From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Recently Take-Two/Rockstar announced (well, revealed in their
financial reports) that the next "Grand Theft Auto" game is likely to
cost at least $1 to 1.5 billion USD just for its development costs
alone. That's a lot of money but given the size and scope of the Grand
Theft Auto games (and the ballooning costs of AAA games in general),
that's not really such a surprising amount. But GTA6 isn't the first
game to reach those stupendous levels of cost. Nope; that 'honor' goes
to Cloud Imperium's "Star Citizen" game.*

In truth, it's not really an apple-to-oranges comparison. According to
the financial reports, that $1 billion price tag on GTA6 is just for development; marketing is likely to double that. Meanwhile, the $1
billion collected by Cloud Imperium is for development, marketing
and... well, nobody is really sure. The project certainly isn't
without its technical merits, but it's nowhere near as big (for
example, GTA6 has close to 8,000 people working on it; Cloud Imperium
has around 1,000). GTA6 is also much closer to being an actually
finished project. And while Star Citizen looked technically stunning
five years ago, it's nowhere nearly as amazing when compared to
contemporary games. That billion dollars doesn't look well spent.

Not that Cloud Imperium is second guessing itself. They're still
chugging along, and happily milking their customer base. In fact,
proud of their recent billion-dollar milestone, they've just excitedly announced the sale of a $5000 space-ship that you can buy right now...
although it's actually not 'ready to play' and isn't actually in the
game yet. But you can certainly buy it.

GTA6 is likely to end up costing $1.5 billion. But I've no doubt that
"Star Citizen" will, before its launch, reach at least two billion
dollars (and probably more) in funding before it releases (currently
vaguely suggested as coming out in 2028... although I wouldn't bet on
that). Cloud Imperium is in no rush to hop off that gravy train yet.









* reported here https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/star-citizen-blasts-through-usd1-billion-in-player-funding-as-its-developer-lists-a-new-usd5-000-spaceship-for-sale-that-is-not-yet-ready-to-play/



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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 5/25/2026 9:28 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Recently Take-Two/Rockstar announced (well, revealed in their
financial reports) that the next "Grand Theft Auto" game is likely to
cost at least $1 to 1.5 billion USD just for its development costs
alone. That's a lot of money but given the size and scope of the Grand
Theft Auto games (and the ballooning costs of AAA games in general),
that's not really such a surprising amount. But GTA6 isn't the first
game to reach those stupendous levels of cost. Nope; that 'honor' goes
to Cloud Imperium's "Star Citizen" game.*

In truth, it's not really an apple-to-oranges comparison. According to
the financial reports, that $1 billion price tag on GTA6 is just for development; marketing is likely to double that. Meanwhile, the $1
billion collected by Cloud Imperium is for development, marketing
and... well, nobody is really sure. The project certainly isn't
without its technical merits, but it's nowhere near as big (for
example, GTA6 has close to 8,000 people working on it; Cloud Imperium
has around 1,000). GTA6 is also much closer to being an actually
finished project. And while Star Citizen looked technically stunning
five years ago, it's nowhere nearly as amazing when compared to
contemporary games. That billion dollars doesn't look well spent.

Not that Cloud Imperium is second guessing itself. They're still
chugging along, and happily milking their customer base. In fact,
proud of their recent billion-dollar milestone, they've just excitedly announced the sale of a $5000 space-ship that you can buy right now... although it's actually not 'ready to play' and isn't actually in the
game yet. But you can certainly buy it.

GTA6 is likely to end up costing $1.5 billion. But I've no doubt that
"Star Citizen" will, before its launch, reach at least two billion
dollars (and probably more) in funding before it releases (currently
vaguely suggested as coming out in 2028... although I wouldn't bet on
that). Cloud Imperium is in no rush to hop off that gravy train yet.

You are making me wonder if a well known "politician" is a shareholder....
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
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