I have a question that I suppose hasn't been posed before... and seeing as how you're the only CEO that ever talks to your consumers, thought I'd come to you.

Now I'm not asking for YOUR numbers as I know that's company information and has no business being out there - but I just see a lot of speculation left and right and I figure you're in a position to know things that us gamers don't, so here goes.

I'm curious about the actual MONEY behind game software sales. It was reputed that Modern Warfare 2 had a "ridiculous" budget. Bioshock 2 is reporting the 'largest budget in 2k history'. Yet I see no numbers tied to this. What is considered a "ridiculous" budget for a game? While I understand Stardock typically does "a lot with a little", how much would you estimate these companies are playing with? $40 million? $60 million? Are we at Waterworld-esque levels yet? Does that money typically include EVERY cost associated with a game, such as licensing fees, marketing, etc.? And what does that cost?

Secondly, how much money does it typically cost to ship and sell a game after development fees are incurred? Stardock self-publishes so you may not know this at all, but when Bioware is selling Dragon Age, do they, for example, see Best Buy take 50% of the top of $50 for markup, then EA takes 50% of that? I've seen estimates that it costs less than $1 to package and ship a single copy of the game, and I suppose you have a modest drain on resources from support people to employ. So when a single copy of the game is sold, would Bioware typically see about $10 come in? What generally happens to the money at that point?

Again, I see a lot of speculation on this subject, and Stardock works a little differently than most 'AAA' development houses, but I'm curious if you have insights we don't and can share with us how the industry works a little. Part of this has to do with discussions on piracy I see, and just how big of an impact 'lost sales' could potentially have.

I do find it curious indeed that these numbers are so hard to find, when we have analysts who can tell you where every penny on a gallon of gas goes.

I'll be honest, the impression I get is that for most developers of AAA games, software is a hideously lucrative market to the point where anything beyond the initial 'day one rush' is them practically printing money. Even if publisher / developer together are just seeing $15 of a copy, that's remarkably few sales to recoup the entire budget - Crytek last posted 2 million Crysis sales just a couple months after release so I'm sure between that, Crysis wars, and the Maximum Edition they've sold at least twice that many - so when I see them complaining about piracy, I just wonder if they actual have a legit reason - maybe they really aren't making that much money - or maybe they're just being greedy because "well Activision is making mooooreeeee "

Thanks.