Wolfenstein: Youngblood Is Cheaper Because of Its Shorter Development Time

In spite of being the biggest Wolfenstein game to date in terms of content, with all of it amounting to roughly 25 to 30 hours of play time, Wolfenstein: Youngblood is going to retail for less than a new AAA release usually does. You can buy the Deluxe Edition at $40, while that also comes with a buddy pass that lets you share the game with one player at a time for no extra cost. That’s really good value for money- but why exactly is it that the game’s cheaper than it would have been in ordinary course?

According to MachineGames managing director Jerk Gustafsson, it’s because of its shorter development time. Co-developed by MachineGames and Arkane Studios, Wolfenstein: Youngblood has been developed in roughly eighteen months, while the game also makes use of technology from Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. That, on top of the fact that it’s a spinoff, means that Bethesda are willing to sell it at a cheaper price.

“We’re releasing this for, if you buy the deluxe edition, it’s for $40, and then you also get the buddy pass, so a friend of yours can play for free,” Gustafsson said in an interview with VG247. “So it’s very good value for money, absolutely.”

“I would say that the main reason for [the cheaper price] is that development time’s a bit shorter, we are using the technology from New Colossus,” he added. “Of course we have done improvements to the technology but it is the technology of New Colossus, and it is a spin-off. But with that said, the gameplay time is greater so there’s a lot of value for money in there.”

Wolfenstein: Youngblood is out on July 26 for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch.