Costs
Throughout the IMT&S period, we made use of various equipment and invested time, both of which incurred costs. Personally, I utilized these resources below, contributing to the overall expenditure. This post aims to provide a detailed breakdown of the expenses associated with my individual contributions over the past few months.
- VR Headset - Meta Quest 2: €299,99
- VR-PC Cable - Meta Link Cable: €99,99
- Laptop - Lenovo Legion Y540-15IRH: €1279,-
- Mouse - Razer Orochi V2: €84,99,-
- Monitor - HP M27fq 27": €129,-
Total: €1.892,97
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Salary
Average hourly salary of a junior game programmer* **: €24,13
Week worked: 18
Days per week worked: 4
Hours per day: 8
Hours total: 18 * 4 * 8 = 576
Salary total: 576 * 24,13 = €13.898,88
Salary total: 576 * 24,13 = €13.898,88
In total, including both hardware costs and salary: €15.791,96
* https://nl.talent.com/salary?job=game+developer#:~:text=Het%20gemiddelde%20game%20developer%20salaris,tot%20%E2%82%AC%2060.000%20per%20jaar.
** Added to this would be additional benefits such as health insurance and retirement funds, but this is not taken into account for this calculation.
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Explanation
The financial aspect of our project is significant, and we acknowledge the expenses associated with hiring and maintaining a team. With a group of 8 individuals, our cumulative costs have exceeded €125.000 over the past few months.
Additionally, Ira Evers has conducted a projection of the potential expenses if we were to continue the development at the current scale. Sustaining a group of this size would demand a substantial financial investment, especially if we aim to provide fair compensation (approximately €20,- per hour, inclusive of all associated costs) for our team members. This estimate encompasses various expenditures, including staffing, marketing, and outsourcing for skills not currently present within our team. The detailed breakdown can be accessed here: https://eternal-reality-company.webflow.io/post/cost-calculation-and-budgeting. This blog post also considers what we as a company can offer our client (in this case publisher), and what value we can/will create for them.
Given our current resources, it is apparent that continuing with the same team size would not be financially viable. The project would necessitate a considerable infusion of funds from either a publisher or investor to ensure its successful completion. The outlined plan spans 2.5 years, extending the total development time for the game to a full 3 years. Figure 1 also takes into consideration taxes as a part of the overall financial outlook.
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Figures
Figure 1 - Company costs for future development
