Report: SWTOR development pegged at $200 million and counting

Word has surfaced that Star Wars: The Old Republic cost about $200 million to develop for launch, and that ‘tens of millions’ will be spent each year developing updates.

January 20, 2012 6:00 PM22

In case you didn’t know, MMO’s are expensive to make. When it comes to BioWare’s recently-released Star Wars: The Old Republic, “expensive” equates to roughly $200 million. That doesn’t even include the projected “tens of millions” of additional funds that will be expended on a yearly basis to keep a certain galaxy far, far away fresh with new content.

A recent L.A. Times report posits that Star Wars: The Old Republic might be the “largest entertainment production in history.” Add in the estimated costs of maintaining and enhancing the MMO continuing into the foreseeable future, and that assertion loses a bit of its hyperbolic qualities.

“More than 800 people on four continents have spent six years and nearly $200 million creating it. The story runs 1,600 hours, with hundreds of additional hours still being written. Nearly 1,000 actors have recorded dialogue for 4,000 characters in three languages,” the L.A. Times noted.

Mathematically, the report also explains that the game will need “more than 1 million customers willing to spend $60 to buy the game and an additional $15 a month to play for years on end,” in order for it to be profitable. That said, Star Wars: The Old Republic already has more than one million registered customers.

[via GiantBomb]