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A good game engine costs $400,000
Games Convention 08: Takes years to develop
We heard and confirmed that some state of the art engines such as Doom, Unreal or Cry engines will set you back at least $400,000.
The price really depends on the customer, but it goes around this number. The engine is the first step in game development and it is usually cheaper to buy a state of the art engine, rather than making one on your own.
It takes years to develop a good engine and smaller developers and bigger publishers are just making the move and buying these engines that let them make some great looking games.
Developers also need at least two years to finish the game, and time to market is really critical point as you want to catch the momentum of the pre-Xmas shopping spree, especially if you have a highly anticipated title.
We can only say we salute all developers and engineers that make games and hardware that we need, as life would be boring without you guys. Thank you.