Originally Posted by Captain Smollett
I don't get it. If sales are so bad for these types of games how were these types of games even made in the 90s-early 00s?

Were sales of these games higher back then than they are now? I find that hard to believe. The audience for games seems to be as large as it's ever been, and I really doubt that the 'hardcore' audience (I use that term loosely) is any smaller than it was 10 years ago. While the proportion of 'hardcore' gamer compared to halo/sports game etc. players is likely smaller than it was back in 1998, I really doubt that the actual numbers are smaller.

If publishers were able to make a profit out of a game like BG in 1998, when the game-playing audience was much smaller in general, why can't they do the same today?

Or are games so expensive to produce now that one must have blockbuster-movie level sales to be profitable? Just doesn't add to me.

Games are much more expensive now…it's not even close to what it used to be to make a game.