During the court case between Microsoft and the FTC, information regarding Sony’s cost to develop first-party games became public. While the company tried to redact certain information, they didn’t do so successfully. It made information about how much Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 2 cost Sony to develop publicly known.
“Developing and producing AAA games often costs over $100 million, requires hundreds or thousands of developers, and takes years,” Sony says.
According to the document, the development of Horizon Forbidden West started in 2017 and ended in 2022. During that time it cost the company $212 million with over 300 full-time employees.
For The Last of Us Part 2, development began in 2014 and lasted until 2020. Per Sony, it cost “around $220 million” with a peak headcount of 200 full-time employees.
In addition to the timeframe and costs for the games’ development, Sony said that “global marketing costs for AAA games are large, even for established franchises”. Those finances, however, weren’t available on the document.
What do you think of the cost to Sony for both Horizon Forbidden West and The Last of Us Part 2? For more Insider Gaming, see what decision Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said was a mistake.
