Rumours of Rockstar's mammoth development investments are a given these days and this time it's Max Payne 3 under the spotlight. Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia estimates that Rockstar has forked out around $105 million on the five years worth of development on the title. Bhatia goes on to say that the firm will need to sell four million copies just to break even. The $105 million figure was reached by multiplying the estimated annual cost of the approximately 200-man development team (worked out at $100,000 a year per developer - a $20m annual total) by the total development time of around 5.25 years.

Four million sales seems like a lofty target just to break even, but Bhatia appears optimistic for Rockstar. "Life-to-date, the Max Payne franchise has sold through 7M units between the two prior versions -- Max Payne and Max Payne 2. We think the latest iteration, Max Payne 3, has greater potential for success than either of the two prior versions," said the analyst.

"Although the break-even unit level for Max Payne 3 is likely high -- probably in the 4M units range -- due to its long development time, we think the title is highly anticipated and has potential for upside surprise."

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/318429/max-payne-3-development-cost-105m-estimates-analyst/

Posted: Sep 12, 2011 1:52 pm