Around late 1994, before Ensemble started making what would become Age of Empires, they were weighing up two different game ideas. One was a strategy inspired by Civilization, SimCity, and Warcraft; the other was a 3D arcade-style tank game. (The latter also had a working prototype.)

As part of their discussions and planning, lead designer Rick Goodman, who had a background in accounting, drafted up a budget costing based on six different sales scenarios — three for each game. These were realistic numbers, but it's interesting to see them in light of the fact that AoE would actually sell a million-plus copies in its *first year alone*.

Also in that draft budget, in a show of how much the internet has changed things since then, they have a dispensation of $300 per month for long-distance phone calls to Bruce Shelley, who lived interstate and was to be a remote contributor to the game's design.

@vga256 Very much so, between packaging design, manufacturing, and shipping costs, and also factoring in retail margins. The percentage of sales price that converts to actual revenue has massively increased since the era of big box games.