Sony’s latest blockbuster, God of War Ragnarok cost Santa Monica Studios a reported $200 million to make. In a report from The Guardian, Shuhei Yoshida chatted about the game’s development, the industry and other topics.
During the interview, Yoshida discussed how things have changed in the industry. Mainly related to the development costs of making a game. He says back in the day, 25 years ago, games would cost a few million dollars. 2010’s God of War III only cost Sony $44 million and it was an expensive game for its time.
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God of War Ragnarok, on the other hand, cost Sony more than four times that amount at $200 million. Yoshida says these costs will continue to rise as the years go by and games get bigger and more ambitious.
Keep in mind that Yoshida doesn’t specifically mention the God of War Ragnarok’s budget in the interview. However, he does say that “PlayStation 5 games, such as God of War Ragnarok“. This gives us the idea that the game’s budget was sitting in that ballpark figure.
Yoshida also spoke about the challenges indie developers face. He says that smaller studios are coming out with better games on smaller budgets so it is more challenging than ever to get noticed as an independent developer.
“When I was in São Paolo last year, there were scouts from Devolver, Curve Digital, Team17, all trying to find the talent from these places, the games that only they can make – [a game’s] cultural background, mythology, artwork, music, can all be something special to stand out in the market… It’s all about economy. Some big games sell tens of millions of units and justify putting all these resources into expensive regions, but I think the industry has to diversify, and I think that will happen naturally and organically.”
Sony has since sold over 5 million copies of God of War Ragnarok so the game’s profit is unquestionable. The company would have had to move around 3 million to break even.
God of War Ragnarok was released in November for PS4 and PS5. The game went on to win multiple awards after being nominated for countless categories across the industry.
