Is developing games really profitable?

From one side I've heard that the gaming industry is really profitable and that a good release can make as much money as movie. On the other hand I've heard exactly the opposite, stating that game development is in most cases hardly worth the investment. Obviously if this was true companies like Microsoft wouldn't join in the party with an investment of 30 million on Halo 3.

What do you guys think, is developing games really profitable?

 

WEll like many other stupid thinks games sell very much becouse of the teens who like to waste parents money and waste there time playing stupid games

So it's very profitable for the big players

 

Most game development companies fail, the successful ones make lots of money.

 

I was saw an article stating that Microsoft stands to make 700 million from Halo 3 alone. That is crazy!!! From this they will have to sell 10 million copies of the game.

 

Well, from my experience developing games isn't profitable... but selling them is.

I don't try to be a smart-ass here, but the words matter. I've seen lots of developers who have great game ideas, and after a long development... the game isn't the big hit they expected. And they stop working (even when now they might have established a player base and bring the second game could be more profitable - since less time is needed for development & more used to marketing).

I've listed specific details for different product, see them here: games sales stats

Here's couple of examples:
- Sudo live sales stats - $27,000 sales
- Gish sales stats, $121,000 sales

Bringing games to market can be profitable, but you need to keep the development costs small (especially if you do games in a small team & self-publish).

 

To get big in game development takes years of education and experience to get in with the big boys. Plus originality is hard in today's gaming world of Halo style shooters.

 

Hopefully, making good games is profitable. Unfortunately, a lot of crappy games are released.

 

I guess it all has to do with the type of game you develop. WOW has now 10 million paying subscribers which means they are earning 15 million per month on subscriptions. Most games don't even manage to earn that much in with their total sales.

 

games developing is hard , and takes alot of time
and at the end its profit isnt that much in my opinion .except if you are in a big company then it may be worthing

myself i like the simple not very graphic games, it is suitable for children too

 

I'm not a big modern game fan either... I'll take a NES game or an old DOS gem over anything produced nowadays.