Starting a new video game brand is quite expensive these days. Companies don’t want to take that much risk and prefer to update their older games. Thus, more and more remasters and remakes are being created.
Katie Holt, Principal Analyst at Ampere Analysis, proves us right. “As development costs rise, studios are increasingly turning to their archives. Remakes and remasters are a cheaper way to revive old hits while maintaining the brand.” she said in a new report. It follows that publishers are paid more for remakes than for remasters.
Ampera took a detailed look at 42 games, including 15 full remakes and 27 remasters, released between January 2024 and September 2025. Together, these games gained attention on Xbox, PlayStation and Steam via 72 million playersspent on premium editions and microtransactions approximately $1.4 billion.
Data shows that total costs for remakes were 2.2 times higher than for remasters. In other words, while remakes cost more to develop, they clearly pay for themselves in terms of revenue. However, there are exceptions that prove that a well-made remaster can still succeed. Typical example: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Updatewhich peaked at $180 million in consumer spending and 7 million monthly active users on PlayStation, Xbox and Steam. But here it is necessary to add that the game is available through a Game Pass subscription.
Source :Indian TV
