Budget

Budgets are necessary to determine how much a game costs to make, and they are a factor in determining how much profit it will generate. This chapter provides a general overview of creating and tracking budgets but is by no means comprehensive. Once the budget is complete, update it frequently. Track how much money was actually spent versus what was budgeted, and go back and revise future budget estimates based on any additional data. The budget should also account for marketing and publishing costs as these can have a huge impact on the game’s overall profitability. Feel free to create separate development and publishing budgets. Once the budget is established, and money is being spent, start tracking against the budget. Appoint one person on the production team to be responsible for tracking the budget. Budgets are also used to create profit and loss statements.