estimation of Japanese anime game cost break downs

http://zepy.momotato.com/2008/09/09/eroge-production/

Event line art

8,000 ~ 15,000 yen or 50,000 ~ 80,000 yen per image
Event art refers to art that takes up the entire screen and is used to represent a certain scene. The cost on the left is for a normal artist, and the cost on the right is the cost when a popular artist is used.

Event CG colouring

10,000 ~ 30,000 yen per image
The price changes according to if the background has to be coloured, and also according to the colouring style used (such as anime style colouring), and if the shadows are already designated in the line art.

Bust shot line art

3,000 ~ 10,000 yen each
These are the images used to represent the characters in the normal parts of the game. Variations in the character expressions doesn’t change the cost, but different clothes and poses will count as different images.

Bust shot CG colouring

approximately 1/2 ~ 1/3 of the cost of colouring the Event CG
The colouring style will be done in the same style as the Event CG, so the cost of colouring the Event CG will directly affect the cost of the Bust shot colouring.

Bust shot backgrounds

15,000 ~ 50,000 yen each
These are the backgrounds used to depict where the characters are.
All sorts of backgrounds from TV anime level to movie level of art.

Scenario

1,000 yen for every 1kb
The story. Basically 1 yen for every 1 byte of the scenario. Outline and background settings do not count.

Programming

150,000 ~ 2,500,000 yen
The computer program that’s needed to run everything on the PC.This is the cost for ADV games, the price can get higher if it’s stuff like Action games or Mahjong.

Scripting

150,000 ~ 300,000 yen per 1MB
Scripting refers to the scripting that’s done to present all the relevant materials (art, backgrounds, bgm, etc) in order as the scenario progresses. The 1MB refers to the size of the scenario.

BGM

10,000 ~ 50,000 yen each
Most of them have been 25,000 yen or below recently.

Song

100,000 ~ 1,000,000 yen each
Stuff like the theme song, insert song, ending song, image song etc. Using a famous singer can cost a ton.

Sound effects

1,000 ~ 5,000 yen each
It’s pretty tough for the sound effects guys because when they sell a sound effect to a company it tends to get used across all their games.

Movie

100,000 ~ 10,000,000 yen
The more sophisticated the movie, the more it costs. It can cost a fortune if there’s anime or stuff like that.

Animation

1,000,000 yen and above
For comparison, a 30 minute TV anime costs about 8,000,000 ~ 15,000,000 yen

Cut-in

This refers to small graphics such as items and stuff. It’s usually done within the company itself, but if it’s outsourced, it’ll cost several thousand yen each.

Voices

It’s hard to give a range for this because the costs are completely different depending on the person that is used.

Interface

100,000 ~ 200,000 yen
Basically the graphics and design for the GUI. This is also usually done in-house, but this is the average cost to do it if they outsource.

Debugger

5,000 ~ 10,000 yen per day
It’s usually done in-house with everybody doing it together, but they get part-time staff when there isn’t enough manpower.

Other fees that may occur:
Direction fees 100,000 ~ 300,000 yen per month
CG managing fees 100,000 ~ 300,000 yen per month
Project fee 300,000 yen and below

WTH overnight prints

This never happened before, but Overnight prints screwed me up royally with their packaging, 100 of my ordered Angel bookmark is completely ruined. It was packaged before it was dried. They bookmarks stuck together like a block of bricks!

When I tried to separate them, every single one is ruined. I can't sell them anymore. So I am suck with a bunch of cards. Overnight prints customer service better make this up to me. XP
I have sent a reprinting request to customer service...
*update: They got back to me right away and offered reprinting and refund option. I chose reprinting.

Pyramid is for the dead, cells is for the living

After reading "Maverick" half way, my thoughts about company system and construction is: "Pyramid is for the dead, cells are for the living."

I have thought of running a company more like a cell church would be more beneficial and more affective because everyone would know their team. (and I am seeing more and more company using this method, including google, amazon...)

Semco did exactly just that. In their experience, the limit of 150 people is the maximum size for any department or section of the company to run efficiently, when their factory workers reached 200, they split it at an expensive cost. The new sections needed their own financial adviser, their own marketing department, like a small company.

To my surprise, they needed less people on their team when they split up, and they perform more efficiently with less workers, the extra workers were moved to do other works.

They cut down 9 levels of management to 2-3, cut away jobs like receptionists, personal assistants... everyone do jobs like these, from workers to bosses.
Every worker do more than one thing, they switch hats and perform all tasks that's needed to be done.


The workers get to evaluate their bosses based on their inter-personal skills every 6 months.

They have no dress code, only suggested work hours, (meaning you can come to work at any time you want, work at the best hours for your own proficiency.) All workers are assigned to their own team to complete their task on deadline, they also run and set their own goals for the production line.

They don't fire workers that went on strike, nor treat it with hostility, they treat it like an "absence" from work instead. They stress the workers must take 1 month vacation.

All finance in the company, including the salaries are public, transparent, and the workers get to set their own salary rate in a group setting, after being educated about how the company runs and how much the company can afford to pay them.

They have policy for long approvals before firing any senior workers, to give their worker a sense of security.

People can choose their work space, there are no "dividing walls" but a lot of plant life between work stations. People get to paint their own walls in their office, change and customize company cars as if to their own cars.




This certainly challenges even my own thinking, but it is indeed the direction I want to take to build a studio/company.

I couldn't help but yelled "This is it!!" when I read the book and how this company operates.



This is it! This is the model that's most like Yehweh himself!

A natural business model that runs on principle rather than rules, on trust rather than mistrust, on cooperation other than domination. This is what a corporation should be made of, this is what truly can make a company expand into a great scale and adopt to different time currents.


Animation industry, or the game industry.... all have similarities to a factory business. Even in artistic sense, we are not very different from these businessman.

I believe I can take this model, change it's platform, modify it with innovations in a team. Excerise what is true democracy in a work place, where everyone is important, and everyone can be their own boss at some point.


It's also after critically thinking about the system, that I realized US has yet to reach true democracy, it is merely a partially adopted democratic system that branched itself out of a monopoly with bitterness.... so in many ways, the system we have in US is not the most efficient, not the most democratic.
That's why people can still feel powerless, waiting for the world to change, that's why people can still call Bush a tyranny, that's why people still expect the government to do everything, that's why people still don't ever trust their government to do the right thing.



What is better yet.... I have an example like Semco to study from.


Oh, yes, something else that's awesome about Semco.... their rule book is a survival guide comic!

What is better than that?!