During today’s FTC v. Microsoft hearing, PlayStation documents spilled some pretty big company secrets. According to reporting from The Verge, a black Sharpie marker used to redact confidential documents failed to properly omit certain details, including how much money the company spent on certain games. According to the document, The Last of Us Part II cost the company about $220 million to make, with 200 employees working on the game. Meanwhile, the company spent $212 million on the development of Horizon Forbidden West, with 300 employees working on the game over a five-year span.
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The cost of AAA development is kept confidential by publishers, so it’s interesting to see just how much PlayStation is spending to make these types of games. The amount of staff is another thing that tends to be kept quiet, as the staff credits on games tend to be far from complete. It would be interesting to see how staffing and development costs have changed over the years, most notably when compared to the original The Last of Us and Horizon Zero Dawn. Unfortunately, that data is not in the documents from Sony, and it’s a safe bet the company won’t reveal that kind of data willingly. Regardless, it’s pretty interesting to see, and should give gamers a good idea of what the industry tends to spend on the biggest games.
The Last of Us has become one of PlayStation’s biggest franchises, and the popularity of the HBO adaptation has likely resulted in newcomers checking out both titles. As of last year, The Last of Us Part II has sold more than 10 million copies, so the investment was clearly worth it. The sequel will also form the basis for the second season of the HBO series, so it’s not always as cut and dried as looking at spending versus sales. Horizon Forbidden West has sold similarly well, selling more than 8 million copies as of April.
Are you surprised by how much PlayStation is spending on its AAA games? Would you be interested to know how much the previous games cost? Letusknowin thecomments or share yourthoughts directly on Twitter atย @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
