Value is always subjective and generally has nothing to do with effort, but supply and demand. The NFL IP is a lot more valuable than the Baldur’s Gate IP, so having a monopoly on that IP drives up price.
When you buy a product, you’re not paying for the labor to create it, you’re paying for its utility to you. The cost of labor and materials are waste that should be reduced and has little to do with the attractiveness of the product. If cook A can make one steak at a time and cook B can do two, that doesn’t make A’s steak more valuable, it just means the labor cost is higher. If B’s steak tastes better, B can command a higher price than A.
EA pays ~$50M per year for exclusive use of their IP and probably some amount to the Madden estate as well. When you buy a Madden game, you’re paying for that exclusively, and that’s the utility that series provides. It just so happens that the NFL and Madden IPs are more valuable than the a Baldur’s Gate IPs, so Larian needs to put a lot more effort in to sell their games than EA with Madden despite also having exclusivity over their own IPs.
So yes, BG3 costs more to make than Madden, but that doesn’t mean it has higher value, it just means it costs more. Just like that steak from cook A, more effort doesn’t increase value, it just increases costs, value is a subjective evaluation by the customer about utility.
Value is always subjective and generally has nothing to do with effort, but supply and demand. The NFL IP is a lot more valuable than the Baldur’s Gate IP, so having a monopoly on that IP drives up price.
When you buy a product, you’re not paying for the labor to create it, you’re paying for its utility to you. The cost of labor and materials are waste that should be reduced and has little to do with the attractiveness of the product. If cook A can make one steak at a time and cook B can do two, that doesn’t make A’s steak more valuable, it just means the labor cost is higher. If B’s steak tastes better, B can command a higher price than A.
EA pays ~$50M per year for exclusive use of their IP and probably some amount to the Madden estate as well. When you buy a Madden game, you’re paying for that exclusively, and that’s the utility that series provides. It just so happens that the NFL and Madden IPs are more valuable than the a Baldur’s Gate IPs, so Larian needs to put a lot more effort in to sell their games than EA with Madden despite also having exclusivity over their own IPs.
So yes, BG3 costs more to make than Madden, but that doesn’t mean it has higher value, it just means it costs more. Just like that steak from cook A, more effort doesn’t increase value, it just increases costs, value is a subjective evaluation by the customer about utility.