http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/15/4333828/4a-games-overcame-poor-conditions-hurdles-in-obtaining-hardware

so according to Jason Rubin

the budget 4A had for Last Light was "less than some of its competitors spend on cut scenes." 4A's development team and office are also smaller than those for most AAA titles, Rubin said, and the production team "sat on folding wedding chairs, literally elbow to elbow at card tables in what looks more like a packed grade school cafeteria than a development studio."

Story goes on to talk about how when the devs needed a dev kit, they had to fly to the us and "Sneak" the hardware back to the Dev team, and how the executive producer got evicted from his apartment due to his lease being expired, and finally how the team worked in freezing conditions and through many power outages,

Rubin said that during production executive producer Dean Sharpe returned home one day to find an armed group of Georgians waiting for him, demanding his clear out his apartment within the day, "lease be damned." The team also worked in freezing conditions in their winter gear and power outages were "the norm."

"All developers have deadlines, but I know of few that had to bring in construction generators to be able to work the weekend before final submission because an extra day meant missing shelf dates by weeks," he wrote.

really fascinating to hear the kind of crap and trials and tribulations these guys had to go through and then contrast that with the finished product, really had no interest in the game, but im definitely gonna buy the game now just to show support to that team,

You should buy it because it's a fantastic game. The care and love they put into Metro: Last Light shows. It sucks they made it under such shitty conditions, but I'm glad they chose to make this game instead of give up and do something else.

Yeah, especially this

Rubin also explained that power was unreliable and a few developers "had to bring in construction generators to be able to work the weekend before final submission because an extra day meant missing shelf dates by weeks." Nevermind the fact that 4A would have to work in freezing temperatures during these power outages.

Is just mindblowingly insane to me

You've heard of method acting, well this is called method game development

I don't doubt there's truth to the stories the article is telling, but the whole thing is very sensationalist and preys on western misconceptions of Eastern Europe.

So Metro: Last Light is autobiographical is what you mean ?

More seriously, those guys must really love what they do. I hope Metro does well. I played Metro 2033 back in the day and I absolutely loved it. It's a really neat and unique game (first-person shooting apart).

Looking at the quality of the final product (Last Light), I am immensely impressed that it turned out so well (and a little bummed that it was so hard for those guys and gals). Kudos to 4A for their commitment.

Still, I see this as proof that budgets and expectations for games don't have to be so ridiculously out of proportions nowadays. Sure, a decent office and good wages for everyone involved would involve a great deal more money to spend, but I bet it still wouldn't come close to the money spent on a Call of Duty game every year. Something is wrong when games that sell millions of copies are still considered a "loss" financially...

@wemibelec90: Well the cost of living in Eastern Europe is much lower than in California where Call of Duty is made. You could most likely live a happy life for a year in Eastern Europe for the cost of single month's mortgage payment on a three bedroom house in San Fransisco. Point is, a lot of games from Central and Eastern Europe cost so much less because the cost of living is so much less. If they had to pay the same prices for food and housing as they do in Silicon Valley then Metro would have had to have at least 5x the budget it had.

EDIT: That isn't to say that 4A doesn't deserve credit for working in poor conditions with low pay. They absolutely do but they would never need a Call of Duty budget.

considering it was may apparently on a super low budget, shouldn't be too hard to break even.

id never guessed that metro was made on a low budget.

Another report says the conditions included not having heat and very bad decisions.

I don't think people realize just how different game development looks in Eastern Europe compared to the United States. Not saying this is the norm but it definitely doesn't all look like the Epic Games studios.

I loved reading this. I already have a massive amount of respect for 4A for being able to create a top-tier game that competes with all the other AAA titles without having a completely insane and overblown budget, but after hearing about how it was made makes me appreciate them even more. Hope other developers and publishers will take note of this, because it's this kind of care and love that developers put into their games that make them great, not massive budgets and hundreds of staff. The industry certainly needs more developers like 4A (obviously with much better working conditions).

just the fact that rubin says that they had an extremely low budget blows my mind, makes me realize devs need to reevaluate how they do things to strike more profit.

@mrfluke: as others have said eastern europe have a lower cost of living therefore their bugdet will also be that much smaller.

Accoriding to GameInformer this video shows the 4A office, now I can't be sure that's true, but it certainly isn't as Rubin described.

Small, but not a hovel by any standards.

I do not doubt these claims, but this does sound a bit sensationalist. Still, developing over there is pretty tough with how little resources they have compare to big studios. For how the final product turned out, I'm very impressed.

@kpaadet: then the final product is even more amazing in how it turned out then. which would also mean the number for them to break even on the game should be small

I just beat Metro 2033 and after the 1 minute credit stopped was about to fade to black I was thinking to myself how many songs would play when the real credits roll.

Now I realized that was ALL of the team, not Ubisoft`s 20-30 minute long credits dev team. Heck, the 4A dteam didn`t even put in dev babies and thank their dogs... Awesome job! If only all devs has as much heart as they do.

4A's development team and office are also smaller than those for most AAA titles, Rubin said

Metro is not an AAA game, silly Rubin.

favorite comment I've read all week.

Polygon and GII just posted an article that includes the official statement about 4As working conditions. (link)

Really interesting and humbling read. Metro 2033 and LL are buggy as hell, but I'm glad I supported them. Would love to hear a dump truck interview with the game devs especially given how enthusiastic Patrick is about the game.

Well, they have some portion of my $50 now. Hopefully they use it to buy a heat lamp or something nice.

I really want to play Last Light but I have to finish Metro 2033 first.

@colourful_hippie: while last light surprises me that a small studio made it, metro 2033 with the new given context, doesnt surprise me, as that game is kind of janky

Damn thats some dedication to the game. I'm extremely impressed that they put that much heart and cared that deeply about a game to go to such lengths to get it done. Crazy stuff.

Laughed out loud at that comment. Amazing! xD

Edit: Oh right.....and yes, I really, really hope Metro: Last Light sells well for them. Here's hoping!