Ghostbusters Game Cost $15-20 Million to Produce

The Star-Telegram in Texas got to sit down with the development house for the new Ghostbusters game, Terminal Reality. The game, which released about a month ago to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the first movie, has apparently sold over a million copies. That’s pretty impressive for a non-franchise launch (games like Halo blow through the million mark). Perhaps more surprising, the game cost between $15M and $20M to make according to Terminal Reality.

No, that’s not huge for a blockbuster title, but is Ghostbusters a blockbuster? I remember when I first heard about the game I immediately dismissed it as another cheesy movie knock-off product. Apparently it’s a bit more than that, though there are a whole load of complaints about the PC and PS3 versions of the game. i

The most interesting part of this whole thing, though, is something Terminal Reality co-founder Mark Randel has heard. Apparently someone told him the success of the game has sparked interest in a third movie, one that would pick up where the second film left off. Yes, you read that correctly. A movie that picks up where this very game picks up. A new movie set off by a game that was made to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a movie that was made and a franchise that got revived by a game made to stand in as the third movie. It’s all very convoluted you see.

Could this possibly be true? I’ll say yes, though I’d be surprised if it was the game that really made the franchise interesting. Would a movie version of the game turn into another Hitman or Silent Hill film? Or is there more meat to Ghostbusters because it was a movie first and a game second?