From the Embracer Groups latest financials. Last sales number we got was 2 million units in June 2019.
That's good to hear. Wonder how many GamePass installs/plays count towards that?
It's a great game, so I'm glad it's considered successful.
GamePass does not compensate for "units sold". It only compensates in "players" and hard cash revenue.Yes, but GamePass must recompense the developers/publishers somehow in the form of counting installs or plays as 'sold copies'.
They've made a lot of games though. It's not like they've just had 600 people to work purely on WWZ.Okay wait, how do you support a team of 600 employees with only 3 million sales? No insult to the game, those are good numbers for a video game.
But if you have 600 employees over 6 continents (6 offices?), then even if you assume it was sold for almost full price and the developer got a return of $50 for each copy after deducting the cut to retailers, then that's only a return of $250k per employee.
That $250k would have to pay for the employees annual salary, benefits, office space, and whatever game Dec equipment they need. Even being generous with the $50 return to the developer, that doesn't seem viable.
Okay wait, how do you support a team of 600 employees with only 3 million sales? No insult to the game, those are good numbers for a video game.
But if you have 600 employees over 6 continents (6 offices?), then even if you assume it was sold for almost full price and the developer got a return of $50 for each copy after deducting the cut to retailers, then that's only a return of $250k per employee.
That $250k would have to pay for the employees annual salary, benefits, office space, and whatever game Dec equipment they need. Even being generous with the $50 return to the developer, that doesn't seem viable.
They have multiple studios and multiple teams.Okay wait, how do you support a team of 600 employees with only 3 million sales? No insult to the game, those are good numbers for a video game.
But if you have 600 employees over 6 continents (6 offices?), then even if you assume it was sold for almost full price and the developer got a return of $50 for each copy after deducting the cut to retailers, then that's only a return of $250k per employee.
That $250k would have to pay for the employees annual salary, benefits, office space, and whatever game Dec equipment they need. Even being generous with the $50 return to the developer, that doesn't seem viable.
Okay wait, how do you support a team of 600 employees with only 3 million sales? No insult to the game, those are good numbers for a video game.
Edit: nvm this studio has a bunch of releases every year including the Witcher 3 port for the Switch (which was a technical marvel). Makes sense now.
Okay wait, how do you support a team of 600 employees with only 3 million sales? No insult to the game, those are good numbers for a video game.
Wait, it's on GamePass?! Sweet, must get it downloaded!
Surprised at how well it'd done. For some reason I thought it had bombed.
World War Z seems to be a long-term license. While it's not actually set in stone in this interview with GameDaily.biz, there is an hypothetical situation of an IP lease of 99 years being mentioned in the article, and I wouldn't be surprised if >10 years is also what we should think about in the case of World War Z.Heck even World War Z was developed with paramount. I don't know the ins and outs of their dealings but it's likely an upfront cash payment + a profit split on game sales.
It's pretty much the same thing with a different coat of paint. But also 3rd person, if you're ok with that.L4D was my favorite game of the PS360 gen. And I've been dying for another game like it. Is this a good substitute?
You can say that about every game
I know you already edited your post but I just wanted to explain in more detail.
Many of the contracts they have would have been for cash upfront, covering the cost of development plus a profit margin, games like Halo Online (cancelled), Halo Anniversary, Witcher 3, Quake Champions, would have had their costs funded by the publisher / IP holder.
Heck even World War Z was developed with paramount. I don't know the ins and outs of their dealings but it's likely an upfront cash payment + a profit split on game sales.
It's also worth bearing in mind that the 3 million units number isn't static, it's increasing every day, and that they also sell DLC.
A company like Sabre interactive really thrives off of those external contracts. So long as they keep securing them, they'll keep growing. It's the same with companies like Sumo Digital in the UK (500+ employees).
It's pretty much the same thing with a different coat of paint. But also 3rd person, if you're ok with that.