IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

StarCraft II Cost Blizzard $100 Million To Develop - Report

Posted July 16, 2010 by M.H. Williams

Blizzard has been sitting on the original StarCraft for some years now, with many fans believing the game was nothing short of perfect. So when they decided it was time for a sequel, Blizzard wanted to make sure they did it right. So they took their time and time equals money in any business. According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Blizzard has spent over $100 million developing StarCraft II.

The report states that the $100 million is only for the cost of development, and does not take into account any marketing costs. At $100 million, StarCraft II soars past Gran Turismo 5’s development cost of $60 million, making it one of the most expensive video games to date.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Blizzard’s parent company Activision, has said that StarCraft is one of the company’s "pillars of opportunity."  Kotick believes each pillar has the ability to bring in $500 million and $1 billion in profit for the company. Of the remaining pillars, three are Blizzard IPs, with the full list being Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft, Diablo, the new Blizzard MMO, and Bungie's new intellectual property.

Blizzard hopes are high for StarCraft II and Blizzard President Mike Morhaime has already said that the game has been successful in one respect. "We've brought in a lot of new players in the beta testing who've been playing World of Warcraft but have never tried Starcraft," Morhaime told the WSJ.

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.