Kotaku: Money

The Video Game Industry's Lobbyists Spent $1,000,000 Pushing for SOPA and Other Issues Last Fall

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST

Remember last month when many people were mad about the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act? Remember the war between politicians who said these bills would repel online piracy and opponents who said it might break the internet and/or kill free speech online? More »

How Much Would You Pay For Single-Player or Multiplayer?

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:20:00 EST

Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 are two of the most hyped video games of this fall season. The people who buy them—and who will enjoy them—may only play half of them. Yet they pay full price. More »

'Free+' Does Seem A Little More Honest Than Free-to-Play

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EDT

People who are fans of words that mean what they're supposed to mean are probably not fans of the rhetorical loophole exploited by the term "free-to-play". More »

Will Wright's Business Cards Are Money

Kirk Hamilton — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:40:00 EDT

Money" alt="Click here to read Will Wright's Business Cards Are Money" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2011/10/small_will-wright-lead.jpg"/>

I've seen some cool business cards in my time—I remember that at my first GDC, I practically had a Patrick Bateman-style existential crisis over how inferior my own cards were at the time. More »

League of Legends Season Two Flaunts the Largest Prize Pool in eSports History

Mike Fahey — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:20:00 EDT

League of Legends Season Two Flaunts the Largest Prize Pool in eSports History" alt="Click here to read League of Legends Season Two Flaunts the Largest Prize Pool in eSports History" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2011/08/small_axeguy.jpg"/>

In case anyone was looking for motivation to get involved in League of Legends' second season of competition, Riot Games has just presented five million convincing arguments in the form of the largest prize pool in eGaming history. More »

Sony Sinks $20 Million Into Exclusive PlayStation Network Games

Mike Fahey — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:40:00 EDT

Not content to run a downloadable games service where players have to wait weeks for repairs in order to play titles already out on Xbox Live Arcade, Sony Computer Entertainment America commits $20 million over three years towards the development of more excellent PlayStation Network exclusive games. More »

Video Games Make Lots of Money - But is That a Good Thing?

Joshua Rivera — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:20:00 EDT

With juggernauts like the Call of Duty franchise set to make their annual sales record breaking splashes this fall, we don't have to look far to be reminded that video games make heaps of money. However, SuperFLI wonders if this causes more harm than good to the industry as a whole. More »

When You Have Too Much Money, Questionable Judgment, and Like Idols

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 27 May 2011 02:00:00 EDT

There's a good reason this gentleman is covering his face. If you just spent a hundred thousand bucks on girly pop music, would you show yours? More »

If the PSN Attacks Have You Thinking of a New Credit Card, Know This

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 07:30:00 EDT

In the wake of the attack on Sony's PlayStation Network, lots of people will be cancelling their credit cards. Just in case. That won't cost Sony a cent, but boy will it cost the banks. More »

How Much Money Did Game Developers Make in 2010?

Mike Fahey — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:30:00 EDT

Most people that express a desire to enter the video game industry profess to not care how much money they can make doing something they love. Those people can probably skip the annual Game Developer Salary Survey results. The rest of you can read on to see who's making the most money in the business. More »

Damn, Agent 47, You Are Good

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EDT

Are Good" alt="Click here to read Damn, Agent 47, You Are Good" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2011/03/small_jkbptwt_qs4.jpg"/>

This may be the best whack job from IO Interactive's Hitman: Blood Money, as played by TheAuZZieGamer. For those unfamiliar with this particular Hitman mission, it involves the assassination of Vinnie "Slugger" Sinistra, an FBI informant in the Witness Protection Program. More »

Gamer Budgets Increase, but Tilt More Toward Mobile

Owen Good — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:00:00 EST

Did you spend less on games last year? More on mobile purchases? Ratings research firm Nielsen said gamers shifted their budgets into mobile app purchases and "other leisure activities," mirroring the widely-bemoaned sales decline seen last year. More »

Why There Are Coins In Super Mario Bros.

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:00:00 EST

One of gaming's most iconic in-game items are Super Mario Bros' coins. But why coins? More »

Call Of Duty Guy Overpays For Five Games, Minecraft Guy Quadruples That

Stephen Totilo — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 10:40:00 EST

It was impressive when Robert Bowling, creative strategist for Call of Duty studio Infinity Ward, paid $500 for a batch of indie games that only cost $85. Then Notch, maker of Minecraft stepped up, with $2000. More »

Gentlemen, Start Your Coffee Tables

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 06:00:00 EST

Racing wheels open up a new level of play for driving games. They also take up space and many require tables to clamp onto. Shame there isn't a coffee table that can transform into a racing set-up. More »

New Vegas' "Dead Money" Concerns The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre

Owen Good — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST

In Bethesda's latest newsletter, a designer on Fallout: New Vegas spills details on the upcoming "Dead Money," the Xbox 360-exclusive DLC extension to Fallout: New Vegas due on Dec. 21. More »

Dames Don't Do Nintendo Ads For Free

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:30:00 EST

Ever wonder why Dame Helen Mirren agreed to appear in upcoming Wii ads? Maybe she likes the Wii. But maybe it was the two-day commercial shoot and the very hefty paycheck. Ka-ching! More »

Nintendo, Sony, I Feel Your Pain

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 04:00:00 EDT

It may not seem like it, but Nintendo, Sony, and I have something in common: we're all getting screwed by money. More »

Playhem Is Another Way To Make Money Playing Video Games

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:00:00 EDT

There are people who want to help you and your distant friends legally put money on the line the next time you play video games. The latest crew with this idea is called Playhem. More »

What Japanese Company Pays The Biggest Summer Bonus?

