The Last of us part 2 and Horizon Forbidden West were mentioned in documents recently revealed by the Xbox and FTC court case. These documents revealed that both games had a budget of around $220 million.
The budget included costs of production and staff salaries, but marketing was not included. Both games required extremely high budgets due to their high production values, but a report suggests that PlayStation made a respectable profit on these titles.
Analysts Michael Pachter and Doug Creutz estimate Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 2 made over $300 million in profits.
Why it matters: AAA games development requires high costs and long development cycles. This has also raised concerns about sustainability, but PlayStation’s games appear to be performing well.
These profit figures include costs for marketing and retailers. However, PlayStation did not have to provide a cut on digital sales due to the titles being first-party releases for the gaming giant.
Previously, PlayStation revealed The Last of Us Part 2 had sold over 10 million units. This figure was revealed last year, so it would not be far-fetched to believe that the game has sold several more copies since then.
On the other hand, Horizon Forbidden West has sold nearly 8.5 million units. Therefore, the analyst has likely used these figures to reach a rough estimate for PlayStation’s profits on these titles.
While these numbers are impressive, PlayStation has begun to release games on PC for more profits. With Horizon Zero Dawn already available on the platform, Horizon Forbidden West is likely to be released on PC soon.
The Last of Us Part 1 recently debuted on PC, but the game was received poorly due to a poor port. However, this is unlikely to halt PlayStation’s endeavors for the PC market, and the second game could eventually make it to the platform.
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[News Reporter]
Malik Usman is student of Computer Science focused on using his knowledge to produce detailed and informative articles covering the latest findings from the tech industry. His expertise allows him to cover subjects like processors, graphics cards, and more. In addition to the latest hardware, Malik can be found writing about the gaming industry from time to time. He is fond of games like God of War, and his work has been mentioned on websites like Whatculture, VG247, IGN, and Eurogamer.