Owlcat founder breaks down RPG budgets and Larian’s impact on genre

[Gizmo_Duck]

According to Shpilchevskiy, each game is classified at a certain tier (e.g. B, AA, AAA, etc.) depending on its production value. He added that there is usually a correlation between costs and projected revenue, roughly highlighting the following tiers:

• AAA game — budget in the range of $50-70 million, expected revenue of $300 million (for the game to be considered successful);
• AA game — budget in the range of $5-15 million, expected revenue of $50 million;
• A game — budget in the range of $1-2 million (Shpilchevskiy didn't mention any revenue expectations).

and this is the money quate about future crpgs

"We made all our games with partial voiceover, because 1) it's expensive and 2) it makes the development process extremely difficult. Especially when you have one million words," Shpilchevskiy said. "Looking at BG3, you understand: it is becoming a must-have feature, which doesn't guarantee you success, but if you don't meet that bar, your game is considered one that no longer fits into the right category. So it looks like we will have to do a full voiceover for our next games."

Owlcat founder breaks down RPG budgets and Larian’s impact on genre: “We can’t invest $200 million to make BG3” | Game World Observer

RPGs have always been one of the most difficult and risky genres in terms of production. Here is what Owlcat Games founder and CEO Oleg Shpilchevskiy has to say about the challenges posed by rising costs, as well as the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 and its impact on the industry.

gameworldobserver.com

This makes a lot of sense. Now that A lot of these CRPGS are releasing on console im afraid full voice acting is going to have to be a part of the development process. For a wordy crpg its probably taxing but i think its the reason i dropped warhammer recently, i just can’t really read a lot on my tv screen the same way i can on a pc. I think its one of the reasons why BG3 was able to crossover on top of the cinematic camera.

It is a tough predicament to be in as a smaller developer. BG3 raised the tides for the genre but also raised expectations

 

[Instant Classic]

It is a tough predicament to be in as a smaller developer. BG3 raised the tides for the genre but also raised expectations

That's the issue many of these games will face. Not many are willing to sit down and read walls of text and they expect some level of voice acting. I think it's tough for this genre to get the green light to get a AAA budget for a CRPG. I think a game like BG3 would be viewed as an anomaly, and I don't think big publishers are going to open the bank account to fund the CRPG genre.

I think the trickiest thing CRPGs will face is they can't scale down the game too much to improve production because people who like CRPGs expect a lot of content. However, if they want to capture people who aren't familiar with the genre. Then they most likely have to take risks and improve production to get a bigger audience.

I think even with BG3 success I don't think it affected the sales of other CRPGs. I think some people may have tried Pillars or WOTR, but most likely dropped it due to production quality not being there.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

That's the issue many of these games will face. Not many are willing to sit down and read walls of text and they expect some level of voice acting. I think it's tough for this genre to get the green light to get a AAA budget for a CRPG. I think a game like BG3 would be viewed as an anomaly, and I don't think big publishers are going to open the bank account to fund the CRPG genre.

I think the trickiest thing CRPGs will face is they can't scale down the game too much to improve production because people who like CRPGs expect a lot of content. However, if they want to capture people who aren't familiar with the genre. Then they most likely have to take risks and improve production to get a bigger audience.

I think even with BG3 success I don't think it affected the sales of other CRPGs. I think some people may have tried Pillars or WOTR, but most likely dropped it due to production quality not being there.

It makes me wonder if Obsidian and Inxile will ever go back to making Isometric rpgs. They can technically do what Larian does now with Microsoft backing, i just wonder if they will see it as worthy of those types of budgets.

I think the days of Kickstarter are over for this genre though.

 

[Instant Classic]

It makes me wonder if Obsidian and Inxile will ever go back to making Isometric rpgs. They can technically do what Larian does now with Microsoft backing, i just wonder if they will see it as worthy of those types of budgets.

I think the days of Kickstarter are over for this genre though.

Theoretically they can, but they would still need the green light. So far, Microsoft is funding A-AA.5 type of budget for their recently acquired studios. Unsure if Clockwork Revolution is AAA, but other than that doesn't seem they're funding AAA games unless you want to count Perfect Dark. So, I think chances are slim Microsoft funds that, but Microsoft might be influenced to take gamble due to to BG3 success, but I doubt

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Theoretically they can, but they would still need the green light. So far, Microsoft is funding A-AA.5 type of budget for their recently acquired studios. Unsure if Clockwork Revolution is AAA, but other than that doesn't seem they're funding AAA games unless you want to count Perfect Dark. So, I think chances are slim Microsoft funds that, but Microsoft might be influenced to take gamble due to to BG3 success, but I doubt

The range for AAA RPG’s in this genre is 50-70 million going by the OP. I highly doubt those games are less than that, even if by industry standards its probably more AA

 

[Neuromancer]

Subs

 

[Space Cowboy]

and this is the money quate about future crpgs

Owlcat founder breaks down RPG budgets and Larian’s impact on genre: “We can’t invest $200 million to make BG3” | Game World Observer

RPGs have always been one of the most difficult and risky genres in terms of production. Here is what Owlcat Games founder and CEO Oleg Shpilchevskiy has to say about the challenges posed by rising costs, as well as the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 and its impact on the industry.

gameworldobserver.com

This makes a lot of sense. Now that A lot of these CRPGS are releasing on console im afraid full voice acting is going to have to be a part of the development process. For a wordy crpg its probably taxing but i think its the reason i dropped warhammer recently, i just can’t really read a lot on my tv screen the same way i can on a pc. I think its one of the reasons why BG3 was able to crossover on top of the cinematic camera.

