Game budgets will continue to rise

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at the Eurogamer Expo last weekend, Guerrilla's lead producer Steven Ter Heide said that he expects game budgets to continue to rise for some time yet, although he also sees increased opportunities for games operating across the budgetary spectrum.

Ter Heide was commenting on David DeMartini's proclamation in August that EA's game budgets had peaked and couldactually be shrinking in the near future.

"With the bigger budget games, like in the movie industry there's a lot of pressure - because they have to make their money back," said Ter Heide. "But there'll certainly always be big budget titles because audiences will always want to see these over-the-top kind of no-holds-barred titles.

"I don't know where the budgets are going but they'll probably continue to rise for the next couple of years because the amount of stuff that you need to put into games, the stuff that the audience is expecting, that's still growing as well. I don't see it levelling out - both spectrums are going to continue to grow, from top to bottom."

The producer also had some advice for new start-ups and fledgling studios looking to make it in the games industry: aim high and take risks.

"Think big. Think about what it is that you want to accomplish and basically go for it. It's very tempting to start small, and work on smaller games and slowly grow, but you have to have an end-goal in sight and say 'how do I get there, what steps do I have to take, how do I build my engine, how do I make my technology positions, what's my artistic vision, what kind of talent do I need to attract?'

"You have know what it is you want to be and absolutely go for it. I know it's risky, but I don't think there's any other way. Playing it safe doesn't hack it, you have to be able to take risks. It's easier said than done, and it's easier for me to say when I'm working with a big publisher and having that support, but I think for an indie developer it's really important to aim high and take that risk.

"Go for the title you really want to make rather than trying to work your way up."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...rilla-producer