MAX PAYNE 3 Cost $105 Million to Develop

By Matt Mann / September 15, 2011

Rockstar Games sure like to spend a lot of money on create their titles and Max Payne 3 is no different. According to Sterne Agee'sArvind Bhatia a gaming analyst, Max Payne 3 will have to sell 4 million copies to just break even. Last year the same thing was said about Red Dead Redemption needing to sell 5 million copies to break even (fortunately the game was a hit and sold over 9 million copies). Bhatia argued:

"Life-to-date, the Max Payne franchise has sold through 7M units between the two prior versions -- Max Payne and Max Payne 2. We think the latest iteration, Max Payne 3, has greater potential for success than either of the two prior versions, Although the break-even unit level for Max Payne 3 is likely high -- probably in the 4M units range -- due to its long development time, we think the title is highly anticipated and has potential for upside surprise."

I don't honestly know if Max Payne has the name power to push 4 million units, it will have to generate great review scores to be able to even come close to that level. Then again with the Rockstar name attached to the game it may just sell 4 million off brand name recognition alone. While we are on the subject, here is some new information on Max Payne 3 from the Rockstar Games Twitter account: "Yes, that is the voice of James McCaffery, original voice actor from Max Payne 1 and 2€" "Max Payne 3 is running on a new iteration of Rockstar's RAGE engine" "Today's Max Payne 3 trailer is all in-game footage " "Like GTAIV and Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3 uses the Natural Motion character behavior system for lifelike weight and movement" "No, Max Payne 3 is not an open world game €“ we're staying true to Max's roots in atmosphere, story and gameplay design" "Today's Max Payne 3 trailer shows a small part of Max's journey €“ much more info soon" Release Date: March 2012