[Thewho]

It seems now that the dust has settled over the whole DNF debacle we can analyze the reason behind why the project itself took well over a decade to get made. It's easy to point the finger at mistakes made during the development itself, oh they switched to the wrong engine, feature creep, incompetent management, but I think one of the most important reasons stems from the desire to get the game done on the cheap. I remember reading a quote from Scott Miller sometime in about 2010 after 8-9 years of development that the entire development had cost only $5 Million up to the point. Even though that figure sounds like a lot that is tiny compared to what nearly all AAA budgets cost at the point, usually in the range of $20-30Million. Also, that would be for much shorter development periods.

I think there was some sort of pay structure where employees would get a bonus upon completion of the project, but actual wages were very low compared to the average in the industry. I think at some point George Broussard realised that if you want to create an AAA product in a hyper-competitive market you need to employ the right people, and that meant a massive increase in development costs which almost worked, nearly completing the project without financial assistance from Take2, but then the funds ran out, which led to a quick sale of the Duke IP and a product rushed out the door by Gearbox and a subsequent critical mauling by critics who got their revenge for the total media blackout for over a decade.

Just my 2 penneth worth.