About 4 mil to start. Most of that isn't development cost because you would not initially be making a MMO. Why? Because buying an existing IP would be an exercise in futility and diminishing returns in regard to investment. Also, it has not proven to be a successful model. In addition to that, self-funding an MMO out of nowhere is suicide. Shilling has already been mentioned. Do NOT think you could do it better "just because."
You will be using this paltry 4 mil to find and/or assemble a talented, young dev team that has vision and drive. These developers will already be involved in a project(s). Take note of those projects. Then steal the best talent you can with your enviable funds. They will work.
You will then come up with an original IP with your team, who no doubt has plenty of ideas about what they would like to do when free from the normal publisher-centric routine of things.
You then decide upon a small and VERY polished product related to your IP. You decide upon this knowing that you want it to grow into a grand MMO. First, however, you are going to use your new team to make an engaging SP or limited MP game that does one thing REALLY well, because this provides branding possibilities and will facilitate a network with other developers where none existed before. This network will help you immeasurably in the next stage:
You will then use this initial game to provide you with A) an understanding of how to manage a profitable IP, and a core team that knows how to work together in a creative AND employment environment. This also provides the additional benefit of letting the large amounts of devs probably then joining your team know what you are all about before said joining.
Rinse and repeat in greater magnitudes two to three times, all the while monitoring the market and the technological advancements that affect it. Spend money on this research. You can afford to now, because you are profitable, and your team is becoming very confident and capable. Make the sequel or sequels more netcode-dependent in a multiplayer fashion so that your new-big team is used to coding with that in mind.
Launch an MMO. At this point, you should be AT LEAST breaking even and still have mega millions to spend. But this way, you have developed with effort and application what you could not have with mere money (and you still have your money.)
Rather than creating my own MMO after I win the lottery (Currently at $639million), I would rather help fund those that I think are going to be great. And I'll finally be able to buy another ship in Star Citizen (because I am currently poor).
But seriously, if any of you win...I would suggest hiring a protection unit/bodyguards because at that amount, you can bet evil people will come looking to separate you from your money...at gunpoint. Many people who win large amounts "disappear" for a few months after claiming the prizes...and live elsewhere afterwards.
Personally, I would rather win $10million than $639million. At $10million, people would quickly forget about me. At $639 million, I'll be in the news for the rest of my life!
Rather than creating my own MMO after I win the lottery (Currently at $639million), I would rather help fund those that I think are going to be great. And I'll finally be able to buy another ship in Star Citizen (because I am currently poor).
But seriously, if any of you win...I would suggest hiring a protection unit/bodyguards because at that amount, you can bet evil people will come looking to separate you from your money...at gunpoint. Many people who win large amounts "disappear" for a few months after claiming the prizes...and live elsewhere afterwards.
Personally, I would rather win $10million than $639million. At $10million, people would quickly forget about me. At $639 million, I'll be in the news for the rest of my life!
TQQdles™
There are way more legal ways to make a nouveau-riche part with their money. I'd first hire a good lawyer, then a good PR specialist, then a bodyguard, in that order.
Originally posted by nethaniah
Seriously Farmville? Yeah I think it's great. In a World where half our population is dying of hunger the more fortunate half is spending their time harvesting food that doesn't exist.
You could copy/paste to bring something out that might be slightly better then what the market has to offer. You will have to pay a lot for MMO Reports with statistics from the gaming industry since you are competing with the "big players". Focus on developing something that gives you a slight edge although not being overly expensive to built and capitalize on it.
This is what business experts would advise you.
OR
You build a niche market, if you find one that has potential that is. Let's say you want to build a Sandbox MMO with competitive PvP (eSports). Let's say you have about 40k subs possible. That means 388K in a year + 1.263K from inital sales at 39$. So lets say the project costs 3 million USD the "return of invest" is reached after 5 years at constant 15usd monthly subscriptions, which is considered the maximal lifespan of a standard title in this industry.
OR
You do what playstation did back in the 20th century and revolutionize the genre by developing a new technology that sets a new milestone in the gaming industry. So you need to develop a new technology hand in hand with a new AAA title that hypes out anything the world has seen so far, you will be the next Mark Zuckerberg and swim in dollars and girls. Good luck bro
Dang! I was feeling really good about it, thought my odds were pretty good (1 in 250 million or something) but I Wont be making an mmo. I didn't win...this time.
So after I win the mega millions tonight and become almost a billionaire how much will I need to invest into making a good successful mmo. This will be a sub based game with no cash shops at all. I am not a big pvp player but would have pvp servers.
Also what would be a good ip or setting? I think Dragonlance would make a great mmo except the fantasy setting is a little over crowded.
Well a few of us here in the US will be thinking when I win, I just thought it be fun to put it in writing. Let me know what you think.
Depends on the type of game you want.
If you want a game that you, yourself, spell out every detail of how it's going to be, you're most likely going to need your own studio. That means millions of $$ in equipment, plus rent on a building (and utilities), plus finding & hiring a staff to work there. Furthermore, it's not unlikely that you'd still have to outsource some of that work, which would drive up the costs even more (though doing this is not recommended).
If you're paying someone else to make the game for you, it would be less expensive. However most studios would not adhere to you backseat designing every little detail of the game. So there'd be a lot of things that got changed or lost in translation as a result.