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EDT

Ah, yes. Summer time. The beach. Watermelon. And money. More »

Make Money Winning Video Games, With The Help Of A Billionaire

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:20:00 EDT

What brings the world's richest daredevil back into video games? Balloon-riding, building-jumping billionaire Richard Branson believes you want to get paid for beating gamers online. More »

GameStop Returns To Reporting Record Sales

Mike Fahey — Thu, 20 May 2010 13:20:18 EDT

After reporting its first non-record holiday quarter in January, GameStop is back to posting chart-shattering financial results, breaking $2 billion in sales for the first quarter of 2010. More »

Pitching Perfection In Video Game Baseball Finally More Profitable Than In Real Life

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:00:00 EDT

In the last couple of months, both Wade McGilberry and Dallas Braden pitched perfect baseball games. Only Braden is a pro athlete. But McGilberry makes a lot more money. More »

These Moms Not Spending Much Money On Games For Their Kids

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EDT

A U.K. newspaper asked three married moms to track how much money they spend on their kids each month. Gaming proved to be a very small part of it. More »

How Much Money Can You Make In The Video Game Industry?

Mike Fahey — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:30:00 EDT

Everybody wants a job in the video game industry, but which job? The 2009 Game Developer Salary Survey can help you decide, breaking down pay by industry discipline, and making McWhertor's beloved The Tester seem even sillier than it already was. More »

Warhammer Online Bug Results in More Than $300 Monthly Fees For Some

Mike Fahey — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:20:43 EDT

A screw-up in EA's Warhammer Online billing system has resulted in many players being charged upwards of 22 times for a one-month subscription, filling bank accounts with overdraft fees and the Warhammer forums with very angry players. More »

Would You Like A Gold-Dipped Xbox 360?

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 06:00:00 EDT

From the folks who gave the world the gold-dipped PS3 comes the gold-dipped...Xbox 360. More »

Who Makes More, Game Designers or Game Programmers?

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:00:00 EDT

Maxim has listed the the average game industry salary, courtesy of Game Developer Research. Let's have a look: More »

Star Wars MMO Pricing Plan May Have "Some Twists"

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:40:38 EDT

For about fifteen bucks a month, you can play World of Warcraft or most other massively multiplayer online games. That's the genre standard. Could the next big MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic shake that up? More »

How Video Games Taught Me Everything About Capitalism

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EDT

You collect coins. You then use those coins to get extra lives or buy things. Get used to it, because that's the way the world works. More »

First Claims Laid to Million-Dollar Perfect Game

Owen Good — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:30:00 EST

Barely two days after release and MLB 2K10 players are boasting they've pitched perfect games - worth a $1 million bounty to the first to do so, verifiably. But cool your jets, we won't know for sure for a while. More »

Report: The Ten Most Expensive Video Game Budgets Apparently Are...

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:00:00 EST

As video games get bigger and bigger, video game budgets get bigger and bigger, too. But what's games have the biggest budgets? More »

The Games You Won't Sell, The Games You Can't Sell

Stephen Totilo — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:40:08 EST

Buy a game. Play it. Decide whether to keep it or sell it back. That's the current cycle of a gamer's gaming life. In the near future, that third choice may evaporate. You may soon never sell a game again. More »

How Did You Spend Your January Gaming Dollars?

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:20:46 EST

I'm looking for breakdowns of how you spent money on video games in January, including digital purchases, trade-ins, eBay sales and so on. If you have all the specifics, e-mail me with the subject line "My January Gaming Dollars." More »

Dylan Cuthbert: Game Funding Model Is "Fundamentally Broken"

Mike Fahey — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:30:00 EST

In an interview with Develop, Q-Games president Dylan Cuthbert discusses the "fundamentally broken" games funding model, saying it is geared towards "making publishers stinking rich." More »

GameStop Keen To Return Your Unused Reserve Credits

Mike Fahey — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:20:00 EST

GameStop is calling all of their customers with unused reserved game credits, offering them a chance to redeem them for gift certificates towards fine GameStop merchandise. More »

Study: Playing Games Hurts Income, By The Minute

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:20:44 EST

Studies about video games say the darnedest things. Either it is plainly obvious that being a gamer hurts your income — because you have to spend money on these games! — or there is a mathematical revelation here. More »

EA Sees Big Sales Of The Sims 3, EA Sports Active, Still Losing Money

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:40:00 EDT

Electronic Arts may have big sales of The Sims 3 and EA Sports Active to brag about—as well as impressive performance on Nintendo's Wii—but it still lost money this past quarter. More »

Newspaper Names Budget of Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:00:57 EDT

It's not often that the public gets word of what it costs to make a specific game. But a multi-million-dollar range was given for the latest Ghostbusters game in a Texas newspaper. More »

Don't Forget, This Generation Development Costs Are High

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 27 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT

Making big time video games is expensive. Really, really, really expensive. It needs big time money. Double the big time money from the last generation, actually. More »