Ben-DutkaNews regarding a PS3 Killzone has been scattered throughout the Internet for months now, driven by recent Sony statements that seem too good to be true (i.e., "the game actually looks better than the trailer"). We all remember that crazy trailer they showed at E3 this year, and since none if the movie included any real gameplay shots, it accumulated a ton of suspicion.
Today, though, more news has surfaced thanks to a feature piece in a Dutch newspaper, de Volksrant. The article was entitled, "A video game more expensive than the most expensive film," and highlighted Guerilla Games' – based in Amsterdam – Killzone 2 project. The name of the article was derived from the fact that the game is costing more to develop than any film in Dutch history.
The epic World War II movie, "Black Book," cost over 16 million euros (about $21 million), but even though the new Killzone project tops that number, Guerilla didn't get into specifics.
"Our budget tops [the film]," said Killzone director Arjan Brussee. "We're working on the biggest multimedia project in Dutch history."
Apparently, the giant price tag comes as a result of the labor-intensive development required for next-generation games. "Work that used to take a week now takes a month," added Brussee. To top it all off, there are a whopping 120 developers working together on Killzone 2 , half of which come from outside the Netherlands. Only 1/3 of the team who worked on the PS2 original weren't natives.
One other issue the team is facing is the high cost of localization; the new game is going to be fully translated in 20 different languages. Brussee believes this massive undertaking will pay off in the long run. "You sell 30 to 40 percent more with a translated version," he stated.
The final tidbit of news is a definite positive: Killzone 2 will have extra downloadable content via the PlayStation Store. "The Killzone that is in stores is only the beginning," said Brussee. He didn't clarify what those online extras would be, but the paper hinted at the possibility of new "chapters" going up on the Store, thus allowing for expanded gameplay.
This oughta stir up the rumor mill, so chances are, any more news regarding the new Killzone project is going to get some serious attention.