that sort of thing out.
 
How about the production costs of Wing Commander III, how much was it?
Since CDs etc are all so cheap to produce in bulk its not hard to come to a guess as to the profit knowing what the stores pay.
I'm suprised Prophecy didn't pass the 1million mark but then so very few games have, its more than Perfect Dark sold and that was the Sequel to Goldeneye and well publisised
 
Hrm... I seem to have completely forgot. $12 million? CD's are cheap to produce, but don't forget boxes and distribution. And advertising, advertising costs lots.
 
There was an article in PC Gamer recently that explained all the costs. Most games at best make maybe 2-5 dollars per game sold back and those are the best-sellers. The majority of computer games break even or lose money. Also WC3 I thought cost 4 million or so to make, while WC4 cost around 12 million or so.
 
Thats ridiculous, on average in this country the games cost (converted from GBP) $5 to produce and are sold onto the shops for $35 (yes things are more expensive) So thats like $30 profit for a non re-release game (think about it otherwise budget games would be losing about $20 per title sold), thats works out to a HUGE profit even after taking 4mill off. When you take into account some of the 750,000 were re-releases it goes down a bit but still it all stresses the need for a new WC :)
I'd be impressed if they managed to make a $4mill WC game lose money.
 
ads costs, development costs, salaries for the development team, paying stores for shelf space, there are tons of costs that add up very very quickly.
 
No I wasn't forgetting the shops profit you see PC games and sold for around the equivalent of $60 (£35) in UK stores so no I didn't forget that. Shelf space is a cost to the shops and distribution costs I had forgotten. But like I say its all still a big profit when you remember than even budgets earn them something.
 
Originally posted by Vondoom
ads costs, development costs, salaries for the development team, paying stores for shelf space, there are tons of costs that add up very very quickly.
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What is this about companies paying for shelf space? My wife owned a retail store and she had to buy the goods and then it was in her hands to sell it. If she did great but if not then she had to reduce the price on the item(s) until it did sell - even if it was at cost or below. Obviously the trick was to pick the right items. What about the games in the bargain bin (usually for <$15) is the company paying for 'bin' space as well?

In the case of WCIII-WCP I wonder if the killer wasn't the actor costs?
 
Have you walked into a Wal-Mart or CompUSA and seen a huge display with just one game? Or seen a game that isn't that great have an unusually large profile? Game Distributors can "buy" shelf space to make their products stand out. It's done all the time and if you look at the success of crappy hunting games it shows that it works too.
 
Originally posted by Vondoom
Have you walked into a Wal-Mart or CompUSA and seen a huge display with just one game? Or seen a game that isn't that great have an unusually large profile? Game Distributors can "buy" shelf space to make their products stand out. It's done all the time and if you look at the success of crappy hunting games it shows that it works too.
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That's what I thought, they are simply trying to 'upgrade' their software's "sellability". And the fact that there was even one hunting game sequel show's how criminal it is to discontinue a great series like WC.
 
The point is that Origin made money on both WCIII and WCP and while they might have lost money, WCIV was a great game. If they were to make a WCPII I have no problem with greenscreen techniques that could keep the cost down to around the levels of WCIII.
 
That's not how businesses work though. They're not gonna say, "Let's do Wing Commander 6! We'll probably end up losing money, but hell, who cares? We're making lots on Ultima! Hey, anyone got a hundred for to light this cigar with?"

UO makes money, so they make UO's until they stop being profitable.
 
Originally posted by Marcml30
In the case of WCIII-WCP I wonder if the killer wasn't the actor costs?
Click to expand...

That reminds me... I forgot why did Mark Hamill wanted Prophecy to be his last WC. Or was it just his hiring costs?
 
Mmm.. I'm not really so sure Hamill was that set on not doing another WC. From what I hear, he's something of a pushover.. He did his little cameo in the WC movie for free..
 
Originally posted by Wedge009
I thought someone said that was a 'easter egg' type of thing.
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Hamill in the WC movie? He was the voice of Merlin, the computer system in the Rapier. In the credits Vocie of Merlin is noted as '?'.
 
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