The Gran Turismo franchise has always had a loyal following both from gamers and car nuts. The series has sold over 50 million units in its lifetime, and it seems like creator Kazunor Yamauchi raises the bar with every iteration. Gran Turismo 5 will undoubtedly be one of several top sellers for PS3 next year (highlighted by God of War III), and Polyphony Digital certainly put in a huge investment to ensure the game's success.
According to an interview with Autoweek, Yamauchi revealed that the game's total development cost came to about $60 million. He added, "There are other games that cost more. Considering the size and scale of the game, I think it's probably a fairly small amount."
We don't consider $60 million a small amount by any means, but considering that Yamauchi is aiming for 1,000 cars in the game, that represents a lot of expenditure in terms of licensing costs to auto manufacturers, so we understand his point. Sometimes manufacturers want to pay to get their vehicles in the game, however, so it can go both ways. After all, featuring your car in Gran Turismo is a great way to market your brand and car model.
Also see: Big Bets on Big Budget Games
6 Comments
November 5, 2009
This is an amazing figure. Can Sony sell 10 million units WW to at least recoup...especially after Forza 3. If the bet fails...wonder if Kazunor will remain as creator?
November 5, 2009
GT4 sold over 10 million units, but that of course was to a massive installed base with PS2. Still, I wouldn't worry about GT5 or Yamauchi's future.
November 5, 2009
Gran Turismo is Sony's biggest franchise; every major incarnation of Gran Turismo has sold at least around 10 million copies. Even the glorified demo Gran Turismo 5 Prologue sold about 4 million worldwide, which is incidentally more than a million than Forza 2 has sold. And now that EA has abdicated the license, Gran Turismo 5 will also be the exclusive home of NASCAR.
I think they'll do fine.
November 5, 2009
Well to be fair GTV IV cost 100million and recouped. :-)
November 9, 2009
I`d love to see wich car company payed or got payed for including his car in the game and by how much... :)
November 9, 2009
The game will sell, no doubt about it. I prefer arcady racers like the Burnout series over sims like this but this game sells boat loads. This may end up being the PS3's biggest seller thru out it's life cycle.