What is the average advertising/marketing/promotion budget for the
launch/sales of a video game?

A video game costs an estimated $10 million to market.

Excerpt from a New York Times article published August 23, 2004:

?A game that costs $10 million to produce--the industry average--and
another $10 million to market has to sell a lot more units to make
money than games made in the late 1990s, when the average production
budget was closer to $3 million.?

The New York Times: August 2004
http://news.com.com/Video+game+makers+go+Hollywood.+Uh-oh/2100-1043_3-5319984.html?tag=cd.top

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According to Activision Publishing president Kathy Vrabeck, among the
top games from 2003, the average budget for each is in the $6
(million)-$7 million range just for television.

Excerpts:

 ?The NPD Group estimates at $5.8 billion in U.S. console-software
sales in 2003, publishers spent nearly $547.4 million on marketing,
according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.?

?The average per-title expenditure in 2003 was $855,242, with a median
marketing figure of $158,550.?

?Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto" was supported by $13.2 million in marketing.?

"If I look at the top games from 2003, the average budget for each is
in the $6 (million)-$7 million range just for television," Activision
Publishing president Kathy Vrabeck says. "What we're seeing
increasingly is (that) the top 50 or 60 titles are accounting for the
lion's share of the business -- so if your goal is to get a product
into the top 50, you have to spend that kind of money."


The Hollywood Reporter: Published Aug. 10, 2004
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000603669


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?Launching a game typically tops $10 million ? $5 million to $8
million to make, and $5 million or so to market, plus $1 million or
more for licensing fees if it's a movie-related game. That's nearly
double what it cost four years ago. And a blockbuster title can cost
up to $20 million to develop, before marketing.?

USA Today: May 2004
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-05-09-movies-videogames-electentexpo_x.htm


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It can cost between $7 and $10 million to launch a video game.

?Sony Corp. has spent $10 million--about what it would use for
marketing an independent film--to promote the first installment of its
"Ratchet & Clank" franchise, while Vivendi Universal S.A.'s game
division spent $7 million to launch "The Simpsons: Hit & Run," a video
game extension of the cartoon series.?

Game makers will spend as much as 15 percent of anticipated sales on
marketing a video game.

Los Angeles Business Journal:  Oct 6, 2003  
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_40_25/ai_109086416


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I hope you find this information helpful!

Best regards,
Bobbie7

excellent...and so quickly, too.