I always hear that it will take a lot of resources/they don’t have the funds to make new [x] but I don’t understand how this works when I assume they already have the workers on payroll? Where does the extra money come in? If the devs are already there being payed can’t they simply be directed to make [x]?
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Game Devs aren’t employed at all times, usually when the project is done the majority gets laid off
Workers are redeployed to new projects. Companies don’t let their workers do nothing – there are always new projects and new project ideas that they test.
So any new content etc can only come about if the company assigns workers and resources to it. And these resources cannot work on other projects. As with any project, a company will rarely deploy workers and resources if the new content doesn’t increase their profits.
Money/people/computers/program licenses/office space – could all be resources they are lacking.
Money is self explanatory – if the dev studio/head developper doesn’t have the funds to procure the other 3 things (aka payroll, tech support), then they can’t work.
People – aside from procuring payroll/commission funds- there is time availability, ideally you’d want to work with same team that that created the game to do the extra content, and people from that team could be busy on projects be it in the same studio or on commission/hired by a different one
Computers/software liceses/space obviously cost money, and if you are in sitution where you have to expand your team, due to the reason from the previous point, that’s an addition cost of resources
Game companies are notorious for laying off teams of devleopers after a game launches. But developers might already be working on the next game, and it’s more lucrative to have them working on developing the next game they can sell than for adding new content to an existing game. Sure they can be directed to make [x], but the company thinks having them build [y] will make more money.
It doesn’t cost “extra money” to create “new content”; it just costs money to make content. Period.
If you have a bunch of devs finish up work on making Project-1 content then you don’t simply keep them on payroll doing nothing – you put them to work on something else, like making content for Project-2. If you later decide that the company should make some Project-1 DLC that is totally fine (you totally have guys on payroll capable of doing the work) but every hour spent on Project-1 DLC is one hour less spent on Project-2 content.
Either way you’re paying your worker $X/hr to make content; the only difference is whether their hour of work adds $X of costs onto Project-1 DLC, or if it adds $X of cost onto Project-2.
imagine you made a game, launched successfully and sold well
Would you make extra content for free, taking you away from other projects or a sequel where you get paid for your time?
Some developers choose to, but it’s usually planned in advance
The company pays workers to make profit for the company at the end of the day. The worker will get paid, but if they are working on free content, that takes them away from projects that bring in money
that’s not to say that companies DON’T make free content, but that is usually budgeted for in advance and is usually only possible if the game is consistently bringing in money (subscriptions, paid in game content etc)
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