It is a tough predicament to be in as a smaller developer. BG3 raised the tides for the genre but also raised expectations

I’ll be honest. This is good. Voice acting has ruined games and especially RPGs. Too many games rely on voice acting rather than gameplay. Gaming is not movies. It’s an interactive medium and storytelling through interaction is more important than being yapped at. Far too many games now yap at their players endlessly. It’s gotten to the point where games don’t know how to shut the fukk up. Especially for crpgs, many such as Fallout have moved to having voiced main characters. This limits your role playing options since everything needs to be voiced , which gets expensive, rather than just be written. The result is a game lacking the traditional depth of a CRPG. If it lowers developer budget, even better. Win-win.

Voice acting is a plague on gaming. Nintendo made the right call by not voicing BOTW entirely. Games such as Signalis prove that voice acting isn’t even needed to make an impactful game. In fact, no voicing can enhance a game.

 

[CarltonJunior]

I think even with BG3 success I don't think it affected the sales of other CRPGs. I think some people may have tried Pillars or WOTR, but most likely dropped it due to production quality not being there.

I don't think it's fair to say this yet, there hasn't been a major one released since BG3 came out in full form

But yeah, it's a niche genre, PoE would never catch on because it's too true to the genre's roots. Pathfinder can catch on but to your point they need to up the budget, kickstarter isn't going to cut it. They could easily do what BG3 did if they found someone whose willing to fund the 3rd game, they lowkey have a better combat engine and gameplay elements than Larian in place.

 

[Hopeofmypeople]

and this is the money quate about future crpgs

Owlcat founder breaks down RPG budgets and Larian’s impact on genre: “We can’t invest $200 million to make BG3” | Game World Observer

RPGs have always been one of the most difficult and risky genres in terms of production. Here is what Owlcat Games founder and CEO Oleg Shpilchevskiy has to say about the challenges posed by rising costs, as well as the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 and its impact on the industry.

gameworldobserver.com

This makes a lot of sense. Now that A lot of these CRPGS are releasing on console im afraid full voice acting is going to have to be a part of the development process. For a wordy crpg its probably taxing but i think its the reason i dropped warhammer recently, i just can’t really read a lot on my tv screen the same way i can on a pc. I think its one of the reasons why BG3 was able to crossover on top of the cinematic camera.

It is a tough predicament to be in as a smaller developer. BG3 raised the tides for the genre but also raised expectations

I completely disagree the CRPG genre is a niche genre so the fans have never expected anything grand on the scale of BG3. I am the same guy that will play tides of Numenera five times and never complain because I love the genre. While the average gamer will bytch and moan about to much text. If developers with a smaller budget stay in their lane then the fans that checked for their product prior to BG3 will continue to do so.


What they are not mentioning is that now that they have seen that a game within the genre can go mainstream and tap into that mainstream money they now want a taste. The thing is in order to get a taste they have to scale up just like Larian. It is not a must but it is a necessity if you want the same success BG3 got.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

I completely disagree the CRPG genre is a niche genre so the fans have never expected anything grand on the scale of BG3. I am the same guy that will play tides of Numenera five times and never complain because I love the genre. While the average gamer will bytch and moan about to much text. If developers with a smaller budget stay in their lane then the fans that checked for their product prior to BG3 will continue to do so.


What they are not mentioning is that now that they have seen that a game within the genre can go mainstream and tap into that mainstream money they now want a taste. The thing is in order to get a taste they have to scale up just like Larian. It is not a must but it is a necessity if you want the same success BG3 got.

I think any company of their stature would see the success larian had and would also want to expand their audience. All these companies were funding games at the same time a few years back on kickstarter and now a couple of them are having break out success. Thats why i said these games/devs should be moving past crowdfunding at this point. The audience is there beyond the typical D&D crowd, especially for a studio like Owlcat that is also making licensed games now.

I could see Owlcat getting a Star Wars game one day, for example

 

[Neuromancer]

I think more RPGs need to look to tell good stories instead of trying to match what Larian took like 14 years to do. Gameplay is fine but if you're an RPG tell a good fukking story. Graphics and all that other shyt won't mean anything if people drop the game half way through..

 

[Rekkapryde]

The range for AAA RPG’s in this genre is 50-70 million going by the OP. I highly doubt those games are less than that, even if by industry standards its probably more AA

Add in Japanese development costs aren't nearly as high, all you gotta do is sell a couple of mill and you already in the black with many of their games. Even the AAA joints.

 

[daze23]

now they have the option to use AI for voice acting

 

[Water]

owlcat with a larger budget would be

 

[Th3G3ntleman]

Is it odd of me to find some of the input output of the tiers being so out of whack. 5-15 spent = 50 million? That seems like wild expectations to me.