If you limit the scope, graphics, and systems of your MMO, it can be made much cheaper (think less than 100 mil). If you want a big, shiny, AAA production (something that looks really good, has a LOT of content, great writing, animations / models, good programming, etc.) That takes time (5-10years investment), and money to hire people skilled enough to do that kind of work. This is where your cost starts increasing from ~100mil to multiple times that much. Think 300-500mil.
These games are not cheap to make. And there is also a high chance that you will not make all that money back on your first MMO. So, obviously I wouldn't advise you doing so for your first game (chances are it will be a disaster). But if you have an idea you think is THAT good, that you wanna blow 100s of millions of $$ on, to see it happen. Go for it.
Comments
You will be using this paltry 4 mil to find and/or assemble a talented, young dev team that has vision and drive. These developers will already be involved in a project(s). Take note of those projects. Then steal the best talent you can with your enviable funds. They will work.
You will then come up with an original IP with your team, who no doubt has plenty of ideas about what they would like to do when free from the normal publisher-centric routine of things.
You then decide upon a small and VERY polished product related to your IP. You decide upon this knowing that you want it to grow into a grand MMO. First, however, you are going to use your new team to make an engaging SP or limited MP game that does one thing REALLY well, because this provides branding possibilities and will facilitate a network with other developers where none existed before. This network will help you immeasurably in the next stage:
You will then use this initial game to provide you with A) an understanding of how to manage a profitable IP, and
Rinse and repeat in greater magnitudes two to three times, all the while monitoring the market and the technological advancements that affect it. Spend money on this research. You can afford to now, because you are profitable, and your team is becoming very confident and capable. Make the sequel or sequels more netcode-dependent in a multiplayer fashion so that your new-big team is used to coding with that in mind.
Launch an MMO. At this point, you should be AT LEAST breaking even and still have mega millions to spend. But this way, you have developed with effort and application what you could not have with mere money (and you still have your money.)
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/PerfArt
Rather than creating my own MMO after I win the lottery (Currently at $639million), I would rather help fund those that I think are going to be great. And I'll finally be able to buy another ship in Star Citizen (because I am currently poor).
But seriously, if any of you win...I would suggest hiring a protection unit/bodyguards because at that amount, you can bet evil people will come looking to separate you from your money...at gunpoint. Many people who win large amounts "disappear" for a few months after claiming the prizes...and live elsewhere afterwards.
Personally, I would rather win $10million than $639million. At $10million, people would quickly forget about me. At $639 million, I'll be in the news for the rest of my life!
TQQdles™
There are way more legal ways to make a nouveau-riche part with their money. I'd first hire a good lawyer, then a good PR specialist, then a bodyguard, in that order.
How much has Chris Roberts pulled in so
far? Take
thvt amount and multiply by2. Since your making a
mmo and not a space sim.
i think ink that would be a good start.
No matter how cynical you become, its never enough to keep up - Lily Tomlin
Keep
at it bro I believe in you.
No matter how cynical you become, its never enough to keep up - Lily Tomlin
Currently there ain't many options.
You could copy/paste to bring something out that might be slightly better then what the market has to offer. You will have to pay a lot for MMO Reports with statistics from the gaming industry since you are competing with the "big players". Focus on developing something that gives you a slight edge although not being overly expensive to built and capitalize on it.
This is what business experts would advise you.
OR
You build a niche market, if you find one that has potential that is. Let's say you want to build a Sandbox MMO with competitive PvP (eSports). Let's say you have about 40k subs possible. That means 388K in a year + 1.263K from inital sales at 39$. So lets say the project costs 3 million USD the "return of invest" is reached after 5 years at constant 15usd monthly subscriptions, which is considered the maximal lifespan of a standard title in this industry.
OR
You do what playstation did back in the 20th century and revolutionize the genre by developing a new technology that sets a new milestone in the gaming industry. So you need to develop a new technology hand in hand with a new AAA title that hypes out anything the world has seen so far, you will be the next Mark Zuckerberg and swim in dollars and girls. Good luck bro
___________________
Fifa 14 Xbox Coins
Wauw, love this this thread! Just make a snowboard game and you´ll earn much of money!
Gaming tilbehør
Depends on the type of game you want.
If you want a game that you, yourself, spell out every detail of how it's going to be, you're most likely going to need your own studio. That means millions of $$ in equipment, plus rent on a building (and utilities), plus finding & hiring a staff to work there. Furthermore, it's not unlikely that you'd still have to outsource some of that work, which would drive up the costs even more (though doing this is not recommended).
If you're paying someone else to make the game for you, it would be less expensive. However most studios would not adhere to you backseat designing every little detail of the game. So there'd be a lot of things that got changed or lost in translation as a result.
If you limit the scope, graphics, and systems of your MMO, it can be made much cheaper (think less than 100 mil). If you want a big, shiny, AAA production (something that looks really good, has a LOT of content, great writing, animations / models, good programming, etc.) That takes time (5-10years investment), and money to hire people skilled enough to do that kind of work. This is where your cost starts increasing from ~100mil to multiple times that much. Think 300-500mil.
These games are not cheap to make. And there is also a high chance that you will not make all that money back on your first MMO. So, obviously I wouldn't advise you doing so for your first game (chances are it will be a disaster). But if you have an idea you think is THAT good, that you wanna blow 100s of millions of $$ on, to see it happen. Go for it.
If nothing else it will be quite the experience.